Xbox Live Updates

I’ll start off with a quick apology before getting into the actual blog post real fast.  Sorry that I haven’t been updating the blog with any new stories or posts recently, but it’s been pretty hectic for me this week with finals and things like that, things that add up.  But yeah, I’m back and have a quick story to cove, with some word on the podcast after the main post.  Here we go!

Alright so if you’re an Xbox 360 player who’s connected to Live or who has bought a 360 within like the last month or so, you’ll be playing your console using the newest dashboard update, nicknamed the “New Xbox Experience.”  You will have also created your Avatar, the little Mii-like figure that represents your online self.  Well, as promised, Microsoft has already released several new clothes packs for free to their customers, the first being an actual clothes pack that was released a couple weeks back, and the second a clothes pack featuring “fancy” clothes, including tuxedos for men and various dresses for women.

I don’t really want to focus too much on the clothes, because they’re there if you want to check them out and customize your avatar, but I’d rather like to talk about how Microsoft actually seems to be taking these characters seriously.  Nintendo released their little Mii guys with the standard clothes and sets of eyes, faces, etc., but to the best of my knowledge, I don’t think that Nintendo has released any additions (none free at least) to these Mii things.  Microsoft has not only added several new items (for free) to their Avatars, but they’ve also tossed a few freebies our way via the marketplace, taking the form of a free winter premium theme and a snowglobe.

The theme is pretty neat for being free.  The background is a small town filled with holiday lights and covered by snow, and it fits the season very well.  In addition, when you look at your friends list, you’ll notice present rappings and other seasonal items behind each of your friends or their parties.  It’s a nice touch, and its free, so check it out.  The snowglobe is kind of a waste, but its pretty much a virtual snowglobe…  That’s about all I have to say about that.

The Snowglobe is... Cool...

My point is that Microsoft is actually updating and taking care of their consoles and their customers, and, while yes, the 360 still succumbs to the dreadful red ring of death fatal system error, it remains one of the best consoles on the market because of this kind of support.  Live is what makes the 360, and these updates are what make Live.  The NXE was a huge success, and Microsoft shows that they want to continue making it a success in the eyes of its customers.  Kudos to Microsoft for putting this kind of stuff out for free.

As for the Update This podcast, it’s still going, but we’ve been having difficulty scheduling times over the holidays, so it may be postponed until after the holidays.  Until then keep track of all the happenings around here by checking back on the site and following me on twitter (Haunt506e).