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The New Xbox Experience Review

Posted on November 14, 2008 
Filed Under Computers/Tech, Gaming
Tags: , , , , ,

The New Xbox Experience (NXE) is quite the reimagining of the overall user interface system we have been accustomed to for the past three years. I was lucky enough to have been selected to be one of the preview program participants and have spent some quality time with the new dashboard so I figured that I would share some of my thoughts. There are some similarities to be found, but oh so many differences and changes for the better – so let’s get into it.

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What to like about the NXE:

These are the features that I feel add the most to the overall 360 experience. You may have noticed that I did not highlight the Avatars feature. The reason being is that I don’t feel this is a feature that currently adds a whole lot to the overall interface utilization. I know there will be more to come with regards to Avatars, but for me it is currently not that big of a deal. This said you will need to choose, create, and/or customize an Avatar when you first get into the NXE. The process is easy and intuitive though the variety of choices is a bit limited. However, I am sure this will change significantly after the official launch with new clothing and the like being made available.

Now onto one of my favorite NXE features, the new and improved guide featuring similar functionality to the original blade style interface. This is quite literally your one stop shop for quick access to just about everything including your friends, your media, the Live Marketplace, system settings, etc. The best thing about it is that it’s available no matter where you are, in game, watching a video, listening to music, or even utilizing the Media Center Extender functionality of the 360. Overall I found that getting from one area to the next was far more efficient and I feel that this feature will be the most utilized by far.

Another feature worth noting is the new Live Marketplace which offers far more detail than before. When you select an item to view you are now presented with such things as enhanced descriptions, screen shots (for game content), and quick links to related content. Additionally, you can now search for content alphabetically which does make it easier to find content specific to games, as well as movies and other items of interest. In all this makes for a greatly improved experience that will only get better with the ability to also find and purchase Marketplace content via Xbox.com, of which your 360 will then download the next time it connects to Live.

What I think should be added:

Of course there is probably a list of a million other things that everyone would like to see and supposedly we will see far more frequent improvements and features added in the future as a result of the NXE update. This is a good thing!

There are a host of new features that are too many to even begin to sum up here, but overall I am very impressed with the NXE and what it brings to the 360. It is a reinvention of the system in many ways and I think the benefits and improvement are quite significant. With the official launch coming in just a few days, we all have a lot to look forward to, as I truly feel that Microsoft is becoming ever more attuned to the wants and needs of the core gamer demographic as well as media enthusiast.

|Xbox.com|

Chris

Image Source: Flickr - Major Nelson


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