Well I’ve had the pleasure of fiddling around with the new Xbox experience (NXE) for a while and I figured I’d share my initial impressions of the update.  Before I begin, let me just say that when the NXE is installed you’ll be treated to an incredibly cool intro video.  You don’t have to watch this each time on startup but be sure to not miss it by being distracted or walking away.  (if you do, you can access it in the Video section)

My Xbox / Avatars

I know most of you were either really excited about the Avatar feature or very skeptical.  I was on the skeptical side until yesterday when I updated my console.  I could have spent all day customizing an Avatar that perfectly captured the essence of the Velvet Voice.  There weren’t many options for clothing or facial features but what was there sure made for a great time.  I love this feature especially knowing that games will begin incorporating Avatars soon.  (yes you can opt to use your Gamerpics)

I can’t say I’m too thrilled about the potential of the Avatar Store in terms of micro transactions go but I am thrilled about the access developers have to reward gamers with accessories for playing the games.  Here’s a picture of me all pimped out Avatar style.

It’s all a part of the new My Xbox Channel.  Clicking on your Avatar gives you options to customize as well as a view of all your games played.  I thought it would be congested with so many games but it doesn’t feel that way at all.  I can’t say enough about how the Xbox team managed to fit it all in and make it look so good.

A cool thing on the My Xbox Channel is that your motto is displayed in a talk cloud so my Avatar is screaming “The Velvet Voice”.

Design / Interface

Things move and react considerable faster now.  It amazed me really with so much going on that the dashboard can call up so many features so quickly.  Cycling through the NXE and all the different channels was easy.  It’s going to take a bit to get used to how things are set up and how to get to what I want most but it works so much better than the old Dashboard.

You can instantly get back to any previous Channel from whatever point you are within a Channel.  Again, it’s surprising to see how it all maintains such a quick response throughout the navigation.

Guide

The new Guide is a smaller version of the existing Dashboard and its blades interface.  It’s nearly the entire Dashboard all roled into a nice little package now.  You can access (via blades) pretty much everything you need and was able to before.  The sound that plays when the Guide comes up is pretty cool too.

Party Chat / Photo Party

Party Chat wasn’t new to me but Photo Party sure was.  I’m not sure if that has been available or if it was an NXE exclusive.  It allows your group of 8 (or however many) to share photos with each other.  It’s a free download so that makes it all the better.  I haven’t tried any of the Photo Party but I did manage to do some Party Chat and it was just as expected…a group of people chatting.

Netflix

When you first try to access Netflix (part of the Video Marketplace Channel), you’ll be prompted to download it.  I guess you have to get the service on your console that way.  They are offering a free trial of it for those of you like me who are not too sure about it just yet.  Any subscription beginning at $8.99 or above is required to take advantage of Netflix on your Xbox 360.  I tested it out though and just as promised the HD streaming was nearly instant!

I’m going to cancel the free trial soon because I don’t have the $ for another monthly bill but boy was it impressive compared to the previous method of “queue a movie up and go to sleep until the morning”.

Install to Hard Drive

When there’s a game in the disc tray, you can press the Y button to get game options.  Those options include playing the game, checking out downloads for the game/Achievements and of course whether or not to “install to hard drive”.  I did this with Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise and it was another surprise in that it actually made a bit of difference.  There wasn’t an overwhelming difference but not having the disc drive spinning and playing the game pre-installed on the hard drive was cool.

It did allow for less intrusion when it comes to noise and loading.  One quick note about this new feature is that it will notify you if you don’t have enough space to install the game.  It’ll even give you options to clear up some space to install it.

Final Thought

Overall the update was brilliant.  I was a big fan of the previous Dashboard and I really didn’t think, from a design standpoint, that it could get any better but it just did.  The amount of things that the NXE manages to do at the speed it does is really impressive.  I won’t pretend that it won’t take some time to get used to because it will.  There’s so much going on that it’ll be a while before I learn the quickest way to get to the things I need.

I can see the potential this new update has and I’m ready for the ride.