BinaryJack
Spam
continued...
Avatars have attitude
Avatars are now used for gamerpics, as well, and users can have both a public and a private gamerpic. The Avatar creation system allows users to pose their Avatars, then zoom in or out with a camera view to snap the gamerpic. Old gamerpics can still be used, should you want them.
Avatars will provide a starting character for many future games, though they have little or nothing to offer existing titles. Microsoft does support unlockable "stuff" for Avatars, so gamers can grab new clothes, gear, or accessories for their characters much as they now earn in-game achievements. And if the company doesn't start selling custom content for Avatars, we'd be shocked.
The friends menu is interesting in that you can see everyone's avatar (rather than a list of names), but making everything so visual comes at a price; only three friends are shown on screen at once. Scrolling around if you have many friends could become a pain in the butt; this is one area where text-only was actually rather nice, though the new system does make it easier to identify friends. As they change outfits or hairstyles, you'll see those changes, as well.
Netflix
While the social features have been beefed up tremendously, Netflix streaming is entirely new. 360 owners who have both an Xbox Live Gold subscription and a Netflix subscription that includes access to streaming movies can use the new service, which allows for near-instant viewing of any of 12,000 movies and TV shows. In our experience, it takes only seconds to buffer and begin playback, and the interface is slick and attractive.
The quality is currently billed as "near-DVD," and it looks good, but discriminating users will note the difference. It's not hard to watch films like this, though it may be a bit better suited to TV shows.
Viewing a Netflix queue
This works exactly as you might expect; the interface shows you a "Cover Flow"-style list of the movies in your queue, you select a movie, and playback begins. The system also picks up automatically where you left off if a previous viewing was interrupted.
There's a downside to this kind of simplicity, though: no editing of the queue from the console. Greenberg says this would be too cumbersome and that it's better to leave queue management as a PC task. Certainly, Microsoft has made the integration work well, as changes made from a laptop accessing the Netflix website are propagated to the 360's interface in a matter of seconds.
But users who expect some way of browsing Netflix selections by genre or title from the console will be disappointed. As Ben put it, "It's a major pain in the butt to have to keep the queue going from your laptop when you have a large high-definition screen directly in front of you. I was very disappointed when I found this out." Your mileage may vary, though this certainly makes browsing for content less convenient.
Hard drive rips
Games saved to the hard drive should see load times that are 30-50 percent quicker than loading from disc, though Microsoft acknowledges that one of the key reasons for the new feature wasn't speed but the horrible, ready-for-takeoff blast of sound that emanates from the 360 when using its DVD drive (it's supposed to be 7db quieter without the drive spinning).
The entire game disc must be ripped, which takes 2GB-6GB of space depending on the title (Fallout 3 took 5.9GB in our testing). A rip takes 6-10 minutes per game, a small price to pay for both quiet and speed. If you're feeling the space pinch, Microsoft would also love to sell you a hard drive upgrade (what, you thought there was no angle here?).
For those curious about it, original Xbox games cannot be ripped to the hard drive. And yes, you do need the original disc in the drive to start a game.
Removing the game from your hard drive is a simple matter of putting the disc in the machine, hitting the Y button for Game Details, then removing the game from storage. Your save files are still there, and we envision most gamers simply installing the one or two games they're playing at any given time.
Do you really see a performance boost? Across the games we've tested, including Fallout 3 and Guitar Hero: World Tour, the new system isn't lightning fast, but performance does get a little zippier. Anything that decreases load times is a good thing, but don't go in expecting a sea change in how long it takes to get to game play.
High-definition streaming
Microsoft has confirmed to Ars that HD Netflix streaming will indeed be available at launch. Netflix is expected to officially announce this support on November 11. As with SD streaming, you will need both a Netflix account and an Xbox Live Gold membership to use the service on your system.
Your questions, answered
Microsoft is remaining a bit coy about this release, promising gamers that it's stuffed with tons of tiny tweaks and unlisted fixes that people will discover over time. Greenberg did let us know that a few (major) unannounced surprises are also in the works and will be revealed in the coming weeks. While we can't say more, yes, they're compelling.
While more features await their big reveal, we did get answers to a long list of questions from Ars readers. Some of the information is contained above, but it's organized here for quick and easy reading. Enjoy, and do let us know your own thoughts on the New Xbox Experience when it drops next month.
Can 360 owners avoid the new interface?
No, unless you unplug the network connection. But those who don't like it can still access the old interface by pressing the Xbox jewel in the center of the controller. While the blade interface this brings up looks a bit different, it duplicates all the functionality of the original interface.
Will the Marketplace have a search interface?
Yes, though it won't feature any typing. The new interface supports browsing alphabetically, by genre, and by "collection," which internal studies have shown works faster than using a controller to input letters into a traditional search box. Microsoft is keenly aware of the limitations of the current Marketplace setup.
Will NXE still have ads on the interface?
Yes, though "people will find that they're less intrusive" now, says Greenberg. Certain "slots" on the interface are designated as ad slots, but Microsoft has "heard the feedback about ads" and intends to keep them minimal. Why a several hundred dollar system that charges yearly fees for online play thinks it has a right to show unwanted ads to customers continues to escape us, however.
Will old gamerpics, themes, etc., all transfer to the new system?
Yes. All purchased content will continue to work. Old themes will work, though new themes will do more under the new interface, like customize the friends channel.
Ben adds, "Yes, your old themes and gamer pictures work, but no, they don't do much anymore. The background image is... well, in the background, but nothing else really changes. If you were in love with a certain color scheme that you enjoyed from a previous theme, you won't be using it for long."
Will the 360 contain MKV container support?
Appears to be a no. We were told this would have to be looked into, which doesn't sound promising. What Greenberg does say, though, is that users should "let us know what you want" and the team will try to provide support for codecs and containers where there's enough demand. Don't hold your breath on this one.
Are you required to setup an avatar?
Yes. Avatars do need to be created, but those who don't like the idea of customizing one can simply select one of hundreds of pre-made figures and never have to interact with the system again.
Will the list of owned XBLA games load more quickly?
Yes, it will be "much faster." The games list appeared to populate instantly in our testing, though the small pictures beside each title took a few moments to download. In addition, the entire interface loads content into its "slots" in the background, so moving between menu items is faster than it is now. In addition, the new interface uses far more local caching of downloaded images to increase interface speed.
Ben adds, "In practice, I've found this to be true. I have movies, I have songs, I have literally hundreds of games and demos. The old interface would often feel sludgy, and it was easy to tell that the system just wasn't designed for that much content. With the new interface zooming around is easy, the system clearly can deal with a truckload of content. If you're a heavy 360 user, this is going to be the biggest and most welcome change."
Can you game install both Xbox and Xbox 360 titles to the hard drive?
No, only 360 titles are supported. Some Xbox Originals can be purchased, downloaded, and played from the hard drive, of course, but the new feature won't work with original Xbox discs.
Can you now fast-forward through songs while listening to CDs or digital files?
Unfortunately, no, you cannot.
Are the graphics and more specifically the text scalable or at least scaled better for larger HDTVs?
There is no way to scale the text, but descriptions are now given much more space, so you won't see much scrolling. The scrolling you do see is manually controlled. It's very nice.
Can users have more than 100 friends?
No, not at launch. "We appreciate their patience," Greenberg says of users. "I have the same frustration." While refusing to commit to anything, he did add that Microsoft plans on increasing the ability to have more friends at some point in the future
