Your “New Xbox Experience” avatar has just gotten some grown up clothes, eight new pieces of formal and business casual articles that will be a hit at your next Xbox Live con call.

New shirts, slacks, waistcoats and skirts are yours for the virtual closet raiding, provided you want your Avatar to look nice, but not too nice. For the new additions, read on.

Male
Blue Formal Shirt
Moleskin Pants
Waistcoat and Shirt
Suit and Tie

Female
Pencil Skirt
Slacks
Pinstripe Blazer
Twin Set

It’s OK, Americans. Those European football shirts weren’t your thing. This, then, is your thing, a new “Western Wear” collection of avatar clothing that’ll have you reaching for an official Microsoft-branded six-shooter.

Least, we wish it did. Something Deadwood would have been nice. Some big moustaches, gun belts, maybe a poncho or two. Maybe Lee Van Cleef’s hat. Something rustic, something 19th century. Instead, the “Western Wear” looks more like “Garth Brooks” wear. Bummer.

If the shot to the left hasn’t turned you off the idea (hey, you could always just rock the hat), the new gear is easily available, as always, by finding the wardrobe options that have a gold star next to them in the avatar menu.

Most people are more than happy with the improvements the New Xbox Experience brought to the Xbox 360’s user interface. Those unhappy, well, tough: it’s about to become compulsory.

Up til now, those who didn’t like the looks of the NXE could, in theory, keep their consoles off Xbox Live and keep rockin’ the blades like it was 2005. But no longer. Beginning with HAWX and MLB2K9, 360 games will now come with the update on the disc, meaning if you don’t have the NXE and then insert a new game, it’ll be installed automatically, whether you like it or not.

Don’t worry. There are plenty of ways to make your avatar look sad.

NXE now included as mandatory on-disc update [Darkzero]

The Xbox 360’s “New Xbox Experience” wasn’t filled with the joyful noise of Avatar belches for some owners of the console. Some found their HDMI-ready systems without sound, which Microsoft is now, finally, addressing.

Following the NXE roll out in November 2008, a segment of the Xbox 360 population found their previously working audio cutting out. A hard drive swapping “fix” was the best the community could come up with. Not an ideal solution, nor the best way to fire up a C-grade Netflix stream.

According to Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb, a new dashboard update will be issued in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, one that is said to fix the issue affecting those plugging in their Xbox 360 via HDMI. We’ve fortunately been spared the HDMI-induced aural famine at Kotaku Towers, but hope that those affected will chime in, loudly, when they get their patch on.

Dashboard Update (aka the HDMI Audio fix) [Xbox Live's Major Nelson]

Your New Xbox Experience avatar just got a wardrobe booster, thanks to the fashionistas at Microsoft and Rare. It’s a noticeably preppy update to the Avatar closet, perfect for a weekend beach house getaway.

Fans of polos, cardigans, chinos and other yacht-appropriate casual wear will want to deck out their Avatars with the latest threads. You know, for Live Party clambakes and such. There are even Nantucket pants for when you’re feeling virtually New England.

Kotaku AU Note: Don’t worry, I’ve no idea what that last sentence meant either.

The full list of new togs is after this.

Boys

• Striped Polo Shirt
• Striped Jacket with Polo
• Checked Jacket with Polo
• Open Neck Cardigan
• Embroidered Pants
• Suspenders with Hi Pants (Dress Up)

Girls

• Hacking Jacket
• Chinos with Belt
• Rainy Day Boots
• Scarlet Pumps
• Lavender Polo Shirt

New Avatar clothes available [Major Nelson]

Located in the Spotlight section of your New Xbox Experience, the Holiday Snow Globe randomly populates itself with you and your friends, trapping them in a water-filled globe that you have the power to shake. The poor little virtual guys get so confused that every once in awhile they do the wave.

Adding to the torture, while the Snow Globe is on your screen, holiday greetings in various languages scroll across the top of your screen while the opening verse of “Jingle Bells” plays over and over and over again. I’ve had it playing in the background for about 30 minutes now, and I am ready to give someone a holly-jolly garroting.

Stir your friends up in the Xbox LIVE Snow Globe [Xbox Live's Major Nelson]

Kotaku AU says: And once again Microsoft has forgotten about everyone who doesn’t live north of the equator. Sigh. We were thinking of asking you what would you like to see in an Australia-specific snowglobe… but then we realised we don’t care about the whole thing in the slightest.

Xbox LIVE Marketplace sales have been up week over week since the New Xbox Experience hit three weeks ago, with movie downloads increasing 49 percent and TV episode downloads up 30 percent the week after launch. And, Greenberg said, Xbox LIVE Arcade sales almost tripled in the first week after the New Xbox Experience launch.

“We are seeing it as a sustained increase,” Greenberg said.

Some games saw a bigger impact to sales than others did. In particular, Arcade titles Uno and A Kingdom for Keflings, both of which support in-game avatar use, saw tremendous jumps in sales.

“I think we are bringing a much broader audience into the experience,” Greenberg said. “We’ve made the Xbox easier to navigate and that’s resulted in people buying new content.”

“We’ll see over time how that plays out.”

The new Xbox interface, which was rolled out on Nov. 19, comes as Xbox Live membership hits an all time high, currently more than 14 million active members online.

Those members, Greenberg said, are also much more active than they used to be. The number of new friends added per Xbox LIVE member has risen by 33 percent, since Nov. 19, and over the past year the average number of unique visitors to Live every day has risen 66 percent.

They’re purpose-built for your harsh, northern winters, not our harsh, southern summers. So no hats, no tiny shorts, no cheap flip-flops, just a range of snowboarding gear for your avatar’s inner eXtrEme sportsman. They’re already available, they’re free, go try ‘em on.

The online movie company issued a statement last week saying “we hope they’ll be licensed for Xbox 360 shortly”. When Netflix say “shortly”, they mean “shortly”, as (most of) Sony’s movies are now up and available for download. Least, the important ones are. Go knock yourselves out.

Know before you start, however, that if you own a 20GB unit, Blue Dragon – at 19.9 GB – isn’t going to fit. Nor is Lost Odyssey, at a whopping 23.2 GB. And if you own Crackdown or DoA Beach Volleyball 2, you won’t be able to install them at all. The feature is “not supported” for those titles. Same goes for the Burger King titles Big Bumpin’, Sneak King, and Pocketbike Racer, as well as the version of Quake II that came with Quake IV.

Everything else, though? You can install it. And here’s how much they take up, courtesy of Sean & the kids @ NeoGAF:

Game – Install Size – Notes

- All Pro Football 2k8 (5.0 GB)
– Amped 3 (6.7 GB)
– Army of Two (5.7 GB)
– Assassin’s Creed (6.7 GB) — Jerusalem load 39.5 seconds (DVD) vs 25 seconds (HDD)
– Battlefield: Bad Company (6.5 GB)
– Battlestations: Midway (5.5 GB)
– Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts (6.6 GB) — cuts 2-6 seconds off loads
– Beautiful Katamari (3.4 GB)
– BioShock (6.1 GB) — Point Prometheus level 35 seconds (DVD) vs 24.5 seconds (HDD)
– Blazing Angels (3.4 GB)
– Blue Dragon (19.9 GB for all disks – 6.6 GB, 6.5 GB, 6.8 GB)
– Brother’s in Arms: Hell’s Highway (5.2 GB)
– Bullet Witch (5.2 GB)
– Bully: Scholarship Edition (3.4 GB)
– Burnout Revenge (4.4 GB) — load/restart of Eastern Bay (a long forward race): DVD 26 seconds HDD 11 seconds
– Burnout Paradise (3.4 GB)
– C&C: Tiberium Wars (6.6 GB)
– Call of Duty 2 (6.0 GB) — saves 2-3 seconds each loadtime
– Call of Duty 3 (5.8 GB)
– Call of Duty 4 (6.7 GB)
– Call of Duty: World at War (6.5 GB)
– Cars (5.2 GB)
– Chromehounds (4.2 GB)
– Civilization Revolution (6.3 GB)
– Clive Barker’s Jericho (5.6 GB)
– Colin McRae Dirt (6.4 GB)
– Command & Conquer 3 (3.6GB)
– Condemned (5.4 GB)
– Condemned 2: Bloodshot (6.8 GB)
– Dark Messiah: Might and Magic (6.1 GB) — “seems to fix the music cutting out issue. It loads a little faster too”
– Dark Sector (3.4 GB) — chapter 6 loaded 10-11 secs with install versus 15-16 normal
– Dead or Alive 4 (6.8GB)
– Dead Rising (6.6 GB)
– Dead Space — “shortens the initial load time and the load time when accessing save stations”
– Devil May Cry 4 (6.7 GB)
– Dynasty Warriors Gundam (5.6 GB)
– Earth Defence Force 2017 (3.4 GB)
– Eternal Sonata (6.8 GB)
– Fable 2 (6.8 GB) — the brief stutter when accessing inventory menus or expressions is gone
– Fallout 3 (5.9 GB)
– Far Cry 2 (4.5 GB)
– FIFA 09 (6.0 GB)
– Fight Night Round 3 (3.4 GB)
– Flatout Ultimate Carnage (4.9 GB)
– Forza 2 (5.3 GB)
– Full Auto (3.4 GB)
– Gears of War (6.5 GB)
– Gears of War 2 (6.7 GB) initial load 8 seconds shorter, causes stuttering at “saving game” checkpoints
– Ghost Recon: Advance Warfighter (5.2 GB)
– Ghost Recon: Advance Warfighter 2 (6.8 GB)
– Grand Theft Auto IV (6.7 GB) — decreases initial load time from 46.5 to 33 seconds
– GRID (6.6 GB)
– Guitar Hero 2 (3.4 GB)
– Guitar Hero: World Tour (6.5 GB)
– GUN (3.6 GB)
– Hitman: Blood Money (5.8 GB)
– Halo 3 (6.3 GB) — load times are apparently worse (10 seconds longer) when installed
– Idolm@ster (5.1 GB)
– Idolm@ster Live 4 U (5.9 GB)
– Infinite Undiscovery (12.5 GB for both discs, disc 1 6GB disc 2 6.5GB)
– Kameo (5.9 GB)
– King Kong (6.5 GB)
– Left 4 Dead (5.0 GB)
– Lego Star Wars The Complete Saga (5.8 GB)
– LIPS (4.7 GB)
– Lord of the Rings: Battle For Middle Earth (4.4 GB)
– Lost Planet (6.8 GB)
– Lost: Via Domus (4.2 GB)
– Lost Odyssey (23.2 GB for all discs: 5.8, 5.2, 6.3, and 6.2) — 2 times faster playing off HDD (video)
– Madden 09 (6.7 GB) — “game doesn’t hitch anymore when going in or coming out of an instant replay”
– Mass Effect (6.8 GB) — No more “Loading” pauses when moving too fast. Elevator load times are identical (hardcoded)
– Mercenaries 2 (6.7 GB)
– Midnight Club: LA (6.0 GB)
– Mirror’s Edge (5.7 GB) — eliminates (or greatly reduces) the amount of brief “Now Loading” pauses that pop up mid-level
– Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe (6.4 GB) — not much difference, load times are only 1-2 seconds shorter
– Namco Museum Virtual Arcade (3.4 GB)
– NBA 2K9 (6.7GB) — helps framerate issues and previously frequent hanging
– NBA Live 09 (?? GB) — “now we’re getting stutters inbetween baskets”
– Need for Speed Most Wanted (6.8 GB)
– NHL 09 (5.7 GB)
– Ninja Gaiden II (6.8 GB) — 125 seconds initial load on DVD, 45 seconds off HDD. No loading when selecting a weapon from quick switch menu
– Overlord (3.4 GB)
– Perfect Dark Zero (4.9 GB)
– Pure (4.4 GB)
– Pro Evolution Soccer 6 (3.4 GB)
– Project Gotham Racing 3 (6.2 GB)
– Project Gotham Racing 4 (6.0 GB) — average load is 6-10 seconds shorter, some users report occasional audio popping
– Quantum of Solace (6.8 GB)
– Raiden IV (3.4 GB)
– Raiden Fighters Aces (3.4 GB)
– Rainbow Six Vegas (6.7 GB)
– Ridge Racer 6 (6.5 GB)
– Rock Band (5.2 GB)
– Rock Band 2 (6.3GB)
– Rumble Roses XX (4.5GB) — seems like 1/3 taken off loading times
– Saints Row (6.8 GB)
– Saints Row 2 (6.8 GB)
– Scene It (6.8 GB)
– SEGA Rally (4.2 GB)
– Shadowrun (4.3 GB)
– Shikigami no Shiro 3 (3.4 GB)
– skate (6.5 GB) — “load times virtually the same, only exception: Clothes – they basically barely loaded at all before, now it’s all smooth”
– Smackdown vs RAW 2009 (?? GB) — “is INSANE from the HD, almost instant loading. Fantastic.”
– Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 ( GB) — “game loads about 15-20% faster”
– Soul Calibur IV (5.9 GB)
– Splinter Cell: Double Agent (6.8 GB)
– Star Trek Legacy (5.7 GB)
– Star Wars: Force Unleashed (6.6 GB)
– Stranglehold (6.7 GB)
– Stuntman Ignition (5.8 GB)
– Table Tennis (3.4 GB)
– Tales of Vesperia (5.9 GB) — “loads like it runs off of a cartridge at times”
– Tengai Makyou Ziria: Harukanaru Jipang (6.0 GB)
– The Club (5.2 GB)
– The Darkness (6.8 GB) — “loads noticeably faster. I didn’t do any comparisons but it feels a lot quicker travelling between areas.”
– The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (6.7 GB) — Great Forest loadtime 44.5 seconds (DVD) vs 31 seconds (HDD)
– The Orange Box (4.7 GB) — HL2 load time cut in half (44.5 vs 25.5 seconds), loading saved game ‘We don’t go there any more’ shaved off 32 seconds
– Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 (6.0 GB)
– Tomb Raider Anniversary (6.4 GB)
– Tomb Raider Legend (6.7 GB)
– Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland (5.0 GB)
– Too Human (6.2 GB)
– Two Worlds (3.4 GB)
– Unreal Tournament 3 (6.4 GB)
– Viking:Battle for Asgard (5.9 GB)
– Virtua Fighter 5 (4.7 GB)
– Virtua Tennis 3 (4.1 GB)
– Viva Piñata (5.0 GB)
– Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise (5.2 GB)
– Warriors Orochi (6.4 GB)
– Warriors Orochi 2 (6.8 GB)
– Wartech Senko no Ronde (3.4GB)
– WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2007 (6.8 GB)
– WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2008 (5.8 GB)
– WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2009 (6.6 GB)
– Xbox Live Arcade Compilation Disc (5.9 GB)
– Xbox Live Arcade Unplugged Vol.1 (3.4 GB)