Did Metro Rape Our Xbox?

OK, on November 1st everyone got the newest update for the XBox 360 and it seems no ones happy. But it seems that everyone that hated the old look LOVES this one. Weird, right? Where do I start on this... how about the first thing everyone SEES! It would seem with this update they are forcing the Metro interface on us. This interface has been seen more recently in software such as the Zune. Media Center, and Windows Phone 7, but it hasn’t met a market that always uses the system. Right now the the ONLY thing that uses Metro is the Zune. Really! Their going to base their whole strategy for one of their biggest platforms on a device that has less of a market than the NES!? 

The Metro UI seems to have cut the corners off everything. I feel as though I might be poked by it. It looks out of place. I liked the round edges better. They seemed to have a flow to it. Speaking of flow, the UI seems a little faster this time around so I guess that’s something. Another thing is that instead of object coming form the background to you now everything is flat (Which is why I’m guessing it’s a little faster. That and the lack of rounded edges!). It seems fine but when your looking at a game’s information all you get is a single page with no indication that you can go left or right for more info! At lease put a arrow pointing in that direction! I know their is a bar at the top with the words, “overview, details, extras, gallery” but this update is for the families that may have never played a Xbox 360 and got it with the Kinect. That’s another thing, the real reason for this up/downgrade was just mainly to add Kinect support and to place the Metro interface in are laps. 

Now I’ll say one other thing that was good, the restructuring of the areas is really well done. I feel like I can find thinks easier now, but there’s a catch. Since when were indie games a subset of games? Now the indie games are under the 'Specialty Shops!' It’s right next to the Avatar Marketplace, like I would have found it there! It would seem that all the indie people are asking the same question and they are really mad about it. I think they should be, they been ghettoized! Why give people the free tools to make games for your system, than make them pay $100 to put it in their store, and then they put them in a corner. Unbelievable!

While we are on the topic of services, let’s talk about XBox Live. The first thing is that they will be going up $10 bucks a year, and for what? To help pay for ESPN streaming, Last.fm, Netflix, Facebook, and Twitter!? One, all those thing are ONLY available to those that have Live accounts anyway. So you'll have to pay for a month to try it, and two, who cares?! Yeah, I bought an XBox, not to play games, but to watch movies and sports, to talk on useless social networks, an listen to an internet radio station, and to be charged out the butt for it! It’s not like they weren’t making tons of money off of the ad program they have or the fact that they charge for online gameplay when everyone else is doing it for free They even have the nerve to put demos, trailers, and themes behinds their paid wall. It’s all good for Microsoft but it screws us as the users!