The New X-Box Experience

[Kekvit Irae]

Thoughts?

Personally, I don't like it. Sure, Netflix and being able to install the games you get (even though the playstation 3 had this feature long ago) are good, the menu system just seems too clunky and the avatars are too much of a ripoff of Nintendo's Mii characters.
Honestly, it should be called The Sims 2: X-box Live.

[Marius Dynamite]

I haven't downloaded it yet. The only thing I care about is the ability to install games and how quickly I can access the guide while playing the game. It's always been annoying waiting ages for the guide to come up just to read a quick message.

Hopefully installing the games will stop my Gears of War 2 disk from ripping apart my Xbox like the original did. Seriously whats up with those disks?

[Ferret]

Doesn't seem any different to me, and until I can figure out how to save games to the hard drive it was a waste of time downloading, I don't care what my avatar looks like...

[Praxil]

1. Lacks the ability to hide/not to do avatar. I'm too old for this "Sims" thing. Get outta here! Creating avatar is forced, I bow down to Microsoft's monopoly way of thinking.

2. Themes are useless, you can't even see them.

3. Only slight improvement on laggy speed of your dashboard.


On other hand.

1. Ability to make copy on your HDD.

2. Slightly faster dashboard to use.


That's about it.

7) Install to / Play from Hard Drive. With the game in the tray, return to your dashboard. (pressing the guide button then Y works as always) then go to My Xbox. From here press Y, which will bring up a new menu which will allow, among other things the ability to install a game to your hard drive.
Hint: You can still use the Xbox 360 guide while installing a game to keep in touch with your friends or start a Party.

Bonus: Before you do #7, be sure to set up what happens when you turn on your Xbox 360. My Xbox->System Settings>Console settings. Then choose Start up to to choose Disc, Xbox Dashboard or Windows Media Center. Once you are done there…check the option right below it: Autostart. This tell your Xbox 360 what to do when you insert a game. The choices are enable or disable. I have mine set to disable so I can easily use install to hard drive.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The New Xbox Experience is in the process of being deployed to all Xbox LIVE members, but it will take a few hours for everyone to get the prompt to update to NXE….be patient! In the meantime I thought I would give my Top 10 list of things to do with NXE when you get it later today:

1) Create (or Customize) your Avatar – You can spend as much (or as little) time as you want in the Avatar Editor to personalize your little guy/girl

Bonus: When you are done with #1, be sure to take a Gamer Picture of your Avatar. In the Avatar editor, choose Gamer Picture. You can use the controls to move your avatar around, zoom in and out or even change the background color (press Y)

2) Explore the all new dashboard. (hint: use the trigger and bumpers to quickly scroll up and down or left and right)

3) PAR-TAY! Check out Xbox LIVE Parties and chat with up to seven of your friends. Go to the Friends channel…choose a friend who is online and press Y to get the party started. You can also hit the Xbox 360 Guide button > Party >Start a Party. Once you do that, send off invites to your party (since one does not make a very good party…does it?)

4) Themes. While any themes you work will NXE, check out some of the new themes via My Xbox and select your profile (second slot) and then change theme. Xbox 360, Spectrum, Day and Night are new themes that available as part of your NXE upgrade…check them out.

5) Marketplace on Xbox.com. This new feature lets you search, browse, and purchase games and videos while you are away from your console. You can also perform account management functions like changing your billing information, viewing your purchase history, and downloading items you already own.

6) Netflix – Xbox LIVE Gold Member and you have Netflix? If you are in the US you can stream thousands of videos (some in HD) directly from Netflix to your Xbox 360. Not a member? Sign up for a free trial at Xbox.com/netflix

7) Install to / Play from Hard Drive. With the game in the tray, return to your dashboard. (pressing the guide button then Y works as always) then go to My Xbox. From here press Y, which will bring up a new menu which will allow, among other things the ability to install a game to your hard drive.
Hint: You can still use the Xbox 360 guide while installing a game to keep in touch with your friends or start a Party.

Bonus: Before you do #7, be sure to set up what happens when you turn on your Xbox 360. My Xbox->System Settings>Console settings. Then choose Start up to to choose Disc, Xbox Dashboard or Windows Media Center. Once you are done there…check the option right below it: Autostart. This tell your Xbox 360 what to do when you insert a game. The choices are enable or disable. I have mine set to disable so I can easily use install to hard drive.


8) Delete Zero Gamerscore games. You can remove any games from your games played list that you have earned no achievements or gamerscore. Press the Xbox 360– guide button, navigate left to the games section and choose Achievements. From here choose the game with zero gamerscore you want to remove and press X (Delete Game History.)

9) Press the Xbox 360 button on your controller to see the all new Guide. The team has added more functionality than the old guide, while making it more responsive. It’s a quick way to check your messages, see who is online or start a party.

10) Take a look at Community Games in the Games Marketplace. For the first time in the history of console gaming, thousands of games developed by the creative community will be available to the public.

http://majornelson.com/archive/2008/...xperience.aspx

[Kekvit Irae]

The only thing I've noticed about the Wii60's new install feature is that it no longer loads from the disk. Load times in Fallout 3 are, unfortunately, unaffected. I have yet to install other games to try it out, but I'm not very optimistic.

[Ferret]

Neither am I, I installed CoD5 onto the hard drive and you still need the disk in, the load times are the same and the machine still produces a stupid amount of noise.

The theme thing is annoying to, I paid for a theme IIRC, which I now cannot use...

[frogbeastegg]

I found this speed comparison between HD loading and the traditional DVD loading to be worth reading. Initial findings strongly suggest that a properly optimised game won't benefit much from HD loading. Halo 3 is actually slowed down! Multiplatform and less optimised releases may benefit more.

IGN had a video comparing noise levels. Vaguely intriging at best; it's heavily dependant on your console as some have quieter DVD drives while others have jet engines. I'd link to it but I can't find the page; I got to it via a link from another forum.