Some of you have taken issue with the slow speed of the New Xbox Experience, and Major Nelson and the rest of the Xbox Live team have taken notice. In his latest podcast, the Major promises that the next major dash update will see a much faster guide. Just don't call it a performance enhancement, whatever you do.

"The team has done some really good stuff around making performance enhancements. 'Performance enhancements' doesn't sound right because it sounds like we're going to give the guide a little blue pill, and we're not doing that. Whatever we call it (and it's not going to be called the NNXE), but whatever the next version of the dashboard is called, it's better with a lot of very cool new features. That update will be out later this year"

Thank goodness, because if the Xbox Live team had released a dashboard update that was worse in every way, they'd be Vista team, and they keep the two separate for a reason.

Show #323: E3 2009 and Iraq [Major Nelson via CVG]

That includes free items, add-ons and outfits that you can win, as well as Avatar items that you can purchase from the Xbox Live Marketplace. Xbox general manager Marc Whitten showed off some of these new items, much of them placeholder, that will be coming to the Xbox 360. These included outfits based on Halo: ODST and pom-poms for your avatar.

Both are shown in action after the break.

Whitten didn't date the release of the new Xbox 360 Avatar upgrades, but did say that those won as awards and purchased through Marketplace would be launched simultaneously worldwide.

It'll be available for download tomorrow, and will cost you 240 MS Points (USD$3). A ridiculous price for a theme, yes, but hey, some people really like Crackdown. A lot.

Crackdown Premium Theme [Microsoft]

The addition of short shorts is most welcome, considering how it has been here in Los Angeles. I'm sure my Avatar is feeling the heat. Most of the additions are too small to notice, as some are simply jewelry updates, something I won't apply to my own Avatar, for I'm afraid to walk through the Xbox 360's "Night" theme with anything too flashy. I don't trust some of those friendly Avatars.

For the list of new additions, read on.

Men
Denim Shorts
Faded Jeans with Print
Striped Visor Beanie
Diamond Stud Earrings
Square Stones Ring

Women
Oversized Jacket with Chains
Short Shorts
Sports Vest
Diamond Stud Earrings

New shirts, slacks, waistcoats and skirts are yours for the virtual closet raiding, provided you want your Avatar to look nice, but not too nice. For the new additions, read on.

Male
Blue Formal Shirt
Moleskin Pants
Waistcoat and Shirt
Suit and Tie

Female
Pencil Skirt
Slacks
Pinstripe Blazer
Twin Set

Sure, there's a marketing tie-in to wade through first. After all, Capcom have copies of Age of Booty to promote with this stuff. But that can be swiftly overlooked because, well, these are pirate costumes.

They'll be out next Wednesday, March 25.

Age of Booty - Xbox Avatars Set Sail [Capcom]

Up til now, those who didn't like the looks of the NXE could, in theory, keep their consoles off Xbox Live and keep rockin' the blades like it was 2005. But no longer. Beginning with HAWX and MLB2K9, 360 games will now come with the update on the disc, meaning if you don't have the NXE and then insert a new game, it'll be installed automatically, whether you like it or not.

Don't worry. There are plenty of ways to make your avatar look sad.

NXE now included as mandatory on-disc update [Darkzero]

Your New Xbox Experience Avatar now has the option to look one percent more bad-ass or—if your Avatar is female—twice as trashy, as new gear, said to be inspired by Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned, can now be applied to your virtual Xbox self. Skull rings, top hats, pixie boots and leopard print leggings are all you'll need to give your Rare-designed thing that lawless rebel or strung out junkie look.

Or, if you want an outfit that simply says "leather daddy" you can have that too.

For the full list of new wardrobe options, read on.

For the guys:

• Rocker Jacket
• Pixie Boots
• Grunge Pants
• Metal Combats
• Top Hat
• Skull Ring
• Leather Biker Gloves
• Left Feather Earring
• Right Feather Earring

For the girls::

• Punk Tee
• Black 60's Boots
• Leopard Print Leggings
• Biker Jacket
• Biker Gloves
• Skull Wrist Band
• Left Feather Earring
• Right Feather Earring

Two new clothing options for your 360 avatars are now available, a "formal suit" for the gents and a "red dress" for the ladies. You can see the suit above, and...well, yes, that's a powder blue shirt.

According to the team behind the little guys, the answer is a resounding maybe. Rare's Dale Murchie says:

User-generated content is a huge area that would not have been done any justice if we had tried to cram it into the launch release of this project.

There may be features coming that open up the expressive potential of the Xbox community, but we're keeping quiet on that for now.

Murchie may be keeping "quiet", but Rare's Lee Musgrave saw fit to add "Creativity is going to play a big part in the development of the Avatars".

Completely custom outfits would be great, but you know, at this stage we'd just settle for changing the existing gears colour.

Rare: User-generated content likely for Avatars [VG247]

Chatting with VG247, art head Lee Musgrave at Rare - who provided the avatars for the 360 - says that "In time… games will be able to give away clothes and accessories just like Achievements".

Elaborating further, producer Stacey Law says "We are currently working with multiple partners who have expressed interest in using Avatars".

Note she says partners, not developers. So while it's likely there'll be games released soon that will come bundled with new, tie-in outfits, you should expect regular ol' commercial tie-ins as well. Or maybe a combination of both. Cool Spot shades and outfit, anyone?

Rare: Games to give out Avatar clothing “like Achievements” [VG247]

Following the NXE roll out in November 2008, a segment of the Xbox 360 population found their previously working audio cutting out. A hard drive swapping "fix" was the best the community could come up with. Not an ideal solution, nor the best way to fire up a C-grade Netflix stream.

According to Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb, a new dashboard update will be issued in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, one that is said to fix the issue affecting those plugging in their Xbox 360 via HDMI. We've fortunately been spared the HDMI-induced aural famine at Kotaku Towers, but hope that those affected will chime in, loudly, when they get their patch on.

Dashboard Update (aka the HDMI Audio fix) [Xbox Live's Major Nelson]

While Grid/plane's ideas obviously centred around a new menu system, they also "dreamt up an immersive 3D environment for users to explore the latest games, events and online activity within the XBOX Live community". Sounds familiar...

Anyway, if you're interested in checking out an alternate history, one where the "new" Xbox experience looks a lot like the "old" one, only with avatars, hit the link below.

Grid/plane Xbox [Grid/plane, via Joystiq]

Eighteen shirts were added today, to make up what Microsoft are calling the "European National Football Teams" collection. If Europeans/football fans were hoping this meant avatar-ready versions of their national team's actual kit, however, they'll be disappointed, as they're actually just...t-shirts. With a little flag on them.

The 18 countries available are:

Austria
Belgium
Denmark
England
Finland
France
Germany
Ireland
Italy
Netherlands
Northern Ireland
Norway
Portugal
Scotland
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Wales

Strange they went with European teams instead of something with a more American flavour when the Super Bowl is only a matter of days away.

Sorry that it costs you money, anyway (it's a nice enough looking theme). Writing on the game's blog, creator Jonathan Blow excuses the corporate intrusion, saying:

Unfortunately, we had to charge the standard Premium Theme price of 250 Microsoft Points (which is about $3.10 in American money). We want to make it free, but Microsoft doesn’t like giving things out for free. But if you do buy it, you can be secure in the knowledge that you own one of the few Premium Themes that is not an advertisement — there is no text in the Braid theme anywhere. (Seriously, Microsoft, what is with the Subway: Eat Fresh Theme?)

But Jonathan, what if we want to see Tim shilling a meatball six-inch?

There’s now a Braid dashboard theme on the Xbox 360 Game Marketplace. [Braid]

Keeping up with the latest trends, Microsoft is offering new, brightly colored gear like an all over print "Pixel Art Hoodie" and a pair of "Rave Baseball Caps." Sweat bands, zebra pumps and fingerless gloves can give you horrible electroclash flashbacks while browsing your Xbox Live friends list now too. Yes, more skinny fit jeans (read: Avatar leggings) because you demanded it!

The full list of new wearables is after this. Fire off your "Hey Microsoft, 2006 called and it wants its Bape knock-offs back!" e-mails afterward.

Gents
Pixel Art Hoodie
Rave Baseball Cap
Dark Purple Jeans
Green Skinny Fit Jeans
Pink Sweat Bands

Ladies
Green Chunky Ring
Red Chunky Ring
Yellow Fingerless Gloves
Blue Fingerless Gloves
Chunky Beaded Bracelet
Day-glo Zebra Print Pumps
Rave Baseball Cap

The video itself isn't anything spectacular. It's just him spinning his avatar around for three or four minutes with a few costume changes. Don't be a hater. He's just getting grind on. He's just trying to get rich and get his shine on.

He didn't give Totilo any shout outs, though. I thought they were down?

Me, I'd pick No. 4, who looks like the Cat Lady went to prison and got a skullface tattoo. No. 5, also uglier than a bag of assholes, and No. 3, just as ugly, except with polyps. Seven is just "uglier than a fart in church" ugly, but six looks like somebody set fire to its face and beat it out with a rake. Go vote over there, then share your choices, and "uglier than" putdowns in our comments.

Rocking the Fugliest NXE Avatar Vote [Hawty McBloggy]

Harrison, in comments to Eurogamer during last week's Atari Live event, said Sony "will have a very successful platform" with PlayStation@Home, begun under his tenure. Phil's said he's in on the beta, which Sony says will launch for all users by the end of this month. Harrison left Sony for Atari back in March.

Regarding Xbox Live's new dashboard: "I was quite impressed actually with some of the things that [Microsoft has] done," he said. "They're just scratching the surface of what the whole industry recognises is that customisation, socialisation and community platforms are going to be just as important as the games themselves."

Wait, didn't he say anything nice about Nintendo, too? UH-OH CONTROVERSY. Kidding. But the man's got titles to publish and games to sell, on both consoles, so praising both, like a mother who makes sure to compliment her less-favorite son, is to be expected.

Harrison: Home is "Brilliantly Realised" [Eurogamer]

Here are three things that enough people are blabbing about in the video game blogosphere that I'm reasonably comfortable passing them along. These are other people's rumors, and other people's sources — I've tried to put a sniff test on 'em. By itself I don't think one makes much of a post, but three are good to chew over with your Reese's Puffs this a.m. Enjoy.

• New Xbox 360 "Jasper" Console to have 256 MB of Flash Memory — Xbox 360 Fanboy is reporting this, but is it really a rumor? Dean Takahashi reported the 256MB figure as straight-up fact in his rundown of what the 360 will feature. Either way, that would allow the console to be shipped with the entire NXE on it, removing the need to connect the machine to XBL to download and install it.

• Disaster: Day of Crisis OTW to North America? — GoNintendo got screenshots of email from a reader talking to Nintendo customer support (grain of salt alert), in which the reader was told "I’m pleased to report that Disaster: Day of Crisis has been announced for North America, but no release date yet." The comment was attributed to Dervin Camden, Nintendo of America Inc. Makes sense, and the last time we had someone's tech support give up details about a title release, it was GTA IV for the PC and that turned out pretty well.

• Fable II OTW to PC? Joystiq goes with a rumor from a German-language site, quoting a "gut unterrichteter Quelle" (well-informed source) that Fable II will indeed be ported over to the PC. The rumor goes so far as to give a date: Feb. 15, 2009. Joystiq points out Fable's PC release came a year after the original, so this might be a little early, but who knows. That was an original, this is a sequel that everyone expected to make nothing other than moolah galore, maybe they had the port in the works simultaneously.

Rumor: Jasper 360s Get 256MB Internal Storage[Xbox 360 Fanboy]
RUMOR — Disaster: Day of Crisis Getting a Chance in North America? [GoNintendo via GayGamer]
Rumor: Fable II Coming to PC in February [Joystiq via Blue's News]