I think there should be an option to revert to the Blades if you wish, but really, this is all free. And the new 'X-perience' (sorry) would look a lot better with a background pic. But regardless, this is all free, and doesn't take any current features away, so why complain? Avatars are lame, yes, but oh well. Make a simple one and let it sit on your Gamercard.

PSOCecil

You guys pay money to play on xbox live, yet have to see ads? Console gamers get treated like idiots.

sereal

I hate it. It sucks and I can't believe themes will still work. This is the worst step Microsoft has ever taken. I hope it goes the way of the Zune and Microsoft Bob. Now, to get back to my PS3 XMB...

michaelleung

microsoft staying on the same track... ripping off others ideas...

Edwinik

Ugh, those avatars look awful. Community features could be kinda nice, maybe. Hopefully the new interface is intuitive and snappy; the slowness of the blades interface has long been an irritation. I guess I'm not too worried about how intrusive the advertising becomes because it can't get much worse than it already is. Right? Right?

Toasticus

I'm really hoping (and I've sent feedback along these lines) that it's not too late to see them supply some LEGO minifig parts to build your avatar with.

zoompooky

The new dash is FUGLY, hell I don't even know what to say about it. It's mandatory, oh nice! thanks! m$! It's a good thing I never bought any themes that will instantly become obsolete and unusable. I don't know, I'm proud of my 360, it's an Elite and it's damn sexy. I have a GTA theme installed with ,I think it's, the carbon/black border and like I said I'm proud of it. I paid for it, it's on my desk next to my 24" Gateway monitor and now Microsoft wants to come over and turd on it. This dashboard sucks and is the furthest thing from (this) user friendly. :(

hollowfreak

someone said something about the xboxs menus looking dated, i somewhat agree, it was the 1st of the 3 systems to be launched and its menu was still last gen style, they have finally turned their next gen systems menus into next gen too, it looks great,

JohnnyTurk

For the record, I think having a fully-3D and animated avatar on your console-o'-choice is just awesome, but not if it looks like it rolled off the set of Nick Junior.

It doesn't have to be Second Life or anything, guys.

Murmaider

Who the hell was unfamiliar with the current blades setup?? It's way simpler than this crap. All you had were 4-5 blades that stated what each one had. You navigated by going left or right. This is just pathetic. At least if your going to do this, give the gamers who were happy with the interface they used the past 2 years a chance to keep it.

Madness

@k-factor:

You are right, it is not possible to please everyone. But, if you designed a UI that worked with the vast majority of people for years, would you secretly re-design the entire thing so that it doesn't even resemble the original creation? No, you go with what works best and what the majority of the census likes.

And yes, big boobs are great :P

Capp

Hey, I'm not saying that avatars are my cup of tea either. I personally can't stand the current Wii-ification/MySpacification of, well, everything. I like tough guys shooting guns in my games. I also like big boobs, cussing, and booth babes. I don't like things cuted up. However, I accept that MS/Xbox and Sony/PS3 (the two systems I own) feel pressure to pander to the whole "casual" market because, let's face it, Nintendo has disrupted the whole market for better or worse.

Capp - I'm a bit surprised to hear that. As a web guy myself, I've learned a more stand-offish approach to design, because anytime you get attatched to something it it is almost certain to turn into a "Franken-project." And as consumers of UIs I don't think we will ever like _everything_ about a given interface. It's just not possible to please everyone.

k-factor

I was thinking the exact same thing about mystery Science 36o, especially after hearing about the B-movie game being released soon. I really hope they put in an option for silhouettes while watching a movie with a group.

JQuick

@k-factor: Microshill, much? The new format doesn't look that bad, but coupled with the Fisher Price people, I mean avatars, it just screams "me too."

I seriously can't wait to have a smiling plastic version waiting for me before I fire up a round of mutant curb-stompery in Gears 2. Wow. That won't look awkward or anything.

Murmaider

@k-factor:

Actually, I am a software designer and have made several programs from the ground up. I have worked on dozens of GUI's for my software and other people's as well.

Capp

I want my dashboard left the way it is, this should be optional. If you want the new look or the older better look it should be up to the gamer.

razorblade_k

Damn, some of you people are pussies. Do any of you with such strong negative opinions about this new interface (that you haven't used yet) design UIs for a living? Why do I get the feeling that if it were up to you, our consoles would have the dashboard equivalent of tinted windows, a huge spoiler, and a 5-billion watt stereo pumping Nickelback? For all of you blurting out "this isn't good for me because I don't use ________, I use ________!!," consider this: a user interface is geared toward a whole range of people, not just yourself. Just because you and your pals want to store the entire Farrelly brothers back-catalog on the 360 HDD, doesn't mean there isn't a whole segment of game buyers who just want to play the games. Moreover, it was clear from the _beginning_ of Xbox 360 that this time around MS was taking a "something for everyone" approach with this machine. If you haven't figured that out by now and made your peace with it, you're just howling in the wind.

k-factor

This thing looks pretty sick much better than the blade system. Heh i guess 360 is getting something like "Home" from PS3

OnimousDante

@little computer freund:

I love how people act like Nintendo did anything innovative themselves, or better, that someone is copying Nintendo. Nintendo copied the MANY people before them who did motion controls, who did Avatars, who did emulation, etc. etc. Nintendo did NOT invent any of that, and for that matter, check out history on Microsoft V-Chat for info on a social experience represented using Avatars, that was LONG before Nintendo had even contemplated the Wii.

OrionnoirO

Seems like you're limited on what you can do with this interface.

inn1t

And yes, the optional install is a wonderful idea, but think about this:

The DEMO for the new Civ game took up nearly 1.5Gb of hard drive space. How much space do you think the entire game would take up? And since 6Gb+ of the default 20Gb hard drive is already used when you first turn it on, it would take all of 3 games to cripple your hard drive.

Same thing with movies. Some of the movies are freakin huge. So, unless they are going to make HD's bigger than 60Gb standard or give us the option to use our own hard drive, this is going to cause problems right away.

Capp

Also, will we still be able to see our friends list in a nice, easy to read, TEXT based vertical scrolling list like it currently is? I will be so pissed off if I have to scroll through a 3d representation of all my friends to try and find one I am looking for. It also looks like there are only like 6 on the screen at a time. Can I still just hold the RT to get to the bottom of the list instantly or am I going to have to use the thumbsticks now to navigate the avatars?

I really want to know what community xbox devs talk to when they are getting ideas for their changes. I mean, on xbox.com, they changed the way the friends list is displayed by making it take several pages to list. This pissed off, oh I dunno...everybody, but they didn't change it back and probably wont. Same thing with the new dashboard. They are like "Well 2 people out of 1000 like it, we'll keep it and hope they deal with it" lol

Capp

>>Playing Games on HDD

>>Details on ripping games to your Xbox 360 HDD are still
>>to be announced, but it appears that the only limitation
>>on users is that the game disc must be in the drive in
>>order to play. That means no lending your copy of History
>>Channel: Battle for the Pacific to get around, you know,
>>owning the thing. The feature is said to work with all
>>Xbox 360 games past, present and future and is primarily
>>a method to reduce load times.

Okay, reducing load times at the expense of having hard drive space for movies or demos that's on a very small, non-upgradable HDD.

Thanks Microsoft. /sarcasm

Does anybody else feel this will give us the PS3s NOT OPTIONAL install times for every game?

DennoCoil

@RuneX21: I agree. I like the direction Microsoft crafted on its own with the Live interface/experience. The addition of avatars is so needlessly kidish, the HOME features they stole are 90% useless, the UI is a rip off of the XMB and Apple's cover flow. Microsoft never innovates. They just steal. I like the company better when they do their own thing. Best addition: Netflix. But I'll be waiting for Netflix HD streaming.

SoulSuckingJerk

The overwhelming consensus is that this needs to be made optional. I've been reading on the xbox forums since it was launched and very few people actually like this.

I personally don't. I like the blade system. It's very fast and clean, I can get to the exact place I want to get to quickly. I don't like the multiple windows thing. Also, the avatars need to be optional in all aspects. I don't even want to see it displayed on my screen or my friends gamer cards. It was a fun concept for a bit on the wii, but even they get annoying.
I am not opposed to change at all. I welcome it in some instances, but why change the dashboard? It has worked just fine since launch.

This has a ring of familiarity to the xp and vista interface change. MS came out and was like "Whoo look at our awesome new interface" and everybody went "wow, ok...change to classic view...better" I don't like my interface to look like it was designed by Fisher Price.

IMHO, Xbox is turning towards the myspace/facebook side of gaming. More concerned with social networking than gaming. Even all the new features that were introduced show that all the big-wig people think the xbox should be everything except a gaming system. I didn't like the idea of integrating MSN chat, but I don't use it so oh well. I personally collect movies so having netflix is wasted on me, and not to mention the idea of being required to watch a movie within a 24 hour window is retarded. If I spend that much money on it, I should be able to watch it as many times as I care to. I don't share photos with friends, because...well...we bought the 360 to play games on and occasionally watch movies.

I know, there are tons of features I think are completely useless and a waste of time, but others use them on a daily basis and that is the point of their marketing, to target everyone. But with the new dashboard/avatar introduction, it seems like they are gearing their market towards the younger crowd more and more. This is just an open invitation to get more and more annoying ass little kids on Live.

Capp

An open letter to the interface designers at Microsoft:

We had a rather lengthy discussion here at work about the new dashboard. It's clean, fairly minimalist, and customizable with our themes. It's nice. Many of us like it. But there is one major flaw that is universally recognized: the avatars are CRAP. Avatars themselves aren't a bad thing, it's these cheesy Mii knockoffs that make us angry.

These Mii clones are a bad move, Microsoft. You are alienating a very large segment of your core market (In case you weren't keeping track, your core market are NOT casual gamers). Making the avatars a)required and b)"cutesy fun" has upset quite a few of us.

I (and a couple others) wouldn't mind having an avatar IF we could make it something other than 'human'. For example, make a new option for developers to include models on game discs that are useable as avatars. THAT would be a good move, and one I could get behind.

We understand why you did it. You want to expand into the casual market and attract new customers who would not normally buy a 360. We can't fault you for that. It is smart business. What isn't smart is not taking into consideration how the customers you already have (we're the ones that have ultimately made the 360 profitable) will react.

Please MS. Either make these avatars optional (I would be happy with just my gamerpic there instead), or expand it so we don't have to use a Mii clone.

Sincerely,
360 Owners around the world

PS. You're not Nintendo, nor will you ever be. Stop trying.

Bacardi151

As someone who still has a launch system, this software overhaul scares me. Please don't brick, please don't brick...

Briz9

So the 360 guys thought that developing a pointless version of the Mii will draw in the family? Really?

Streaming Netflix is pretty cool, hopefully, you'll be able to download DVD quality films to the harddrive.

Installing games to the hard drive? Yeah, great and simple idea, but limiting players to a 60Gb HD is limiting. Why can't we install our own HDs?

hahnchen

@ApocalypseVII: At least Microsoft could have tried to cover up the fact they were ripping off the Miis and XMB. I mean, look at it. That's just shameless.

Murmaider

@Xenigma: Agreed. I like the blade interface, what needs to be changed on it is how content is laid out within the blades, not to get rid of the blades themselves.

M.A.S.

Looks like crap

Spideys-Web

Yes Please.

JonnyH

Don't care what it looks like. About time for change. (please let me make everything transparent so I can see my damn background theme!)

parasiteartist

meh, disappointed in this. I really like the blades and really hate the xmb and wii interfaces.(I hate the xmb for consoles as its too plain, it works great on the psp becuase it fills the screen.) Now MS thinks we want a mandatory illigitimate child of the 2. Im not impressed at all. I thought home was a stupid idea when it was announced, and I think this is just as dumb. Same goes with little avatars, but I guess atleast they look like poeple now instead of some freakish big headed, giant eyed space alien like we got with the mii's.

RuneX21

I love it.. Its 1,000,000,000,000 times better than the XMB crap.. I love my PS3, but I hate the XMB. I think the current XBOX blade system is good, but this new one is amazing. Can't wait to see it in person.

PvtPoopy

Lucklaster = LackLuster by any chance?

Bound

I'll be honest. Yesterday, after the initial announcement I was in the "Do Not Want" camp. Now, I'm very "whatever." I mean, it'll still play all my 360 games, which is all I really want.

Numerous

Do you really all sepnd THAT much time on your dashboard to care THIS much?

People complained and complained about the blades and they replaced it. (the majority didnt but people dont tend to voice the ' i like its' as much as people complain)

The details in the things like 8-way voie chat and media sharing.....that is cool. Being able to launch games as a group...thats cool. why? cause you KNOW thats gonna include some form of clan system at some point.

netflix intergartion...pretty cool

the quizgames thing- fucking brilliant

abl to access all of the origional things from the ingame blade? AWESOME

do i give a shit that i have a UI that i dont particularly like? Is it going to effect my ability to [play FFXIII? errrr....no

teeps1981

yey! miis, but this time they look like vomit! :D

Haingis

I'm sorry, but being able to sit with my friends in rip into films just has some weird kind of attraction to me.

Bring it on!

nottsville

Mii integration, motion sensors in the controller, hurray for microsoft! Why be original when you can copy the competition?

little computer freund

@Assassin_Kensei: How about reading the article before complaining about something explicitly clarified in it?
"Your Old Stuff...
...will still work in the new interface. The gamerpics and themes you downloaded will work with NXE. And while we didn't get to see it in action, Marc Whitten swears they look "beautiful" on the new interface."

Starsky

Boo! it's just Vista. Boo!

beowulfshadow

Now all MS need to do is drop the price of the 120gb hard drive.

nitram100

@rickyyo: I agree. we gotta use this thing first. I welcome a faster and cleaner design. I wish people would grow up and quit the bitching until they have tried it and know what they're talking about.

giovonti

Looks so much cleaner and smoother than the current blades which at the moment seem flat. Hopefully you'll get a chance to change the themes (most likely will) becuase the grey seems too drab at the moment. I think better overa;; performance is a good thing because i hate the way the dashboard loads its clutter now. I also like the look of the new guide and if it performs better than the current blurry one then I have no reason to complain - less damage will be recieved when I accidently press middle button during gameplay.

DanteIX

so what happens to all the themes and gamerpics we've purchased??? I hope the give credit for new themes and avatar stuff.

Assassin_Kensei

This is an awesome interface providing excellent accessability to all multimedia features! I couldn't care less for the Mii-Clones but they don't bother me anyway.
In the end it is about the functions and possibiliites and with this update Microsoft is far far ahead of anyone else named Sony or let alone Nintendo. And this probably won't change in this generation. Microsoft knows how to make software, that is for sure!

Starsky

Finally, I don't won't feel embarrassed by my 1996-esque blades system. I realised how crap the blades system was when I looked at, well, any of the marketplace pages where you had to scroll through 100+ items to get to what you want. It was really brought home to me when I went around my friend's house and played on his PS3. The XMB absolutely crapped all over the dashboard.

This is a huge improvement. Not sure about the avatars, but the actual interface is fantastic.

Excelle

Looks like I won't be connecting my 360 to the internet forever once this update is released.

GranzonTotoro

@n64dude64: To be honest I preferred the blades, I always thought they were easy enough to manage and find stuff and they were also quite quick. This has some perks though, it's new so will include the new features ofcourse and it looks like it has no advertisements.

Llost

"Mii 2"ism

Aname

People who say 'rip off' have no clue about anything and I would bet lots of money on the fact that they are poor and have no understanding of the real world.

How easily people are forgotten.

Jooptang

Fail.

Someone at the MS User Interface department should get slapped in the face. All they did was mix the 3D interface of PS3's XMB with Nintendo Miis; That is not good footwork, my friend. It looks better than the blade interface, but compared to the competition (and Windows for that matter), it looks like poop (Or should I say Bob)!

boopadoo

@ApocalypseVII:

Great post. All these pseudo-claims of intellectual piracy are tenuous arguments at best. I'm looking forward to getting my hands on this.

Snuffbox

I'm sitting here reading some of these comments and they're very single sided. "Oh look, Miis." "XMB ripoff."
Seriously?
There isn't a system out today that didn't take something from it's competition. Xbox Live is the pinnacle of gaming experience and Sony is mustering itself to attain such a response as well as Nintendo who cannot seem to make it work.
Sony just took the trophy system which is clearly a copy of the achievement model.
I don't really care who is borrowing what from who. Let's save the bitching for after it's out. I mean, let's be fair...
If you wanna hate 360 for ripping off of Nintendo then let's all retro to 1977 and start hating on Star Wars for ripping off every Kurosawa movie.
(Had to toss that one out there.)
I SUPPOSE stuff that's ripped off could be entertaining. A billion Lucas Dollars cannot be wrong.
-Adam

ApocalypseVII

@PathRifter:

Not true in response to the optional part (If you plan on buying any new games, that is.)

Microsoft puts the new version on the dashboard on retail discs a few months down the line from when it is originally released and it is mandatory then. (Not that I've had to do this, but I believe it was on Major Nelson's podcast once.) This is so everyone can have access to the features of the new dashboard (especially for functionality features, like codec support, etc.)

I believe Microsoft also offers the ability to download a dashboard update to your computer and rip it to a DVD which can then be read by the 360 and have it update.

At least for now, it seems like there is no getting out of this one .

CarbonFalcon

All I think this new interface is going to do for me is to change the setting on my 360 to start playing the game in the drive immediately rather than going to the dashboard when I turn it on.

CarbonFalcon

It's amazing to me how much money companies throw at people that are obviously lacking in imagination. The original UI was great but did need some upgrades, though a complete Wii-a-fied redesign wasn't needed and seems mostly unwanted. Ugh it just looks so uninpsired it makes me sad.

Replica23

@kryzhal:

The menu boxes may even become like transparent glass or the background photo maybe lighter. Who knows. Right now I'm not to keen on the new XBL look, but I'll give it the benefit of the doubt till I try it out for myself

Orionsaint

@kryzhal:

Oh yeah I know. My PS was simple. I figure the theme will take care of the little details. That will better fit with the intended theme.

Orionsaint

oh god it's so ugly it's like the 360 is running windows 3.1 :(

pokebud

@Horusz:

uh huh, have you seen the avatars? I think the update is overall, pretty nice. The avatars just ruin it all for me.

ReconToaster

@TheGreySpectre:

and they should be doing that with games, not mandatory updates that we're all forced to suffer through. I understand that they have to appeal to multiple audiences, but I feel as if they're just checking us off on their list of "audiences to attract" and moving on. I feel like they're leaving us in the dirt.

ReconToaster

Wow, a lot of haters, well that's the internet for ya.
I love the new interface, it looks like it is XMB 2.0

People are just moaning because they are used to the blades, once they are used to this, they will never want to go back, they are IMPROVING the dashboard, not just giving it a new coat of paint.

Horusz

I don't plan on using them but I think part of the avatars is MS is trying to broaden thier audience.

Do we have a release date for this yet?

TheGreySpectre

NINTENDO/MICROSOFT TEAM-UP CONFIRMED! OMFG!

When will I be able to import my Wii's into XBOX Live?!

Vanguarde

@Altersparck:

If M$ (I never used to use that symbol to say microsoft, but now I do) let users create their on clothes for the avatars, we;d all make shirts that said "Fuck this fucking cartoon"

ReconToaster

I like the blade interface. I think It's slick and very aesthetically appealing. It's very simple to me. My grandma couldn't find her way around it, but she also can't turn on and off her television.

I like a lot of the new features (like watching movies together), but the interface looks more "dumbed down" than "improved," and I fucking hate those damn avatars! the new guide just looks like a shitty version of the blade. If the friends list in the guide is the same as the one on the new dashboard, I'm going to fucking sell my xbox.

They had a perfect friends list. It was simple, and all that it needed to be, and now they've gone and fucked it up.

ReconToaster

wow i love my 360 but i absolutely hate this avatar thing. Out of curiosity though. They mentioned being able to form parties and jump from content to games. So now xbox live will finally have rich party support built into live itself? Like could i form a party then we all jump into rainbow6 as one team?

houkah

I guess Rare will forever be stuck ripping off Nintendo's ideas.

toadwarrior

I don't like it, but I'm only on the dashboard long enough to grab DLC so as long as I can still find demos, and whatnot Microsoft can waste their resources on this Wii-too dross if they like.

Gouki4u's avatar has a severe case of Jekyll and Hyde

They should keep the current blade dashboard interface optional for those who prefer it.

XbhaskarX

I'm glad the current themes and gamerpics won't be obsolete.
Who cares about an internet browser, pretty much anyone with a console also has at least one computer. I never use the browser on my PS3 or Wii, it's the type of thing you just try out once just for the novelty of it, and then forget about.

XbhaskarX

It's still optional if you're like me and never really use or connect to Xbox live. I mean, what...is my interface suddenly supposed to just *stop working* when this comes out? I doubt it.

So I suppose that I, and those others fortunate enough like me, really have nothing to worry about. :D

PathRifter

@n64dude64: I dont like it either

LemonproX

I still hate those avatars, they're ugly, soulless Mii wannabes. And I doubt anyone will actually use Live party. Otherwise, this looks fairly meh. Glad they supposedly fixed the load times, those are annoying at times. Kind of pitiful though that they so blatantly ripped off Sony (NXE? seriously?), Apple, and Nintendo. I guess they're getting desperate, since most of their top developers left, and the PS3 is catching up saleswise.

Placentasaurus

@Orionsaint: nothing against the photoshop, but the "avatars" look rather out of place with that kind of theme. They'd fit perfectly with Viva pinata but with gears it's rather incongruent. Hopefully you can choose between your gamerpic and that for that kinda situation. unless they incorporate avatars in GOW 2. Imagine that. Forget Marcus Fenix. It's you, well your avatar any way.

kryzhal

this can't be the death of the blades. there's gotta be a "classic" mode or something... i guess i'd be surprised if they disintegrated what everyone's spent so much time getting used to.

Personally, i'm looking forward to the update... it's gonna be oh so sexy once they implement some personalization elements to the menus.

tehGloom

@ThisCharmingMan: you got a giant tv to look at a game system menu?

kommanderk

I like the blade interface. :x

Yofu

I like it. It's minimalistic.

@Netnavi: Of course they stand there... they're .. still photographs.

AndrewDB

@fordpickup: a lot of the appeal of loading a game on the harddrive depends on how much you want to play a particular game. For instance, I play Forza 2, and I play Call of Duty 4, among many other games. Forza 2 will make it to my Xbox only every once in a while, to get my racing fix. But 95% of the time, if I am playing the 360, I am playing CoD online. So if I wanted to rip CoD4 to my harddrive, I would end up saving lots of time by not having to sit through such long load times. The feature is useless for games you only play every once in a while.

evnglion

A rough photoshop of what themes may look like on the new XBL

[img234.imageshack.us]

Orionsaint

You 360 owners have it too good. I think the new interface is solid. Not Minority Report slick but still nice (although it's a clear rip from iTunes' Cover Flow system, now available in Leopard).

The avatars is basically Home without the fluff and to this PS3 owner is looks better and more inviting the Home does right now. After being in the beta for well over a year I've yet to even see this kind of ease of use and flexibility that MS showed in a few minutes. Home's been on the drawing board so long it's starting to look slow and stupid especially when up against the new MS avatar system.

I'm seriously considering getting a 360 if for no other reason than to start using the new avatars. I'll still get FFXIII on the PS3 as I still believe that the game was made for the PS3 from the ground up and will perform better on the PS3. But all the social features of the 360 make Home and all the "we're getting there" community features of the PSN look downright feeble.

I just have to get used to the sound of an airplane landing in my living room when I turn it on so I probably won't be playing much at night when everyone's asleep.

Bottomline, stop complaining 360 owners, you have no idea how good you have it.

incredibilistic

I like the new dashboard. Regarding the lack of a browser...who cares? I tried using the PS3 browser the other day. Between the lack of Adobe Flash support crippling pretty much every web page I visit, to RUNNING OUT OF FRIGGIN' MEMORY by opening two (that's right, TWO) windows, I'll stick to web surfing on my laptop.

The avatars are fine. No better or worse than Miis or HOME avatars. The fact that people find a reason to complain about them is humorous.

billnabors65

I never would have thought the 360 interface could have gotten any shittier, but MS proved me wrong yet again. The flagrant Mii knockoffs complete the package.

Stay classy, MS!

Murmaider

I assume the background being plain is where the themes are gonna go, much like windows.

Orionsaint

BOOO

I don't want this shit on my 360.

Snake726

@fordpickup:

See: Lost Odyssey. Gawt DAYUM that thing had some long load times.

blizihizake

Word that comes to my mind at looking at this: "bland"

mp3

I hope it's more responsive, i hate how sluggish the old one was *hit guide button, then wait for blade to roll out*

But this just looks so plain, they better have some nice themes (for free).

TheHun

I like it. Doing what Nintendo should have done long ago.

And I love people crying like little whiny girls. Look what happened when Nintendo named their console "Wii".......

Turned out pretty good for Nintendo. ;)

bennifer3000

honestly, it looks like shit. why can't they at least make an effort to look like they aren't COMPLETELY ripping Nintendo off?!?!?

decodergrizzly

@Guerrilla Mason:
I know! And it's not just MS, it's Sony too. You'd think that between the two of them, they'd figure out that sometimes you want to take advantage of the system's many other media capabilities even though you have a game in the tray. And for me, it's especially bad. Going from TF2 to Oblivion and vice versa, which I have to do regularly, is a legitimate pain in the ass. I have to clear the cache and change the resolution, or one game will end up either running like shit or looking like shit. It would be much easier if I didn't have to worry about accidentally forgetting and closing the tray mid process.

gamadaya

@gamadaya:
I'll give you that. But at least they aren't straight up ripping them off. At least they are giving you more options than 'what color do you want your shirt to be?' If they would have done the horrible channel setup that Nintendo has, then we would have something.

Guerrilla Mason

I would be less hateful towards the Miis, uh, i mean Avatars if they were more adult looking and not so freaking...cutesy....

With gamerpics, I can have Batman, Marcus, Big Daddy, whatever cool thing I want...but, these, these "things" are a monstrosity. Horrid, I say! HORRID!

Get me some fire and a pitchfork, immediately!

kagai

@Guerrilla Mason:
Yeah, they both look half assed to me. But my argument is that MS clearly got it's inspiration for this directly from the Miis. It's not stealing, but it is taking.

gamadaya

@AlabastaJoe:
Dude, you are not alone. And I would also like to have to an option of the discs (I have the HDDVD addon...I make great financial decisions) not starting when I close the trays. Sometimes I just wanna see what movie is in the tray.

Guerrilla Mason

I am happy to hear that both the gamer pics and themes will work, and I just hope they look as good as this guy says they do. I think it will be pretty cool if they do.

WPack911

Granted MS probably took alot of idea from the Mii's to create their avatars. I really doubt they will get much of a new user base solely based on having an avatar system. It just seems weird to think their normal user base (probably young males) would buy into that sort of stuff. But it probably will increase microtransactions. Which I'm glad Nintendo hasn't done (yet) for Miis.

suntorytime

@gamadaya:
Actually, to me, Miis look like half assed avatars. I like that these look kind of like real people. The only thing I really hate about Miis is that they look so...well, fake is the best word I can come up with.

Guerrilla Mason

All I can say... It's About Time!

Too hard to find what I need with the current blade system... Too slow to load...

The Avatars are animated (there's a video on Live that shows this thing in action) and the scrolling happens fast.

Looking VERY forward to it.

MHatter73

@adinnieken: I know about that, I've tried it. I'd like to say again, though, that themes aren't what I'm displeased about; I couldn't care less about them. Rather, I cite themes and gamerpics as the prime example of having users pay to be advertised to.

The OXM contests and such are a step in the right direction, though that's one step against thousands.

Personally, I'd like to see user-created themes and gamerpics come out. Microsoft should worry less about monetizing every square inch of the Dashboard and focus on a better user experience. Maybe even drop the tacky Dashboard ads from paying users' machines.

Altersparck

I actually like the current blade system, but than god for am open tray option. I know it isn't really necessary since you have to go to the system to change the disc anyway, but not being able to open the tray remotely has always bothered me.

AlabastaJoe

@thelivingrobot:
No, copying other companies strategies is also Microsoft's job. And they are insanely good at it.

gamadaya

@Guerrilla Mason:
Fine, they aren't stealing it. But you can't deny that they got this idea from Nintendo. Nintendo wasn't the first to create avatars, but they were the first to do it with a console, and one of the first to use that style. It's hard to deny that the Live avatars do look like half assed Miis that were thrown together to capitalize off of Nintendo's success.

gamadaya

@DespisedMC: "Your Old Stuff...
...will still work in the new interface. The gamerpics and themes you downloaded will work with NXE. And while we didn't get to see it in action, Marc Whitten swears they look "beautiful" on the new interface."

TLDR??

thelivingrobot

Meh, I don't like the new version, the same is better!

JadedBlack

@Netnavi:

Stop complaining about everything lol!

also why is this non optional some people may actually like the current dashboard and dont want an xbox mii60

adamr999

Man, I can't wait for the fall update. This is a much slicker look than the blades. Faster too from what I saw. I think it's funny. There is a lot of bitching about the avatars going on, but I get the feeling that even though they're totally optional, 95%+ of us will use them anyway. I'm just glad they updated the dash and guide. Saves me the trouble of modding my 360 so I can use XBMC.

Oh, and fanboys, this is clearly based on the Media Center menu system, not the XMB. Copying other companies' strategies is Sony's job, not Microsoft's.

thelivingrobot

I wonder what would come of all the themes and gamerpics we bought..shit I don't know about you guys but if we can't use them I want my money back dammit...but I don't mind the new style I can live with it but out the whole e3 I'm just happy there going to bring portal to the acarde

DespisedMC