Xbox Living

When you turn on your Xbox 360 today, you’ll be prompted with a familiar update message.  Once you complete that update, though, things will change forever.  You’ll see a second update screen that’s unlike the regular, clunky grey panels the Xbox 360 used to have.  You’ll then be shown a new intro video.

Microsoft today pushed out the new Xbox Live Experience to the 25 million Xbox 360 owners worldwide.  The changes effect on all aspects of the Xbox 360 user interface, and add a few new features, such as player avatars and improved party features.

It’s early yet, so I still haven’t gotten used to where everything is now, but so far I’m impressed.  There will be a learning curve, but I’m finding some aspects of the UI are easier to get to.  You also have access to more features when you press the Xbox Guide Button in-game.  Almost all of the Marketplace and Media features seem to be in there.

The avatar creation is noticably a duplication (uh, we’ll say “tribute”?) of the Mii creation on the Nintendo Wii.  Many of the hairstyles and eye designs look almost identical, and even the sound effects in the avatar editor are very Nintendo-esque.

You can change your gamer picture to match your avatar, or leave it the same.  There are even some subtle nuances of the UI, such as the ability to move your avatar’s head while browsing menus, that are a nice touch.

Like I said, I’m still not used to the changes, but it’s certainly visually appealing and at least a few menu options are obviously improved.  Let’s see how things go when I can use more of the features.

What do you think of the New Xbox Live Experience?