New XBOX Update

[sportdan30]

Is the ESPN integration the same as ESPN 360 is or was? Meaning, in the past I would be able to watch my Jayhawks on ESPN360.com. Would I now be able to watch in full screen?

Yes to all of the above. ESPN 3 is a rename of ESPN 360 and the ESPN channel on XBL is ESPN 3. But I believe you need a service provider like Verizon and there are a few others to access the channel. You may also need a XBL Gold account too. Not sure about that since my account is Gold.

Thanks. Is there a listing of service providers that will allow access to that channel? Tjung or Mizzourah, does Charter in St. Louis allow for ESPN 3 access?

[Rodster]

I'll just do a copy and paste in case others ask the same thing.

"ESPN today officially launched ESPN on Xbox LIVE, delivering the ultimate interactive experience for sports fans with live events from ESPN3.com, ESPN.com video-on-demand clips and sports highlights and other features on the Xbox 360 console. Xbox LIVE members are able to access the service via today’s Xbox LIVE software update.

Xbox LIVE Gold members who are customers of an affiliated service provider will have access to thousands of live, global events every year via ESPN3.com – ESPN’s 24/7 broadband sports network – including college hoops, college football and bowl games, basketball, baseball, top international soccer, tennis including all four Grand Slam tournaments, golf majors and more. For more information about the service, click HERE.

“Today’s launch of ESPN on Xbox LIVE marks the beginning of a new way to serve sports fans that is truly innovative and social,” said John Kosner, senior vice president and general manager, ESPN Digital Media. “This deal is the first of its kind for ESPN, and we’re in a position with Xbox to enhance the gamer's experience like never before with live events, on-demand clips and more.”

“We’re proud to be partnering with ESPN to expand our ever-growing library of entertainment on Xbox LIVE,” said Marc Whitten, corporate vice president of Kinect, Xbox LIVE and LIVE Services at Microsoft. “Our goal is to not only bring premium live sports content to tens of millions of people in the Xbox LIVE community, but also integrate rich social and interactive features into the experience so they can enjoy their entertainment with the people they care about, on the same couch or across the country. And for the first time, you will be able to control this entertainment using just a wave of your hand or sound of your voice with Kinect for Xbox 360, which launches on November 4th.”

ESPN on Xbox LIVE is free for Xbox LIVE Gold members. Users of this service will be able to watch sports and events with full DVR control, pull up current scores while watching the game, easily switch between events and more.

ESPN content and features available to Xbox LIVE members include:
Video Streaming: Access thousands of live and on-demand global sporting events from ESPN3.com a year, many available in HD-quality, plus ESPN.com video clips and daily sports highlights streamed on-demand;

Predict the Winner: Predict which team you think you’ll win and see the percentage of other people in the Xbox LIVE community who are rooting for the same team;
My Sports: Follow your favorite leagues for the season;
Kinect for Xbox 360 Integration: Microsoft’s new technology allows fans to control the content they watch with just their voice or wave of the hand.
Games at a Glance: Pull up real-time score information from the world of sports without leaving the game you’re watching, and easily switch between events;
Out-of-Market Programming: Catch out-of-market games happening around the world and exclusive games you can’t watch anywhere else;

ESPN3.com is available in approximately 65 million households nationwide via dozens of affiliated service providers including Comcast, AT&T, Verizon, Cox, Charter, Windstream, RCN, Insight, Frontier, Cavalier, Mediacom, Conway, Grande Communications and many more. It is also available at no cost to approximately 21 million U.S. college students and U.S.-based military personnel via on-campus educational networks and on-base military networks."

[Rodster]

And there you have probably why XBL Gold went up by $10 to pay ESPN royalties and cable provider fees.

[sportdan30]

Thanks Rod. That's good information.

[RobVarak]

And there you have probably why XBL Gold went up by $10 to pay ESPN royalties and cable provider fees.

Worth every penny.

[Gangrel]

And for us Canucks? Well, if I want to pay for Netflix, there's that. Aside from that, the update is "meh". Looks good, but I'd much rather have an ESPN or TSN set up like you guys then now being able to view all the latest celeb gossip on MSN.CA streaming video! lol

[Aristo]

double post

[Aristo]

Is the ESPN integration the same as ESPN 360 is or was? Meaning, in the past I would be able to watch my Jayhawks on ESPN360.com. Would I now be able to watch in full screen?

If you are a Jayhawk fan in what appears to be St. Louis, this feature is going to be your best friend. It's awesome for both college football and basketball in the sheer number of games, but ESPN really does love the Jayhawks. So you will find a ton of their games on there.

I've heard ESPN is considering getting back into hockey, which would make it even better. There is a decent number of NBA games, but I'd be happier of it was the NHL.

[Rodster]

Righteous if the NHL comes back to ESPN with Gary Thorne and Bill Clement calling the action. Gary Thorne does a great job doing the MLB but I first heard him calling Hockey games and IMO and maybe that of others, no one does it better.

[10spro]

Righteous if the NHL comes back to ESPN with Gary Thorne and Bill Clement calling the action. Gary Thorne does a great job doing the MLB but I first heard him calling Hockey games and IMO and maybe that of others, no one does it better.

Heard of Jim Hughson?

[Lancer]

What I like alot about ESPN XBL is the soccer they offer.

I am not a big international soccer fan, but I want to learn more about it. I looked into my local cable provider and they offer fox sports soccer but at an additional cost. So I was like forget it.

But now with ESPN XBL, I can watch these games and learn more about the leagues like EPL, Spain, Germany, Italy, and the tons more they have on there.

So far, I've found the feed to be HD quality for most of the soccer matches. The only ones that look like crap are the ones under International which have the Friendly matches between the countries. For some reason, they're all zoomed in and very bad picture rate. maybe they'll fix that in the future, but right now I am happy as a international soccer novice fan that I have all these games on there.

Also, I've always been interested in CFL football. That's on there too. Rugby, Cricket, NCAA, all of it. It's just great. I may never play a game on that machine again.

[pk500]

Righteous if the NHL comes back to ESPN with Gary Thorne and Bill Clement calling the action. Gary Thorne does a great job doing the MLB but I first heard him calling Hockey games and IMO and maybe that of others, no one does it better.

Heard of Jim Hughson?

Bingo! Thorne is good, but Hughie is great. Hughie stands alone.

[10spro]

Also, I've always been interested in CFL football. That's on there too. Rugby, Cricket, NCAA, all of it. It's just great. I may never play a game on that machine again.

Wished we had the ESPN feed on Live here in Canada but you're going to love the CFL. Three downs only and a lot of momentum swings in a game.

[Lancer]

Righteous if the NHL comes back to ESPN with Gary Thorne and Bill Clement calling the action. Gary Thorne does a great job doing the MLB but I first heard him calling Hockey games and IMO and maybe that of others, no one does it better.

Heard of Jim Hughson?

Bingo! Thorne is good, but Hughie is great. Hughie stands alone.

EA Ruined Hughson for me. He use to be the announcer for EA NHL when the series was god awful.

Whenever I hear his voice, it reminds me of one of those EA hockey games where they kept repeating over and over one sound btye where he yells 'HAN-ZOOS' a thousand times.

[Rodster]

Righteous if the NHL comes back to ESPN with Gary Thorne and Bill Clement calling the action. Gary Thorne does a great job doing the MLB but I first heard him calling Hockey games and IMO and maybe that of others, no one does it better.

Heard of Jim Hughson?

Oh yeah but my three favorite play by play commentators are Gary Thorne, Howard David and Martin Tyler.

EA Ruined Hughson for me. He use to be the announcer for EA NHL when the series was god awful.

Whenever I hear his voice, it reminds me of one of those EA hockey games where they kept repeating over and over one sound byte where he yells 'HAN-ZOOS' a thousand times.

Ditto !

[pk500]

Funny you cats mention the EA influence on your opinion of Hughson. I used to think he was the pits based on the NHL series, too.

Then I got NHL Center Ice and heard Hughie calling Canucks' games. I thought: "Damn, that sounds a lot like the moron who called the NHL video game. But he's unbelievably good calling real games. Can it be the same dude?"

It was. Hughson touches both ends of the audio spectrum. He was terrible in video games, hampered by a dopey script from EA, no doubt. He is peerless calling live games.

[Naples39]

Like everybody else, Hughson sounded like a melodramatic idiot to me in the NHL games, but still haven't heard him doing a full game.

EA can make anybody sound like an idiot in those games. I can still remember Bill Clement yelling "whoo-whoo" and blathering something about getting hit by a train in NHL 99, but I think he does a very good job as a color commenter for Flyers games (better than Jonesy, who has the regular gig atm, who is a likeable personality but offers little insight during broadcasts).

[bulls23]

Funny you cats mention the EA influence on your opinion of Hughson. I used to think he was the pits based on the NHL series, too.

Then I got NHL Center Ice and heard Hughie calling Canucks' games. I thought: "Damn, that sounds a lot like the moron who called the NHL video game. But he's unbelievably good calling real games. Can it be the same dude?"

It was. Hughson touches both ends of the audio spectrum. He was terrible in video games, hampered by a dopey script from EA, no doubt. He is peerless calling live games.

Hughson had really bad luck announcing videogames. Remember he was the voice of Triple Play Baseball too

[10spro]

Funny you cats mention the EA influence on your opinion of Hughson. I used to think he was the pits based on the NHL series, too.

Then I got NHL Center Ice and heard Hughie calling Canucks' games. I thought: "Damn, that sounds a lot like the moron who called the NHL video game. But he's unbelievably good calling real games. Can it be the same dude?"

It was. Hughson touches both ends of the audio spectrum. He was terrible in video games, hampered by a dopey script from EA, no doubt. He is peerless calling live games.

Hughson had really bad luck announcing videogames. Remember he was the voice of Triple Play Baseball too

He started his career actually broadcasting baseball games. And he was damn solid calling the games for the Blue Jays. The fact that EA was recycling his voice over and over the NHL games in the early 2K years is not Jimmy's fault but as PK mentioned above, you have to hear the guy call a Live Hockey game today. He was the voice of my 'Nuckers for a number of years and did a great job taking over my all time favorite color man Jim Robson. CBC noticed his talent and HNIC has him signed mostly calling on Leafs games today taking over Bob Cole's job.

[F308GTB]

Loving the ESPN3 stuff. Relived some childhood memories last night with some archived Australian Rules Football. I swear the AFL is the best league around compared to football, soccer, and rugby. Non-stop action, hard hits, and a fast game. All the AFL action is under "football". Also noticed that the AFL will be coming to a PS3 and 360 in 2011.

[Teal]

Yep, ESPN rocks. The Auburn game was PPV yesterday, but just as soon as the game ended, I watched it on ESPN3 in high definition. Lovely!

I love the live ticker that you can activate at the bottom, as well. I jumped between a ton of college games, even my Div. I-AA alma mater, with the touch of a button. Great stuff.

Kinda lame how the pseudo-3D layout got canned for this flat panel/2D look. Seems like a step backwards. And the new 'sound effects' are goofy.

Eh, who cares. They'll change it in a few months anyway...

[Jimmydeicide]

Yeh its great but where the hell has it gone ? its like disapeared of my dashboard.
Anyone know where its hidden there is an epl game in 10 mins damn it

[ddtrane]

Is the ESPN integration the same as ESPN 360 is or was? Meaning, in the past I would be able to watch my Jayhawks on ESPN360.com. Would I now be able to watch in full screen?

Yes, yes, and yes. I have Comcast in Harford Cty MD, and I've been watching all the games i missed the last few weekends. Although I hate the white background this update is boss, because I canceled digital cable so I only have basic on my tvs and no longer have to sit in front of the computer to enjoy some events.

[ddtrane]

Righteous if the NHL comes back to ESPN with Gary Thorne and Bill Clement calling the action. Gary Thorne does a great job doing the MLB but I first heard him calling Hockey games and IMO and maybe that of others, no one does it better.

Heard of Jim Hughson?

Amen brother. I first remember playing NHL 98 with Jim Hughson and the eclectic voice of Darryl Reaugh. When I watch some CBC broadcasts, to hear them pair up is just heavenly and reminds me of the early days of gaming bliss.

[Lancer]

can't stop raving about espn.

watching man u vs man c right now. picture perfect HD!

Cool thing is they made the telecast interactive. They asked me who I think would win, then It come up with the poll and my xbox character on there cheering them. Really cool.

Damn, i can't believe I am getting EPL on this thing so clear. Perfect for me. Don't have to pay anything extra .