Summary
- An Xbox fan accidentally erased the nostalgic Blades dashboard.
- The Xbox 360 with the Blades dashboard is slowly becoming extinct.
- To preserve the classic UI, players should avoid connecting their console to the Internet and refuse any downloads that may be triggered by games.
An Xbox 360 fan acquired a classic version of the popular console, but accidentally updated it, erasing the Blades dashboard in the process. When the Xbox 360 first launched, it did so with the Blades dashboard, a unique set-up that many remember fondly. There have been calls for Xbox to bring back the Blades dashboard in some capacity, but nothing to that effect has actually been announced at the time of this writing.
One of the reasons fans have called for the return of the Blades dashboard is the fact that it is slowly becoming extinct. Microsoft completely replaced the Xbox 360 Blades dashboard with a system update just three years into the console's lifespan, dubbed the New Xbox Experience, or NXE. If Xbox 360 users wanted to keep playing online, they were forced to download the NXE user interface. One day, it's likely that all Xbox 360 consoles with the Blades dashboard will either be overridden with the NXE, or they will suffer from the Red Ring of Death.
Because of this, Xbox 360 consoles with the Blades dashboard are highly sought-after by fans. One such fan, Reddit user Asleep-Sprinkles-760, recently purchased an Xbox 360 Arcade Edition for £175. They tested the console with a few games, including the beloved Xbox 360 shooter Halo Reach. Upon putting Reach into their console, they were prompted to download an update. They mistakenly thought that the update was for the game, as opposed to the console itself, and so accepted the update before realizing what was going on. This downloaded the NXE onto their 360 and erased the Blades dashboard.
Gamer Accidentally Deletes Xbox 360 Blades Dashboard
Asleep-Sprinkles-760 was devastated that they accidentally erased the Blades dashboard from their system. They packaged the console for storage, saying, "I can't even look at it anymore." They said that it will be staying in its box until they recover from the trauma.
While it's unlikely that the Blades dashboard will ever make a proper comeback, it's always possible Microsoft will pay tribute to it in some other way. There have been various Xbox backgrounds that have nodded to the Xbox 360 era, giving nostalgic fans the chance to take a trip down memory lane every time they boot up their Series X/S console. Maybe a future Xbox 360 background will shine a light on the beloved Blades dashboard, but that remains to be seen.
In the meantime, anyone that happens to acquire an Xbox 360 with the Blades dashboard intact should be careful not to connect to the Internet and not to accept any download options that may pop up when trying to play games on it.
