Show your Rebel pride, your Imperial allegiance or your carefree bounty hunter love with new The Empire Strikes Back-themed Avatar gear, adorable enough to force almost any Star Wars fan to drop Microsoft Points on virtual clothing.

According to Major Nelson's latest podcast, the Xbox Live Team is working towards making a harder, better, faster, and indeed stronger Xbox Live Dashboard for the next update later this year.

Your "New Xbox Experience" avatar has just gotten some grown up clothes, eight new pieces of formal and business casual articles that will be a hit at your next Xbox Live con call.

It's OK, Americans. Those European football shirts weren't your thing. This, then, is your thing, a new "Western Wear" collection of avatar clothing that'll have you reaching for an official Microsoft-branded six-shooter.

Most people are more than happy with the improvements the New Xbox Experience brought to the Xbox 360's user interface. Those unhappy, well, tough: it's about to become compulsory.

Microsoft is going all out in its promotion of The Lost and Damned coming to the Xbox 360 version of Grand Theft Auto IV. And by "all out," we mean new Avatar clothing options.

The 360's avatars are, all copy-cat jokes aside, surprisingly endearing. Only problem is, some of the wardrobe and body options are a little...limited. That's something user-generated content could address. So, uh, will it?

The Xbox 360's "New Xbox Experience" wasn't filled with the joyful noise of Avatar belches for some owners of the console. Some found their HDMI-ready systems without sound, which Microsoft is now, finally, addressing.

Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter, who knows everything there is to know about video games, sees nothing but good things for the Xbox-Netflix partnership, one that could translate to another million Netflix subscribers this year.

Your New Xbox Experience avatar just got a wardrobe booster, thanks to the fashionistas at Microsoft and Rare. It's a noticeably preppy update to the Avatar closet, perfect for a weekend beach house getaway.