November 19, 2008 Xbox live has opened to the public a new look to it’s main system layout, while it looks great in some areas, others it falls short and still has major bugs.
Xbox live now has a modern look and feel for the most part, but as any new technology has yet to disprove it has many bugs. While going through the different menus at times it will decide to randomly freeze up especially when content has yet to be posted in the area. Aside from the random freezing and ugly gray boxes which replaced the custom themed ones (probably only temporary) the new look is great.
There is more content and quite a bit of new features, which as most gamers are paying at least $50 a year for these services it would make sense to see a little bit of work come from it. Aside from keeping everything up and running it’s nice to see something new and to compete with other systems like the Wii.
Some of the new features:
Just like that of the Wii’s Mii feature, we have yet to figure out why there is a need to having an avatar, but Xbox has outdone itself with customization options. We prefer the classy vampire zombie with optional monocle look.
Netflix on demand:
This new feature is more handy to those already using Netflix as you can now get certain fills on demand. A large portion of their films are big name recent releases and old school movies, which limits things a bit. This will draw people into using Netflix of course and for those already with it know how annoying it can be watching movies on a computer screen. This will supplement the videos and TV shows already being provided in the Marketplace.
New look:
Overall the new look is rather impressive and has a clean feel to it. While there are still buggy issues that cause freezing at this point it seems like items are faster to download.
Party Mode:
Organizing a game with your friends is now easier than ever with party mode. Before entering a game you and your friends can team up and connect for a strategy session before you enter battle.
Picture Party:
Picture Party is just as it’s called. You can share pictures with your friends on Xbox live via your camera, flash drive or any other device you can hook up to the system.
Over all the new look is great and is in desperate need for a few quick bug fixes.
