[E3 2008] - Meet the New Xbox 360 Experience

[bapenguin]

Game Trailers has an indepth walk through up of the new Xbox 360 dashboard. From Avatars to the Games Channel you can see the entire thing was completely overhauled.

If you listened to our Day 2 Podcast (http://www.evilavatar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=57815) you can hear some behind the scenes audio of a Roundtable with Mark Whitten and Aaron Greenberg about the new dash and some thoughts that went into it.

I know most of us don't care about the avatars, and really , they aren't going to be used much in the core gaming experience. There's no glorified chat rooms with animated characters, no dressing up your doll house, or things like that. Instead they are merely an extension of your gamerpic - and the best news is - you can still use the gamerpic instead of an avatar.

One other feature I really liked with the dash was the ability to launch anything within it from within any other item. So basically, if you are playing some Halo and you want to jump into some Geometry Wars, you can select that right from the guide and go.

Of course the best feature is the 8 player party system that will work with EVERY GAME both past and future. Badass.

So check out the video after the jump.

[bapenguin]

36412
The New 360 Experience

[Uniqueusername]

Of course the best feature is the 8 player party system that will work with EVERY GAME both past and future. Badass.
That's the number one thing I care about. I assumed that this concept was going to be the core of Sony's Home.
Now we find that Home doesn't have it, and the 360 does. Bizzaro world.

I still think the avatars are lame, though. Not keen on the bighead look.

Also, I want to see this interface in action in a real world scenario, with lots of games, friends, ads, etc. The current dash slows down and hitches when retrieving data from Live, I hope this one is more responsive.

[Savok]

Could they at least do something different with the avatars then generic "big-head blob" look?

I mean fuck, if I could have a monkey in a top hat or a velociraptor with laser teeth, I'd be all over this.

Beyond that it really is awful. The ads were a waste of space in the first place, and now they've made a UI that's almost all ads. What isn't ads is blank useless space. The old UI was theoretically sound, it just needed simple things, like not having to wait an hour for a fucking menu to load, and to make that menu easier to manage, maybe give us the ability to make our own filters, "customize our experience" or whatever marketing spin you want to put on it.

God I hope they have a classic mode.

[bapenguin]

God I hope they have a classic mode.

That's what the guide is.

[Haemorrhage]

Slick new menu system which seems more intuitive, however there a lot of empty wasted space. The new guide is pretty awesome with a lot more functionality. I am indifferent on the new avatar system. And the 8 player seamless party system is probably the best new feature IMO.

I will reserve final judgment until I get to mess around with it myself.

[Savok]

That's what the guide is.
No that's a tiny grey box.

[Rotting]

The new interface looks like coverflow in iTunes.

[JayK47]

I hate how they keep changing the dashboard. I get used to it, they change it. My favorite dashboard was the one before what we have now. I think the one we have now takes more time to get where you want. Too much crap on a console. I just want to play goddamn games. If I want a complicated gaming platform, I will play games on my PC. I am not seeing advertising on the proposed dash. I'm sure that "wasted" space in the background will be filled with ads. Yay. And lets all copy Nintendo and have lame ass avatars. So we have the Wii with the Miis. I guess these will be the 360iis.

[KidCactus]

The new interface looks like coverflow in iTunes.
But I do not like it that the selected item is in the far left, instead of in the middle. I prefer seeing what's to the right AND left of the selected item without having to actually go left.

[Bingley Joe]

But I do not like it that the selected item is in the far left, instead of in the middle. I prefer seeing what's to the right AND left of the selected item without having to actually go left.

Yup. Which is why Coverflow can actually be used to browse the filesystem in Leopard (not that I find it particularly useful outside of folders of photos and maybe PDFs, but still..)

This.. I'm not so sure. I suppose we'll just have to get used to it though. Personally, I just wanted the Dash to be more responsive. Not more sparkly.

[Gorvi]

So it's the XBOX XMB? Well, it's a big improvement, that's for sure, but it's very XMB-ish especially that initial "channel" (not a bad thing). The whole loading an entire game to the HDD thing is what I'm excited about, though, I love that. Now I just need a bigger HDD cheap.

[KidCactus]

The whole loading an entire game to the HDD thing is what I'm excited about, though, I love that.
Yes, awesome feature, that will get me to start buying 360 games again.

[lost]

Yes, awesome feature, that will get me to start buying 360 games again.

I take it you still need the disk to play?

[Mr.Green]

I take it you still need the disk to play?

Yes you do.

[KidCactus]

I take it you still need the disk to play?
Yes, but it does not have to be spinning in the DVD drive during gameplay, which for me kills the experience since my drive is so loud.

[Siraris]

There's no glorified chat rooms with animated characters, no dressing up your doll house, or things like that.

Wow, harsh dude. :P

[KidCactus]

Wow, harsh dude. :P
But it does feature dressing up your Mii. ;)

[Wolvie]

Wow the new guide button looks like a mini blade dashboard. Badass.

[RUSKULL]

I like it a lot better! My only complaints are the fact that the avatars are a Mii rip-off, but knowing MS, there will be more customizable features now and down the road. And why be limited to humans?

Also, I have a feeling this will brick systems. I don't think you need to ask why.

[civil_dead]

The new interface looks incredibly similar the Cover Flow that iPods use. Right down to the reflections.

EDIT: Oops, Rotting got the comment in before me. Well that'll teach me to never open up a tab and not look at it for a while. :o

[fitbabits]

Will this facilitate more intuitive searching?

[Mr.Green]

But it does feature dressing up your Mii. ;)

Dude, you mean your Xii.

[Pluvious]

That big empty space behind the new look will allow you to put your themes in the background and it looks pretty damn cool.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v133/Pluvious/back.jpg

Lets just hope they don't cover up that nice background with ads..

[Vandenh]

They could have made a killing by letting WoW players use their WoW characters as Avatars :)

[Wackman3000]

What a kick in the teeth. Sony FINALLY gives us XMB access in game and XBL goes ahead and completely revamps their service to make it 1000x better.

Please step it up Sony, please...

[Kem0sabe]

Hate the new avatars, its idiotic to try and copy the Mii's style, different demographics, different consoles, different ideas.

The rest of the U.I is nice, better than the previous one.

[Savok]

Will this facilitate more intuitive searching?
Considering they ignored that entirely, I'd say no.

[Uniqueusername]

Could they at least do something different with the avatars then generic "big-head blob" look?

I mean fuck, if I could have a monkey in a top hat or a velociraptor with laser teeth, I'd be all over this.
It would be nice if MS did it in a more interesting style, rather than just making it a bland rip-off. I guess I'm not the target maket here, but I'd still like to see something a little better.

But I do not like it that the selected item is in the far left, instead of in the middle. I prefer seeing what's to the right AND left of the selected item without having to actually go left.
That's a good point. I just hope they make the active screen a little bigger- there's so much wasted space it's going to be teeny on a 4:3 TV. Hope you can read it in SD... ;)

[Meatgortex]

New dashboard looks more like Vista's Flip3D than Coverflow just swapped horizontally. This style makes adding new elements easier since you can have infinite length lists. Adding elements to the other interface was a lot more complicated.

The avatars have a very Sims/Pogo style to them, can't say I'm much of a fan.

[oldjadedgamer]

There's no glorified chat rooms with animated characters, no dressing up your doll house, or things like that. Instead they are merely an extension of your gamerpic - and the best news is - you can still use the gamerpic instead of an avatar.

Of course the best feature is the 8 player party system that will work with EVERY GAME both past and future. Badass.

Not only that, the party system doesn't discriminate against you if you are in another region. Gamers from Japan, Europe, and the US can all be in the same party together.

[Mr. Lake]

I've heard a number of people complain about the whole "Microsoft is copying Nintendo's Miis and Sony's Cross Media Bar." I think those people may forget that Microsoft isn't a company to fly off the handle and do whatever it pleases, especially when paying customers are involved. They had LOTS of focus groups of different demographicstry out different ideas and approaches to make Xbox better. When you ask someone how they would make something better, they will usually fall back to an example of something they liked from another source - often with some sort of twist to make it better. I can easily see the focus group discussion about the avatars and the topic of frustration about not being able to change the shoes on their Mii, or wanting to instantly start playing somthing new when a firend comes over (like "Crap! I don't want my friend who just walked over to know that I'm playing Viva Pinata... I'll switch to SoulCalibur.").

Hell, MS probably had a focus group just to gauge the reaction to their announcement of the new interface, just to see if it would cause people not to buy into it. I think it's a great change, and if anything is testament to how flexible the 360 platform is.

[Oddmaker]

Still no fucking MKV support. I hate converting my movies to wmv and without a BluRay addon why isnt Microsoft doing something about supporting more HD file formats :(

[Squidbot]

While not overly keen on the avatars, I'm hoping the next step is customizable themed outfits as either DLC or disc bonuses. Instead of new gamer pictures on discs you get a new outfit.

I want to customize my avatar with some nice Gears of War 2 Cog armour :) Or even better, if DoWII comes to 360, I could have an Ultra Marine avatar.

[Rex Dart]

That big empty space behind the new look will allow you to put your themes in the background and it looks pretty damn cool.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v133/Pluvious/back.jpg

Personally, I think that still looks pretty terrible. The large gray space under the background just looks awful. Thus far, I'm not crazy about the new look. I do like the new guide button.

I also find it slightly ironic that many people criticized the PS3's mandatory installs, but celebrate the 360's optional installs. I know the fact that it's optional is a big difference, but it's just amusing how different the reactions are.

[Kryopsis]

I also find it slightly ironic that many people criticized the PS3's mandatory installs, but celebrate the 360's optional installs. I know the fact that it's optional is a big difference, but it's just amusing how different the reactions are.

The fact that it's option is a big difference. :0)

[Crono]

Wow i am very excited for this update! This looks awesome (Mii's aside of course).

[sprankton]

Should have made the avatars more like TF2 style.

[oldjadedgamer]

I also find it slightly ironic that many people criticized the PS3's mandatory installs, but celebrate the 360's optional installs. I know the fact that it's optional is a big difference, but it's just amusing how different the reactions are.

Big difference is an understatement. I can't remember any one at any time that criticized Sony for optional installs.

If you don't want to install at the beginning of MGS4 and go through an install 5 more times while your playing the game... tough luck. You have no choice and having no choice is what every one was complaining about.

With the 360, you want to install... great. You don't want to install... great. No one is twisting your arm and an install is not required for the game to run.

[saneman]

But I do not like it that the selected item is in the far left, instead of in the middle. I prefer seeing what's to the right AND left of the selected item without having to actually go left.

This is my main concern with the new dashboard. On the whole I like it, but the design seems pretty heavily weighted on the left side of the screen. We'll just have to see how that pans out.

[51|RandoM]

The new interface looks incredibly similar the Cover Flow that iPods use. Right down to the reflections.

EDIT: Oops, Rotting got the comment in before me. Well that'll teach me to never open up a tab and not look at it for a while. :o

Actually, it looks like it is derived from Windows Media Portable, which existed before Cover Flow. Regardless, I'm all for copying of proven interfaces. Too often they try to reinvent the wheel and end up with a rhombus.

[f1sh3r]

i'm really excited for this, it looks really cool. any ads seem to be confined to the spotlight channel, which is perfectly fine with me, i don't mind seeing what's new out there if it's not plastered all over the place. the avatars are whatever, i think they could be neat, and i know nintendo didn't come up with the avatar idea, so i'm not worried about them ripping off miis.

anyway, this update, plus the new vga resolutions will make this a good fall for me.

[Meusli]

I know this is the fall update but when exactly is their fall, September?

[KidCactus]

I know this is the fall update but when exactly is their fall, September?
The last fall update was released in December.

[51|RandoM]

Not only that, the party system doesn't discriminate against you if you are in another region. Gamers from Japan, Europe, and the US can all be in the same party together.

...because we know how great p2p gaming is when we have people on multiple continents in the same game. 300ms round trip pings always spice things up.

[Norse]

...because we know how great p2p gaming is when we have people on multiple continents in the same game. 300ms round trip pings always spice things up.

I play with Americans without problem in games like CoD4 and PGR4. Why is that?

[Yeti2005]

...because we know how great p2p gaming is when we have people on multiple continents in the same game. 300ms round trip pings always spice things up.

Actually I've had some great games of Halo against people in the UK without any noticeable lag. I guess I'd rather have the option of playing against people from other countries then to have that choice removed entirely.

[Tel Prydain]

I also find it slightly ironic that many people criticized the PS3's mandatory installs, but celebrate the 360's optional installs. I know the fact that it's optional is a big difference, but it's just amusing how different the reactions are.

Are you kidding?

This means I can play my game as soon as I get home, and then install it overnight if I choose. Or I can just not install it at all if the loading times are already small.
Want to save HDD space and play MGS right away? Tough - no options for you.

The chance to choose means everything.

[Tel Prydain]

...because we know how great p2p gaming is when we have people on multiple continents in the same game. 300ms round trip pings always spice things up.

As a Kiwi I play CoD4, GRAW, Shadowrun and Battlefield against you yanks without issue. Some games (Rainbow Six, I'm looking at you) have the odd issue, but most of the time it's fine.

[Venkman]

Hard drive installs.

Awesome.

[drakkarim]

so brand new demos still on a week delay for silvers??

THAT'S the fucking xbox experience i'll always remember.

[Pluvious]

Silver?.. people still have silver accounts?.. Pony up cheap ass.

[f1sh3r]

so brand new demos still on a week delay for silvers??

THAT'S the fucking xbox experience i'll always remember.

no, those of us who pay get perks, one of which is getting demos a week earlier. you aren't paying anything for live, so you have absolutely NO RIGHT TO COMPLAIN.

[oldjadedgamer]

no, those of us who pay get perks, one of which is getting demos a week earlier. you aren't paying anything for live, so you have absolutely NO RIGHT TO COMPLAIN.

You can pay on PSN for perks, it's called Qore.

[f1sh3r]

You can pay on PSN for perks, it's called Qore.

huh? what's that have to do with anything concerning xbox live silver/gold accounts?

[Norse]

huh? what's that have to do with anything concerning xbox live silver/gold accounts?

I guess he's referring to the fact that you get some demos earlier with Qore.

[Venkman]

I like some of the features of the new dash, but the user interface design needs serious work. There is no indication of how many tabs are off screen to your left, or that there are even any at all off screen!

I do like it, but it screams classic Microsoft: Apple TV + Mii's = New dash, and they have the balls to call their "avatars" a "new innovation". I wish the whole reflection "web 2.0" motif would die a quick death.

[oldjadedgamer]

I guess he's referring to the fact that you get some demos earlier with Qore.

Yes, they stated that they will have "exclusive demos" and betas only if you pay money to Qore. So it's the same as waiting a week on 360 with a silver... that's *if* they ever make the Qore stuff free.

[Gorvi]

Yes, they stated that they will have "exclusive demos" and betas only if you pay money to Qore. So it's the same as waiting a week on 360 with a silver... that's *if* they ever make the Qore stuff free.
So far, they have. The Naruto demo came out 2 weeks later. Of course, it's not like I was holding my breath for that one, but I guess some people wanted it. :p

[Katslover]

I only watched the first 18 episodes or so of Naruto back when it aired in Japan, and I'm not a big fan of fighting games, but believe me...this Naruto Ninja Storm or whatever? Fun as hell. I suggest everyone at least gives it a try.