It’s August 11 folks and that means the Xbox Live New Xbox Experience summer update is now up and running for everyone to download. I’m actually downloading it right now as I’m typing this, so I’ll be able to enjoy all the new perks like Games on Demand, the Avatar Marketplace, new updates to Netflix and more in just a few moments. Oh, I think it just finished downloading. Time to check it out, holla!

Microsoft, modest as ever, are now comparing the launch of the much-awaited New Xbox Experience (NXE), or “firmware update”, with the conversion to colour television. “In 1954, the introduction of colour TV heralded the dawn of a new era in entertainment,” Microsoft said. “On Nov. 19, more than 50 years after that dramatic shift, a new era in home entertainment begins with the New Xbox Experience as millions of Xbox 360™ consoles will transform instantly through the power of software,” they continued, adding “A bold new future begins now.”

We all know Microsoft need to pimp out their new product, especially as they’re trying to steal Nintendo’s market away with thier innovative new avatars, but comparing a firmware update to the advent of colour television is taking it a little too far. The reasoning Microsoft give? “High definition entertainment [will be] delivered in an instant, the best games [will] share the stage with the best movies, and every experience [will be] shared with friends and families, in the same room or around the world.” Well, colour television was all grainy and not even in proper 1080p! How could that possibly be revolutionary in the entertainment world?

Oh and the reason for the Stingray image? It was the first British show to be filmed entirely in colour (sadly not in true HD).

Source: Destructoid via our good friends at Negative Gamer.

I guess it just depends on whether you’re a pessimist or an optimistic pessimist. Speaking with CVG, Microsoft’s Jerry Johnson said “Half the things we wanted to do [in NXE] we cut out of the service.” Although consumers may not have to wait an exorbitant amount of time to see them come to fruition.

“There’s still a lot of stuff we want to do,” Johnson added. He then went on to explain that the new dashboard overhaul is built in such a way that allows for Microsoft to be able to add new functionality available almost instantaneously (the way he words it makes it seem optional, though), instead of the old Spring/Fall schedule. Johnson said ““There’s a Photo Party app that will be part of the platform, the way it will be distributed is all of a sudden you’ll see a slot on the dashboard and if you don’t have it you click on it and it’s going to download from the service onto your application part of the dashboard. Those are the type of things we’re going to start doing.”

The way he words it almost makes it sound similar to the  Wii Channels’ set-ups. Which in addition to avatars, are a proven way to bring the casual crowd in, arguably the main focus of this “New Xbox Experience.”

Johnson also confirmed that Xbox Live Primetime, their advent into server-based interactive game shows, will launch sometime in Spring 2009.

NXE itself will be available on Xbox Live November 19th, 2008.

Source: CVG

Remember last year, soon after the release of Call of Duty 4, when all the good little boys and girls that got Xbox 360s for Christmas proceeded to destroy Xbox Live? I do, as I’m sure a lot of you do as well, and I know for damn sure that Dan Landis does. When he reported on it last year, the article became a hot topic on Ripten for a good long while.

Well, this year is looking pretty scary with multiplayer heavy hitters Gears of War 2, Call of Duty: World at War, and Left 4 Dead on the horizon, not to mention the New Xbox Experience. All of these hit within the next three weeks. However, Microsoft claims that this year, they’ll be prepared.

Talking to Eurogamer, Xbox Live product unit manager Jerry Johnson seemed pretty confident that Microsoft won’t get caught off guard this year.

“I can tell you that when Robbie Bach is on the phone on Christmas Day calling people asking what the hell is going on, and that’s coming down from Steve Ballmer… that’s the kind of attention it got last holiday.”

Steve Ballmer is a pretty terrifying-looking man, so I imagine that he gets what he wants. Here’s to hoping that Microsoft won’t get caught with its pants down again.

For those lucky enough to get early access to the New Xbox Experience (I envy you), you better not think about sharing it with your friends. They won’t like not being able to play on Xbox LIVE, since the New Xbox Experience will only work with the gamertags of those Microsoft sent it to.

The New Xbox Experience has been leaked onto the net, but if you download it, you won’t have access to Xbox LIVE, sadly. That is, not until it goes live on November 19th. I’m in the liberty to provide the files, but if you do install it, remember that means no Gears of War 2 online until the 19th.

Xbox LIVE’s Major Nelson was even kind enough to make a statement on his Twitter:

“A little reminder: If you get your hands on NXE and you are NOT in the Preview Program. You won’t be allowed on LIVE.”

There you have it, no LIVE.

Source: Giant Bomb

Stephen Totilo over at the MTV Multiplayer blog decided to spend a portion of his Halloween holiday by treating himself to the “New Xbox Experience”.

Microsoft claims that the NXE will have your Xbox 360 games loading faster than ever before, so Stephen popped in a few titles, hit record, and published the split screen results.

Per his tests, load time was cut by approximately 10 to 15 seconds across the titles he tested (Gears of War, Fable II, and GTA IV). Installs took around 11 minutes and ate up about 7 gigs of hard drive space each.

If you do the math (it’s a slow news day so I did), you’ll have to boot a game 45-70 times just to make up the lost time spent installing it in the first place. Assuming you play a game twice a day, you won’t see a return on your time investment for three to five weeks.

So, is the upfront install time and hard drive space worth it in the end? I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts below.

Source: MTV Multiplayer

Sony Computer Entertainment’s Shuhei Yoshida made an appearance at this year’s Tokyo Game Show as one would expect he would. He was there generally representing Sony, but checking out the competition as well.

What’s interesting about Yoshida is instead of bashing on his company’s competitors, he prefers to compliment them instead.

When asked about his feelings on the Xbox 360’s upcoming dashboard revamp, labeled as the New Xbox Experience (NXE), Yoshida responded:

“Yes, I’ve seen the videos, some screenshots and write-ups. I think it’s quite nice. I like the Avatar designs they’re working on.”

He said that the Avatar’s are a “little bit older-looking” than Mii’s when asked if he had noticed a similarity. However, Microsoft’s Avatars are “closer to [Yoshida's] personal preference”.

Hey, at least he’s a nice guy.

Major Nelson, who is currently chilling out and live-blogging in Japan at the Tokyo Game Show, just confirmed that the New Xbox Experience will officially launch on November 19th.  Additionally, he went over some of the new features, such as taking a picture of your Mii Avatar to use as your GamerPic, as well as the ability to surf the Marketplace on the web and buy stuff to be downloaded to your 360 later.

If it weren’t for the stupid new interface, I would be much more excited about this update.  Lots of good features but at the cost of looking totally “casual”.  The gods shall damn thee, Microsoft…

Source: Major Nelson

Come Monday, September 29th, Xbox LIVE is shutting down for a full 24 hours. Starting promptly at midnight, everything related to the LIVE service, including a lot of the features on Xbox.com, will be unavailable as Microsoft prepares you for “the cool new stuff coming your way in the new Xbox experience”.

Funny thing is, didn’t Xbox LIVE go down not too long ago for the exact same reason while also not adding anything noticable to the service during its unwanted vacation? I’m no technical genius (except for when I’m talking to people that don’t know any better), but what exactly does “preparing Xbox LIVE for an update” really mean?

Don’t they have, like, a practice server to try stuff out on? And if so, how long does it really take to transfer that stuff? What do you think? What the hell is Microsoft doing during this downtime? My guess: porn (it’s always the answer).