Xbox Live Fall Update

[javajolt]

5 Things I Like, and 4 Things I'd Like Changed

The newest Xbox Live update has landed at GamePro. Find out the coolest features and the potential problems before the update hits the public!

With the Xbox Live preview finally landing in my grubby little meat hooks, I've spent almost the entirety my Friday exploring its new features. There's quite a few awesome new additions, but I must say that a few things need work. Otherwise, look forward to the following features (as well as the potential slight downsides).

What's already awesome:

1- The New Queue

As a Netflix fiend, I can't get enough streaming--in fact, I'd say roughly half of my time online with the 360 is watching the various "Watch it Now" movies and TV shows available via Netflix. Unfortunately, adding new movies was a bit of a tribulation, especially when I had to deal with a single internet connection for a few weeks earlier this year. Now the Netflix page features not only features your streaming queue, but you can also browse suggestions from your favorite genres. My new Netflix page features TV sitcoms, anime, and comedies. PC World's Darren Gladstone stopped by to check it out and astutely described it as "The front page of Netflix.com."

Additionally, there's a list of recently viewed movies, which is a godsend for the times I've watched something at the ass-end of 150-item queue. And while it doesn't have to do with your queue, you have the option to display the movie/show you're watching on Netflix on your Xbox Live status. It's not mandatory, so I might want to turn off the feature if I ever want to see how Poison Ivy 3 ends.

2- Ratin' Games

One of the reasons I've taken to Netflix is the ease of rating movies. When I first signed up, I spent a few hours finding just about every movie I'd ever seen in my life and assigning a score to each and every one. There was nothing complicated to it--you give a movie a score between one and five stars and the rating is used to determine similar movies you'd enjoy, as well as inform your friends of your film-watching tastes.

Microsoft must have realized how addictive it's become, since it's incorporated a nearly identical rating system to its own games. Almost every game, whether it be retail, Xbox Live Arcade, or community/indie can be rated. The scores are already being used to determine "Most Popular" sections on the various sections in the game marketplace.

3- Medal of Honor

It's a very slight addition, but I'm digging the badges given to Gold Member veterans. I've got a golden trim to my Gamercard now with the number 4 on the upper right corner--presumably, it's because I've been a Live member for four years, though it could be wrong--Microsoft wasn't exactly clear on what the number means. I'm also not quite sure what I've got in store when Microsoft promises "There might be other perks for you, too!" in the update notes. I hope the company doesn't come back at me for four years of back sales tax.

4- Netflix Party Time

Since the updates are available only to the media for the weekend, I haven't been able to watch anything with my Xbox Live Friends. I attempted to invite my features section tag team partner Patrick Shaw into a viewing of The King of Kong this morning, but his non-updated console couldn't join me. I was able to enter the Netflix party room by myself though, and while it's largely superfluous, it provided a pretty cool new way to watch movies, as my avatar sat in movie theater screens directly below a screen showing the movie or show I had chosen. While watching, I could have my avatar express one of eight different emotions. Chooing 'Playful' made my avatar dance in his seat and toss popcorn in the air, while choosing 'Love' would cause my avatar to blow kisses at the screen while hearts fluttered around its head. Hmm... maybe I should keep Poison Ivy 3 on my queue after all...

There's no pics for the Netflix parties, but it's basically MST3K with you and your friends' Avatars

5- Neatening Up Achievements

While I wouldn't say I'm an achievement whore (especially with my meager 9000 Gamerpoints), I do seek them out as bonuses when I enjoy a particular game. Even though Achievements have been around since the inception of the Xbox 360, a few little additions have made the hunting and earning process a little more intuitive (and enjoyable). Upon clicking on your Gamercard on the My Xbox menu, you can see a progress report of your Gamerscore--how many points and achievements you've earned out of the games you've played, along with a list of games you've completed every achievement for. My slim lineup of four fully-finished games prompted me to scan for games I had one or two achievements left for. When I found one, I was able to launch Dig Dug on Xbox Live Arcade right from its achievement list instead of heading into my game library. I then proceeded to futilely attempt to procure the missing achievement for the next half hour. I'm not quite sure that's a good thing.

Honorable Mention:

One feature that wasn't available in the Xbox Live update preview, but will be ready for the rollout in August is 'Games on Demand'. Basically, if you've got the hard drive space for it, you'll be able to download formerly retail-only releases like Mass Effect and Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise directly to your hard drive. Those 120GB drives are looking awfully tempting all of a sudden.

What needs work:

1- Real Netflix Searching

Don't get me wrong, I love the new Netflix features and really like that I've got hundreds more movies at my disposal. But what I really want is for Xbox to really tap into the power of Netflix. With the list of streaming movies growing by the day, I'd love for a search option to appear as soon as possible. Additionally, when I select a movie on Netflix.com, I am instantly presented with similar movie options. Seeing as how that's how I usually populated my queues, I'd love to see it come to the Xbox 360 as well.

2- More Robust Rating

If Microsoft is going to go with the same rating system as Netflix, I'd love to see the system use said ratings as well as the popular movie-rental service. First of all, while it's cool to rate games right in the Xbox dashboard, an online app would allow users to really plow through and rate every game in their collection. Like Netflix, I'd like my ratings to serve a purpose besides determining a 'Most Popular' list. If I happen to rate zombie games higher than ones with human based targets, I'd love for the Xbox to be able to recognize that and offer some suggested titles in that subgenre. And finally, when I'm choosing to purchase a game, in addition to seeing the rating of the community at large, I'd like to see what my friends in particular thought of the game, as I know which ones have similar gaming tastes and trust their opinions more than some big average.

And this may be a nitpick, and potentially an oversight on my part, but it seemed like I couldn't rate retail games unless I went into the Game Marketplace. I could rate Xbox Live Arcade games right out of my library, but the only other game I could review was the one currently sitting in my disc tray. I would have loved to be able to go through every game I've played via the Achievement menu and score them all in a matter of minutes, but alas, I couldn't.

3- Cheaper Clothes

I took a stroll through the Avatar marketplace today, and while there are some things I'd consider paying money for--Geometry Wars t-shirt, please--I found the current lineup to be a tad overpriced. All told, I spent a dollar on a new hat and two dollars on a Halo 3 hoodie/t-shirt, both of which are currently being modeled by my Avatar. I saw prices reach four dollars for a Halo remote control car accessory, which is completely absurd when you consider that some Xbox Live Community/Indie Games are cheaper than that.

Truthfully, I don't think anything in the store is worth more than a dollar, and probably won't purchase anything more expensive than that price in the Marketplace in the future. Also, since the player is spending their hard earned cash, the Marketplace should make a distinction about which products have different color choices and which don't. I was happy to find that the brown-colored hoodie I purchased could be changed to black to match the hoodie I'm currently wearing, but when I purchased the 'Newsboy' cap, I was dismayed that I couldn't change it to brown like the one I'm rocking in my Twitter profile pic.

4- More Networking!

Maybe this will change when more of my friends join the preview this Monday, and the rest join the party next month, but I'm aching for the Xbox Live Network to really stretch outside the console. With Twitter and Facebook implementation still in the works, and Netflix support still improving, I'd like to be able to keep track of what my Xbox Live friends are doing in each of the different online worlds. I know that is what Microsoft is working towards. Today's additions are just the start of that.