Xbox 360: Welcome to the Social?

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xbox-social

Tons of news today out of Microsoft’s E3 keynote… The two primary themes revolve around enhanced social connectivity and expanded methods of physical interaction (Project Natal motion control, Tony Hawk skateboard controller) being deployed to Xbox 360 consoles over the next few months.

In addition to a rebranded and upgraded “Zune” video marketplace with instant 1080p streaming (see ya, Vudu?), the Netflix blade will soon allow for PC-free content browsing. There’s also a Last.FM blade on tap (which may or may not sell you out to the RIAA). And then we have the requisite Facebook and Twitter apps on tap, joining existing avatars, groups, and messaging.

Of course, the Xbox is also a powerful gaming platform. Select full game titles will optionally be available for download… perhaps speeding the demise of physical media should our broadband caps allow it. The Daleisphere has a rundown of Microsoft’s exclusive titles expected later this year. Of today’s game previews, I’m most eagerly awaiting (the non-exclusive) Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 scheduled to arrive in November.

Click to enlarge these pics swiped from Gizmodo:

6 thoughts on “Xbox 360: Welcome to the Social?”

  2. Definitely an interesting and perhaps inevitable direction. We’ll see how well it translates to the 10′ interface… Sharing scores/achievements on Facebook, at the very least, would be cool. :)

    Very curious to see Sony’s response this week (smaller PS3, lame PSP Go?), though I’m packing for a work trip tonight and will most of the remaining news.

  3. Humm, never thought of sharing Achievements on Facebook. So long as they aren’t a constant stream of spam for every achievement. I like the idea of my gamer card some how being added into my Facebook profile.

    To me, the biggest announcements were after the show, the full game download and the ability to purchase them with credit cards instead of those ridiculous Microsoft Points. See my post on this topic here:

    http://www.daleisphere.com/microsoft-games-on-demand-service-one-step-away-from-microsoft-points/

    …Dale

  5. “What are you doing?”

    Playing Metal Gear Solid on my xbox
    Playing Metal Gear Solid on my xbox
    Playing Metal Gear Solid on my xbox
    Playing Metal Gear Solid on my xbox
    Playing Metal Gear Solid on my xbox
    Playing Metal Gear…

  6. I just started to check out Netflix streaming on Windows Media Center. I like the interface a lot, but the video quality is poor vs. streaming via my IE web browser. Any ideas why this is? There is a noticeable difference that makes Windows Media Center a poor alternative.

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