• There might not be any de-listing of content from the marketplace now. MIGHT. Microsoft says they haven't de-listed anything "yet," and the whole point of the new dash is to make things easier to find—the problem that de-listing games was going to solve.
• Playing from the hard drive still requires games to be in the drive while you play, which means you can't just load all your games onto your Xbox and swap games from your couch.
• Hard drive gaming is mostly for saving load times.

• The current blade-based dash design still exists inside the Guide, and they've ported a lot of the current dash features there so you can actually access much of it from inside games. No browsing marketplace though.
• The new dashboard is fast and fluid, getting rid of the delays that come up when you're switching blades (occasionally) and loading up the thumbnails of your XBLA games. There's also an Apple TV-like reflection under each icon representing games, and the whole thing looks vaguely Cover Flow-like.
• There's a new Quick Launch feature from the Guide (the thing that pops up when you click the Xbox button on your controller) that lets you switch to any game you currently have installed. XBLA games or retail (if the disc is in your drive).
• Avatars will be used in XBLA games, Xbox 360 retail games and Xbox Primetime games.
• Avatars will be available for everyone, even Xbox Live Silver members. If you don't like them, you can still use gamerpics instead.
• "Primetime" games are like gameshows and will be more of a streamed experience rather than a boxed game or an XBLA game. It's a third type of game on the Xbox.
• All of the marketplace content will be listed on xbox.com so you can browse and queue up downloads for them to your Xbox. If your console is on, it seems like stuff is downloaded as you add them to your queue.
• The 8-people party system lets you basically chat with all your friends no matter where you are in any game, and then be able to drag each one through games with you. People who don't have the game the party leader loaded will get a screen telling them to go buy it.

No. Unfortunately its HD DVD playback is so poor that it scored a 0 out of 100. This is because it's testing deinterlacing of content, and the player only does 1080i. In comparison, the PS3 gets an 88 out of 100 for the equivalent Blu-ray side. There is a bit of good news, however. The Xbox 360 plays back content better that's been properly flagged as movie content, such as actual movies you buy from the store. The HQV test disc isn't properly flagged, and doesn't trigger the player's deinterlacing. However, if your eyeballs tell you your 360 isn't doing a great job at playing back DVD content, it's probably time for a new DVD player.

Update: We spoke to an HD DVD professional, and he told us there were problems with this review. Apparently, the HQV discs are making players (even top of the line players) fail de-interlacing tests, which is pretty much all the disc does. What the reviewer should have done is test image quality, which would have made the Xbox 360 HD DVD player just about as good as the other standalone HD and BD players. The man we talked to didn't say much about DVD, however.
[ExtremeTech - Image also courtesy Extremetech]

**15. What types of AVI files are supported?

The Xbox 360 supports files encoded using MPEG-4 Part 2, Simple and Advanced Simple Profile. These files are often referred to as Xvid or DivX® video files. Many common PC DVD authoring tools, cameras, and camcorders are capable of encoding files using MPEG-4. Note that some files authored for DivX devices may also contain additional functionality(menus, subtitles, multiple audio tracks, etc). The Xbox 360 will attempt to play these files, but does not support any of the additional functionality and in some cases will be unable to play the file.

16. Why don't some of my older versions of DivX® files play?

Since we only support Mpeg-4 compatible codec implementations, we will not be able to play video files older than DivX® 5.0.

Original post, before we knew about DivX:

We thought that the previously released details of Xbox 360's Fall Update were kinda lame, and hoped the rest of the yet-to-be-released features would make up for the fact that seeing your friends' friends, parental timers, and downloadable Xbox 1 games are so-so at best. No such luck. Microsoft's just dropped the rest of the details, and they're not so great either.

The new features are Xbox LIVE Arcade Hits (a plan to discount older XBLA games permanently), Inside Xbox (a news stream from Xbox.com to your Dashboard), an enhanced online profile (you can enter in more details about yourself), full-screen movie previews, and slightly changed navigation. Here's the full release:

MORE DOWNLOAD OPTIONS:
Xbox Originals - With this new service, announced on Nov. 13, consumers can download-to-own full original Xbox games that were previously only available at retail. The digital shelves will always be stocked with classic titles, such as "Crash Bandicoot: Wrath of Cortex," "Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge," "Halo," "Fable," "Fuzion Frenzy," "Psychonauts," and more as the catalogue grows over time, at 1200 Microsoft Points per game.

· Xbox LIVE Arcade Hits - On Xbox LIVE Arcade, the Arcade Hits program kicks off where some of the best sellers will become available at permanently reduced prices, making it easier than ever for everyone to build a library of downloadable games! The first games to become Arcade Hits will be "Bankshot Billiards 2" and "Lumines LIVE," which will be available for 800 Microsoft Points each, and "Marble Blast Ultra," "Small Arms" and "Zuma Deluxe," which will be available for 400 Microsoft Points each. With free trial downloads for every game and over 100 games to choose from, Xbox LIVE Arcade offers something for every member of the family.

NEW WAYS TO KEEP UP TO DATE AND CONNECTED:
· Inside Xbox - A new direct feed brings current news straight from Xbox.com into the Xbox LIVE Dashboard providing members an easy, predictable entry point where they can discover what's new in: game releases, events, and Xbox LIVE Marketplace offers.

· Enhanced online profile - Members interested in sharing a few more details about themselves will have the option to go beyond their motto and further personalize their profile with an expanded bio. The extended bios will be visible to "Friends Only" or the entire Xbox LIVE community.

· Expanded Friends List access - A quick and easy way for gamers to expand their personal community on Xbox LIVE, members will be able to see the Friends Lists of other Xbox LIVE members, boosting their social networking experience on the service.

ENHANCED OVERALL EXPERIENCE AND CONTROL:
Enhanced Parental Controls - Family Timer, a strong and flexible new addition to the Xbox 360 Family Settings, enables parents to set the amount of time their Xbox 360 can be used on a per-day or per-week basis by their children or other members of the household.

New video features - The convenience of full-screen movie previews and enhanced video codec support further expand the options when it comes to the Xbox 360 entertainment experience.

· Easy-to-use navigation features - With several noteworthy changes in the Xbox LIVE Dashboard, from the new Game Store button to the Video Store button to enhanced visuals and descriptions in the video library, Xbox LIVE members can find what they want, when they want it.

When the update hits December 4th, current Xbox 360 owners will be able to download original Xbox games for $15. Initial titles will include Halo, Fahrenheit, Fable, Crimson Skies, Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath Of Cortex and Burnout 3. There's not a bad game on that list...hopefully those of us with 20GB hard drives can find the room.

Also, Europe will finally get Video Marketplace downloads, though we're not certain how localized the content will be (we're guessing there will be some difference in what's offered). But in the interest of full disclosure to our fine European readers, we have no sympathy that it's taken this long considering the endless piles of great tech you get before we do. And no, we are so not even now so don't even play that card. [kotaku]

A simple tool that lets you manage how much time your kids spend on their Xbox 360. Manage in daily or weekly increments. Easy for parents to suspend and add time. Available in December 2007 only through Xbox Live.

The requisite photo of the pamphlet is obligatorily blurry, but with all of the other chatter floating around, even if this is faked, we feel pretty safe betting on the new feature's upcoming launch, particularly given the Xbox 360's new family-focused marketing, like with the Arcade. [Xbox Today via Kotaku, Flickr]