The New Xbox Experienced

by James Ransom-Wiley on Nov 19th 2008 2:59PM

Protip: Click on a phrase in the image above to view the related video.

Did ya hear? NXE is out today! And we wanna know how it's treatin' you! Take our poll, and then take a gander at our extensive video preview after the break (use the image above for easy navigation).

How's your New Xbox Experience?
How'd I ever live without it!	4233 (36.3%)
I luuuv my Avatar*	1224 (10.5%)
I was happier before I knew what my friends looked like.	1233 (10.6%)
I'm simply lost without my Blades.	1368 (11.7%)
You know, I've been meaning to buy a hard drive ...	590 (5.1%)
NXE? More like ... XMB!	1681 (14.4%)
My Mii is so much hotter than your Avatar :-P	1323 (11.4%)

*Not just plain old boring "love" -- we're talkin' the "you love your
Avatar enough to wish Mini-Me jokes were still funny" kinda love.

Overview

Return to top

The Guide

Return to top

My Xbox

Return to top

Marketplace

Return to top

Community Games

Return to top

Avatars

Return to top

Party System

Return to top

Installation

Return to top

Netflix

Return to top

Tags: avatar, avatars, nxe, Xbox-360, xbox-live

Reader Comments (115)

If only I could install this to try it myself. My 360 RRoD'd this morning. Figures.

That's some bad fucking luck.

exactly where is the my 360 died option?

Got my 360 back from repair today but left the hard drive at the office.... duh.

Last night i went home to download the update for my xbox (as I had gotten in through Major Nelson) and it is just my luck that the TV and internet are out in my apartment. A guy cant come out till tomorrow. Great. Always happens when there is something cool going on!

I feel your pain. I got the RRoD on Monday. If nothing else, at least the opening-day hiccups should be ironed out by the time I get my console back.

That sucks, but ur not missing much, the only worthwhile thing i think is the party system that should be awesome, but otherwise, i like how it looks, but it seems like its less functional, thank god they have the mini guide. Still sucks that u can't check it out.

I think I'm going to need some time to adjust.

Yeah...

As slick as it looks and as snappy as it feels, it's still not all that user friendly. In fact, I'd say it's even slightly less user friendly than the blades. You have to spend a lot of time hunting and learning where all the different functions are. At least with the blades, the blade names were all on the screen at once so you could give a reasonable guess as to where a particular function was located without scrolling through everything.

It probably won't be an issue once most people get used to it, but it's not a good setup for newbies.

I was thinking that myself. Tons more functionality, extra features, etc. But it looks like they've tried too hard to oversimplify everything to the point where you're going to have to hunt for specific functions. I'm sure everyone will learn to love it once some quality time is spent.

Where the option for 'I like it, but I'm really indifferent about it.'

I did sign up for Netflix today though. It's very nice.

I'm in the same boat, I like it but care more about games. Still the avatar feature is a nice touch and it's cool to see your Sig in the avatar speech bubble.

I downloaded it a few days ago, made my avatar, and went on to play some games.

I turned my 360 on yesterday, and was like "Oh right...the NXE." when the new display popped up.

So I'm going to put myself sqaurely in the "indifferent" boat.

@ Alien Lord: I don't like that because I had to change mine. When the Psychonauts milkman says it, it's not creepy, but when cartoon me says "my milk is delicious" I worry what my friends will think.

Freaking killed the audio on my poor mans HD set up ( HDMI via computer monitor) Tried everything and it wont work, only works on my TV.

Im freaking pissed.

I'm sure you tried this but may as well post it anyway. A user said this worked for him on Major's twitter.
1. turn off xbox
2. remove hard drive
3. turn on xbox
4. push hard drive back in while xbox is on
5. let it reboot

and that was it. Hope it helps someone...

yeah I tried that, but no luck. I posted it in the xbox forums, I guess we will see what happens.

Ok, for anyone that reads this, if the work around doesnt work for you, keep trying. I did it like 5 times without it working, and now it has worked 2x in a row. everytime I turn off my 360 I have to redo it, but at least I know for sure its not any of my hardware. Something in the update fucked up the sound via HDMI.

That's not all it messed up! It has killed video via HDMI for some of us as well. Not a great situation to be in...

Cell Block 4?

"I'm black yall, I'm black yall, I'm blackidy black and I'm black yall!"

oh wow, this reply definitely got attached to the wrong post.

I know the removal of Sony was a bit of a blow, but I'm still really enjoying having Netflix on my 360. I'm a documentary nut so having access to all of those movies is really exciting.

I haven't had any hiccups or problems, yet. And if it's your thing the Avatars are fun to play around with.

I love the NXE so far, it nice to have a little change every once in awhile.

As a fellow doc-nut, do you have any good recommendations for instant d/l movies?

Some docs I'd recommend, no real order...

1. Sketches of Frank Gehry
2. The Rape of Europa
3. Lessons of Darkness
4. Gunnin for that #1 Spot
5. Who Killed The Electric Car
6. American Movie
7. CB4

Just a FYI that might help a few people:

The vmcNetflix plugin for Vista Media Center allows you to stream all the movies in your instant queue (regardless of if it's Columbia Pics or not). I tried it this morning and it worked on my 360 in Extender mode.

While it's not as spiffy a UI as the NXE Netflix, it'll hold me over until the liscensing is fixed on those movies that I'm not able to watch thru the Dashboard.

FYI, the vmcNetflix plugin requires Vista Media Center and IE7 to be installed on your PC that's linked to your 360.

Taxi to the Dark Side

The King of Kong

Ralph Nader: An Unreasonable Man

Jesus Camp

Shut Up & Sing

No End in Sight

My Kid Could Paint That

These are great and even if you aren't really interested in their subject areas, they can really captivate you.

I've added these to my queue based on good word of mouth, but have't watched them yet:

Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room

King Corn

The Weather Underground

Helvetica

Ill Trooper:

CB4, really? Everyone knows that Fear of a Black Hat is where it's at!

Seriously though, thanks!

I'm gonna have to second "My Kid Could Paint That". I saw it in theaters and I loved it.

Thank for the suggestions!

*Runs to fill up her queue*

Tuna: The 'CB4' mention was just a joke, not a good one, but still a joke!

I've been in the NXE since phase 3, I love the new dashboard, but mostly for game installs. The 360's DVD drive noise has always bothered me, and I've had a 120GB HDD for a while. Currently have 15 games installed (only 7GB of HDD space left, but it'll be easy to manage).

The installs often make a good load time difference as well.

I know what you mean. Playing Fallout 3 or Fable II was distracting what with the diesel engine that powers the dvd drive.

Everything I've read so far has said that the load times between the HDD and disc are negligible. What games have you installed so far and what do you think your greatest gains have been? I want to install Force Unleashed anyone do an install on this game?

As far as load times go I've actually had 2 games that loaded longer after being installed. Mass Effect and Fallout 3 loaded on average 3 seconds longer for me after being installed. Everything else has been about equal so far, but Oblivion loaded about 2 seconds faster.

Everything loads faster. There are only two games that have been tested to actually load slower. Dead Rising loads considerably slower on occasion, and Halo 3 loads slower because it caches differently, hopefully that will get fixed.

Lost Odyssey load times are CUT IN HALF. Most games like Fallout 3 just shave off a few seconds. Mirror's Edge seems to load much faster, and some people say the mid-level loadings are completely gone, I haven't tested that yet.

Textures load faster in UE3 games like ME & Gears of War 2.

GTA IV went from a 1 min 19 sec to a 53 sec load time

The NXE install killed the audio on my 360 after the install. A call to tech support yielded nothing but a vauge promise of a follow up email within an hours time, which I of course never got. I sent Major Nelson a twitter about the issue, he replied back to me about it so he is at least aware of it.
http://twitter.com/majornelson/status/1013451877

Thankfully, I was able to find this fix through a PsS3 forum of all places:
http://www.ps3forums.com/showthread.php?p=3519755

Major Nelson knows of that thread now, he may be sending an update out to everyone about it soon.

didnt work for me :(

I kind of wish you didn't HAVE to make an avatar, but whatever. I don't have Netflix nor do I plan on getting it. The NXE seems to be quite a bit faster than the old dashboard, and that alone makes me satisfied. I installed Gears 2 to my hard drive and while it is faster, it's not as big of an improvement as I hoped.

Of course, I'll leave it installed for the noise reduction alone as I already have a 120GB hard drive anyways.

Hmmm, I didn't have to make an avatar. I just turned off my xbox when that came up and when I booted up again, there was just a silhouette, so there is a way around it.

As for netflix, I just signed up this morning and I love it. While at work I just queued up some shows (heroes, friday night lights) and there they were when I went home for lunch. In glorious HD even!

I'm seriously contemplating upgrading to the fiber optic option through my ISP because of this so I can guarantee that netflix won't readjust in the middle of a movie.

Where's the box for "I am an adult with a job and therefore haven't had a chance to download it yet"?

I'm looking for that one as well. =/

dude you need to get your priorities straight. Look whats more important? Job, making money, paying for a roof over your head or downloading and using NXE?

Well my job involves masturbating into a cup all day, so I know where MY priorities are!

Same here... but I got up early and downloaded it before I went to work. Couldn't help myself!

I never really notice alot of noise coming from my xbox. But of course it's in my living room which is pretty big. If i was in a smaller area i might have noticed it. I want to know how the HD streaming is? What type of DL speed do you need for it to work right?

Looks good, however blacks look a little iffy. I am using a cable modem with moderate speed and it works for me (I got in early so there wasn't as much traffic.)

Keep in mind that not everything has HD streaming.

...So what was that about NOT having to make an avatar? Still, it didn't completely suck.

But anyway, I'm rather indifferent. Nothing too thrilling. Just seems overcomplicated compared to the blades.

Woah woah woah. What the hell? Must be Gold to friggin join a party? When did they decide this load of BS?

I didn't have to make an avatar when I first got it last week. The "make an avatar" thing popped up immediately, but I could use the guide button and choose to go back to the dashboard without making one. I don't know if this changed when the released it to everyone, but I went without an avatar for 2 days.

| 1 | 2 | 3 | Most Recent | Next 50 Comments

Sorry, you must be logged in to leave a comment.

Breaking News

The most popular posts
in the last 7 days

Vita 'UMD Passport' won't be offered in US 221 comments
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning review: A tempting fate 155 comments
Blizzard taking Valve to court over 'DOTA' trademark 115 comments
David Jaffe leaves Eat Sleep Play, layoffs hit developer [Update] 107 comments
Don't call it a remake: Final Fantasy X is a 'remaster,' to be clear 95 comments

The New Xbox Experienced

Overview

The Guide

My Xbox

Marketplace

Community Games

Avatars

Party System

Installation

Netflix

Reader Comments (115)

Posted: Nov 19th 2008 3:01PM Wes Steele said

Posted: Nov 19th 2008 3:11PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 19th 2008 3:15PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 19th 2008 3:19PM LordBrian said

Posted: Nov 19th 2008 3:31PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 19th 2008 3:33PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 19th 2008 3:44PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 19th 2008 3:02PM RyanLN said

Posted: Nov 19th 2008 4:12PM jaxsedrin said

Posted: Nov 19th 2008 4:55PM ZaxCG2 said

Posted: Nov 19th 2008 3:02PM Bearxor said

Posted: Nov 19th 2008 3:08PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 19th 2008 3:50PM TRTX said

Posted: Nov 19th 2008 4:05PM teamsammalone said

Posted: Nov 19th 2008 3:03PM R Planteer said

Posted: Nov 19th 2008 3:47PM Nineset said

Posted: Nov 19th 2008 3:50PM R Planteer said

Posted: Nov 19th 2008 4:01PM R Planteer said

Posted: Nov 19th 2008 5:14PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 19th 2008 5:42PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 19th 2008 5:43PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 19th 2008 3:06PM mathemagical said

Posted: Nov 19th 2008 3:18PM baby sea tuna said

Posted: Nov 19th 2008 3:32PM hey buddy said

Posted: Nov 19th 2008 3:33PM WackyCoffee said

Posted: Nov 19th 2008 3:44PM Rax Dakkar said

Posted: Nov 19th 2008 3:46PM baby sea tuna said

Posted: Nov 19th 2008 4:26PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 19th 2008 4:42PM mathemagical said

Posted: Nov 19th 2008 5:01PM hey buddy said

Posted: Nov 19th 2008 3:08PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 19th 2008 3:11PM Rabidkeebler said

Posted: Nov 19th 2008 3:55PM Foolkiller said

Posted: Nov 19th 2008 4:05PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 19th 2008 4:10PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 20th 2008 10:07AM Freddie Mercury said

Posted: Nov 19th 2008 3:08PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 19th 2008 3:23PM R Planteer said

Posted: Nov 19th 2008 3:13PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 19th 2008 3:26PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 19th 2008 3:16PM baby sea tuna said

Posted: Nov 19th 2008 3:33PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 19th 2008 4:31PM kastonie said

Posted: Nov 19th 2008 4:59PM samfish said

Posted: Nov 19th 2008 5:18PM FredFredrickson said

Posted: Nov 19th 2008 3:23PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 19th 2008 3:29PM Dirty said

Posted: Nov 19th 2008 3:23PM Capgun said

Posted: Nov 19th 2008 3:25PM Capgun said

Posted: Nov 19th 2008 3:27PM MooseMuffin said

Info

Description

MSRP

Release Date

Genre

Developer

Publisher

Rating

Breaking News

Double Fine Kickstarter passes $1 million in under 24 hours, breaking yet another record

Featured Stories

WRUP: All the Reckoning

Xbox Live Indie Gems: Nyan Cat Adventure

Dark Side 'Cause It Looks Cool: The Failings of Moral Choice in Games

The most popular postsin the last 7 days

Engadget

TUAW

Massively

WoW

The most popular posts
in the last 7 days