From start to finish the process took around 10-15mins, after which point, I was presented with the words we have been promised for what seems like an eternity. "Welcome to the New Xbox Experience".
After the welcome message I was presented with the Avatar builder, Xbox's version of Wii's Mii avatars. Your avatars are infinitely more customizable compared to their Nintendo counterparts and we've already been promised new clothing updates every two weeks. Below is my avatar who is based on my likeness... well, sort of.
You may be wondering how to get your avatar to display like mine. All you have to do is enter in the following URL's for a full body shot, a large headshot and a small headshot, respectively.
http://avatar.xboxlive.com/avatar/YOUR_GAMER_ID_HERE/avatar-body.png
http://avatar.xboxlive.com/avatar/YOUR_GAMER_ID_HERE/avatarpic-l.png
http://avatar.xboxlive.com/avatar/YOUR_GAMER_ID_HERE/avatarpic-s.png
After creating my avatar and taking a picture of him for my Gamercard (you can keep your existing gamer pic if you wish), I proceeded to explore the new menu system. I really like the new layout and this menu, although it reminds me of a similar system on the PS3, it truly feels 'next gen'. The blades from the original dashboard, whilst functional, were somewhat uninspired and lacked the visual polish of it's successor. I would much prefer however, for the default channel to be My Xbox rather than the Spotlight Channel.
Your friends list now shows not only what they are playing but what level they're on, which is a nice touch. Themes from the old dashboard can be used but some don't display correctly.
The feature I was most looking forward to was the ability to install games to the hard drive. Not only are load times significantly decreased but also the constant 'wurring' noise of the disc drive is eliminated, enabling near silent operation. World at War's loading times were almost cut in half and playing the game without the noise from the Xbox was awesome. World at War took around 10 minutes to install, which wasn't too bad. Whilst this feature improves the overal experience, you may find yourself forking out for larger hard drives. The new Xbox Live Starter Kit retails for around £50 and is available on 21-11-2008. The kit is comprised of a 60Gb hard drive, a wired headset, a 3month Live subscription and an ethernet cable.
I haven't had a chance to check out the party features, but once I do, i'll post my thoughts here.
My initial impression so far is that this is a great update for the Xbox. Whilst the introduction of Avatars seems somewhat trivial at present, their integration in to future games could prove to be quite popular. The menu is as functional as it's predecessor and looks far more modern. By far the nicest addition is the game installation feature, which I will use for the games I play most regularly. Good job Microsoft.
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