Nintendo has got to be pissed!

Have you checked out my gamertag at the top of this blog lately? That is my Xbox 360 gamertag which is basically like a gamer business card. It tells you my name, what games I've played recently, and my achievement points, which is like a running score of achievements from each game I've played (hint: over 10 thousand is a lot for a casual gamer, but is nothing compared to a real hard core gamer). Now the real question is how did I get my Nintendo Wii Avatar as my picture for my Xbox 360 gamertag? I didn't. That's my new Xbox 360 Avatar.

A couple weeks ago the Xbox 360 gave every single customer a free gift. They gave us the "New Xbox Experience", also known as NXE. The NXE is nothing more than a polished up version of the Xbox operating system. When you turn on the Xbox, the menu system that you see before you start off in a game has been completely overhauled. Instead of a sterile menu system full of tabs, it's now a smooth scrolling exciting list of choices. But there is more to it than just polish, there is some serious muscle behind this as well.

One of the biggest new options available to Xbox users is the availability to stream NetFlix movies right to your Xbox with your NetFlix account. It's crazy easy to use and the movies come out great, the only downside is the choice of movies available to you. Don't expect to stream the new IronMan movie, because it isn't there. But if you want to see the 5 year old Pursuit of Happiness, then you are in luck. The other main feature, as you can see above, is Xbox new inclusion of Avatars, and Nintendo has to be pretty pissed off.

This is just a complete and blatent rip off of the Nintendo Mii's. You create these avatars the exact same way you created the Nintendo Mii's and they look identical as well. But what is really going to piss off Nintendo is the Microsoft will implement these avatars much better than Nintendo ever will. From the very beginning they already put the avatars into existing video games that you can play against other avatars across the globe. You wanna jump into a game of Uno with you avatar? No problem, I'll meet you there with my avatar and drop a "draw four" card right on your head. I've even heard that they are coming out with an Xbox version of the game show "1 vs 100" where your avatar goes up against 100 other avatars from around the globe. Just awesome! Also, when Microsoft has special events, they will release customizable attaire for your avatar. Want your avatar to wear a special Gears of War 2 shirt? No problem, it's available for a limited time.

You know what the best part of the New Xbox Experience is? It was completely free and no one asked for it. Microsoft just rewarded it's loyal customers with this new functionality because they felt like keeping ahead of the curve. Playstation 3 is coming out with it's version of the NXE called "Home". We'll see if it holds up, because right now Xbox has set the bar pretty high by ripping off Nintendo completely. They took Nintendo's innovation and improved upon it and implemented it better than Nintendo ever could hope for.

I for one, love it.

Until next time,

- The 30 Year-old Gamer