Xbox, Vista, Playstation, iTunes, Wii spawn mutant 5-headed baby, dub it “The New Xbox Experience”
One of the things launched at E3 this week is a brand new dashboard for the XBOX 360, so far dubbed “The New XBOX experience”. Not a great deal is known about it, and precious few (if any) have had actual hands-on experience with it, but if Larry Hryb (XBOX’s very own “Major Nelson”) is to be believed, it’s gonna be, like, totally rad.
One look at the new interface and I beg to differ. The UI appears to add nothing new to the gaming universe, and appears in fact to do little more than steal good ideas from various sources. In the top left corner you have a drop-down menu not entirely dissimilar from what you find on the PS3. Once into the system, you have the opportunity to explore the space via your very own Mii Avatar. You do this by flipping back and forth between images in a very coverflow-ish environment (or, if you prefer, Vista Flip 3D). All in all, my first impressions from the launch information are that the new UI looks very clumsy and cumbersome to use and that Microsoft has broken the cardinal rule common to all things: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Personally, I think the Blades system works very well, and is in fact one of the major benefits of the 360 over the PS3. Of course, this is all a matter of personal preference, but in IMHO, the 360’s new UI does little to help keep it separated from its only real competitor when it comes to user experience.
However, that is not to say that this Fall’s (likely) mandatory system update is without any benefit. Some new functionality has been built into my little white box, and I gotta say, some of the new features are, in a word, awesome. For example:
• You will be able to rip any and all XBOX 360 games, including future titles, to the HDD. That is outstanding, as this means that being to play Rock Band 2 without having to compete with the 727-like turbine sound of the game disc drive will be a reality. (Of course, if you’ve been playing it quietly enough up to this point that that was even a factor, you’re, um, doing it wrong, but whatevs.)
• XBOX LIVE marketplace will be web-browsable, allowing you to rent a movie or game via a web browser, which will then automatically download to your XBOX 360 at home. I gotta admit, that’s pretty nifty, but it’s of very little use to anyone who is not in the habit of leaving their XBOX turned on when they leave the house, (ED NOTE: you own a 360, you should know that it has a low power mode that automatically downloads in the background… derp) and if the feature applies to the new NETFLIX partnership, not much use to anyone north of the 49th parallel.
• NONE of the current dashboard’s functionality will be removed. That almost never happens, so I have to give a big kudos to the dev team for that.
All in all, this news from Microsoft has left me somewhat wanting. While I don’t believe the XBOX dashboard is in any dire need of an overhaul, I have to remind myself that the system is now well over 3 years old, and that’s quite a long time for a UI to remain unchanged, even considering the XBOX Gen 1 UI was the same from launch day in 2001 until EOL, if I recall correctly. The 360 was a groundbreaking device, the first of its kind, and still remains a very very strong competitor in the next-gen console market. But with the PS3 gaining ground and even taking over in Europe, and with projections here at home being that the PS3 could be the number one console within the next 3 years, coupled with the 360’s lack of hardware advancement (no blu-ray?? Really??), I can’t help but feel like MY New Xbox Experience will be a lot like everyone else’s “been there, done that”.
You can see the “New Xbox Experience” in action for yourself
Keep checking the rgbFilter homepage for more E3 updates, including the ever-growing list of game announcements for all consoles and PC/Mac.
[…] unknown wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptIn the top left corner you have a drop-down menu not entirely dissimilar from what you find on the PS3. Once into the system, you have the opportunity to explore the space via your very own Mii Avatar. You do this by flipping back and … […]
[…] Original post by RebelScum […]
Ha! Though I wouldn’t be quite so harsh, I’m worried that the interface won’t be as intuitive as Blades, which I actually really liked from day one.
Don’t panic though. Your friends won’t all be chilling at ‘Home’ because so far that’s been nothing but vaporware. We’ll be lucky if it goes into open beta in November.
When I first saw Blades in action, I was skeptical. When I first used it for myself, however, I was sold instantly. It’s an awesome system and I’m gonna miss it. It looks like a more modern-looking version is being used in the new UI, though, if you watch the videos…although I’m not sure if they’re showing off an early beta-test or something deep in the game or what.
Home is destined to be known forevermore as the great failed experiment, IMHO. The plan was too grand 🙂 And beautiful though it is, I doubt I would ever log on to my console so my Virtual Me could sit around on a couch and watch TV.
EDIT: Forgot about “Low Power Mode”…oups 🙂 Good call on that. Still, I doubt I would get in the habit of leaving the console on ALL the time. But that’s just me 🙂 Even if I did, I’m sure my better half would come along and shut it down in my stead. 😛
The thing about the low power mode is that you don’t even know it’s on except that the ring slowly flashes green every once in a while. In fact, if you were ever downloading something and shut the console off, it probably was in LPM, downloading without your knowledge. 😀
Well that’s definitely handy 🙂 I use the 360 remote that shipped with my HD DVD player to power down the system…do you think that puts it into LPM? There’s no dashboard interaction/options…it just shuts down.
Yep. It should keep downloading in the background. I think you have to go into the config blade to enable it though. Can’t remember which was default.. On or Off
[…] The Xbox 360 is a distant third in terms of overall sales in the Japanese market, having sold 750,000 consoles to the PS3 and wii’s 2.4 million and 6.9 million, respectively. However, in September 08, Xbox outsold the PS3 for the first time, thanks in part to Microsoft’s addition of more Japanese game designers. Microsoft used that momentum to try and make an even bigger splash at TGS, announcing services like Netflix and showcasing the new 360 Dashboard. […]
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