Posted on Thu, 20 Nov 2008 17:00:00 PST -
With months of hype since its E3 announcement, the New Xbox Experience update was finally unleashed on Xbox 360s this week. In addition to instant Netflix movie streaming and a totally revised dashboard appearance, the NXE adds in the ability to create Avatars to represent you to friends and in some games. Now that everyone around the office has had some time to check out the new offerings, we've rounded up some of our editor's early impressions. We also grabbed some thoughts from 1UP users from our official forum thread on the New Xbox Experience. And even if your post isn't included, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.
Ray Barnholt - Staff Writer, MyCheats
I was hating on NXE when it was revealed at E3, but I've warmed up to it now that I've actually tried it. Its function far outweighs the form. There's much more stick-flicking to navigate the panels than there was on the old "blade" interface, but on the other hand, you do get more info from those panels, like screenshots and standard descriptions that can be read at a glance without a slowly-scrolling window. Hell, I'm even pleased that my Avatar turned out looking more like me than my Mii ever could. But my number one favorite feature? Erasing all those old zero-point games from my history! Finally, I am rid of the records of those crappy, ancient Arcade demos that I played for two minutes. One of my bigger gripes is that there should be better theme/color customization -- I downloaded a nice set of Mega Man backgrounds, but their mostly-white colors hide the category text in the upper left corner.
Daniel Perez - Files Editor, FileFront
Microsoft has completely reinvented how we interact with our gaming consoles with the NXE. The idea of a video game console updating itself through software to better the hardware is something that has been ongoing for quite some time due to the necessary inclusion of hard drives to our gaming consoles. Microsoft took that idea and decided to give gamers a completely new and refreshing experience. Menus are easier to navigate, online games are a breeze to join, and the inclusion of avatars gives the gamer their own identity within a massive community -- all while running on the same Xbox 360 hardware that was released three years ago.
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