New Xbox Experience Friends Info and Dashboard Themes 2.0
Microsoft is ramping up for the release of the New Xbox Experience this November, and we’ve been getting little bits and pieces on how it will all work along the way. Below we’ve got some new screens showing off how the themes will look and some more information regarding functionality and features.
Apparently, the new themes will be subtley animated. This is the Underground theme and we imagine that those foggy wisps will float about the screen.
Here’s a look at the same theme but on the Friends channel. Each avatar representing a friend will stand next to a different graphic depending on the theme. For contrast, look ahead to the pictures below.
The simplest of themes, the Signature theme, with animated bubbles in the background.
Same theme, but on the Friends Channel with different graphics behind them. Notice the guy on the far right? His head is down and snoozing; this indicates that that friend is currently offline.
You’ll also be able to “rally” your friends once you start a party. Parties enable friends to stay together through games, dashboard, chat, and other stuff the new xbox experience is capable of.
Finally, a demonstration of an old Gears of War theme. In other words, old themes will be fully compatible with the new xbox experience dashboard.
Our opinion? We think this is infinitely better than the dashboard we’ve got now, especially when it comes to the themes which look plain awful in the current set-up. We’re betting that a few creative and motivated developers will do some very impressive things with this, and we cannot wait until its November launch to test things out.
peachey @ September 30, 2008