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Xbox Live Beta Report
mrquackers writes "CNN has an interesting article up giving its thoughts from the Xbox Live beta test. The system actually gets high marks for its ease of connectivity, matchmaking and voice communicator, but the writer doesn't seem convinced that Microsoft's going to have a big success with this (though he vows to do a better job of backing up that statement "next week")."
Interesting article. Microsoft has never been so much an innovator than an integrator, taking existing technologies and bringing them to the masses (bugs included).
Kits for chatting live with online oponents have been available for some time, even though I've never had the chance to use one. What Microsoft is doing is standardizing this feature on the XBox Live. It is a huge bet for them, but perhaps the only way to save a system that is lagging behind the competition.
The question is, of course, whether the new "experience" will be "compelling" enough to save their virtual ass. Is there a slashdotter here that has already experienced online chatting? The reviewer says it actually is a good feature, is that your opinion too?
But then, even if this feature proves to be that good, Microsoft will be facing another challenge: scaling it up. As the reviewer said several times, the architecture has yet to be tested at full-charge.
As for me, sorry Microsoft, but some of your competitors have a game catalog that is much bigger than yours, including hundreds of old games that are available for a bargain. Yes, I am cheap.
This headset thing is really cool. However:
Do you think it's occured to microsoft the repurcussions of the fact that they are going to be relaying voice unfiltered?
Unlike text, there is no realistic way they can filter voice for obscenity.
Do you think they've considered what that means? All the gaming communities i've seen, everyone seems to be pretty free with using just random obscenities. They will probably be more so when communicating requires nothing more than muttering under your breath, instead of having to type out stuff.
How long do you think it will be before that Xbox Live thing comes with a little note saying "Warning: To prevent exposure to adult language, it is suggested children do not use the headset component of this product."
I'm on the beta and I'm quite impressed. Two games were included in the beta: NFL Fever 2K3 and Re-volt. Both games completely suck. The amazing thing is that it doesn't matter. Despite the face that both games suck the easy voice chat feature completely redeems them. Everyone is required to have a decent connection which means less drop-outs. Also, since players can't edit the game files there are no cheaters.
Neither of the included games has any team-play aspect so chat generally is reduced to three phrases: "Fuck...I crashed", " Ha ha. I passed you"and "I win!". It will be interesting to see how it works out in Unreal Championchip and Battlefield 1942.
There's actually a good reason why Microsoft doesn't want Xbox Live! to be compatible with PS2 and GameCube games. They can guarantee that every Xbox will be using a broadband connection. They can not say the same about PS2 users nor GameCube users. If you want a good gaming experience, you want as little lag as possible, and broadband gives you that. Ensuring that everyone has a decent connection is a step in the right direction.
And heaven forbid that they should charge money to try to recoup some of their costs! They're running dedicated servers. Do you think those come for free? You can look at this site, and you know that there's no such thing as a free lunch. Do you also realize that these dedicated Live! servers will allow people to see across games? Let's say you're playing Tony Hawk and your friend wants to play a game of NBA2k3 with you. Your friend can notify you through your Xbox because the service sits on the server. Amazing stuff.
Also, have you played on battle.net? I'll admit that they've done a superb job with the Warcraft III release, but EVERY release before then has been utterly horrid on the battle.net servers. The servers would lag for days while people would jump on or download the latest patch. The old adage of you get what you pay for is true.
btw, it's PS2, not PS/2. The PS/2 is either a) your keyboard connector or b) an old IBM machine. Sorry, that's just a pet peeve of mine.
The article really is not informative as to the whole Xbox Live! experience. So far everyone that I've heard from in the beta really enjoys it. Heck, even the guys at penny-arcade enjoy it. I am looking forward to November 15th myself.
Where the wind blows, the tumbleweed goes.