So I've been looking forward to being able to get the new Xbox update before the general public and finally today I got the notification that I could log onto Live and receive it. I promptly did just that and played around in it a little bit. I've gotta say, it's pretty nice. I'm a huge Netflix user and the new UI in it is great. It lets me see all of the most popular movies in all the specific genres and all the most recent movies added just in general and either just play them from there or add them to my instant queue. I think this is a great new feature because I hated having to go on a computer just to add the movie only to switch back to my Xbox to watch it. The new party feature is a nice novelty too, I've had times in the past when it would have been really cool to have the feature so I am now really excited to have it implemented in.
I really only care about the new features in Netflix but they are some other little goodies for other people. There's now an avatar marketplace with some cool things, my favorite is a remote controlled warthog from Halo, great fun. I personally don't think the avatar marketplace will really succeed because there's not much of an emphasis on avatars anywhere on Live so I don't see why anyone would be willing to spend money on them. But hey, if you like it than all the more power to you. There's also this one new feature where it marks how long you've been a member of Xbox Live on your gamercard. This is a cool little thing and Microsoft teases at exclusive goodies for more elite members of Live, but who knows, I won't hold my breath.
Of course there's the basic things like updates that your subscription is running out but that's something that really should have just been there from the start. Overall I really like how all the little things come together and it makes a nice little package. Who knows, maybe when Twitter, Facebook, and Last.fm are all added the Xbox will become the Topbox that Microsoft wants it to be. It does seem like it's headed on that path at least.