Hello everyone and welcome to gamercoach.com. my name is mayor and I just wanted to introduce myself and tell everyone about who i am and why i was brought on-board. I am here to be not just your gaming coach but also your guide to help you with the ins and out, yes including tech support, of your console. Mostly I have been drafted to do xbox 360, on which i know most everything about, but will be offering service on the other consoles as well.

Most of this will be helping with getting your router settings properly set, setting up your console so you do more than play games on it, and parental settings. I will also be posting the hottest news, releases and any special heard about in regards to gaming. So go ahead and book a session with me to make your console do what YOU want it to do. Click Here for to view my profile and book a session.

This brings me to my first topic of discussion. The New Xbox Experience.

For those that do not know, on November 19, Microsoft will be releasing their new 360 dashboard (just like your computer dashboard). This is the start of console manufacturers updating their product, so it moves from the childrens room to the living room. the 360 is making huge leaps in making this happen. they want 360 users to no longer be just kids to young adults, they want the whole family using this.

Some of you are asking questions like: “but Mayor, the living room tv is the family tv and not for gaming, so how is it going to appeal to me to make it the center of my homes entertainment.”

My response would be very simple to say that, 360 has started to come out with huge party games (games played with multiple people like a party), and “big button” games (those that only require 1 button to play). Games like, “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader”, “Scene It”, “Karaoke Revolution” and “Lips” (singing games), and the list goes on for a while. These enable anyone to pick up a control and play, with know previous gaming experience. So without further ado here is a short list of what to expect from the new xbox experience(NXE).

· 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 and Netflix. Create a party of up to eight friends, and stay with them from one game to another, or watch a Netflix movie together as you stream it to your console, 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. They are adding 16X10 over VGA or HDMI, and support for 1440×900 or 1680×1050.

This is only the tip of the iceberg

I will hopefully have some video walkthroughs of the new dashboard over the week.

If you have any suggestion, comments or topics for any upcoming Mayor’s Office, email me at mayor@gamercoach.com or hit me up on xbox live

xbox live gamertag: MAY0R (thats m-a-y-zero-r)