Thanks Woody

I have been meaning to use the new Xbox Live interface as a post, but I keep forgetting. His last comment gave me the reminder I needed. I totally missed the announcement that things were going to change for Xbox Live. Actually, I got the email from Xbox about the change the day after the new format was up on my Xbox. I am not too sure what I think about it. It looks like they ripped off the Wii a bit. You get to create an avatar who, as far as I can tell, just stands there while you browse the menu. It is a little strange to be honest. One of the things I am excited about is that I can watch stuff that is available to view online through Netflix on my Xbox. I just have to put some 'view it now' movies into my queue and my Xbox can find them through my network so that I can watch them on my TV upstairs. Granted, it is mostly old movies, but sometimes they have some good TV shows and B movies. Other than that, the new Xbox lay out seems like a whole lot of window dressing for the same old stuff. You can still do all of the same old stuff that you could do on the old interface. Still, it looks sharp and more high tech.

Other fun Xbox stuff is that I bought the new Call of Duty game and another game called Left 4 Dead. The COD game is pretty fun. The solo mission was pretty short, but we first person shooter buffs get COD for the multi player feature. There are some fun maps and neat changes. The best and worst thing is that, after killing seven in a row without dying, you get to call out the dogs. In the previous game, you would call out a helecopter. People can hide from a helecopter. You can't hide from the dogs. The new COD game is also much more graphic. When you hit a land mine, you get to watch your legs get blown off. Gross, but cool.

I got Left 4 Dead because I enjoyed Dead Rising so much. It is a zombie game. L4D is different from Dead Rising. You get to go around killing zombies, but you are limited to guns. No, swords or chain saws.....yet. Another difference is that the zombies in L4D are SCARY. They shamble around slowly, like traditional zombies, but when they see you or hear you, they get fast and run at you like in the new scarier zombie movies. One neat aspect is that you can play online with three of your friends. There are four characters in the game, and you can choose to play as any of them. The game tracks your kills, so you can compare stats with your killin' buddies. Fun stuff. It is a scary game though. I have jumped a few times when getting jumped by the undead.