In an effort to bring some order to what is becoming an increasingly chaotic space, Microsoft is launching a new content browser. Dubbed Destination Arcade, the “brand new recommendation engine & visual browser app” will give users the ability to sort the ocean of content available on XBLA a number of ways. In the words of the Major himself (Nelson, that is):
The Major helpfully provided screens, so that we might have a look at the new interface at in action.
Of course, Destination Arcade will have a space for new and recent arrivals, much as the current system does. Note in the following screens that “Find Similar Games” and “Show ALL Games Like These” options show up in pretty much every area of Destination Arcade. That may actually make finding games you like easier.
In The Mall, gamers have access to all of the games on Xbox Live Arcade. Games can also be broken out into smaller categories, such as Deals Of The Week and, once again, Recently Released.
The News Feed has all the latest news on XBLA releases, and highlights titles that have gone on sale.
The “Find Similar Games To” feature, in all its glory.
It’s interesting that, rather than overhaul the entire New Xbox Experience UI at once, Microsoft is going after specific portions, one at a time. Though I’m looking forward to trying out Destination Arcade (as I certainly agree that the current system is way overloaded), Microsoft already has a new UI that I’m pretty excited about – the Kinect Dashboard. Perhaps we can look forward to features from that design influencing future revisions of the NXE. Here’s hoping.
Ranters, what do you think about Destination Arcade? Which part of NXE would you like to see updated next?
Destination Arcade will be available July 14th, from the Games Marketplace portion of the dashboard, for the Xbox 360.
Source: Major Nelson
