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At the first public showing of The New Xbox Experience – the brand new update that will completely nuke what you currently know as the Dashboard – Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb informed anxious attendees that we’d see the mandatory online update at some point in the fall.

“There’s no decided date,” Hryb laughed with a subtle tone that screamed “stop asking me!”

The first thing we see is the new Dashboard. Blades are discarded in favor of a row of rectangular images that slide across a curved grey plane. Cycling through the .jpegs, Hryb explained how the system has been simplified and made easier to use. Showcasing just a few things in the ten minute demo, he quickly loaded up Halo 3, which had been installed to the system’s hard drive – one of the most notable new features in the upcoming update. Load times were noticeably quicker, and once he established that it could be done, we were shown the new Guide.

The leaner, smaller guide is more compact and fit to the center, and the current “Blades” system has been implemented here. Everything is in the same order as it is in our current Dashboard – Marketplace to the left, System to the right, and all the goods in between – but there are a few new additions. Primetime, which allows gamers to play game shows like 1 vs. 100 across the globe for real world prizes, is a selectable option, as is the newly integrated and highly requested Party system.

Grouping up with up to eight total players allows for huge group chats and easy get-togethers. Represented by the Rare-created Avatars (cutesy customizable renditions of the player) it’s plain as day who’s in your party, as well as who’s playing what when you scope out your Friends List. Offline buddies are shown as transparent/faded Avatars, and games being played are blown up in a box above the respective players head.

It’s all clean, and your old purchased themes and Gamer-pictures work just fine in the new system. Navigating the menus – including the Y-button “Details” which shows report-card-like lists of games you’ve played and the Achievements you’ve earned in them – is seemingly easy, but we’ve got to ask: what was wrong with the old Dashboard?

Regardless of how much you love or hate the new look, it’s-a-comin’. The only way to avoid it is to never sign in to Live again, so suck it up and bring on the love. We’re anxious to see the full extent of Avatar customization and fully exploring The New Xbox Experience… This fall. Whenever that is.

[Images courtesy of GamerscoreBlog]