Xbox 360 update

What with Kinect finally on it’s way to an xbox near you, not only will the whole world be flailing their entire bodies around in front of their telly- not just their arms this time Nintendo- but everyone with an xbox had to do a mandatory update to their console this week.

That’s fine and dandy you might say, and yes, you’re probably right. But I am a creature of habit, set in my ways and extremely anal (see my Sonic 4 review) so I especially dislike updates where everything about my console changes. This is not just an update to make Kinect work properly and talk to the dashboard, it’s an update to make your xbox interface look like a Mac. Except it’s by Microsoft which means where Apple would go for a semblance of subtlety, they’ve crashed in with bells whistles and tweaks that would make the creator of the oft-loathed Powerpoint animation blush. Don’t get me wrong, I’m no Apple fan-girl- my iPhone has broken and then fixed itself more times than I care to think about, no thanks to the Genius bar- but at least when they make things the interface always looks pretty. I think anyway.

ANYWAY…back to the point. I think the main thing I hate about the xbox update are the sounds that I now have to put up with. Whereas before scrolling through the menus met with a click that kinda felt like audible haptic feedback (I’m sure there’s a better way to describe that, but meh) now we have a little musical blip that is not only annoying but for some reason really loud. It’s not a background noise any more, it’s just a noise. I’d turn it off but then I’ll have no sounds…I told you I was anal.

I’m largely sad that my poor xbox no longer has an identity of her own. I feel bad for her.

So, in conclusion,  I don’t like this update. I want my old interface back. There should totes be an option for that. Thoughts?