NXE: The New Xbox 360 Dashboard (New Xbox Experience (Xbox 360))

Member Name: freetimeaction

Product:	New Xbox Experience (Xbox 360)
Date:	20/11/08 (1007 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Copy games to the hard drive | Create a personlised Avatar

Disadvantages: None to mention

NXE: The New Xbox Experience

Here' I will try and go into as much detail as possible through my experience after downloading and using the new Xbox 360 dashboard.

What is it?
The NXE is a new download / update available to the Xbox 360. It provides a brand new dashboard layout, with plenty of new features to play with (I will go into depth a little later)

How / when do I get it?
The update was released 19th November 2008 at 10.30am GMT.
If you are connected to Xbox Live, you will be prompted the next time you boot your console up to download the update, you won't have a choice to stick with the old dashboard unless you disconnect from Xbox Live, and never use the internet on your Xbox again.
If you are not connected to Xbox Live, don't panic, you can still download the new dashboard but this isn't available just yet. Microsoft will be providing an update on their website, allowing you to download the update onto a CD or USB stick for your Xbox 360.

How long will it take to install?
The file is around 100mb in size, and will take anywhere from 5-15minutes to download and install depending on your broadband connection.

The new features:
*The dashboard*
The new dashboard is completely different to the last. With the option to move up and down to choose between areas of the Xbox (including Marketplace / My Xbox / Friends List / Spotlight), and the ability to then move left and right to further settings (Achievement points / settings / downloads / pictures and music)
The dashboard has a 'Windows Vista' feel to it, with menus overlapping each other at a slight angle meaning you can view your current menu on top, but also being able to view 2 further menus appearing behind.
The navigation is fantastic, with sharper and cleaner images it really does show off the HD console. The new sounds are great two with new beep / click and navigating sounds.

*The guide button*
Another fantastic new feature is the guide button update (when you press the Xbox logo on your controller), from here you can access a lot more, without having to return to the main dashboard while in a game. You can access the marketplace, redeem a code, edit your audio and video settings and view current downloads. The guide now pops up in the centre of the screen with a blue background, and white writing.

*Party Chat*
This is one of my favorite new features. From here you can now talk to up to 7 friends (8 in a party) no matter where they are on the console or what they are doing. So, if you and 3 friends are now playing Call of Duty: World at War, you can use private chat, rather than the in game lobby chat.

*Backing up games to the Hard Drive*
This is by far my favorite feature from the new update. You have the option to backup your games to your hard drive. Each game takes approximately 10minutes to backup, and uses around 6.5GB.
The benefits of backing up a game onto your hard drive are:
No more DVD drive noise, as the DVD drive no longer needs to spin while playing games.
The DVD drive's life span will be greater.
The game loads will be quicker.
Less chance of games being scratched, again as the drive no longer needs to spin.
However, please remember that the original game still needs to be inserted into the DVD drive in order to work, as it needs to verify you have the game (Microsoft are hardly going to provide a new update which allows you to copy any game to your hard drive without the need of a CD in future)

*Avatars*
The first thing you will be prompted to do once the installation is complete, is to create a new avatar for yourself. Now, these avatars looks very similar to the Nintendo Wii 'Miis'.
You can customize your height, weight, gender, hair style and colour, facial hair, eyes, skin tone, ears, nose, hats, t-shirts, trousers, jackets and shoes. With around 20 of each option, there's more than enough to create yourself, or your very own monster.
You can then take a photo of your avatar which will then be used as your new small gamer tag image.

*Friend's List*
all your friends new full sized avatars along with a small image indicating what they are doing right now (e.g. a picture of an Xbox shows the user is currently on their Xbox dashboard, or a picture of a game cover shows which game they are playing)
If your friend is offline, it will show their avatar as sleeping.

*Deleting 'zero' gamer score games*
You now have the option of deleting any games from your achievement list / game history with a gamer score rating of 'Zero'. There's no real advantage to this, but will clear up your game history for any games you played for a few minutes and never achieved anything.

*Game invite requests*
Ever had a game invite from a friend that says "Joe wants to play" but until you click that message, you've no idea what game they want to play? Well, the new update has changed this. When your friend sends you an invite now, it actually states what game they are inviting you to, so you can decide whether to even entertain the request or not e.g. "Joe wants to play Fifa 09"

*Download Queue online*
You now have the option to log into your account online at Xbox.com, and browse the marketplace for demos / game add ons etc. From here, you can add anything you wish to your Xbox download queue and the next time you boot your Xbox 360 up, the downloads will start automatically. (Ideal if you are at work, and want to prepare a download before you get home)

Summary: Brings a whole new life to the Xbox 360 experience