In less than a month the redesigned Xbox 360 backend, dubbed New Xbox Experience (NXE), will be streamed onto your console. Screens of the redesign have been met with mixed reactions, leading some to argue over whether it looks simple or slick. Good job we're here to clear things up.
The press have used it before, but no-one's been able to properly sit down with the New Xbox Experience and extensively test it. Until now. Here are 30 things we didn't know before.
The first time you boot up the New Xbox Experience you'll be treated to a fancy HD promo movie, which is little more than Microsoft showing off its CGI skills. It begins with an Xbox Guide button "activating", followed by lots of 3D-wizardry, fireworks, mountains and epic music.
As you can see in the screenshots, the new Dashboard scrolls both horizontally and vertically. Vertical menu items include Welcome, Spotlight, Game Marketplace, Video Marketplace, My Xbox, Friends and Inside Xbox.
Horizontal menus display dynamic content, such as the latest demos or movie releases, while picking the first option takes you 'deeper' into Marketplace or your Games Library to view properly indexed content.
It looks and animates very slick. Game and Video content is now displayed with proper game box art, movie posters or in the case of music videos, album covers.
In the final build some items boxes will be fully animated, so you'll be able to see five seconds of PES loop in the PES 2009 demo box, for example.
We like the new sound effects. They sound less aggressive than those on the current dashboard, and the "powering up" sound effect for the new Xbox Guide is brilliant.
The new Dashboard has extra resolution options over the old one.
Text input menus are now cleaner and very, very blue. Though the colour may or may not change dependent on themes.
The pulsating indicator in the bottom right of the screen is used to indicate your current connected status on Xbox Live. The gamertags of your current friends party are displayed in the top right.
360 owners who enjoy a nice de-stressing speed-slide through the blades should be very excited by the 'whoosh' potential in the NXE; using the triggers and the left and right bumpers you can swiftly slide through both horizontal and vertical menus. Whoosh!
On the Friends tab the 3D backgrounds change depending on which Theme you're using. The Default theme had giant Xbox pads, guitar amps and spaceships in the background, where as the 'Night' theme puts urban scenery, alley ways and police cars in the background.
Third party publishers will be able to to change Friend Tab Backgrounds and all NXE content in themes when they have the new dev tools. Microsoft wouldn't tell us if these have shipped yet.
The Spotlight tab displays dynamic content dependent on your Xbox habits. If for example you download lots of movies, the Spotlight will display the latest Video Marketplace downloads it thinks you will like. If you play lots of shooters, it'll recommend the latest Ghost Recon demo, for example.
The My Xbox tab lets you manage your Avatar and profile settings - basically all of the options you find on the current Xbox Guide. Your played games and their achievements are also neatly displayed on the horizontal scroll with a new bonus feature; you can now delete played games you don't want displayed from your list, as long as you have 0 Gamescore on them.
The new Xbox Guide appears at the centre of the screen and looks slick. Tabs include Marketplace, Media (which lets you play music), Games (which shows related DLC to what your playing) and settings. Disappointingly, it looks like most of these require you to exit your game to access any content, including settings and Marketplace.
XNA Community Games will launch alongside the NXE on November 19.
Avatars have over 400 customisable clothing items, split equally between male and female, including shoes, tops, bottoms, jewellery, headwear, makeup and suits.
The Avatar clothing was designed by Fashion students in London, and put on screen by Warwickshire-based Rare, so it's a wholly-UK affair.
Avatars are wonderfully animated although hair a very airy, almost drunken movement to them. They're always happy.
Post-springtime Microsoft plans to extend the Avatar closet with more clothing items and the inclusion of real brands, such as designer labels or football kits, and items from publishing partners such as game-related t-shirts
Carry-able items are also coming post launch, including the possibility of Achievement-sensitive items such as Guitar Hero guitars for unlocking a certain World Tour Achievement.
In the current build (which is being updated daily) there are over 90 different hair styles, 45 types of eye, 18 noses and facial hair variants, 9 ears and almost 26 different types of eyebrow.
In the current build, the clothes selection isn't as extensive, with the number of t-shirts taking prominence over everything else.
In facial settings you can choose facepaint for your avatar, including army camo and skeleton paint.
One of the hair-dos is Princess Leia's famous 'buns' from Star Wars.
Using four buttons (and not sliders) you can make your Avatar taller, shorther, thinner and larger. There's also a button to make these settings "Average".
Selecting the Gamertag option on the Avatar customisation screen allows you to take a snapshot of your Avatar and then (you guessed it) use it as your avatar. You can spin your character around, zoom in and out and direct his head. Expressions cycle automatically (though you can change your mouth via customisation options) and you cannot take a snap of your Avatar's arse. We tried.
HDD installs for Xbox 360 games is said to speed load times by as much as 40%, although we didn't get to try this.
When NXE launches Xbox Live Marketplace will be accessible via PC, so you can set content do be downloaded onto your 360 remotely away from home.
Microsoft says its currently "exploring" music content on Xbox Live, most officially through Lips and Rock Band. But while there's no Music Marketplace yet, NXE still has Windows Media Centre functionality and you can stream your music onto the console.
Note: These NXE impressions are from the current still-in-development build, which is not final and being updated daily.
I think you got your title wrong... it should be 29 things CVG didn't know but everybody else did 2 months ago, oh and 1 thing nobody knew... a start-up movie.
30."Microsoft says its currently "exploring" music content on Xbox Live"....hopefully it will be a lot better than Media Player which is woeful for finding correct song titles and album artwork.A friend ripped an Alice in Chains cd to their HDD and tried to get album cover and song listing to match but all WMP came up with was Smokie - Living Next Door to Alice.Also failed to get correct info on a multitude of other cd's as well.
A new start up? Yes! That's actually good to hear because the one right now is so boring. As for these avatars, I was sold on 26 eyebrows. It all looks very polished so can't wait.
I'd rather the avatar stuff was in-game achievement-based rather than something you can buy.
In the case of Gears 2, for example, completing on Hardcore gets you a standard Lancer, Insane gets you a gold one. Normal gets you just a set of COG tags.
I'd still prefer a regular Lancer over a gold one though
these forums are full of whingers im sick of reading it!!!!
at least microsoft (and playstation for that matter) are constantly keeping our console updated with new and interesting features for FREE!!!!!(before anyone says it i know Ł40 a year!!!)
It looks bloody good and certainly a lot better than the very dull current dashboard.Avatars are gay but i bet you any money we will all be spending hours dressing our little crap men up in football shirts and chavved up kappa tracksuits!!!
As you can see in the screenshots, the new Dashboard scrolls both horizontally and vertically.
Just like the ps3
Game icons such as pes2009 will be animated
just like the ps3
thereare new avatars, characters that you design, and achievments unlock diferent things to wear, just like the ps3...its like the ps3 was planning to do that with home like a year ago and u microsoft wanna get it in before us so they just make some crappy, really low resolution avatar...lol alot of people are gunna be displeased about this.
The one thing I would like to happen is they change the sound slighty when Achievements are unlocked and when friends come online... at the present time, they both are the same noise! May only be a small thing but it can be a bit off putting for me then I'm trying to get that all important achievement... bling! "great! finally got it!! oh no.. it's only 'Big GGnk' coming online. may seems petty to some, but I can't be the only one who finds it a bit of a pain!
In the case of Gears 2, for example, completing on Hardcore gets you a standard Lancer, Insane gets you a gold one. Normal gets you just a set of COG tags.
As you can see in the screenshots, the new Dashboard scrolls both horizontally and vertically.
Just like the ps3
Game icons such as pes2009 will be animated
just like the ps3
thereare new avatars, characters that you design, and achievments unlock diferent things to wear, just like the ps3...its like the ps3 was planning to do that with home like a year ago and u microsoft wanna get it in before us so they just make some crappy, really low resolution avatar...lol alot of people are gunna be displeased about this.
Keep dreaming,Sonyboy. Just like you keep dreaming of that Miracle Comeback...
The new interface is OK. I'll get use to it. Hopefully the XBox 360 media compatibility has improved. I would much prefer better video file support that a new fancy interface.
The new x box360 live dashboard is really cool as supposed to the now outdated traditional dashboard yet i feel it is still in need of an internet browser like internet explorer7. The machine is made by Microsoft yet it doesn't even have there own internet browser it would be a competition blow to the other consoles and a much needed addition to an already pucka console also that new install to hard drive feature yet is a neat touch but the max hard drive is 120GB so a 200Gb hard drive would be welcome for all those memory crunching games
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