New Xbox interface is more about movies

Microsoft says its “New Xbox Experience,” which rolls out Nov. 19, will “change the face of home entertainment for every Xbox 360 owner.” It doesn’t.

In reality, the New Xbox Experience is more appropriately described as a new menu system. It won’t revolutionize your console, but it will improve your experience. Ironically, the most interesting feature about this revamp to a game console’s user interface has nothing to do with games. It’s about movies.

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At the Electronic Entertainment Expo in July, Microsoft confirmed a long-rumored partnership with the online-movie rental service Netflix, promising that this New Xbox Experience would let users stream movies and TV shows right into their living rooms. You have to be a subscriber to Netflix and an Xbox Live Gold member (to the tune of $7.99 a month), but this feature works great — and is a big plus for the platform.

Other than that, though, the New Xbox Experience can seem like a rather shallow one — on the surface anyway.  But dig deeper, particularly when browsing for games and downloadable content, and you'll find a lot of stuff to help you watch more movies and get your game on.

First, let’s start with the menu system, which will change significantly come Nov. 19. While the existing “Blade” menu is easy to navigate, secondary items are cluttered and the system is littered with ads. The new interface is much cleaner, and combines many elements from both Sony’s PlayStation 3 “Cross Media Bar” and Nintendo’s “Wii Channels.”

The new menu system arrives via two separate files that take no longer than eight minutes to download and install. The update is surprisingly painless.

Microsoft You can create an avatar to represent yourself in the New Xbox Experience. Change your outfit, your hair, your skin color and your clothes as many times as you wish.

After being presented with a fancy welcome video, you’ll be encouraged to create a personalized avatar to represent yourself. These cute, digital doppelgangers look an awful lot like the Miis you create on Nintendo’s Wii, something which Microsoft is obviously aware of.

“Avatars are not an original idea, we understand that,” says Aaron Greenberg, director of Xbox 360 product management. “But they were around long before Wii.”

Whatever the source of inspiration, Xbox avatars are fun, and better-looking than the Miis. But the novelty of creating and sharing avatars has worn off by now. And there’s no way to e-mail avatars to your buddies, like you can on the Wii.

The next thing you’ll notice about the new Xbox interface is that browsing applications and content has become much more visual, like something you’d see on an iPod.

Menu items are organized into seven categories and can be quickly explored using up, down, left and right commands: My Xbox, Video Marketplace, Game Marketplace, Spotlight, Events, Inside Xbox and Friends. An eighth and temporary “Welcome” category serves as an ice breaker for the new interface and can be turned off in the settings menu, something I did immediately.

When not playing games, you’ll likely spend most of your time in both marketplace channels. Greenberg says the new Netflix feature is the one he’s most excited about, and I have to agree, given that the existing selection of Xbox downloadable films is more B-movie than blockbuster.

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