It will not let me edit so:

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1. Netflix members are already paying to access the conent, why is there a fee to access it on the 360 when other media center extenders require no such service? I can watch Netflix Watch Instantly on my 360 for free now, why would I pay?"

The Roku standalone box also has no additional fee to access the content which is a direct comparison. I suddenly realized that technically media center extenders are accessing the content through a gateway (which is another computer with Media Center in some form).

I'm pretty much neutral about the whole thing. I haven't seen what the dashboard will look like, but I don't care. Dashboard's not that important to me, even though I do like to use themes.

Speaking of themes (and pics), I would like to continue using them, but since my brother and I mostly just use free ones (and delete them occasionally to save hard-drive space) I won't miss the few dollars we spent between us.

As for Netflix...I don't care a bit. I don't use Netflix anyway, and I no longer use Blockbuster Total Access. I simply don't watch that many movies anymore. I've downloaded and watched only one movie on my 360, and might do more occasionally, except that it's cheaper (see: free ) for me to just rent movies, if not as convenient.

So between just the two of us...you're on your own, I guess. I hope that justice is served for everyone else's sake, but I personally am indifferent.

http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/14/microsoft-giving-the-xbox-360-a-totally-new-dashboard/

New dashboard pics and avatar images.

Ich. That looks really weird. Cool screens, I guess (remind me of some iTunes pages), but the avatars? Please. That junk's cool for Wii and AOL Wee-Mees or whatever, but the 360 has a more mature, advanced style to it. Avatars = for kiddie-type stuff, like the Wii.

Although, the 360 avatars do look more professional. The Miis don't even look like people. More like really skinny Weebles or something.

Maybe you can use your gamerpics as shirt prints for your avatars? Just a guess, would be kind of ugly for Microsoft to overlook all those people that have bought gamer pictures. Themes will, however, still be in use.

I actually like the new coverflow look. The avatars not so much. Reminds me of EA Playhouse (whatever that is, just a word that popped up into my head when I first saw them, but I guess it refers to The Sims?). But I can hardly see how this would make it easier to find stuff, just seems more complex with all visuals and no lists. And how will our game library work? Only cover of games? Man, that doesn't sound very liberated.

Anyway, a superior look in design compared to the fugly blade system. But navigation, to find stuff, seems to be far more annoying than ever before.

Netflix doesn't concern me. Well, video store in general doesn't really affect me. You know, the last piece of content updated here was probably some overpriced SD Robbie Williams music videos some year ago or so.

Am I the only one excited about the changes?

1. Netflix (getting netflix for this reason alone.

2. Primetime (sounds a bit gimmicky though)

3. XBLA line-up this year (best ever)

4. Community games (can't wait!)

5. Avatars (well... I'm on edge about this one)

6. Party system (ok, this is the only thing that I think is a terrible thing)

7. Marketplace (can browse from PC, so that's good)

8. Installs for games (Faster load times, makes multi-disc games more practical.

I'm very excited about the new changes.

1. I am signing up for Netflix when this update is released.

2. Primetime from what I can tell actually sounds like alot of fun. I just hope its more of a free thing and not something I would have to pay for. Getting in on a game of 1 vs 100 would be sweet, not to mention a game like Who Wants To Be A Millionaire or something like that.

3. Portal, Geo Wars 2, Braid, Blood Bowl and hopefully War World... XBLA lineup is looking HOT!!!

4. Community Games are gonna rock. If we get some more games like Jelly Car and The Dishwasher to try out, Community Games will be a big hit.

5. If they do the Avatars right they could be alot of fun. Like using your old Gamer Pics for shirts. My favorite idea was having achievements unlock clothing and items for your avatar that would be something from the game you unlocked the achievement in. For example, getting an achievement in Gears of War 2 could give you a Gears of War 2 shirt or some sort of item he could wear/hold.

Also I think the new dashboard is alot better looking. Hopefully its as easy to use as the current one and a bit faster as well. The way themes look on the new Dashboard is actually really cool. Not to mention with the new ability of installing your games to your harddrive has me planning on upgrading to an Elite or getting a 120Gig HDD.

The future is looking very bright for the XBOX 360.

Only games with long loading times will really benefit from installing onto the HDD. Hard drives do not eliminate load times just speed them up.

I can see it useful in a game you play online constantly which loads new data after every match or a with a game with fluid levels like TH Proving Ground. A useful tool at times but tt is no panacea.

I've read on a couple sites that you can still use gamerpics if you want.

You need gold for netflix for the same reason you need gold to download a demo. MS wants people to buy gold.

Things like gamerpics, avatars, and themes don't concern me that much. I like gamerpics and themes, but they are overpriced. I just want a faster loading and better organized dashboard.

That's correct, sir. You can still use your gamer picture, which makes me think that you probably can ignore the whole avatar thing, if you choose to.

Too bad they haven't been clear about that though, because too many have ranted the new dashboard just because of that feature.

"You need gold for netflix for the same reason you need gold to download a demo. MS wants people to buy gold."

Demos do not require gold, they are just delayed a bit, usually a week.

Everything else which requires a separate subscription only requires silver XBL to access as their policy clearly states. FFXI and Phantasy Star are the most commonly known examples of this.

As far as joining Netflix just for the play instatnly, eh I wouldn't. If you regularily rent movies then I do suggest looking into the service, but the play instant is not really worth it on its own as it is a lot of crap and early seasons of TV shows. For the price of renting 3-4 movies at a local rental place we get 7-10 movies a month (depending on our schedule) so if you are a movie buff I do suggest looking into it.

Keep in mind to get the most for your money you have to retrun the movies ASAP after you watch them. Otherwise you might not save any cash.

The only feature that I really like about the new dashboard is the ability to download marketplace items directly from the Xbox.com website, imagine being on a lan-house or at work and reading that a demo for a game that you're really looking for has just been made available, instead of arriving home and having to wait for your download to finish you remotely download the demo and when you arrive home you can play without waiting.

That's a really good feature in my opinion.

The other new features seem kind of meh to me, either they seem to cater to the casual crowd (avatars) or I plain and simply can't use them (Netflix isn't available in Europe, as far as I know)