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[IbizaPocholo]

The Xbox 360 launched in 2005 with a unique dashboard known as the "Blades". I still own one Xbox 360 console that was never updated and still contains the Blades Dash in all its glory. In this episode we take a look at what made the dashboard so popular with fans and how many have wanted to see it return.

 

[matty3092]

Goddamn seeing this video hit me right in the nostalgia think I got a 360 in March 2008 thanks to playing COD4 at a friend's house and loved it. Ah the memories.

 

[carlosrox]

This was the best. I miss it too.

One of the first revisions they did was pretty decent too, it just got worse over time.

 

[Shmunter]

No Geometry Wars 2 footage? Shambles

 

[rickybooby87]

Nothing like firing up some Gears Of War, or Oblivion, or Halo 3. Good times.

 

[cyen]

Nothing like firing up some Gears Of War, or Oblivion, or Halo 3. Good times.

The nice thing is that you don't need a 360 for that (or an Xbox to be honest).

 

[phil_t98]

The blades were awesome but I can't see how they would work with a modern day console and all the features they have.

navigating the store fronts would be a nightmare. As much as I loved the old blades style we needed to move on from it

 

[Mindman]

I really loved that too..

 

[marcincz]

To be honest it was my favourite dashboard in history. I miss it, too.

 

[mcz117chief]

100% best dashboard or console ui really. The themes were also great and varied thanks to the fact that there were so many blades and each could have its own picture. I remember the Halo 3 one, it was sooooo good.

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

Aw I loved this dashboard. After that update that made it fast & responsive it was just perfect. It looked cool, lent itself well to themes, and was logically laid out in a way that made it easy to find whatever you wanted.

I feel like every update after this was more aimed at aligning it with the Windows "Metro" UI, showing off your avatar items (and selling you new ones), advertising, and Kinect functionality.

 

[Jubenhimer]

The blades were awesome but I can't see how they would work with a modern day console and all the features they have.

navigating the store fronts would be a nightmare. As much as I loved the old blades style we needed to move on from it

This, it was a great interface for its time. But I seriously doubt it'll work on modern consoles.

 

[JeremyEtcetera]

I miss the speed and ease of use, but I don't miss the look.

 

[IbizaPocholo]

 

[nemiroff]

EVERYONE loved the blades, and there was no reason to not love the UI at the time. You can still legitimately critique today's UI, but keep in mind that the blades literally wasted about ~40% of the screen for menus.. It doesn't take a UI pro (like me ackchyually) to understand that it's not really suitable for sorting information and as a design language in a UI/UX in 2021. A lot has changed since back then, including users, products and design.., and also things like f.ex. taxonomy / context / hierarchy / functionality / data / expectations (and not the least overarching and integrating the store).

 

[digoutyoursoul]

Kinda sums up the insider program. It's why I left it a while ago , got bored of trying out very minuscule additions to the UI. A lot of cool people still giving feedback and great ideas tho to their credit. Hope their stuff gets implemented one day.

 

[sn0man]

Would be a nice gesture if Microsoft updated the 360 one last time and gave people the option to run the blades and released a theme making kit.