The Xbox 360 conference begain with Halo 4. The trailer started with brain waves firing as Chief awakens and comes out of, what appears to be, stasis. The trailer continues on, dropping Chief on a jungle planet which adds a bit of a different look from previous Halos.

The jungle was colorful and all aspects of the game were vibrant. The gameplay was smooth with a lot of extraneous sound activity ranging from background noise to battle sounds to accompanying voices from artificial intelligence (AI).

Some things we noticed include new weapons, the aforementioned jungle environment in vibrant colors and a possible AI construct corruption storyline. Though this is only a brief glimpse into what Halo 4 looks like, it does appear to be polished. Locking targets was accurate and with several vision modes, Chief should have no trouble detecting danger.

The tagline for Halo 4 appears to be ‘An Ancient Evil Awakens’. Although, technologically advanced ancient evil based on what was shown. Overall, the Halo 4 presentation was well met and it appears as though it could continue the franchise’s great success.

Expected release date: Holiday 2012 (early reports place the release in December)

Key Features:

• New weapons.
• Jungle environment.
• AI construct corruption unfolding.
• Excellent graphics with vibrant colors and scenery.

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The update fixes voice recognition issues for those who speak languages other than English. The update dropped early this morning and was later sent out via Tweet from @majornelson. There have been no reports of problems or interruption in Xbox Live services from this update.

You may recall back in December the Xbox team rolled out an interface update which changed the layout and added a number of new features, including voice recognition.

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Dashboard Visuals

In the new Microsoft Metro style, the Xbox 360 follows in the footsteps of the Windows 8 and Windows Phone interfaces. The tiled squares are clearly being adopted across all Microsoft platforms and is a smart move by Microsoft to add interface uniformity across all of their products.

The first noticeable difference, besides the Metro styling, is the category listing aligned horizontally along the top. My Xbox is now home and My Friends has been changed to social. The other channels remain, but the “Marketplace” word has been removed from the labels. All in all, the new Metro interface allows for added content in the same amount of space without feeling cramped or busy.

Bing Search & Voice Control

Bing search has been integrated into the Xbox as well and is now the first channel in the category listing. The new Bing search integration is a big plus for those tired of searching the Xbox marketplace with a controller. For Kinect owners, Bing can use voice controlled search to find content. Bing searches locally across all services attached to the Xbox and returns results based on the search criteria. From there users decide how to use the content. In the case of a movie, users can choose to purchase the video from the video marketplace or stream it via Netflix.

The process is really well done and although the extensive search is available to those without a Kinect, the voice control experience makes having a Kinect that much more fulfilling.

Kinect – Voice & Motion

We’ve already covered the sound benefits of having a Kinect with the new updates, but that’s not all there is to it. Motion is an essential trait of Kinect and with the Metro styling is used to navigate around the Xbox.

Motioning is a fairly simple idea and in practice works well. Having said that, the voice control is still the preferred way to navigate. Just say ‘Netflix’ and there it is, no need to move your hands or arms around in front of you.

While neither is perfect, they both improve the Xbox experience for the user and advance the Microsoft agenda in a non-intrusive way.

TV

Apps will take some time in updating their interface to mimic the Metro style, but some have already adopted it. Live TV is still a work in progress, which is not unexpected, as the networks try to monetize their content in the most profitable way possible. Until they figure that out, expect Xbox to be in the same boat as others with regards to streaming a large variety of up to date content.

The important thing to take away from the addition of live TV is that it is actually included and available. It’s a nice start to hopefully something much better as time goes on or even for the next-gen console.

Cloud Storage

For those who want or need to switch between consoles, the Xbox Live Gold membership buys you storage for saved games. A nice little feature that adds something more to an already abundantly feature packed console. While gamers are unlikely to store all their game data in the cloud, the space should allow for the ‘flavor of the week’ game to be saved.

Final Thoughts

Overall, we’re extremely pleased with the new interface. The Metro styling is something we were pleased with on Microsoft’s other devices so it’s no surprise we find it to be a good fit on the Xbox as well. The categories and channels are better oriented and a greater amount of content is available on a single screen making for a more accessible experience.

The voice and motion controls are really good, but could still use some refining. Having voice control over the entire Xbox library and apps is so much easier than fiddling with remotes or controllers. We expect this to only improve as time goes on.

The evolution of content delivery continues and Microsoft has a decent shot at being one of the leaders in the cable alternative scenario. There isn’t anything more Microsoft can do other than throw around their money on this one. Networks and movie studios want fat pockets and there’s no quick solution to that. Look for Microsoft to expand their available content and eventually make Live TV more of a priority.

Your Thoughts

Have you received the update yet? How do you like the new interface and layout? Where does Microsoft go from here? Let us know in the comments!

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