Thanks to a special blessing from the folks in Redmond, we've had an opportunity to thoroughly give the rejiggered Xbox 360 Dash (AKA, the New Xbox Experience) a serious run through, and we've got the lowdown on the future of your gaming life. As you probably already know from the numerous posts we've done and generally available info (Microsoft has been pretty forthcoming with this stuff), the Xbox team has completely revamped the Dash experience, giving the system not only a visual overhaul, but trashing the underlying tech and rebuilding things from the ground up. The result is a beautiful, intuitive interface which loses almost nothing from previous versions while adding a considerable new feature set to the mix. Read on for our first impressions.

Hints of a 60GB Xbox Live Starter Pack popped up in Europe in August, but according to GameStop and a leaked Circuit City ad, the $99 upgrade should land in American stores sometime next week. Just as we'd heard, the bundle will include three months of Live Gold, a wired headset, and a 60GB hard drive -- just the thing to meet that new 128MB New Xbox Experience storage requirement. Too bad Microsoft isn't going to discount this bundle quite as heavily as that $30 20GB package for Arcade owners, but we won't complain too loudly -- hell, if MS would just cut the price on that ridiculous $149 120GB unit, we'd be all smiles.

[Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]

You already know the Xbox 360 is getting new community features, a revamped dashboard, Avatars, and of course Netflix video -- all things we've been excited about since we saw them in action at E3 this year. There hasn't been much to go on since then, but we recently came across some short videos exhibiting Parties (which let users socialize and make plans while engaging in separate games and activities) and Avatar customization options; hopefully they'll hold you over until the features go live November 19th. We won't be held responsible for the brain deterioration caused by the vacuous marketing-speak accompanying the moving images, however. "It is where you get to enjoy entertainment -- that's the vision." Yes, it is.

Microsoft's New Xbox Experience has been pored over and dated, but now that Major Nelson has revealed it requires "at least" 128MB storage available to work, where does that leave suckers Core and Arcade SKU Xbox 360 owners? Enter the Xbox 360 Memory Upgrade Program, doling out free 512MB MU's or $20 20GB HDDs to Core owners, and a $30 20GB HDD + 3 months of Xbox Live package to Arcade owners looking to upgrade. November 19, Xbox Live becomes a storage-only affair (that goes for Netflix streams too, requiring 8MB of free space), so grab your serial number and console ID from the current Xbox 360 Dashboard and hit the registration website. Impressive customer service gesture to extend functionality for all, or more evidence of a short sighted and flawed dual-SKU launch plan that's cost gamers and developers alike? All we know for sure is we've probably figured out where the profits from those $149 120GB HDDs are going.

[Via NeoGAF]

Simmer down folks -- everything is going to be a-okay. Yes, 'tis true -- Microsoft has indeed scheduled for Xbox Live service maintenance and Zune service tweakage to take place at the exact same time this coming Monday, but it's probably not worth losing your mind over. In fact, Major Nelson goes out of his way to affirm that "when [Xbox Live] service returns, you will not have any new features and you will not have the new Xbox experience update." Point being, your Zune Social, Zune.net forums, all of the Zune Marketplace and Xbox Live services will be offline for up to 24 hours (48 hours for the Zune suite) starting at 12:01 PST on September 29th, but don't expect a Zunephone to pop out of your now-forgotten HD DVD add-on when things come back on. Or you can, but we'd be prepared for unprecedented disappointment.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Read - Xbox Live down time
Read - Zune services down time

Interesting that this didn't get announced at E3, but Games for Windows Live is now free for all. Yep, totally free, cross-platform multiplayer with the 360 included -- which obviously raises the question of whether Live will ever be free on Xbox. We think that's a pretty safe no -- unlike Games For Windows, Xbox Live actually makes money, which is pretty hard to turn down, and without a ton of competitive pressure from, say, Playstation Home, it's hard to see why Microsoft would turn that funtime cash fountain off. Still, there's always hoping, right?

We'd been getting pretty used to getting an Xbox 360 Dashboard updates every other season or so, but it looks like it's going to be a barren spring: there's no update coming this spring, according to Xbox Live manager Marc Whitten. In an interview with Next Generation, Whitten said that Redmond's focusing resources on "building the proper infrastructure and scale for the service" -- which hopefully means those Live outages will soon be a thing of the past. Whitten also said that the Live team is working on a Live DRM update that'll allow XBLA games to be re-licensed and played offline if you swap consoles, and that underperforming XBLA titles with Metacritic scores under 65 percent will be eligible for delisting. Sure, sure -- just make with that wacky motion-sensing controller soon, okay?

[Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]

Here's your heartwarming story for the day. Microsoft has teamed up with Companions in Courage in order to bring "hundreds" of Xbox 360 kiosks to children's hospitals across the nation, and the gaming stations have already been installed at Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of New York-Presbyterian, Children's Hospital & Regional Medical Center of Seattle and the Children's Hospital of Orange County, California. The customized units are "hospital-friendly" and come pre-loaded with a variety of E and E10+ rated games, Y-rated television programs, G-rated movies and the Xbox Live headset / Vision camera in order for gamers to play online. Speaking of, each kiosk is wired to a private Live network which "allows hospitalized children across the country to play games and chat" with each other. There's no word on where the stations are slated to arrive outside of the three venues already mentioned, but those interested in broadening the reach of the endeavor can feel free to donate to the cause.

[Via OhGizmo]

It wasn't all Zune gaming at Microsoft's GDC keynote this morning -- a lot of time was spent discussing Community Games, the new official name for XNA-based games. Amateur devs will get "creator identities" along with their gamertags, and Live members can rate, grade, and discuss your efforts. Of course, as we've heard, games can move from the 360 to PCs to second-gen Zunes, which is definitely pretty cool, but it'll be interesting to see what that means for devs who want to try and take advantage of the 360's horsepower -- will they be restrict their code to a specific platform? While we wait for those answers, it looks like we'll be able to get a taste of what Community Games have to offer right away -- Microsoft announced that the first seven XNA-based games are available immediately, with an open beta to begin in spring and full-on launch by the end of the year. List of games after the jump -- but what are you doing reading this when you could be playing?

Update: We just tried downloading RocketBall and the process is totally different than you'd expect. First you have to download the XNA Launcher, which is under New Arrivals in the Marketplace blade -- but you don't need a membership, so skip that, and the XNA ad that displays points you to the wrong thing, so ignore that as well. Then head over to the Games blade and select Games Library, but don't open the Launcher, cause it'll just kick you out. Instead, press Y to view the list of games and download one. So far the "YouTube of games" seems a bit convoluted -- hopefully the next Dashboard update makes this all a bit simpler.

Make no mistake, we've seen curious job postings lead to changes in our favorite gizmos before, and hopefully, a recent ad on Microsoft's website is no different. A listing seeking a Program Manager explicitly states that it's looking for someone to "be involved in the next release of Xbox," and wants that very individual to be "part of the Xbox Live team that's responsible for creating a completely new way for mainstream audiences to enjoy the Xbox and Live." Better still, the description suggests that the team would be "building the games, the console interface and logic, and the server support for a totally new Live experience." Granted, there's nothing more to go on than this at the moment, but we can't help but be a teensy bit excited about the notion of an overhauled Xbox Live.

[Via GamesIndustry]

It looks like we won't be seeing another barrage of Xbox Live status updates like we saw in the past few weeks anytime soon, at least as long as that little lawsuit is going on down in Texas. That unfortunate word comes from none other than Major Nelson, who said in his podcast that Microsoft can no longer update gamers on the situation due to "legal issues." Those constraints apparently even extend as far as the Major's Twitter page, leaving gamers in the dark in the event of yet another Xbox Live outage. In case you missed it, the lawsuit in Texas was filed after the outage in December by three disgruntled gamers, who claim that Microsoft knew activity would be at a peak during that time of year but "failed to provide adequate access and service to Xbox Live and its subscribers." No word on any progress in that suit just yet, but we're guessing that Microsoft and Xbox users alike are hoping it gets wrapped up as soon as possible.

[Via Xbox 360 Fanboy, thanks Jonathan]

Update: Microsoft may not be saying much about any future Xbox Live problems, but it is getting more specific about the free Xbox Live game its offering as a way of saying sorry. The game itself is Undertow, and it'll be available for download to Gold and Silver members starting next Wednesday at 2:00AM PST. Thankfully, according to Major Nelson, those that have already spent their hard earned points on the game can contact customer support who'll "take care of you." Just don't dally too long, as the free game will only be available though next Sunday.

While HD DVD and Blu-ray have both lost key supporters recently, Microsoft's Xbox Live Marketplace seems to just keep adding new content providers, this time bringing MGM and Disney-ABC Television Group to the fold. Conspicuous in that bothare exclusive Blu-ray supporters, Xbox 360 owners will -- later this month -- have access to ABC hits like Lost, Grey's Anatomy and Desperate Housewives in HD the day after they air. So far, MGM's announced just classic and catalog flicks like the Rocky series and The Usual Suspects, with "most" available in HD. Still looking for a Blu-ray add-on or built in HD DVD?

We can't say that we're shocked to hear this -- you know, considering just how long those Xbox Live holiday blues went on -- but Microsoft is indeed being slapped with a class action lawsuit over the aforementioned outages. Reportedly, a trio of angered Texans are alleging that Microsoft didn't abide by its own contract when network issues disallowed a good chunk of Live users from getting their fix over the past few weeks. According to the complaint, MSFT understood that the time of year would lead to increased activity, yet "failed to provide adequate access and service to Xbox Live and its subscribers." Of course, we're betting the Redmond-based lawyers point out that clause about not guaranteeing any minimum level of service, but who knows, maybe we'll all end up with two shiny new Arcade titles.

[Thanks, Andre and Ben]