Those of us who follow Xbox news have known for a while now that Microsoft was planning to roll out an updated version, one that would allegedly be so awesome that our faces would melt off and the puddles would transmute into silver and then we'd be able to use that silver to buy freighter passage to Seychelles. Call me skeptical, but it all seemed a little hyperbolic.
The update, formally known as the New Xbox Experience, was released a few days before Thanksgiving, and I can say now, with the wisdom that comes from experience, that it's frigging sweet. It cast aside my hopes and fears in the same sweeping gesture, laughing as it did so.
In what seems to be a pointed challenge to competitors, Microsoft has made the Xbox interface even more player-friendly and easy to navigate. Not only that, but the console has been upgraded with all kinds of perks, most of them excellent. Naturally, you need a gold membership to fully enjoy everything the update has to offer, but it's definitely worth it.
There's an avatar-creation program, much like the one found on the Nintendo Wii, that lets you put your own face into the game (or whatever face you want, actually). This likeness will show up on other people's buddy lists, and you have the option of a Party setting, which creates a kind of chatroom-like situation where you can converse with your friends over headsets, play games, and exchange photos and such.
Familiar places like the Marketplace and the Arcade are presented here with a bit more class and a sweet, easily navigated structure. We can scan effortlessly through the games we own or have already played, along with every single thing on our hard drive. For those of us that still have a 20G model, this comes in handy, since everything is now right in front of us with a bright picture and quick selection; this lets us streamline what we want to get rid of.
Another new addition, which might be my favorite, is the option to stream Netflix movies through the Xbox onto the TV in high definition. All you need is an account and an activation code from the Xbox/Netflix tab on the console and you're good to go. You can't surf for movies, but you can watch anything that's in your "instant" queue, and it appears flawlessly on your screen in a variety of play modes. More often than not you can watch a full movie through without any buffer pauses. This even caused my girlfriend to want an X-Box of her own, which I thought was real cool, but I knew there was no way I'd end up playing "Gears of War 2" online with her.
You can tweak the NXE to come on as you start the system or go straight for gameplay. I have it set so that I see my menus first. It's set up like a nice x- and y-axis: you can scroll through different menus, up and down and then sideways, to look at your options. Written out, it doesn't sound like anything special, but when you're using it you really appreciate what an improvement it is. There's also a feed of live Xbox news updates, so you can keep track of new games, tips and developments in the Xbox world.
In one final nod to faithful gamers, the NXE gives you the option to install games on your console for a more silent gaming experience. This suggests, to me, that Microsoft listened when people complained about the Xbox being loud as heck. It's just one small touch among many, but they add up to a really superior product. If you ain’t jumping on this, then you are way off target -- the Xbox is the best system out there, never more so than now.
