Ok Microsofts E3 announcements about changes to the Xbox 360 dashboard and new features has got me excited. The optional installatin of games is awesome for me as i own the 120gb hard drive.

- Play from hard drive. Copy your games from the game disc and play directly from the hard drive. Not only will the drive not spin, but load times are quicker, as well. Of course, you will still need the disc in the tray to prove you own the game.

-Access Xbox LIVE Marketplace on the Web. Browse and purchase Marketplace content whenever you want from Xbox.com and it downloads automatically to your console. Purchase that new map, television episode, the latest Xbox LIVE Arcade game or set up a movie to watch when you get home from work.

- Dashboard built into the new Xbox Guide. For everyone who loves the blades interface, it’s not going away; they are now built directly in to the new Xbox guide. Every feature and option is available right from the guide. You can even access your full games library at all times. No matter where you are (in dash or in game), immediately call up your games played list and directly launch a game.

- LIVE Party system. Create a party of up to eight friends, and stay with them from one game to another, or watch a Netflix movie together, or share a slideshow of your personal photos. It works with all Xbox 360 titles, not just upcoming games. LIVE Party allows up to eight people to chat in the dashboard, so you can meet up before playing.

- Xbox LIVE Primetime. This whole new category of games is going to give you more reasons to get online with your friends. Games will support everything you’d expect, like Achievements and leader boards, but many of these games will include real prizes. You can invite your friends, and even set a reminder for an upcoming show. Each game is broadcast simultaneously, so everyone is answering the same questions. Many events will have a live host, calling the shots as they happen.

- Avatars. Your online identity started as a Gamertag - it then grew into a personalized Gamercard. Now, it has evolved even further into avatars. You can express your style, check out new outfits and share this with the community. Avatars will also be integrated into Xbox LIVE Arcade games, LIVE Party, as well as retail games.

- New display support. Because you asked for it, we are adding 16X10 over VGA or HDMI, and support for 1440×900 or 1680×1050.

Yeah totally agree. People have said that this part of the conference was dull. Completely disagree. This is exactly why I pay for Live service. M$ are so far in front of the pack as far as Live and OS are concerned, There is no need to pay £40/month for Sky anymore. 360 is the most complete entertainment package of all the 3 consoles.

And to those who say the avatars are stolen and all this Cr*P get over it. If Sony were smart they would have bought home out ages ago. If you want copy artists, you guys are all aware that over 10 years ago M$ built a complete sixaxis motion controller for the PC, long before the wiimote or Sony's controller.

OT: The new dashboard is awesome. And the deal with the gameshows is limitless. That is a major draw for casuals. My family gets together at christmas and other occasions and out come the DVD gmeshow discs. No need for those anymore. M$ will have tons of gameshows available. M$ wanted the most complete platform for entertainment and they are leaps and bounds ahead of Sony on this. Great decisions M$ and well done on an amazing platform for games.

For those of us who do not want to have to play for live, it was not particularily interesting. Anyway, Sky is still far better, especially if you are not a movie buff, though I would admit that many of these things were very good moves

However, the way they tried to portray the avatars as unique I thought was just plain wrong, they are copying the others in so many ways, but try to make it seem as though they are the only one doing it. Of course they said it in a way so that they were not lying, by adding "small text" but they are still giving the impression that they are the only one doing it

I like the updates as well.