First Batch of NXE Previews Sent

[lost]

For those of you who entered the Preview Program for NXE this should be a call to go check out your email. Major Nelson says that the first bundle of successful applicants will see an update on their 360 sometime today.

We’re in the process of sending notification emails out to the first group of people for the Xbox LIVE Update Preview Program. Please check your email (and spam folder…just in case) to see if you were selected. If we stay on schedule, those selected should receive a prompt to accept the update later today/tonight.

We’ll be sending another wave of notifications later this week, but we are holding registration open a bit longer to make sure everyone has a chance to participate. If you signed up but did not receive a mail yet, please head over to the connect site and review your information to make sure it is correct. I am being told that there are quite a few people did not properly complete the survey. If this is the first you are reading about the Preview Program, go ahead and sign up and you may be chosen to participate before the update is released on August 11th.

It is believed that the new update will significantly expand the Party capabilities of the console. More at Major Nelson (http://majornelson.com/archive/2009/07/28/preview-program-emails-are-being-sent-out.aspx), thanks to Destructoid.

[spdiscus]

Didn't make the cut. :-(

[pwnophobia]

Shela Monster got the update in the middle of playing BF1943 last night. Kicked him off, installed and restarted his box. He then had a joygasm as he spent the next hour looking at all the new features.

[modeps]

Don't worry if you didn't get in... you only have to wait a couple weeks for the full thing. Too bad no Twitter or Last.FM yet.

[Shela Monster]

Shela Monster got the update in the middle of playing BF1943 last night. Kicked him off, installed and restarted his box. He then had a joygasm as he spent the next hour looking at all the new features. I did! :D
Honestly, in just the short amout of time I could mess with it before bed, I already noticed quite a few differences in even the littlest things.
The Dashboard is MUCH fast on loading up your Friend(s) Avatar(s) and loads Gamerpics and Achievement pictures faster as well.
I use to have a problem when trying to view profiles, but backing out of the profile before all the information on the profile was loaded, and would freeze my Guide/Dashboard.

There are many other *small* improvements or additions which may not mean squat to some people but make others giddy...
(For example pressing X on the Disc image will now eject your game!)

But if anybody who didn't get in would like to know some of the other features I've discovered that are *not* listed on other sites such as Kotaku or Joystiq, hit me with a message or invite on XBL or here.
GT: Shela Monster

~Shela Monster

[gzsfrk]

I got in! Only got to play around with it a couple minutes last night, but I couldn't figure out how to get the Netflix Library browsing to work (everything looked the same in the Netflix plugin as far as I could tell). And I saw the Movie Party option, but I didn't get to try it.

I'll do some more extensive testing later today, and hopefully report back on some of the other features.

Oh--and to those hoping for a performance boost, I didn't notice any speedups at all when it populated my games list. Still have to wait that annoying 30 seconds or so before it displays. (It's called "caching", Microsoft--look into it.)

[prence]

I didn't get in but a friend's wife spent 100 MS points on a Q-Tip for her avatar so.. yeah. I'm glad I didn't get in.

[OmegaVader]

I made the cut but unfortunately it'll eff up your friend's xbox till he gets the update if you attach your HDD to it -- since i'm visting him in a few days, I am going to hold out (I've so many more RB DLC songs than him...haha)

[OmegaVader]

ah nuts, it wont even let me online unless i update. oh well!

[EL CABONG]

I made the cut.

[TDiddy]

I bought the Radio Control Warthog and the Halo "Stuck" shirt. Neither showed up when my brother looked at me on his unupdated system....

[prence]

Awesome, in the middle of an intense Gears of War 2 match tonight when they decided to roll out the 2nd batch of NXE previews. It immediately disconnected me and started a 3 minute download. Now the GOW servers think I dc'ed on purpose and I lose 1500 experience.

Cool. Totally worth some gay avatar store and extra Netflix features for the Netflix account that I don't own.

[TDiddy]

Awesome, in the middle of an intense Gears of War 2 match tonight when they decided to roll out the 2nd batch of NXE previews. It immediately disconnected me and started a 3 minute download. Now the GOW servers think I dc'ed on purpose and I lose 1500 experience.

Cool. Totally worth some gay avatar store and extra Netflix features for the Netflix account that I don't own.

If you didn't care about the update, why did you sign up for it?