Xbox Dashboard Evolution 2001-2023 (Xbox Original, Xbox 360, One, Series X)

With the new Xbox Series X and Series S being out for a while it's time to look back at the evolution of Xbox Dashboards. From the original Xbox dashboard, to the Xbox 360 blades, or the Xbox 360 NxE, over to the Series X dashboard in 2022. The Xbox dashboard has changed many times over the years.
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[@Exponaut_R-01]

The early 360 dashboard... What a blast from the past.

[@PinkiePie762]

I still have Xbox 360 with 2005 dashboard I’m pretty lucky I bought it from thrift shop

[@NynnaOnYT]

​@@PinkiePie762same

[@user-fh2ir6lq1n]

Best dashboard the 360 had was the og. Xbox one and onward sucks. However the built in og xbox back ground was dope on the series x however it needs an updat to make the dashboard like the og it would be far more streamlined and looks better. Its sada because even the ps3 has a better ui than ps4, xbox one and series line of consoles. Hell the switch has the best ui of last gen and current gen works the best most efficient and oh shit its the same dashboard that was on a ds

[@sleepforever8378]

​@@NynnaOnYTon a ds lol

[@sleepforever8378]

​@@user-fh2ir6lq1nds lol

[@unfathomable3434]

I would kill for a more creative dashboard like the original Xbox

[@sethnewton870]

I feel like media as a whole has moved to much more sterile, minimalistic designs instead of experimenting with really unique UI like in the early 2000s. It makes me sad, but I'm sure UI is viewed as a minute detail to most developers/designers. If anything, the new basic designs are effective and functional

[@unfathomable3434]

@@sethnewton870 I grew up with the streamlined sort of 360 but when I got my hands on an original xbox a few years ago to play the original Halo (before 343 fixed the porting problems) I was blown away by its UI and how it made navigating to play a game fun

[@geminitrash470]

For the Xbox 20th anniversary lots of fans remade the Xbox dash as a wallpaper that lined up with the Xbox One Series X/S! I edit one of 'em to be Pink and Cyan and used that! If only we could pick a sound track that'd loop on the dashboard though. Like how myspace that let us pick songs for our page

[@GrabTheSwitchMike]

@@sethnewton870 Nothing has any personality anymore. It's all soulless and corporate. Personal favorite from my childhood was the gamecube start-up screen/jingle. It was charmingly quirky, and always made me smile before my game started up. It was truly part of the experience, just as much as the games were.

[@sethnewton870]

@@GrabTheSwitchMike that generation as a whole is so iconic. Ps2, xbox, and GameCube all had incredibly iconic start up sounds and menus.

[@charlesmaclellan8124]

Halo 2... Those were the days. For me, they took place when I was in the 9th grade. I'll never forget my first game of Halo 2. After picking up the game the day it came out after school, 6 friends and I connected two Xboxs together, two different TVs, in rooms right beside each other. I'll never forget how shocked I was to see a player controlled Wraith coming at me on Waterworks, and being able to play as an Elite for the first time.

[@AFatOcelot]

Ah. I share the same nostalgia and memories :)

[@XxFarrinxXv2]

It's amazing how similar my first experience of halo 2 is to yours haha

[@wylie1474]

I don’t care

[@charlesmaclellan8124]

@@wylie1474 Yes you do.

[@BadBoy-sk2id]

Absolutely loved the blades. Miss them a lot

[@geminitrash470]

I've been asking for Xbox to implement an option to choose your preferred 360 dash, but I keep getting replies noting that the 360 isn't supported anymore, but I still get updates so it's a little annoying I won't lie. I guess I'll just have to enjoy blades on an offline console

[@BadBoy-sk2id]

@@geminitrash470 in a world where so much entertainment is driven by nostalgia (remastered games, rehashes of Disney movies etc.) you would have thought making blades an option the current gen Xbox would be smart move.

[@geminitrash470]

@@BadBoy-sk2id especially given that some specifically ask for it. I recognize money is always a factor, but I'd bet fans would pull funds for a project like this

[@XxFarrinxXv2]

Could you imagine a current Xbox blades skin? That would be so sick. I'd probably play Xbox again just for that.

[@XepptizZ]

Jup, really love the blades. It was quick and snappy to get where you wanted to be.

[@thelegendaryprog]

I wish they would give us dashboard customization that would allow us to use the UI from our favorite console.

[@juanpagan7944]

Fax same for start up

[@casualcadaver]

Is it just me or does the original Xbox dashboard from 2001 look the most futuristic? It looks like it came from the year 3001.

[@pandaxgx5901]

Yeah

[@eliteman5397]

No it doesn't. You can easily tell that it's from 2001 and it's trying to look "futuristic". I love how we imagined how the world would look 20 years later by making these type of dashboards and yet it looks so outdated and old today lmao.

[@ronnieradon]

@Brian Boulter they could make it look like that while adapting the aesthetic, come on.

[@ronnieradon]

@Brian Boulter how can the aesthetic be "dated"? whether it's good or not is up to personal taste. it can't "look dated".

[@BlipBlopFlipFlop]

@TheSovietOnion I wouldn't be as nostalgically blind as you, and use a less intiuitive, and slow to use UI. Why does the UI need to be flashy, also what defines a exciting UI?

[@RogerWazup007]

It would've been neat if they let you choose between blades, NXE, or the metro dashboard on the 360.

[@santabakure6264]

Nobody’s gonna choose metro😂 Blades and NXE for the win!

[@AbstractS04]

I would choose NXE

[@KingHVLP1234]

I miss marble blast ultra man, that game was amazingly simplistic and competitive. I wish more games had that feel.

[@charlesmaclellan8124]

Oooooooh you just unlocked a core memory for me. That's some early high school shit right there.

[@dennismakarov93]

Me too. I only have the demo for it on my 360, wish I could get the full version. Same for the 1989 ninja turtles arcade game

[@dylan.gendreau]

You should check out Marble It Up! It's from the same development team of Marble Blast Gold and Marble Blast Ultra. It's honestly just as good! Multiplayer is only available on iPhones currently, but they've confirmed it will be coming to all other platforms in the future.

[@KingHVLP1234]

@@dylan.gendreau this was the comment I was looking for! Thanks!

[@ragewithnova]

That game was amazing

[@kevinlee6003]

I do miss the simplicity of the Xbox 360 blades dashboard... but I love the current 2022 dashboard. It's simple and packed at the same time.

[@zekenacho]

Honestly I love the 2022 version

[@xboxx2783]

Same

[@mitchjames9350]

The original 360 dashboard was the best.

[@_-ghostfps-_8651]

Finally someone said it It looks clean while also having a lot of options easy to access

[@chaoticmonk118]

I think I just missed out on the Blades dashboard, pretty much. I got an Xbox 360 and Live Gold on October 9th, 2008, and the NXE update came about a month later. I don't really remember experiencing the Blades dashboard (at least not much), but I guess I must have for the first month. In any case, my memory of Xbox Live really started with the NXE and the Party Chat feature becoming available at the same time, so that's what really defined the 360 Live years for me.

[@hockeyfreak207]

Blades dashboard was and always will be my favorite

[@lordpestilencetv]

blade gang or die. merely seeing that interface brought me instantly back to that release. i miss the good old days.

[@Zenlore6499]

The Xbox Snap feature was great for achievement tracking! I was so sad to lose that when they removed it.

[@joekeys9021]

It was also great to have KZbin play music while you were doing something. Still makes me upset that they got rid of it

[@josephhoalt6824]

Still pissed snap is gone. I loved being able to play and have twitch snapped or live TV which I paid $100 for the Hauppauge usb tuner for it!

[@doodoobutter2501]

You can turn on achievement tracker for games in the settings

[@Zenlore6499]

@@doodoobutter2501 I know, but TrueAchievements has guides, so it was nice to just look to the right and see the next step rather than swap to the app to check each time.

[@MerlautZone]

The PS1 & PS2 startups are nostalgic af, but the OG Xbox's is my favorite one.

[@HugoElcabezas]

gamecube is the best ever

[@Zenlore6499]

I remember getting the 360 after the NXE update, but that demo disk it came with showed the Blades UI. I was so confused as a kid.

[@Vliffy]

Listening to that OG Xbox dash Easter egg brought back so many memories, and the blades dashboard will forever be my favorite.

[@TheKillertoma11]

Holy the nostalgia for the original Xbox. 😭 Simple by today's standards but for the time it was so good. Music playback with the trippy lights and lines was one of my favorite things.

[@TheRevenger117]

I grew up with each generation of Xbox consoles, but the nostalgia I have for the original Xbox and early 360 is unmatched

[@uhhhidkwhatthuashouldsay]

Cool to see you guys expand the channel from just halo, you're killing it recently

[@ki11atj49]

The Xbox 360 nxe it was my favorite dashboard of all time I didn't get to experience blades that much because I had a PS3 but the nxe was way better than the windows type dashboard they updated to at the end of 360

[@liamburgess5029]

The blades hit like no other

[@Akhenatonio]

The Netflix watch with friends feature on NXE was killer back then. I used it all the time, then one day it was gone. Imagine having that functionality during the pandemic. The other services made available for Netflix watch parties today does not compare.

[@_1oofi]

@usuckcock ok

[@warehawk]

Me and my friends still talk about netflix watch with friends to this day. It was the greatest feature every created, and the fact they just took it from us one day without warning was heartbreaking. It really needs to come back

[@kbarts316]

The original Xbox dashboard will always be my favorite. It was so unique and creative.

[@tifapanties25]

X=6 maybe it is

[@itsfunkupop9786]

I just miss the old Xbox one menus, and I hope Microsoft change the actual Xbox menu, I think it's time to change. Postscript, I just bought a second hand Xbox 360 and I'm so excited to use it and Investigate what's on it

[@Joeru510]

When you used to be able to see the gameplay when you exit out to the dashboard. That still seems pretty cool if it were still like that. Also you could snap apps which was sick. Miss those features! Edit: I finished the video and realized he went over those features too lol

[@Randy1290]

I loved that you could customize the blades on the 360.

[@KevinIsNice6984]

9:44 when you can watch morbius on your xbox 360 lol

[@Qwepzy]

The very 1st 360 vanilla menu was the best IMO, Some people still have xbox consoles never connected to the internet with it

[@ThemeParksAndAttractions]

NICE video rocket sloth

[@Plasmatic5150]

Whenever I accidentally saw the original Xbox opening and main menu, I would hide, because it scared the crap out of me.

[@TheSUPERWIND2023]

The current dashboard for the Series S/X is actually quite nice, I just hope they add more fluent design materials to it like Acrylic glass or Mica.

[@PinkGuy1313]

The metro 360 is my favorite cause I grew up with that one.

[@AxciemG]

the design after the blades was the best, everything looked so nice

[@VileSinner666]

Loved the 2011 metro update. Takes me back to the good old days.

[@KatsuyaTheFuuk]

One of the broken original Xbox consoles I got at Goodwill one time still has the original non Xbox Live dashboard. Other than the Xbox Live tab not being there, some of the animations look a little different funny enough. There's a really bright green effect when you open stuff that just isn't there in the Xbox Live version of the dashboard. Seems to boot into the dashboard significantly faster too

[@OfficialFedHater]

I was so used to the blades dashboard that I was still trying to quickly get to my party and friends in the newer dashboards lol. Blades for life.

[@sebb.jimenez]

I love the nxe ui. I love the look and the sounds.

[@jamescooke729]

I really want Microsoft to make a new UI for the series consoles. It is always fun to get a new console and have to learn the UI.

[@kedricmanson9873]

They are currently working on a new UI which will release in 2023

[@KyrieKirigiri]

Xbox seems to have a habit of gradually making the dashboards worse and worse after initially improving them. NXE was an improvement over Blades (although both are great) but then they redesigned it with the shitty Metro design. The 2015 Xbox One Dash was great and a big improvement over the 2013 one but they made it worse and worse. The 2017 one was still pretty good but the 2020 one is just awful. It is responsive but that is the only upside, the overall design is so generic and boring, plus they introduced new avatars while breaking the old ones but the new ones are completely pointless as they aren't used in games and most people don't set them to display on their profile. Plus they removed app snapping which was incredibly helpful and convenient. I just hope the Series X gets a new dashboard soon - it's one of the reasons why people don't feel like upgrading - the Series X doesn't feel next gen, it feels like a newer model Xbox One.

[@pandaxgx5901]

I agree with the last part

[@kevinlee6003]

Idk. The newest dashboard is simplistic and packed at the same time. It's easy as fuck and organized.... it took a long time to get what we have now.

[@kevinlee6003]

Btw, I remember this update way back in the day, I was not a fan of the NXE update at all. I was just a teenager back then and loved the blades dash that I was used to for years.

[@KyrieKirigiri]

@@kevinlee6003 I prefer the look of blades, it's just that NXE had so many features like the Xbox guide and avatars

[@BambiTrout]

I hate how minimalist and inoffensive design has become these days. Every console, device, app menu, game menu, interface, etc. - they all look basically identical, and focus more on trying to sell you shit than trying to actually make your experience fun and engaging, or trying to set a tone for the games you're about to play. It's all so corporate and dull. They add all these live tiles and overlays to try and keep things moving, but they're always just basic monochromatic boxes with videos in them. I want a return to menus made out of rocks and gears, with every submenu having a different background. We don't need fully animated character models lagging out the home screen - we need animated menus with character that can still run on a potato. I don't know why that is seemingly no longer possible.

[@eliteman5397]

I actually kind of like it. I had a PS4 for 7 years which has a very simplistic design in the dashboard and I didn't really like it. Now, Ive bought the Xbox one S and I love the design. I

[@whywarthog]

Now this brings back some memories

[@slappytheclown4]

so much nostalgia for the 360 blades. I remember the update when they switched from the blades to the NXE layout. Was in school and my friends and I had been talking about the update at school all day. Honestly had a lot of fun making our own avatar and playing A Kingdom for Keflings. We liked the update at the time but looking back I definitely enjoy the simplicity of the blades a lot more.

[@ayaannazir7308]

I personally love the latest 360 dashboard the most, it’s just so nostalgic and great

[@Vaffle_1231]

The 2008 dashboard brings back lots of memories especially with the Xbox Live Arcade

[@JackStavris]

Best versions of the Dashboard were the blades, the first version of the NXE (before the Kinect update) and the Xbox One Windows 10 dashboard, which was actually called NXOE (New Xbox One Expirence). I think the blades looked the coolest, the Xbox 360 NXE had the best overall design (especially with the darker colour scheme), and the Xbox One NXOE had the most amount of features as well as a strong community focus. I loved how the NXOE had a dedicated Community tab to see clips and what your friends were doing. They've since removed this in later versions and while you can still access it via it's own app, it's not emphasized as much and as a result I never go into it anymore.

[@VossWaterKim]

Imagine they give us the option to choose any dashboard from any generation. That would be an amazing feature.

[@PSYIS_]

My favorite is the NXE interface honestly. Most nostalgic for me as well to be fair lol.

[@1st_Amendment_Is_My_Right]

New video: Halo: “Which game has the most weapons?” (Counting every gun permission, in weapon holders, on enemies, and allies)

[@Michaelsithlord]

This video seems familiar 🤔

[@LilRellBabySKRT]

I miss the 360 dash board and even the sound effects. I always liked how you could view your avatar and it show your friends to

[@fabuloso9818]

I won’t lie, seeing the first iteration of the Xbox 360s dashboard brought back a lot of memories that were pleasant, but the NXE dashboard made me burst into tears. I’d completely forgotten about that design and I wasn’t prepared for the slew of bad memories associated holy shit.

[@PanzerMan332]

I grew up with the NXE dashboard right before it got updated, and I gotta say, I really like it. The perfect blend of user friendly without being minimalistic crap. Easy to learn and use, intuitive, great tactile sounds as you click and scroll through the menus, just all of it was perfect. I spent most of my years playing with the metro style dashboard, and it does the job fine, but the NXE has a place in my heart. Maybe it's nostalgia speaking, I just miss when every user interface had personality, was warm and friendly, and didn't look and feel so obviously like such soulless corporate garbage that you can't distinguish one company's platform from another.

[@stairwaytoholiday]

I forgot your avatar was used in Castleminer Z, goddamn what a fun game

[@xsteath104]

Real OG’s remember when you could host an Xbox live party in Netflix

[@1man2raw]

Dat og 360 dashboard brings back so much nostalgia

[@DonDeLem]

I remember getting my Xbox 360 in 2009 and spending quite some time on KZbin trying to figure out how to get that OG 360 dashboard, not realizing that it wasn't a setting option and was actually part of an update. My 9 year old self did not understand the concept of "updates" because I played PS2 the most and I was always offline.

[@galacticquasaur2956]

Dang, really? I was the opposite, I LOVED the new 360 dashboard and was glad they got rid of the old one.

[@edmartinez925]

I got the slim model for my birthday back in 2010 and I still have it now.

[@BlueElitefromHaloCE]

The Xbox 360 blades just hit different. Slow as a snail, but man the nostalgia

[@keepwalkingVTEC]

The startscreen on the first xbox looks litterly like a game menu 👌🏽

[@kowproduction]

That's a nice video, I only wish there was some footage of Halo 2 interface. I feel like they based a lot of their interface on what they've done on Halo 2 back then, atleast on the multiplayer/friend list aspect. In 2004, Xbox Live and Halo 2 were pretty much the same thing.

[@alexisfy]

They paved the way to a lot of innovations that now would be cool, but then it was just odd...

[@AvZTeamCOD]

Do avatars still even exist ?? Great video !!!

[@ghostcat8244]

I remember getting Xbox 360 mid cycle when the avatar was news had such great memories.

[@TheRootbeerDude01]

The smartglass/ xbox app came in clutch when i was younger

[@krisvaras7801]

i grew up with Nintendo & ps3 but holy damn that first 360 dashboard just screams 2000s and i love it

[@DarrenHoussein]

The original Xbox 360 'blades' dashboard used to give me the most nostalgia but now its the OG Xbox One dashboard

[@YoungMrBlue]

I love how the Kinect dashboard was completely left out of the video I seem to be the only one that remembers it

[@CoffeeCrowgasm]

I remember when the Xbox app first launched it made MCC lag horribly for me when I had it open so I stuck to the console companion until party chat got phased out. Just glad Xbox app got updated and optimized lol.

[@fromaguez]

13:01 i remember this ui when i first got my one s (7 years already damn), i still use it to this day

[@superpete1988]

I remember being mad at the NXE update. I had a halo comic theme for the blades, each blade had a different picture. When the NXE update went live, it gave me 1 static background instead

[@edmartinez925]

I love the blade dashboard for the Xbox 360.

[@whitecheddar1972]

Snap feature was the best I wish they would bring it back! I used to love watching tv and playing games at the same time

[@Thornskade]

I use Blades as a KODI skin and I love it. Sometimes I think I should learn how to create KODI skins and re-enact the Nxe dashboard since it looks pretty sick. And for some strange reason I have some nostalgia for it despite never having owned an Xbox. I think it's because I started watching KZbin reviews of games before I bought them at the time, and if the reviewer was playing on Xbox I'd see this dashboard.

[@gucci1131]

I miss the 360 blade system, so much nostalgia

[@J_C_CH]

I remember the beacons. I can't not remember them, because every time I opened a game I was given a reminder that some obscure player at the bottom of my friends list wanted people to play that game with them 😂

[@TheFailLord72]

2:53 greatest shooter simulation ever created. Just hadda note incase anyone forgot.

[@Challffz]

When I was a kid I used to think the classic xbox menu is what the inside virtual world of the xbox actually looked like haha

[@gaminglaboratory911]

I remember all of these

[@pickle3116]

For me the Xbox one’s 2nd and 3rd dash board are so nostalgic for me

[@DaeXbx]

Man I loved the original, the og hit different

[@decm8]

I miss the snapped apps feature, I used to snap tune in radio n listen to tunes while playing games

[@kevinlee6003]

I think almost all of us hated the Xbox One 2013 dashboard... but we all miss snap. I used to snap youtube and listen to music while playing my games. Loved it

[@AvZTeamCOD]

Well you can use Spotify while playing your favorite games !!

[@Relaxed008]

Man the 360 just wins everything for me, goat system

[@jeremiasgonzalez2622]

I remembered the Xbox One Snap feature. I really enjoyed it but only used it for one thing tho. I would hook up the cable box HDMI to my Xbox and snap it on the side to watch the Simpsons when FXX would have their block of episodes. Remember watch the show and playing Destiny at the same time, multitasking. Lol But once they got rid of the feature, I stop having cable so there wasn’t a total loss. Plus now I can watch the Simpsons anytime streaming on Disney + and play Destiny 2 on my pc. Crazy how times have changed.

[@thezerastora]

4:50! Look it’s my car XD

[@ryekia]

I never had problems with snap. The only complaint I remember hearing is that it felt like it would slow it down. But I never had crashes.

[@MCSWAG]

It felt like I was being haunted by my Xbox as a child, I had it on late at night and I hear 1:55 I didn't know what to think🤣🤣

[@asherb5134]

Good I loved that Xbox nxe design so nostalgic and fresh

[@SocksFC]

You can still sort of get a leftover of Blades if you have an Xbox Live Arcade Compilation Disc and put it in 360. However on One/Series it'll only download whatever included games are backwards compatible

[@pandaheadcjr]

7:41 OMG ITS KORN🔥🤟

[@edmartinez925]

At 6:03 I just noticed a coincidence that Xbox Avatars debuted exactly 2 years after their Nintendo counterparts the Miis.

[@MishraArtificer]

I'm still shocked that, when I bought the Master Chief Collection when it finally came to PC, it remembered my username from the original Combat Evolved PC multiplayer...

[@xxHANNONxx]

The OG Xbox has my favorite dash of all time.

[@V1VISECT6]

you forgot the 2010 NXE update for when the S launched. I don't blame you I just remembered it myself.

[@meawesomemax3947]

I have 3 NXE dash consoles I've collected about 20 consoles so far I feel like they are going to go up in price eventually

[@demetriusb.7885]

The Original Xbox 360 Dashboard is dope

[@Magic_dawn]

Looking at the 2001 and 2005 dashboards feel like a dream from the past that left us too quickly. Its disheartening that we won't get to live that time ever again. We really don't appreciate what we have until it's gone.

[@Razgriz_01]

Miss the original Blades dashboard from the 360. The current xbox UI, you can tell it's inspired by streaming services.

[@loafcat9944]

I grew up playing on 360, even if i didn't play on a og, im still in the XBOX family, and that will NEVER change

[@VantaBlacknWhite]

The first Xbox 360 dashboard with all colors tabs!

[@Braves2Dawgs]

I miss the 2015 UI so much…it was perfect

[@deadzero364]

I want the Xbox 360 dashboard for Xbox series X it was such a classic

[@altaccount8749]

I miss the blades but 2009 had the quick dashboard which was like a mini blade yo and I used that more often.