The NXE finally went live on Wednesday 19th November, and the sad thing is, I was actually really excited about getting home from work to download it. It took about 5 minutes to download and install the whole thing, which then led to a nice looking, (but kind of pointless) intro video, which loaded straight into the avatar creator.
You get to pick from a group of avatars as a starting point, but then change everything about it. I decided to actually do things right and make mine look like me, well as much as i could anyway, if i could get my beard that straight i’d be superhuman. The choice of clothing is actually a little limited for the time being, but there still is something for everyone there. With Microsoft now announcing that clothing packs are going to be free for the first few weeks of releases, I’m sure the avatars will get to grow more individual over time. Yet I will still probably be sad enough to pay for clothes anyway!
The dashboard itself is alot nicer to look at, easier to you, and smoother flowing than the blade system was. The ‘My Xbox’ section has everything you
need, from your profile and gamercard along to the console settings. The Marketplace is also alot better organised now, and easier to brows Demo’s/Themes/Gamerpics and the such, with a simple Ipod style cover flow design.
The friends list is alot better to use now, as it shows which friends are online by showing their avatar and a picture of which game they are playing. If they are in a party it groups all the members avatars together and makes them a little group (which stands and does mexican waves at you).
The new ‘Photo party’ application is pretty cool, as you can share photo’s between one party of friends, and even better, i could plug my phone straight into the Xbox and view them from there.
Eight way party chat is probably my favourite thing to come with the NXE, as you can talk to up to eight friends at one time, no matter what game you are playing. Which is so much better as
1. It drowns out the American kids.
2. You can help each other out in Seach and Destroys in COD after one of you has died 
3. It drowns out the English kids.
There are some cons though, like with everything. Whenever I go onto my friends list and view a profile, when I try to exit it, it can freeze for up to 20 seconds, which is quite annoying. Also, when playing online, and you are in a party, it likes to throw you out of it quite alot. Although it tells me the other members have left my party, I have actually left theirs, for no reason! Hopefully these bugs will be fixed in the upcoming weeks with a patch, or a slap maybe.
Overall, the NXE is pretty sweet, and gives the Xbox another breath of fresh air (not that it needed one in the first place). It is alot easier and fun to use than the old blade system, and avatars make your profile and online experience a little more personal than just a name in a list with a gamerscore. Alot of people don’t like the new avatar system but I think it’s a great idea, especially since Microsoft are planning on releasing new games in which to use them(Kindom for Keflings) and implement them into old ones (UNO). There are a couple of annoying bugs, but hopefully they will be ironed out in the coming weeks, as I’m sure Microsoft are planning even bigger things with it 
