The new „Xbox Experience” is the name for the system update of the Xbox 360. Free updates will go live on November the 19th. Microsoft calls the new update an “entirely new experience”, but it’s just a streamlined menu system with a better online store and the addition of streaming movies. The feature “Game Marketplace” organizes all of the Xbox 360 games by box art and lets users sort them after a few characteristics.  Games have their own “detail pages”, with screenshots, description and add-on content.

The biggest update to Xbox is the addition of streaming Netflix movies from the computer to your Xbox. In order to watch unlimited streams, a user has to pay for both Xbox Live Gold and Netflix. The price is $8.99 a month (and an active Xbox Live Gold Account too). 300 titles will be available for streaming in HD, which requires a large amount of bandwidth (a minimum of 8 Mbps). It is said that the Netflix streaming on the Xbox is a better experience than the Roku Netflix Player, standard definition movies looking much better.

Other updates include Xbox Avatars, an idea Microsoft borrowed from Nintendo’s Miis. The “Live Party” system lets users voice chat with up to eight Xbox Live friends while playing games, watching movies or looking at photos. Furthermore, a user can install games on the video games console, even if the game does not load any faster than before. The launch will take place on November the 19th.