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Snap pictures of your Avatars with the 'Free Your Avatar' tool
When we first discovered that all Xbox Live Avatars have a unique URL, we figrued that it wouldn't be long before Microsoft opened them up for use as, um, avatars in web applications like Facebook. It looks like that day is upon us, as Microsoft has opened a new section of Xbox.com entitled Free Your Avatar. The site allows Xbox Live users to pose their Avatars (or anyone's Avatar, so long as you know their Gamertag) in front of various backgrounds and cap things off with some text. The tool is fairly limited though. For example we would love some different poses -- the current post is just awful for one's posture -- and some more backgrounds. The ability to have more than one line of text would be nice too.Microsoft is also running a contest in which lots of prizes -- like a 42" TV and an Xbox 360 Elite -- are being given away. The only requirement is uploading an Avatar image as your profile picture on MySpace, Facebook, or Bebo and describing why it represents you. For the moment, the Free Your Avatar page is only up on the UK version of Xbox.com, so we're guessing the contest is only for the UK (although, at the moment, there is no such stipulation in the official rules).[Via Xbox Avatar Life]
Microsoft promises to keep Xbox Live up through the holidays
It looks like Microsoft doesn't want a repeat of last year's post-holiday Xbox Live outages, when the service was basically unusable for two weeks -- according to 360 product manager Aaron Greenberg, MS is "well prepared for the type of growth we expect this holiday," and that more Live staffers than ever before will be on hand to fix things if things do go bonkers. From what we've heard Live is more robust than ever now that the NXE and the associated backend changes have been rolled out, so we're hoping things go well -- but we wouldn't necessarily say no to another free Arcade game.[Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]
Avatars vs. Miis vs. Home people ... FIGHT!
In the battle of video game customizable character thingymabobs, there can be only one winner. Now, with Sony's release of Home and its unique inhabitants, we have a battle between the big three and only one victor can be crowned. Gamesradar set up a battle between Xbox 360's Avatars versus the Nintendo's Miis and the Playstation 3's Home characters in a console avatar showdown by comparing each console's rendition of various people's likenesses. And after comparing to see which console is best at remaking said person, a victor is chosen. It's definitely a judgment based war, so we'll go ahead and award our console likeness creating winner to be the 360's Avatars. Not because we're Xbox 360 fanboys, but because ... well, actually, that's exactly why.
Post NXE Launch: More Live Friends, XBLA sales nearly triple
Major Nelson has dropped a few interesting bits of data regarding Xbox Live since the launch of the New Xbox Experience. Overall, sales of content on Xbox Live Marketplace -- including games, movies, and TV shows -- are up considerably. Probably most impressive is the claim that Xbox Live Arcade sales have "almost tripled" since launch. Specifically, the sales of games with Avatar support -- UNO in particular -- have gone up. A Kingdom for Keflings, which includes Avatar support and launched the same day as the NXE, had "the second-best first week of performance ever" (what was the first, we wonder?). Another interesting tidbit, the number of Friends added per Xbox Live member has increased by 33% since launch.Joystiq got a chance to pick the brain of Xbox group product manager Aaron Greenberg about the NXE launch. Head over to Joystiq to read his thoughts yourself.
Microsoft shares post-NXE stats: Marketplace sales up, more friends online
Just three weeks after the – by all accounts, very successful – launch of the New Xbox Experience, Microsoft is ready to trumpet some statistics related to the new interface. To help us navigate this panoply of numbers, Microsoft lent us the services of one Mr. Aaron Greenberg, group product manager for Xbox 360, who served as our tour guide through the press release. First, with 14 million folks suddenly using an entirely new interface designed to make content easier to find, you'd wonder how successful it is in that regard. Well, glad you asked! Microsoft reports that Marketplace downloads of TV episodes were up 30% and movie downloads an impressive 49% the week after the NXE launch. This is in spite of competition from Netflix's ample on-demand offerings in both areas. Wondering how many folks are using Netflix? Yeah, so were we ... Greenberg told us they're not providing that data just yet, but we wouldn't be surprised to hear them noting that as a success during next month's CES.
Sony won't ape NXE, no plans for Netflix on PS3
According to Sony, there's nothing wrong with the Current PlayStation Experience (CPE). In an interview with GamePro, SCEA's hardware guru, John Kohler, said that the company has no plans to make any "grand-scale changes" to the PS3's XrossMediaBar interface, a la the New Xbox Experience. "We haven't had many navigation complaints about the XMB interface, so the XMB will be a part of PlayStation products moving forward," Kohler said. "That doesn't mean we're closed off to changing certain parts of it – there are areas in which we can certainly improve, and we look to do so in the future."But what about one of our fave features of the NXE: Netflix Instant Queue streaming? "We've concentrated most of our efforts on our download service, both rentals and downloads of movies and TV shows," Kohler responded when asked about the potential for Netflix on PS3, adding, "Our efforts will continue to be there, because our customers want to own the content." How about "own some content," for reality's sake?[Via PS3 Fanboy]
Brrr-y little snow gear arrives for NXE Avatars
Earlier today, our comrades at X3F caught sight of an NXE Spotlight promo for new Avatar winter gear ... only it wasn't available yet. The wee digital billboard (above) is now absent from the NXE as of this posting, but we've confirmed that the snowboarding/skiing related items are, in fact, now available – for both male and female Avatars – free of charge.Unfortunately, there's not a lot to get excited about. Each sex has a new jacket, beanie, pair of gloves, and pair of boots available. You can tell there are new items available by the star icon in the upper left-hand corner of the "Change My Clothes" option in the Avatar editor. The new items also have stars on the thumbnails themselves. So, get ready for even more Avatars wearing the same outfit. We hope that Microsoft still plans to introduce more clothing and accessories soon, and in larger quantities.
Ski and snow Avatar items now available [update]
Update: Microsoft just released the new Avatar Winter apparel which is now available via the Avatar customizer. Original blog listed below.As promised, it looks like new Avatar clothing will be making its way to the Avatar customizer in the near future as an ad on the Xbox 360 dashboard's "Spotlight" channel advertises fresh duds.The Spotlight ad (photo above) promotes new ski and snowboard apparel stating that the content is "available now", though the items aren't available quite yet. Once clicked, the ad brings you to the Avatar customizer where, sadly, no new snowy clothes are to be found. Keep your eyes peeled though, we expect the new (and free) winter apparel to go live rather soon. [Thanks, Sgt Quackers]
New Xbox Arcade units to pack 256MB internal storage
Now that the New Xbox Experience has been mostly-successfully pushed out, with its avatars, new interface, and updated marketplace, Arcade owners with less than 128MB of storage have been left out in the cold -- and the big M's "solution" of free memory cards wasn't exactly ideal. That's changing, however -- a MS spokesperson confirmed to Xbox360 Fanboy that new Arcade units will contain 256MB of internal memory. So if you've been looking to pick up a new 360 Arcade, feel free to get your Netflix HD on as soon as every last cord is connected -- if you're a subscriber, that is.
Microsoft working to fix NXE audio issues
Some Xbox 360 users who updated to the New Xbox Experience have reported hearing only the sounds of silence through their HDMI cables (the phenomenon, not the song). The problem appears to be caused with older monitors and devices that are not compatible with a new HDCP driver found in NXE. Speaking to Shacknews, Microsoft said, "We are aware that a handful of Xbox LIVE users are experiencing audio issues, and are diligently monitoring this issue and working towards a solution." No timeframe for the fix was given; in the meantime, you might want to dust off those antiquated component cables.
MS admits to 360 audio problems caused by NXE, working towards a 'solution'
Looks like the audiophiles over at the AVS forums weren't wrong about the New Xbox Experience killing some gamers' Xbox 360 audio (did you really doubt 'em?), because Microsoft has officially acknowledged the problem and promises a "solution" in the near future. "We are aware that a handful of Xbox LIVE users are experiencing audio issues" a Microsoft rep informed Shacknews, promising that they're "diligently monitoring this issue and working towards a solution." According to numerous internet reports, after the NXE update was released a few weeks back, some Xbox 360 HDMI users lost all game audio.Gaming without sound is no fun. Hopefully we can haz the NXE caused HDMI audio problems fixed soon.
Another handy NXE game install size guide
It seems like putting together lists of NXE game install sizes is all the rage these days. Now NeoGAF has joined the fun, compiling one of its own. This list includes a few games not featured on the Binge Gamer list we mentioned earlier this month. The list seems fairly exhaustive and we're sure that GAF users will be making it as comprehensive as possible. Many of the games listed also have comments as to how the game performs once installed to the hard drive. Just in case you're wondering -- and we know you are -- yes, load times in Rumble Roses XX are significantly reduced.
GamesRadar Avatarizes your favorite celebs
Not content with the real celebrities we featured last week, GamesRadar has taken it upon themselves to turn some of your favorite TV, music and movie celebrities into Avatars without their consent. Honestly, there ought to be a law.Though their Niko Bellic is great and their Sarah Palin is spot-on, we have to admit to having a soft spot in our heart for sad, broken-down Mario. You think that's how he looked when they pitched him on Mario Super Curling?
Real celebrities get Avatar'ed
Unlike the list of rich and famous Avatars we already shared with you where most (all the Joystiq network bloggers) weren't really celebrities, GamesRadar has a listing of really real Hollywood, gaming and political celebrity Avatars. Of course, Chuck Norris is included. Make the jump to view all five pages of celebrity Avatars including gaming legends like Mario, Zelda and Kratos from God of War. If Hollywood celebs are your cup of tea, they've done up Paris Hilton, Michael Jackson and Stephen Colbert in Avatar form. There's even a Bush, Obama and a really accurate looking Palin Avatar. If only someone could make one look like Cliff Bleszinski ...[Via Game Stooge]
Sony's Netflix library (mostly) available on NXE
About a week after they abruptly removed their entire Netflix library from streaming to the 360, Sony's Columbia Pictures has decided to allow NXE Netflix streaming of most of their content. Thank goodness, because most Netflix subscribing fanboys already had pitchforks in hand and their retaliatory plan of action laid out. We can confirm that almost all of the Columbia Pictures Netflix content can now be streamed to the 360, but a few movies (including Superbad) are still being blocked. Hopefully the remaining content's licensing deals will get dealt with and all streaming media will be available in the next week or so. Fingers crossed.[Thanks, to everyone who sent this in]
Columbia Pictures movies (mostly) available again for NXE Netflix streaming
One week after their abrupt disappearance from the service caused quite a stir, many of the Columbia Pictures films that were unavailable for streaming via the New Xbox Experience's Netflix client are now back. We've confirmed that almost everything, from Ghostbusters to The Karate Kid in your Netflix Instant Queue can now be streamed to the 360.There are still some that aren't available (Superbad stands out) but this could be due to another aspect of the "availability" issue briefly explained last week on the Netflix blog. At least we know it's not a Sony conspiracy.[Thanks, Alex]
Columbia Pictures flicks -- mostly -- back on for Xbox 360 Netflix streaming
We never got a satisfactory answer for why they disappeared in the first place, but it seems the majority of the Columbia Pictures' movies on Netflix Instant Watch lists suddenly switched to "not available on Xbox 360" are once again open for streaming to all devices. The Karate Kid series, Ghostbusters, Groundhog Day and others now stream to Microsoft's box, however Columbia Pictures movies tagged with the "available through Starz Play" logo -- including Bad Boys and Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story -- are still out. Hopefully the remaining relevant parties are contacted soon, as Detectives Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett have work to do, but this is a great start.[Thanks, Hunter!]
Xbox 360 Fanboy presents stupid Avatar tricks
You've had the New Xbox Experience for less than a week now, but we know how you operate. We know that most of you are like sharks who must constantly move towards the next tech stimulation to avoid dying. Luckily, Xbox 360 Fanboy has your back, providing fun tricks you and your avatar can do together.So, if you want to teach the miniature version of yourself to spin wildly, you're only one click away. If you need to learn how to spin wildly yourself, you're probably reading the wrong blog.
Learn how to make your Avatar frown, laugh and burp the alphabet
After a few days of messing with the New Xbox Experience Avatars, we have come across a few hidden (and not so hidden) Avatar moves that'll make him (or her) do various expressive feats. You know, certain button presses that'll make your Avatar burp, laugh, get angry and even smack his head on your screen. Don't worry though, Avatar heads are jelly-like and shouldn't crack your television's screen. var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/xbox/Learn_how_to_make_your_NXE_Avatar_do_various_feats'; Our compiled list of Avatar moves is posted after the break and is broken into two different lists. One for Avatar fun you while in the customizer and one for the 360's dashboard. (Avatars tend to act differently in various surroundings.) We believe our list is rather comprehensive, but we're sure there are other goodies yet to be discovered. Think new hair colors. If you believe you've discovered an Avatar move that isn't listed, please, feel free to share.
Crazy colored Avatar hair discovered!
We were under the impression that every feature in the New Xbox Experience and (specifically) Avatars was discovered, but we're learning that there are more eggs to be found.Hidden within' the Avatar customizer is an option for colored Avatar hair. Colored hair including favs like purple, blue, red, pink, green, etc. Simply follow the steps below to "unlock" the anime'riffic Avatar hair colors and instantly be the cool kid on the block. Or at least the cool kid in your Avatar village. Go to the "Change My Features" section of the Avatar customizer. Highlight (don't click) the "Hairstyles" tile in the "My Features" area. Patiently wait. After one minute the "Hairstyles" tile will spin. That's it, hair colors unlocked! Choose your hairstyle and the new hair colors will be available. [Via Kotaku, Thanks red son rising]
