# What does everybody think of the "New Xbox Experience"? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [November 20, 2008, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-everybody-think-of-the-new-xbox-experience/473643 "2008-11-20T14:24:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Labtrash](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/labtrash/32/528_2.png) [@Labtrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labtrash)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-everybody-think-of-the-new-xbox-experience/473643/21 "2008-11-23T23:06:48Z")
Not sure if they had this before the switch, but I like the fact that you can now have a party set up in the dashboard, AND a party set up in a game. I like the feature that can send a game invite to the entire dashboard party all at once without having to send individual invites. Also, when in the game, you can just speak with your dashboard party, without having to talk over everyone else, even when some of your party is on the other team (say, if your’re playing COD5:WaW). Oh, and the Netflix thing is cool, but it only lists certain Instant Plays for the primary account holder, which for me is Mrs Labtrash. Her tastes in movies differ GREATLY from mine. I don’t think you can pick them out - can you? ---
**Author:** ![JayRx1981](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/71e660/32.png) [@JayRx1981](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JayRx1981)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-everybody-think-of-the-new-xbox-experience/473643/22 "2008-11-23T23:36:36Z")
Eh, the only feature I care about is the ability to play a game from the hard drive. Fable II just got a helluva lot quieter. Netflix would be cool if I didn’t have to pay for an otherwise useless (to me) Gold membership on top of a Netflix fee, so I’m forgoing that. And all the buddy list/chat features mean little to me, since I’m one of those nutters who doesn’t play online (save for games like LBP and MMOs like WoW). ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-everybody-think-of-the-new-xbox-experience/473643/23 "2008-11-24T08:14:35Z")
> [@TastesLikeBurning](#): > > As someone who uses the 360 mostly for streaming tv and music from my PC, I think it’s ultimately just window dressing, and in some respects a backward step. I dont have an Xbox360, but seeing as I have a nice 53 inch HD TV, I am very curious about what you just wrote. How does one achieve such transfer goodness? ---
**Author:** ![Dreamy\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@Dreamy\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dreamy_B)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-everybody-think-of-the-new-xbox-experience/473643/24 "2008-11-24T18:25:48Z")
The new Xbox experience doesn’t do much for me. As far as I can tell it’s just “window” dressing but I’m not exactly a Xbox power user. I am however happy about being able to stream Netflix. As an Apple user, this allows me to take advantage of instant viewing which is yet unavailable for the Mac. > [@Autolycus](#): > > I dont have an Xbox360, but seeing as I have a nice 53 inch HD TV, I am very curious about what you just wrote. How does one achieve such transfer goodness? I don’t do this myself but one of my friends does. Basically you need a Windows PC and you enable sharing within Windows media player. You cannot stream protected media that you have bought thru (for example) iTunes. But you can stream unprotected media. [More info here.](http://support.xbox.com/support/en/us/nxe/gamesandmedia/sharingmedia/mediacenter/sharemediafrommediacenterpc.aspx) Of course, you can stream protected .wmv files. One advantage to this is Xbox360 natively supports HD. Additionally, there is media galore available on the xbox marketplace and now if you’re a netflix member you can stream your ‘instant’ queue. It turns out there is quite a market for old xboxs. For cheap you can mod them to run XBMC although typically this is a lot of work and I’m unsure if this supports HD. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-everybody-think-of-the-new-xbox-experience/473643/25 "2008-11-24T19:17:09Z")
Dreamy, you CAN watch netflix on a mac. [Cnet.com](http://Cnet.com) has an article on it. Itjust works for intel macs, though. (I’d link, but I’m typing on my phone.) ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-everybody-think-of-the-new-xbox-experience/473643/26 "2008-11-24T19:25:20Z")
I tried out the streaming Netflix last night for an episode of Jericho. I like it so far. It hiccuped once (a pause, and it had to rebuffer), but I have to admit, one minor pause is nothing compared to broken/scratched discs. Watching another episode tonight. ---
**Author:** ![TastesLikeBurning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@TastesLikeBurning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TastesLikeBurning)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-everybody-think-of-the-new-xbox-experience/473643/27 "2008-11-25T04:02:47Z")
> [@Autolycus](#): > > I dont have an Xbox360, but seeing as I have a nice 53 inch HD TV, I am very curious about what you just wrote. How does one achieve such transfer goodness? Here’s a [guide](http://www.arne360.com/2006/11/05/how-to-stream-video-to-the-xbox-360-with-wmp11/) showing you how to do it if you don’t have Windows Media Center (my situation). ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-everybody-think-of-the-new-xbox-experience/473643/28 "2008-11-25T04:10:00Z")
I like it. It’s easy on the eyes and my avatar is cool looking. Haven’t really messed with any of the features yet though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-everybody-think-of-the-new-xbox-experience/473643.md?page=1)