http://interscription.com/2008/08/29/the-new-xbox-experience-part-ii-spotlight-and-primetime/
The New Xbox Experience, Part II: Spotlight and Primetime
In our continuing investigation of all things NXE, the next two features to be discussed will be Spotlight and Primetime. Let’s begin by a brief screenshot and discussion of Spotlight.
Spotlight is similar to the section of the Marketplace of the same name. While the current Marketplace Spotlight is organized with a “twist UI” interface and several categories such as Games and Videos, the new Spotlight is a much more minimalist approach to a “featured” section. Instead of having a seemingly neverending stack of new content (indeed, there can be upwards of 100 or more pieces of content in the current Spotlight section, almost neutralizing the point of a Spotlight section), the new Spotlight section will highlight a very specific title or piece of content for each major subheading. Based on the example above, it seems that there will be the subheadings of “Inside Xbox”, “XBLA”, “Netflix” (or some other new feature as the NXE continues to evolve), “Video Marketplace”, and “New Disc-based Release”.
I have to say that I approve of this approach quite a bit more than the current cluttered Spotlight. The very idea of a Spotlight would seem to indicate a focus on a particular subject or release, but our current Spotlight section is anything but.
Moving on, we have the Primetime section.
Primetime is Microsoft’s first venture on the Xbox 360 to truly bridge the normally passive entertainment of television with the more engaging art of gaming. Microsoft has partnered with Endemol to deliver interactive versions of some of Endemol’s gameshows, the first and most prominent of these being the Bob Saget joint, 1 vs. 100.
It seems 1 vs. 100 in particular is very Avatar-slanted, so those of us who aren’t too excited with replacing our gamerpics with a goofy cartoon representation of ourselves (or someone else of your choosing) might not be too welcome on the Primetime scene. (My guess is that there will be a default character assigned to you if you haven’t created an Avatar, but that, like most of this, is pure speculation!)
Moving past the top slide for 1 vs. 100, we see an Xbox Live Trivia game and a Sports Legends game. I’m assuming these are also scheduled interactive gameshows that will be frequented by Live members.
Both of these games’ slides are surrounding a “program guide” in our screenshot. One would think this will act as a sort of TV guide for the interactive gameshows. My guess is that you will be able to subscribe to a particular gameshow or timeslot (similar to a DVR reminder) so that you will be notified when it is coming up instead of waiting around for the game to start (more on this in the What we Know section).
What we know:
- Avatars will be supported fully in these games (demonstrated in 1 vs. 100 promo shots).
- As with most gameshows, these games will occur at specified times of the day. There is also a Live Notification of a 1 vs. 100 game starting in one of the promo videos. As I stated before, I would imagine that you have the option to schedule a reminder for either a specific program, timeslot or both, so that you can do other things without having to wait around for the show to start.
What we don’t know:
- Will these games have to be purchased like XBLA titles, or will they be ad-supported?
- Major Nelson mentioned “real prizes” are available for the winners of these games. Will you need to play a certain amount of games to be eligible? What is the reward structure for playing? How many rewards are you eligible for in a year’s time? What is your incentive to play these games without prizes of some kind? How many times are you allowed to play in a specified period of time?
- Is there a pre-registration for a specific “airing”, and what is the window for pre-registration?
- Will these games have a host (maybe Bob Saget? Nah…)? If so, will there be a host for all the scheduled games, or only the…um…”Primetime” showings…
Check back soon (or subscribe to our RSS feed!) for our wrap-up of the last couple of NXE features, as well as a separate post on the integrated Dashboard guide!
