Synchronicity
03/12/08 14:06 Filed in: They Get It
So the “New Xbox Experience”(NXE) dropped last month. And at first I was a little lukewarm in my reception to it. Mostly because it is such a departure from the last Xbox(experience?!?!). That and I really think avatars are such a “me too” gimmick, trying to copy what Nintendo did with Mii’s. But now that I’ve had some serious time with it, I’m beginning to really like my time with this new incarnation of the Xbox GUI.
It can still be a little confusing, and I sometimes catch myself trying to do what I would do in the old xbox GUI to no avail. Simple things like changing your online status can turn into a session of digging through menus to find the new location for said option. But that will change over time as I get more accustomed to this new “experience”.
After I got past the more superficial aspects to the console’s update, I was impressed at some of the less publicized improvements. And the one that really impressed me was the new linkage between xbox.com and your shiny new “experience”.
Of course xbox.com has always allowed you to view your gamercard online in the past. And even link it to forum, and blog posts. But this new update goes far beyond that now. Signing into your account on xbox.com now gives you the ability to browse the xbox marketplace. Even more than that, you are able to purchase games, videos, themes, and anything else up for sale through xbox live.
The coolest thing is that you are able to actually able to add downloads through the web browser.
On top of that, you can just keep adding things to the queue. You can even change the order in which things will download, or check the status on your downloads.
And of course, the next time the xbox is turned on, and your gamer profile is signed it, you downloads will commence. How cool is that?
What should be cooler would be the video download service. Sadly I’m in a bit of a sticky situation in regards to online video rental through Xbox.com. I’ve got a canadian xbox with a canadian xbox live account. This means I can purchase and download canadian based content even though I’m in Australia. But sadly, even though I’m able to purchase canadian game content, my canadian xbox live account is still unable to download movies or xbox originals because I’m in the Australian region. I’m guessing it’s checking my IP address or something.
However, if you’re one of the lucky people to be in Canada, or the US, you should be able to queue up video rentals or purchases via Xbox.com. US customers also get one added benefit with being able to watch videos through xbox live using their netflix account. And for that I’m extremely envious.
You know what, It’s just nice to finally see something like this. All three of the major consoles have so much untapped potential. You can bump that up to 5 consoles if you include the handhelds. They all have the ability to connect to the internet, and because of that, we should have seen this kind of integration into an online portal a long long time ago. I don’t have a PS3, so I can’t speak for how close they are to something like this. But even if they don’t have it already on the drawing board, I have confidence that with what microsoft has done recently, Sony will start implementing something similar in the future.
This truly is an exciting time to be a nerd.
It can still be a little confusing, and I sometimes catch myself trying to do what I would do in the old xbox GUI to no avail. Simple things like changing your online status can turn into a session of digging through menus to find the new location for said option. But that will change over time as I get more accustomed to this new “experience”.
After I got past the more superficial aspects to the console’s update, I was impressed at some of the less publicized improvements. And the one that really impressed me was the new linkage between xbox.com and your shiny new “experience”.
Of course xbox.com has always allowed you to view your gamercard online in the past. And even link it to forum, and blog posts. But this new update goes far beyond that now. Signing into your account on xbox.com now gives you the ability to browse the xbox marketplace. Even more than that, you are able to purchase games, videos, themes, and anything else up for sale through xbox live.
The coolest thing is that you are able to actually able to add downloads through the web browser.
On top of that, you can just keep adding things to the queue. You can even change the order in which things will download, or check the status on your downloads.
And of course, the next time the xbox is turned on, and your gamer profile is signed it, you downloads will commence. How cool is that?
What should be cooler would be the video download service. Sadly I’m in a bit of a sticky situation in regards to online video rental through Xbox.com. I’ve got a canadian xbox with a canadian xbox live account. This means I can purchase and download canadian based content even though I’m in Australia. But sadly, even though I’m able to purchase canadian game content, my canadian xbox live account is still unable to download movies or xbox originals because I’m in the Australian region. I’m guessing it’s checking my IP address or something.
However, if you’re one of the lucky people to be in Canada, or the US, you should be able to queue up video rentals or purchases via Xbox.com. US customers also get one added benefit with being able to watch videos through xbox live using their netflix account. And for that I’m extremely envious.
You know what, It’s just nice to finally see something like this. All three of the major consoles have so much untapped potential. You can bump that up to 5 consoles if you include the handhelds. They all have the ability to connect to the internet, and because of that, we should have seen this kind of integration into an online portal a long long time ago. I don’t have a PS3, so I can’t speak for how close they are to something like this. But even if they don’t have it already on the drawing board, I have confidence that with what microsoft has done recently, Sony will start implementing something similar in the future.
This truly is an exciting time to be a nerd.