New Xbox Experience Added to 360 Discs

It’s hard to believe it’s been nearly four months since Microsoft first launched the New Xbox Experience. Of course, not everyone who’s got a 360 has got it set up online, meaning that there’s a whole lot of people out there still cuddling up with the blades of the “Old” Xbox Experience. Well, Microsoft can’t have any of that. After all, if you’re going to show off the new hotness the NXE, you don’t want people running around with the old and busted of the original Xbox dashboard.

To that end, it looks like Microsoft is taking a cue from Sony’s PSP games, including the latest update as a mandatory install on upcoming games. This week alone, fans of Tom Clancy’s HAWX and MLB 2k9 who hadn’t yet installed the NXE update were greeted not with shots of fighter jets or juiced up baseball players. Instead, all they got was a grey screen with a message asking them to install the required update included on the disc.

These are just the first two games to come with the NXE update included on the disc, but they won’t be the last. The plan is for Microsoft to have publishers include the update on most, if not all, future releases for the 360. So, if you’re a fan of the “old school” 360 dashboard, it looks like your days are numbered.