Xbox Live overhaul confirmed

360 News | Download content AND play your 360 at the same time!

There have been rumours circulated about Microsoft updating Xbox Live ever since the console was released late last year - and finally these rumours have come to fruition, with Microsoft announcing that the first major overhaul will take place 'next week'. Microsoft say that this is the first in a series of bi-annual updates, so expect another one in six months time.

The best part of it? A download manager. Rejoice! The Active Downloads menu link will enable you to queue up to six different downloads and - best of all - actually continue using the 360 afterwards. About damn time, really. Downloads will also pause should you jump into an online game in order to minimise your ping.

Adding to the re-vamped download theme are new categories to differentiate games from other media, such as movie trailers and music videos. Game demos are also searchable by genre, while gamer pics have their own section. The Xbox Live Arcade also, thankfully, has a 'new games' option, too.

The media section has also been tweaked. You can now play any music on the hard drive while playing any game, by the sounds of it - even arcade games. Excellent. The upgrade will also have an option allowing you to decide if you want the console to boot the game up on start, or go straight to the dashboard. Handy - hopefully a similar thing applies for inserting a new game disc.

A few other minor tweaks are also included. The update will be online sometime next week (no date has been specified as yet), and be flashed straight to the console, meaning it won't take up hard drive space.