Xbox Live Fall 2009 dashboard update preview

We’ve been messing about on the upcoming Xbox Live dashboard update and it’s looking pretty cool. Not much has changed, it’s much more of a streamlining exercise it seems, so you won’t get lost or need much time to get to grips with it. There’s new areas and sections and the menu systems now have some sweet additions. We’ll list out those changes right now!

Avatars!! Yes we all love our adorable avatars and now you can show them more love, but Microsoft is smart, they’re going to milk us of even more money if we want cool gear for our little virtual selves.

Avatar Marketplace

You can now purchase some premium content for your virtual self and it’s not all cheap. There are new clothing options, including some game tie-ins (Fable, Halo, Monkey Island at present) as well as ‘props’, yes your avatar can now hold things or generally interact with them. We purchased a remote control Halo Warthog (a whopping 400 MS Points!), it’s useless, but was so cute we couldn’t help it, like we said MS is smart, evil, but smart.

As well as the new clothing and prop options is the section marked “Awardables” where you’ll apparently be able to earn new avatar guff simply by playing games. This section was empty however we assume it will be tied into the games themselves in similar fashion to the achievements.

Gold Membership bar
Your info will now be topped with a gold bar (for gold members) and a button in the corner showing how many years you’ve been with the service. This doesn’t serve any purpose other than to show your friends how long you’ve been on the service.

Games Ratings System
This is an odd one, since it looks like you can rate games you haven’t even played, which leaves the door open for a bit of abuse. Still it’s handy to peruse games via the highest rated if you like things with star ratings after them. Rating a title is as easy as filling in how many stars you want to give it – out of 5 – and pressing the B button.

Netflix Updates
We don’t have the Netflix service here in Australia, if U.S. users saw the pathetic amount of movies we get to choose from they’d laugh a hearty pity filled laugh (around 270 or so I believe). U.S. users however can now peruse the Netflix library easier, watch movies with friends in Movie Parties. You can also manage your Netflix queue, browse and sort all from the Xbox (no PC required). There’s also better playback for crappy connections.

Xbox LIVE Party Time!
Xbox LIVE Party also gets a few new features including automatic reconnection to parties if you get disconnected. You can also invite friends with one simple click… sweet!

Games on Demand

This is the digital distribution service Microsoft mentioned at E3 and in short it means you can purchase games direct to your HD meaning no trip to your game store needed even for fairly new releases. This looked pretty cool, but there’s not loads in there as yet. You can even check out the game manuals and anything you buy is linked to your account so you can re-download should something go horribly wrong.

Indie Games

What was essentially once Xbox LIVE Community Games has now become Xbox LIVE Indie Games and there’s plenty there.. and remember you can view them via ratings popularity.

Other Changes….

Some of the other changes include the option to faff with the video display settings and various other settings. You’ll also be able to do account management on the Xbox including being notified when your Live subscription is due for renewal and account recovery.

Achievements have been revamped to make them easier to navigate and include a summary of all achievements earned and possible.

Final Thoughts…..

The overall feel remains the same, but the streamlining that’s taken place is really cool. All the new additions will indeed add to your experience of the Xbox Live service. Even silly things like a warning if you’ve accidentally recorded a blank voice message are handy (and let’s face it, who hasn’t done that!).

Disappointments with the new Xbox Dash
Still not all the clothing options for avatars are non gender specific. It may not seem like a big deal to the guys and that’s probably because THEY GET ALL THE COOL CLOTHES!!! It’s not ONLY lesbians that might like to wear jeans over the thought of wearing skirts you know!!! Anyway my disappointment could be heard in Nigeria when I excitedly told my girlfriend I was going to purchase Guybrush Threepwoods outfit for my avatar, only to see it NOT THERE!

Come on Microsoft, sort it out, make male and female versions of ALL clothes… how hard can it be for cripes sake!

The Xbox Update hits the service worldwide August 11, be there or be square!