Prepare yourself for a whole New Experience

After last week’s E3 hurricane, my hands have been twitching to get started on the new stuff for Xbox 360. And this time I’m not referring to just the games that were announced. No, I’m talking about the New Xbox Experience and the chance to enjoy Xbox 360 entertainment like never before.

From autumn we’ll be greeted by an entirely different world when we power up our Xbox 360s. The current ‘blade’ theme is replaced by animated 3D menus that are both intuitive and attractive to browse. You’ll see the cover-art of your favourite games and albums by recording artists you have stored in your Music libraries – ditto for movies you’ve downloaded. But the most important presence here is your new Gamercard, because this features a caricature of you!

This is your Avatar – a personalised model of yourself that you can tailor as you see fit. This dapper little dude (or dudette) is your explorer in the wide and wonderful world of Xbox LIVE and will soon be venturing into games where previously only your Gamerpic would have sufficed. Watch this space because what we’ve got planned is very cool indeed.

Specifically for Xbox LIVE subscribers, the New Xbox Experience offers programmed events with specific times – just like TV, except that your Avatar will be broadcasting your personality while you sit at home actively taking part. But most impressively, the Community channel lets you meet up with friends to share your interests in movies, games and music in exciting new ways.

This is the future, buddy. But it doesn’t require new hardware, and it’s completely free of charge to everyone who owns Xbox 360. Now your hands are twitching too.

Graeme Boyd, Xbox.com Community Manager, Gamertag: AceyBongos