New Xbox 360 Experience hands-on and impressions
By Joshua Topolsky 
posted Oct 29th 2008 12:01AM
posted Oct 29th 2008 12:01AM
User interface
The first thing you'll notice is that this new interface looks nothing like what you've known. Gone are the EXTREEEEEEEEME GAMERRRRR "blades" from the previous iteration of software -- they're now replaced with sparse "channels" containing "slots" of live content. The look is sophisticated and spacious, with soft gradients, smooth fades, and classy design touches throughout. From a visual standpoint, the NXE is roughly ten million times more pleasant and accessible than the previous version. For families weighing this and the Wii come holiday season, a lot of this will be tremendously appealing... especially those avatars (more on that in a moment). There are a variety of swappable themes which skin the entire system -- nothing drastic, but a handful of handsome backdrops and color palettes that should please most users. You'll surely see a slew of this content hitting when the NXE is in wide availability.
Navigating the new Dash is simple. You jump up and down with the control stick through channels, and move side to side in slots. Slots contain all manner of content, though they tend towards animated promos and the occasional video (sound kicks on if you move over something in playback). Users can duck into and out of content with X and B buttons, as you'd expect. If you're a stickler for those blades, you can still get a mini version of them (quick access from wherever you are) by tapping the Xbox Guide button.
Beyond the look, what's notable is the speed of the system. There's no lag at all when moving from channel to channel or through the slot content -- and even hitting one of the bumpers, which flies through left-to-right slot data, is super speedy. If people complain you've got an instant gratification problem, you're going to love the NXE.
Avatars
The comparisons of the NXE's avatars and implementation to the Wii's Miis will be unavoidable. We'll just call it like we see it -- Microsoft is making a play for that moneyed "casual gamer" audience and hoping to stoke deeper user engagement by stealing a trick from Nintendo... and who can blame them? Like Miis, the avatars are adorable, cartoonish, huggable bundles of virtual joy that will have kids oooh'ing and mommies pocketbooks' hitting the counter. Like Miis, they can be customized with different facial features, heights and weights, though the NXE adds jewelry, clothing, and other accessories to the mix. While the characters don't give you exactly the same kind of customization you're used to on the Wii, they sport a pretty wide range of options, and most users should find something to like. Reps from Microsoft tell us they'll be adding avatar content as they go, as well, such as game-related clothing and accessories.
The avatars aren't just static, either -- they can be incorporated into games (like Scene It? Box Office Smash), feature animations that can be triggered with the controller, and are used to interact with friends in the dash. Bonus? You get to take driver's license-style snapshots of your character for your profile picture.
Netflix
This is one of the big daddy features as far as we're concerned, and the two companies have pulled off this integration to near-perfection. The Netflix slot is offered in the "Video Marketplace" channel, and takes you speedily to an app which allows you to shuffle through movies in your queue. Unfortunately for right now, you can only add selections on a computer -- we hope that they expand the service to allow for adding and deleting choices right from the console. Once you've made your selection, you get a screen of info about the movie or TV show where you can also change its star rating. Once you jump into the content, the service determines your play quality based on bandwidth and transports you to the player. The player boasts a "scene" rewind and fast forward which Netflix is using in its Silverlight player, a nice touch that skirts around the narrow pipeline.
Video quality was excellent on our end, with SD content looking terrifically watchable. A small perk -- but huge deal as far as we're concerned -- is the inclusion of a limited amount of HD content. We previewed Heroes in HD, and the quality was stunning. Right now there's only about 300 titles on offer, but we think after folks get a taste of this, they'll be begging for some expansion.
With the inclusion of the service for Gold members, it's clear the system is moving further outside of the straightforward gaming realm into a larger market. This combo has loads of appeal.
Friends channel
The NXE greatly expands on the interactivity between you and your Xbox LIVE friends. Now there's a channel dedicated to viewing their current activities and avatars which also gives you options to ping them with messages or invite them into a party, all in a glorious, quasi-3D setting.
The party mode is interesting because it allows you to join up with friends engaged in different activities or games, all the while keeping a conversation going. You can invite people into games or simply talk to them while you're in separate games (or not playing at all), and it endeavors to keep parties together even if you're logged out for an update. The system isn't quite perfect yet -- but there's loads of potential for it, and generally its implementation was solid. Where it succeeds most is limiting that break in flow when you want to change up titles, or someone needs to take a quick break, and it makes planning activities far easier.
Marketplace
The Marketplace for content and games hasn't drastically changed, but it's much easier to find what you're looking for and see how it connects to what you already have. You can now browse for titles alphabetically, by genre, or by more esoteric groupings like "most popular." Game titles now have virtual boxes with art, give you full screen sample pictures, and skin the background when you browse. Regardless of how they dress it up though, it's now a pleasure instead of a chore to find content, and it puts an end to the mess that was the Marketplace.
An emerging component of the Marketplace seems to be the Community Games slot, which allows XNA developers to distribute their games in an App Store-like environment. The inclusion of this as a feature in the NXE gives the impression that Microsoft hopes to stoke an all-in, user-created-content fire, and we're definitely for that. Right now there's not a load of games on offer, but we assume as they work up to the November 19th release, this slot will seriously flesh out.
The guts
When we spoke to Marc Whitten, general manager of LIVE and one of the driving forces behind this update, he made it clear that this wasn't just about surface -- this is an overhaul inside and out. The team has revamped this platform to not just look pretty, but has changed its core functionality. The NXE now operates more like an OS rather than a closed set of static panes -- developers can build off of it with apps like Netflix and Photo Party, and the long view is that what we see now is just the tip of the iceberg.
On top of the beautification and betterment of the Experience as a whole, the team has also continued to embrace its core gamer market by adding in new features like the ability to copy games to the hard drive -- which the company claims cuts down load times by 30 to 50 percent (and kills system noise by 7dB). In our experience (and the experience of other gamers we know), the load times weren't as noticeably cut as we'd like them to be, but there's a definite bump in speed for segues, and we're not exactly complaining.
Wrap-up
Overall we're highly impressed with what Microsoft has done. This isn't just PR-speak or phony praise -- the company has demonstrated a tremendous understanding of the needs of the market and its customers, both with this software update, and the recent price cuts on the low-end Xbox 360 packages. If this is "just the beginning" -- as the team claims it is -- we're going to see some pretty exciting stuff in the future. For now, however, the combo of rock-solid, next-gen game console, multi-tiered entertainment delivery system, and robust social networking engine leaves little to be desired. Let's just hope that developers can live up to the system's potential.
Further reading
Hit up Joystiq's massive video expose of the whole thing. Just follow these links to the multi-part feature:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
wow it looks wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitastic!
The avatars? That's about the only thing. I think overall it looks pretty good, but to be honest I don't really care.. I spend about 1/16 of my time in the Dashboard. If this makes me spend more time in it, then I guess they did something right, right?
No! If it makes your spend more time in it they're doing something wrong. The idea is to play games, if the interface that lets you get to the games takes up any more of your time than necessary it's not doing it's job.
/my opinion.
Seems like a ripoff of the PS3's XMB, crossed with Nintendo's Mii, and Apples CoverFlow...
A poor mans Home...
If anything its almost exactly their Windows Media Center interface* with more 3d polish.
*From 2004
sorry to say yes it is a very gui interface i am sorry but i have grow to like the other original 360 dashboard and if they can it be nice to change the dashboard like a skin that way everyone is happy but like that is going to happy with microsoft they are not like burger king you do not get it your way.
I'd say it's kinda an XMBii.
Its REALLY REALLY STUPID.
#1 They should have simply improved the GUI of the regular OS - this shit takes longer to load.
#2 I specifically don't want a wii because its childish - then they go pull this shit on me.
#3 Its bricked countless 360's.
#4 More menus and more navigation = more confusion.
With this being a "new experience" and a focus on a larger spectrum of users, I'm surprised nothing was mentioned of the Media Center Extender features...even if they haven't changed.
Oh my God!! Engadget giving a Microsoft product a good review? The world must be coming to the end...
HE'S A GIZMODO IMPOSTER! BURN HIM!
here's my impression of a gizmodo post
[click link to see impression]
Damn I replied to the wrong person, lawl.
they didn't compare it to an iPhone either, I wonder what's going on with engadget....
Didn't anyone notice that their avatar looks like Steve Jobs?
@Stephen: No.. not really.. given that El Jobso is bald..
I thought it looked a bit like Gordon Freeman personally!
Yeahh.... Freeman!
When some one tells me " hey, this isn't just PR spin"...I get VERY worried.
I'm REALLY excited about the Netflix stuff!!! Talk about one box that does it all!
I completely agree, Microsoft is definitely taking a step in the right direction with this, one thing I love is being able to stream media from my computers to my 360.
I hope they continue down this path. Let's see some more codecs native to the box, let's see a first party HD enclosure instead of fixed space drives or the ability to actively use USB media for game saves and downloaded content. How about a web browser?
I think the 360 has a lot of unused potential as a media center device, and Microsoft stands to make a lot of money (and a lot of people very happy) if they use it.
I'm really excited about the Netflix feature as well! The only thing I wish is if Netflix had an unlimited streaming plan only. I don't have a Netflix subscription right now and the only reason why I would get one now is because I will soon be able to stream from my Xbox. Therefore a cheap plan with only unlimited streaming would definitely get me to sign up (since I have no need to rent DVDs).
This was a great deal for both Microsoft and Netflix since i wouldn't have thought of getting a Netflix subscription before this and I'm sure there are many Netflix subscribers who are thinking of getting an Xbox because of this.
Jeff,
The cheapest unlimited plan is $9.95 I believe. Is that too steep to have unlimited access to thousands of movies? What do you expect?
Yes, I understand that the cheapest is around that price, but that includes 2 DVDs. Since I will have no need for those DVDs it would be great if Netflix could have a plan for streaming only. I'm not saying that the plan is incredibly expensive, I'm just saying that since the cheapest plan comes with 2 DVDs, why not have an even cheaper plan which only has streaming for those not planning on renting DVDs?
jeff,
the 995 plan come with just one dvd. i have it and i know what you mean. i wish i never saw that dvd come in the mail. its pointless to wait for movies now.
Jeff, I did a quick look-see on the netflix site and found a streaming-only option. it just isn't marketed as much.
https://www.netflix.com/Register?mqso=80022054
It's listed at $7.99 /month
The one-dvd-at-a-time option is listed at $8.99 / month.
Interesting.
I personally don't think that 9.95 is too much to ask for this service and the 1 DVD at a time part is nice because not all movies are on the instant stream service.
I'm doubting that netflix is going to get into any less expensive service plans than that.
@ Jeff,
The article says that the Netflix service is included with Xbox Live Gold. That is, unless you don't have Xbox Live Gold. You do have Xbox Live Gold, right Jeff? Jeff?
Hmm nice find Jorvay. Except the only thing that bothers me is the wording. Is "StarzPlay" the name of their unlimited download content? If so it's interesting that they are offering it for only one dollars less than the 1 DVD at a time plan.
Matt, yes I do have an Xbox Live Gold subscription, but unless I am mistaken I don't think the Netflix feature will work unless you also have a Netflix subscription. But I do hope I am mistaken about this. Can someone please clarify? Will Netflix work with just a Gold subscription or will you also need to have a subscription to Netflix? Thanks.
Ok just to clarify I pulled this off of the Xbox website, "This movie-watching innovation will be available to Xbox LIVE® Gold members who are also Netflix subscribers, and will let those users enjoy streaming movies from Netflix on Xbox LIVE at no additional cost."
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/community/events/e32008/articles/0714-netflixteamup.htm
Live! Gold subscription + Netflix subscription = double pay = NO WAY!
I have a feeling we might see a browser in the future. I mean, they even said that developers can now make apps for the dashboard (aka netflix & photo party). Certainly a possiblity. I've had the NXE preview for a couple days now and I absolutely love it!
Wow Engadget AND Gizmodo posting NXE reviews within minutes of each other....do I smell 'press kit'?
No, you smell embargo.
What were you doing on gizmodo?
Slumming...
Nice!
when is it supposed to be widely released?
"the November 19th release"
reeadddd
which is my birthday :D woo hoo! what a nice gift
^^ low ranked for birthday celebration? wow, what have people become these days.
Duke Nukem 3D!! Brings back memories.
I remember when I was in like, the 3rd grade, and all my friends had the full version but I only had the demo. I was able to fake it until they started talking about weapons not accessible in the trial, I was TRAUMATIZED, f-ing traumatized! Good times, good times...
WOW I can't wait.
Looks very cool and Netflix should be a nice feature!
I really hope the menu system is not laggy like they say because it sure can be on the current system lol...
It's really late and I'm exhausted and very possibly could have missed something, by why did you guys vote Adam's post down?
"Like Miis, they can be customized with different facial features, heights and weights, jewelry, clothing, and more."
yeah i love the wide variety of clothing and jewelry i can choose from on miis
"Like Miis, they can be customized with different facial features, heights and weights, though the NXE adds jewelry, clothing, and other accessories to the mix."
I hope you feel dumb.
oh hey engadget thanks for editing the article after i said this and failing to mention it in any way therefore making me look like a moron
Damn it, I knew I should have signed up for that writer position when you guys had it open. If I had, I might have gotten some early NXE lov'n too. Then again it may have come with the nasty side effect of a blind love for all things Apple. Oh well, I guess I'll never know....
i love my 360, never had any problems with it, and this will make it 10 times better.
Lucky bugger.
Never had any problems with your 360!
BAH!
I've already sent mine in 3 times.
I SURVIVED THE RROD!
...at least for another month...
Looks good to me. I'm looking forward to this update.
Somehow they managed to make the Mii's even cheesier/uglier than Nintendo's creations, with less customisation. Overall the UI still has that garish chunky Microsoft style. What does Netflix offer that you can't get already?
Really? I like how they look more than the Mii's... Maybe because the head is smaller
That's what she said.
wow, is there ONE thing you didn't bash with that comment? Talk about hating....
Dude, we're all smartasses now and then and yeah sometimes stuff we say may be distasteful or cross the line a little, but it's just rivalry and personally I don't really mind it. However, your post seemed genuinely bitter and resentful. Regardless of what console I think is best or which company I rally behind, I'm still happy when I see ANY console get an upgrade, especially one that adds cool new functionality. Reading how excited people are, and also reading the hating, makes me remember that gamers used to at least respect each other, even if they didn't agree with each other. Shit, people need all the joy and distraction they can get with all the crap that's going on, and it's fricken' free, which at the moment also really helps. Thumbs up and enjoy it people... and the next time you see a cool update for another platform, leave a little "congrats" or "happy for you" instead of bashing it and trying to minimize it.
@Valicore
Since when Xbox Live is free?
@Shinigami: Xbox live silver costs nothing, you just cant play games, but the update is for EVERY XBOX 360 out there.
next thing you know, theyll have xbox fit
say hi to your mother for me
And what was that crap about "rock-solid, next-gen game console"? It's still the least reliable current console by quite some margin. Disc scratching is as big an issue as it ever was with publishers including Microsoft charging upwards of $20 for DVD replacements and there's still so many cases of RRoD popping on Xbox fansites when they're not working their hardest to cover them up. Why don't Xbox 360's that were manufactured with a known design fault have a lifetime warranty? It's amazing that Microsoft can get away without a recall or lifetime warranty. Light or even extended period non-users will have their 360 break down after the warranty extension.
Disc Read Error? Scan lines? At least they try to fix it and even extended our warranties for free. What does $ony do? Oh yeah, it's a "feature."
Right, 'cause that class action lawsuit had nothing to do with it.
has anyone else read through this guy's post history?
Look, it's cool that you like Sony. You like Sony? I created Entourage!
I don't have a PS3 or a PSP, but I can give credit where it's due. I thought the latest upgrade to the PSP was really slick, and PS3s home shows lots of promise.
I can be amazed at Little Big Planet or WipeoutHD. And then I go home, play Wii/360/DS, and I'm still happy.
What is the issue? I think the NXE has a lot of potential, and I always thought that the blades interface was clunky. You don't have to love the 360, but this is a step forward.
You seem like the type of guy who enjoys kicking puppies into burning orphanages while stealing candy from babies.
Well what a great review, first off and wow, what a great revamp of the systems dashboard, I'm looking forward to the update, re newing my gold subscription and probably going to start taking advantage of the movie features more often now +2
I'm trying to find out about Zune/mp3 player integration. Any word on how that works? Am I to assume media streaming works just as well, if not better?
Everything that I've read has said that no existing functionality is being removed. So I would assume that Zune integration should be as good as it was before. Although being a Zune owner my self, I'm hoping that there will be some new features in this area.
After Netflix (woohoo!) I'm interested in Zune integration the most. As much as I love my Zune, it just doesn't work well with the 360. If I use Media Center to play music I can't access my subscription tracks and when I use the media player in the dashboard I can play by subscription tracks, but I can't play my lossless tracks (plus there's no album art). And I really can't wait until I can play all those It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia episodes I've downloaded on my 360 on my Zune. That would be sweet!
I can see it now, t will start out slow, but it will eventually transform into THERE.com type of community. Buying clothes, jewelry, socializing in certain environments, etc...yep. Oh, yeah, you'll eventually get a pet Avatar, I'm sure.
Sounds like HOME.
For those of you that like the design from a layout perspective (up and down to choose Channels, left and right to choose Slots), but dislike the heavy dose of cheesiness with the avatars and dated overuse of gradients, you might consider using the PS3 UI.
The NXE is basically a direct ripoff of the XMB, only the XMB uses left and right to choose menus and then up and down from there. It also looks a ton better.
Disclaimer: not a fanboy, owner of all 3 platforms since launch.
and if you knew anything about ms's products you would see this has much more in common with vista media center than xmb. and from what ive seen of it so far nxe is going to run circles around the xmb (and vmc for that matter).
well it kind of reminds me of the twist interface that is on the Zune, which a lot of people praised the Zune for. However, PSP did have the XMB before Zune was released right? Yes. But then again, Windows Media Center was before the PSP which is pretty similar...so it apears Microsoft has been playing around with the type of interface since before Sony's XMB, unless there's something I don't know about.
Yep, they've borrowed from all of the right places - Nintendo obviously, Apples Coverflow and Sony has been perfecting the left/right up/down xmb since the PSP 1.
This all looks great, especially Netflix HD and could be a big winner this holiday season.
If this update wasn't going to be so nerfed outside of the US, I'd be more stoked...
Okay...I'm still stoked...but just sad that Netflix won't come to Canada and any of the extra Avatar content will probably also be greatly diminished here (like Gamer Pics and themes are now). Maybe one day MS will remember there's a whole world out there outside of the US and give the rest of us the same functionality since we're paying just as much. A company that big can certainly afford to jump through any of the necessary hoops.
If I wanted a wii, I would have bought a #%$ wii...
Personally, if anyone ones to start a class action lawsuit on behalf of anyone that ever paid for a theme for their XBOX, I'm in.
Sickening. Seriously sickening from the paid for themes that are apparently now worthless to the disgusting avatars...
Could Nintendo save us all some pain and launch an look and feel infringment lawsuit against MS to stop them from launching this monstrosity - PLEASE?
To think I had previously considered a second xbox for the house....
You do realise that themes will still work (http://gamerscoreblog.com/team/archive/2008/09/26/ntmsxe.aspx) and Avatars are optional - making both of your points moot.
That makes NO SENSE. You can go ahead and sue them, but I seriously doubt you could even get a lawyer to litigate it. What are you gonna do? March into the lawyers office and tell them you wanna sue because the added new features? If you don't like the new features, then pretend they don't exist and don't use them.I suspect that the real problem is that you like to think of yourself as an against the trend über-gamer, and are afraid your weak self-image will collapse should the Xbox gain wider appeal or popularity.
are you serious?
haha that was probably the most ridiculous thing I have read all day.
Dude! calm down your themes are still there. And they look just as good if not better. Why do people complain and not know what they are talking about?
Also, enough with the griping on who stole what. Its a menu sytem for god sakes. There are only so many ways to browse menus with a directional pad.
The Avatars are fine the way they are and if I remember correctly, initially when the Mii's started there was a bare minimum of costumes for them to wear.
Playstation home? Don't get me started on that. Publishers have enough trouble just getting good games for the system. I guess if they get it working I can use to mine to do something else other than watching Blu-Rays.
I love it when people bring up the CoverFlow thing without saying/realizing that Apple bought the technology from another company. Also, people seem to think that pictures that scroll sideways always look like CoverFlow. I think that CoverFlow is useless for the purpose that Apple intended it for but the idea on the NXE looks much better.
Actually my modded xbox with XBMC has had this feature for several years. So I wonder where Coverflow got the idea from.
I agree with many people, a step in the right direction for Microsoft. They are updating which is just fantastic. This new interface is just fantastic looking, it really looks like it has depth and will be a much more pleasurable interface. Sure it may work similarly to PlayStation 3 and have Avatars that are compared to the Miis.. but isn't that how business works? You take what someone else sells, make it better, and outsell the competitor.
Seeing as how they changed the way the dashboard's internals run, this could open up a new possibility of an exploit....
If I could ditch my original xbox (which I have used EXCLUSIVELY for XBMC for 3-4 years) and dual boot my 360 with MS Dash/XBMC, I would be so happy, especially because it would handle decent HD instead of choking like the Xbox 1.
Praying to the hacker/dev gods...
About time they did what PS3 was doing, I can't wait to check this out.
Eric
This is all very exciting but being as i neglect to live in the U.S. of A. no Netflix for me. Has Microsoft said anything about trying to garner similar partners in other markets?
Also, as asked above, are there any codec updates for streaming stuff from the computer?
I really want to know how msn will work in the nxe. I hope it's better than the current implementation on the xbox. Also I hope Microsoft decides to partner up with some other companies like netflix outside of the USA.
I can certainly understand why the younger Steve Jobs avatar is saying "Cruise missile".
This one looks nice, and I'm looking forward to it, but what exactly was EXTREME about the blades? A colored background with a white border? That just screams "gamer" to me!
well, if developers can build "apps" off of it then I want a Zune blade that mimics the interface of the PC software.
i could give a crap about the interface. I want to know if my Xbox can now do these four things:
Can I have video calls with Windows Live Messenger?
Can I stream from DLNA servers?
Can I stream .divx containers without having to use a USB thumb drive?
And will it finally support subtitles in some form with Divx ultra?
"Can I have video calls with Windows Live Messenger?"
That is the only feature I am really waiting for... amazing, that a company has so many products doing the same thing and they are not able to communicate with each other.
The 360 can already stream divx over a network. All you have to do is set up said folder as Shared.
No word on any extra Vista Media Center features?
I personally don't want this on my x-box, I think the blades are much better looking and they do exactly what I need. I don't have a friends list because I don't play multiplayer games and netflix is worthless to me as I'm in the UK.
The only feature from this update I like is the ability to "install" games. The rest of it just looks like the bastard offspring of the PSP and Wii interfaces to me.
DO NOT WANT!
your "i have no friends" problem probably isn't just related to your lack of multiplayer gaming, but more likely due to your narrow minded outlook on what this update possibly means. more family/wii appeal mean that more people might buy the 360 and upped user base means that more developers will code for it and in the end, the more games you will be able, from november 29th, to install onto the hdd. i can live with avatars popping up every now and again and if it turns out i can't then i'll select the "load disc on statup" option and use the mini-blade from now on, problem solved. as for me? i don't have any online friends because i am a self righteous git, but that's just the way the cookie crumbles: patato vs patato as they say...
did you ever consider the fact that you're the exception and not the rule?
Lots of people play online. You don't, and that's fine. There are lots of Live users who would benefit from this. It looks like game management (arcade titles, downloads, etc.) have been made better too.
What happens to all our Themes we got (paid for) or got free?
I'm guessing Themes won't really work?
I'm with you Max, I really like my theme, it goes with my box and having to change everything and deal with the updated nxe is crap
Themes work even better on the NXE. you can check out some pictures online. Dont worry.