Summer loving for Xbox LIVE

Less than a week from now the Xbox 360 will take a significant step closer to becoming the all-singing/all-dancing/cup-of-tea-making home entertainment hub that Microsoft so dearly wants it to be. It’s all part of the upcoming Summer Update for Xbox LIVE and, ultimately, it may well change the way you buy and enjoy your games, movies and more forever...

Well, that’s the theory. There’s certainly plenty to go at, though, beginning with an expanded movie download service. New titles trickle onto the Xbox LIVE Video Store all the time, of course, many with an HD option. However Microsoft is talking about “hundreds” of choices now, and that’s got to be a good thing, right?

Moving on, and the new update ushers in big changes for those dinky Avatars. A new store adds branded bits and bobs from the likes of Adidas, Quiksilver, Roxy and Tokidoki, and there are new style themes to select in ‘Steampunk’ and ‘Recessionista’ flavours. You’ll also be able to earn clothing items just by playing your favourite games – a cool T-shirt from ‘Splosion Man kicking things off. Your quirky looky-likey gets new props to play with too, including pom-poms, a basketball and a mobile phone.

A further component of the update lets users muck about with the way they organise their Xbox LIVE content, Gamertag info, Achievements and Friends, and even allows for the rating of all Xbox LIVE games using a five-star system. But biggest and, we think, best of all is the facility to download whole Xbox 360 games.

Yup, Xbox 360 Games on Demand is finally here. Microsoft isn’t just knocking out the stinkers it can’t shift through regular retail channels either – Assassin’s Creed, Elder Scrolls IV, Fight Night Round 3, Burnout Paradise, Lego Star Wars and Mass Effect are among the 21 titles lining up at launch. More will be added on a weekly basis too, and you’ll have the option to buy with a credit card instead of those pesky MS Points.

So how much and how soon? Alas, MS is coy on such details, but we’d hazard something around the 1600-2000 MS Point mark and next Wednesday morning seems likely – pending any last minute hiccups. A couple of questions, then. Will all of the above and the promise of such essentials as instant-streaming 1080p movies, Zune, Last.FM, Facebook and Twitter be enough to make you join the 360 party? Or is it all just watering-down the big 'Box offering, taking it further away from fulfilling its true potential as a high-powered games machine? Your thoughts please.