Xbox Live Update, Drag Queens and Evil Macaroons

On Sunday G and I had a rather unusual afternoon in London.

We’d been invited down by Xbox to hear all about their big update, which started hitting Xbox 360 consoles around the world yesterday.

Having been to many Xbox events now, I can honestly say that my experience on Sunday afternoon was completely ‘out of box’, representing just how forward-thinking Microsoft are being.

The afternoon was at supperclub in London. A perfect venue, only about thirty bloggers invited. We waited by the bar (of course) and then were shown into the dance room venue. Bed seats lined the walls and, possibly eased by the cocktail already consumed, it wasn’t long before I had my shoes off and was happily lounging on the bed-seat.

That’s when more cocktails were delivered and the demonstration began.

There were clips about the new features of the Xbox Live update, in amongst performances and food. And that’s when it all became a but surreal (think Twin Peaks meets Britain’s Got Talent).

There was a leather clad Avenger-style dancer, who shook her utterly pert bottom a lot and made sparks with an angle grinder and a guitar. Ace. Then a drag queen who stripped to white underpants and climbed up (and wrapped himself in) a shower curtain, whilst the Psycho music played. Seriously, blood came from his mouth onto the shower curtain at one point. And then he lay on the floor for ages and pretended to be dead. I ABSOLUTELY loved him. Then there were breakdancers and a man called Paul gave out hugs.

And food. Four courses of wonky food.

But one course looked to be delicious macaroons. I love cake, I was excited. But then on biting into them it was discovered that they contained fish paste and chicken liver. That experience may have disturbed me for life. But there wasn’t time to dwell, as dessert was served in a metal cat food bowl.

And, then, we went home.

Basically, the launch of Bing on Xbox allows customers to search entertainment services using their VOICES. Last year, Kinect for Xbox 360 allowed gamers to use their bodies and voices to play their favourite games and entertainment. You’ve seen the adverts, the gamer is the controller. This year, the power of Kinect combined with the search intelligence of Bing is turning your voice into the ultimate remote control.

With Bing on Xbox, you can use your voice to effortlessly find the games, movies, TV shows and music you want, by simply saying what you’re searching for. You say it, Xbox finds it. Simple! (I’ll be interested to see how it copes with accents!)

And, in addition to offering the best blockbuster and Kinect games, Xbox 360 consoles are set to deliver live and on-demand TV shows, movies, videos, sports, music and news. TV and movie fans can instantly stream live television via Sky, as well as enjoy a variety of fantastic content from the likes of AlloCiné (Screenrush), blinkbox, Channel 4, Channel 5, Crackle, Dailymotion, LOVEFiLM, MSN Video, MUZU.TV, YouTube and Zune, as well as, in 2012, the BBC.

I have attached photos. Because, really, that’s the only way I actually know it all happened.