# 721 - Dish Home Games



## johnfmc345 (Jul 17, 2004)

Are there plans for a future software update to allow the games to be played with the 721?


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## Unthinkable (Sep 13, 2002)

johnfmc345 said:


> Are there plans for a future software update to allow the games to be played with the 721?


I'm sure there are, but its unlikely we'll hear an exact timeframe on when this may be implemented. It took a long time for the 50_'s to have all the Dish Home applications turned on. They were phased in gradually.


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## Mike D-CO5 (Mar 12, 2003)

I have posted this on several web boards but here goes again. I talked to a Dish advanced tech about the different dish home applications not working and he informed me that they are working. He said that I had probably a 721 that had a problem receiving the software update. I informed him, at the time, I had 3 /721s all bought at different times in the last year or two and How could they all have problems with the software? I also told him about the other people who have reported the same thing on these web boards . He said he would fill out an unusual trend report. He said that if I still didn't have them by the next time they did a software update on the 721 that I should call back. I think that if they update the software again in the 721 it just might turn on the rest of the applications including the games. OF course this month you get FREE GAMES on Dish home through July. Ironic, something free and we can't use it .


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## Guest (Jul 22, 2004)

I have the 721 and my games show up fine.


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## Mike D-CO5 (Mar 12, 2003)

Still no games on either of my 721s nor or there any other customer applications working. Yes I have done reboots and called Dish . They say that everything is working on the 721. I suspect another software update or maint software update will enable these in the future. It took a long time for the 508 to get the dish home applications working.


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## Jacob S (Apr 14, 2002)

On my 721 it says ATTENTION: A new DISH Interactive channel is coming soon when I select Playin' TV, KidsWise, PlayJam, and Fantasy Racing. For info on new channels, see the DISH Interactive link at dishnetwork.com on channel 100. I know that games could always be accessed by pressing --- >Menu >8 Interactive TV >1 Games --- but those are different games that are exclusive for the 721/921 in which do not use OpenTv.


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## Mike D-CO5 (Mar 12, 2003)

Same here Jake. The dish techs keep telling me that all aplications on Dish Home work including the games ,customer apps etc. I keep telling them they don't and they should read this board in particular to see that other people are reporting the same thing as me.


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## Jacob S (Apr 14, 2002)

I didnt even know we had Dish Home as I dont really use it anyways so it was news to me. When I do use my DVR I usually go right to my DVR Events list and select a show and rarely watch live tv. Thats about all the time I have to do.


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## Unthinkable (Sep 13, 2002)

rsebolt said:


> I have the 721 and my games show up fine.


Here's the thing. We can play the incredibly simple games from the menu just fine.

Menu ---> 8 Interactive TV ---> 1 Games ---> 
Awele
Breakout
DefendGuin
Gsoko
Invaders
Pairs
Solitaire
Tuxmath
Xhyperoid

Its the games in Dish Home Interactive that aren't currently enabled that folks are mentioning in this thread looking at the title the original poster used.

Press the Dish Home button on your remote and choose 3) Games & Learning after it loads.

1) Playin' TV
2) KidsWise
3) PlayJam

5) Fantasy Racing

are all still non-functional on mine. The only thing thats working there is:

4) Trivia


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## Mike D-CO5 (Mar 12, 2003)

That is what we are saying . The dish home games do not work as well as the other customer applications. The 721 games are not what we are talking about. Dish is claiming that the Dish home games, etc, do work and that my 2 /721s are having bad software issues. I suggest that everyone who cares about the issue call and talk to a Dish tech and lodge a complaint. Untill they acknowledge that this is an issue they won't fix it.


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## finniganps (Jan 23, 2004)

What is the cost for these games and is it a monthly charge? How is it billed - similar to PPV?


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## joe127 (Jul 23, 2004)

Jacob S said:


> On my 721 it says ATTENTION: A new DISH Interactive channel is coming soon when I select Playin' TV, KidsWise, PlayJam, and Fantasy Racing. For info on new channels, see the DISH Interactive link at dishnetwork.com on channel 100. I know that games could always be accessed by pressing --- >Menu >8 Interactive TV >1 Games --- but those are different games that are exclusive for the 721/921 in which do not use OpenTv.


 I get the same error message about "a new channel coming" whenever I try to access the weather. Does anyone know for sure what should be working on the 721 with regard to the DISH Home interactive channel?


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## garypen (Feb 1, 2004)

You can always just tune to channel 9500.


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## Pepper (Mar 9, 2004)

why the heck would anybody who's reading this forum want those games anyway. That's what a real computer is for.


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## Jacob S (Apr 14, 2002)

I am able to retrieve the news functions on Channel 100.


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## Bill R (Dec 20, 2002)

Pepper said:


> why the heck would anybody who's reading this forum want those games anyway. That's what a real computer is for.


I have to agree with that statement. Satellite receivers just don't have the hardware (or software) it takes to do a good job with the games. Any attempt to add them just results in (at best) lame games and a poor user experience.


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## Mike D-CO5 (Mar 12, 2003)

The point is that if you are going to have Dish Home then ALL the applications should work. Why must every receiver Dish makes have something that doesn't work like it is supposed to? My 4 year old son likes the dish games and since we switched him to a 721 he can't play them any more. Dish is claiming that all the Dish home applications work. If that is true then why all the posts about the applications not working? Dish needs to fix it pure and simple whether you like the games or not.


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## Jacob S (Apr 14, 2002)

Sounds like another thing Dish does not want to admit that is wrong. If they are so confident that they work then perhaps the higher ups need to be contacted regarding this so they really know what is going on, if they dont know already. I would have thought that they would have already known about this.


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## FIRESTORM (Jul 8, 2004)

I just got my 721 installed this week and everything works for me.


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## joe127 (Jul 23, 2004)

FIRESTORM said:


> I just got my 721 installed this week and everything works for me.


 FIRESTORM (or anyone else who uses 721),

I also got my 721 up and running this week but several Dish Home functions such as the weather and a few other functions including some of the games give me the message "A new DISH Interactive channel is coming soon" when I select them. Do All of these work for you?
Thanks,
Joe


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## Steve Mehs (Mar 21, 2002)

garypen said:


> You can always just tune to channel 9500.


Depending on where you live, 9500 isn't an option. When I had Dish, accessing [Not So] Instant Weather via channel 9500 had far less cities then accessing it via Dish Home. Going to channel 9500 also caused about 50% of my many crashes and random reboots.



> What is the cost for these games and is it a monthly charge? How is it billed - similar to PPV?


It's a monthly charge, Playin TV is $4.99 a month, Kidswise is $2.99 a month, off hand I don't know the prices for the others, but I'm sure they're listed on Dish's website. Playin TV offers about 4 or 5 games that rotate on a weekly basis. The games are equivalent to Atari games, but with slightly better graphics. If you're board and in the mood for some simple 1 player games, go to Yahoo Games, or freearcade.com or the DBSTalk Arcade, Playin TV is just awful, I couldn't imagine paying for it.


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## Jacob S (Apr 14, 2002)

I wouldnt pay for any of the games or interactive functionality either because I have a computer to play all the free games I want but with those that dont have a computer that could be a different story.


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