[E3] Xbox 360 gets avatar system, new dashboard

By Corris
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Grand Master

Eric Veteran

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They did. It's not like the Mii was that original of an idea, but meh.

True... And I just realized the "Play from Disk" feature isn't new either: it's how the old Xbox was designed. :) There were three scratch partitions that just happened to be the size of a CD that were intended to be used to cache the games so content would load faster. It's really noticeable with Halo and Fable. If I haven't played Fable in a while it takes forever during the intro video to let me hit start and get the game going, but if I haven't played anything else for a while it starts almost immediately.

Grand Master

Ayepecks

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True. But I doubt there will be many people using Gamerpics instead of Avatars.

Personally, I wish the Avatars looked a little more 'mature' as I have nothing against the idea, it's just that these Avatars look a little childish, IMO.

Agreed. I may keep using gamer pictures, not sure yet. I'll have to get the chance to make my own avatar before I make that decision.

Grand Master

+Audioboxer Subscriber²

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Agreed. I may keep using gamer pictures, not sure yet. I'll have to get the chance to make my own avatar before I make that decision.

Are you sure there is a choice?

It seems Avatars are pretty much a substantial part of the new interface. Are gamer pics not being removed completely?

Grand Master

Xerxes

Posted
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Are you sure there is a choice?

It seems Avatars are pretty much a substantial part of the new interface. Are gamer pics not being removed completely?

I recall reading somewhere that Avatars are completely optional (although MS naturally want you to use them) and gamer pics will remain for those who want them. Far as I understand the only thing that is been completely removed is the *old* Blade style Dashboard. I could be completely wrong, but that is my understanding on this matter.

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TJenkins

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I recall reading somewhere that Avatars are completely optional (although MS naturally want you to use them) and gamer pics will remain for those who want them. Far as I understand the only thing that is been completely removed is the *old* Blade style Dashboard. I could be completely wrong, but that is my understanding on this matter.

You can still use gamerpics. In this pic:

xbox_new_exp.jpg

The gamerpic is in the top right corner, you apparently can set it as a gamerpic or use a mugshot of your avatar. What you set there will also be seen on the screen where members of your Live Party are shown

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Well, I generally like the look of the interface, however in terms of usability no one can say anything until it's actually released. Moreover, I just love how everything looks much crisper now, the current dashboard looks horrible with the text and edges all fuzzy but that maybe because I run it on a 1920 x 1200 24" monitor.

Grand Master

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Are they official?

Talk about retina burning shades :p

edit: Actually not to bad, but I prefer my colours a little subtler ;)

Edited by Audioboxer
Grand Master

spenser.d

Posted
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^ Those actually do look pretty nice (Y)

Yeah I agree - It couldn't hurt MS too much to just throw in a color palette as part of our options. Then again, we don't know hardly any of the customization that we may or may not be able to do, so who knows.

-Spenser

Proficient

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I'm really looking forward to this update, it's nice to see them put in the extra effort and refresh the console. IMO it's more like what XMB should have been, as that works on the PSP and not really on a big TV, should be interesting to see what the full featureset will be.

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