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Xbox Live Goes Online
abhikhurana writes "
Internetnews is reporting that Microsoft has launched Xbox Live
broadband gaming service. To access Microsoft's service, Xbox gamers
have to buy a $49.99 starter kit, which includes 12 month's worth of
access to the Xbox Live service and a headset kit for voice
communications. Microsoft said that about 16 games with online play
capabilities will be available by the end of the year.
So has anyone already tried it? If so, what do you think about it?"
As with all good ideas involving technology they hardly reach outside of the US, Japan or europe.
In Australia the X-Box is doing okay, still lagging behind the PS2 though. Such a service may never reach our shores, it's a shame because there would be a market here for it.
I guess it would depend if the market was big enough for Microsoft.
Be you Admins? nay, we are but lusers!
I have been playing since the beta and I have found that the service is really good and fun. Moto Gp is a fun game on Live, but MechAssault is a whole different world of fun. XBL runs pretty nicely because of all the broadband users. A much better experience that some online gaming on the PC.
$49.99 fee -$5.00 estimated headset value =$44.99 or ~$3.75/month
To be quite honest, nothing earth shattering here.
You're right, and that's going to be an even bigger problem in Europe & Japan for them. Why?
Let's have a look at the games:
MechAssault
Unreal Championship
Yeah, they'll do allright.
NFL 2K3
NBA 2K3
NFL Fever 2003
Eh? wha? No chance of selling anywhere outside the US.
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon
Whacked!
GR will do nice , as most players will have played cs....Whacked, I have no idea about actually.
Moderation: +4. Modded 70% Funny and 30% Overrated. 100% Saturated.
$44.99 or ~$3.75/month
The median American family with Internet access has dial-up at $20/mo. Xbox Live requires cable or DSL at $40/mo. To that $4/mo month we must add the estimated $20/mo for an upgrade from dial-up to (e.g.) MSN broadband. So if the median American family with Internet access buys Xbox Live for the kids, it'll cost $24/mo or $288/year.
I don't know about you, but the fact that Xbox Live doesn't work with dial-up prevents me from considering buying it.
Will I retire or break 10K?
I mean... is it because it's Microsoft? Take a minute with me and let's imagine something.
Imagine if a company called Penguin Soft created a console that is very similar to what Xbox is. The console is entirely based on Linux. Exact same specs like the Xbox but run Linux instead. Would you still hate it? I don't think so... you would be praising it as the best invention ever! A huge Linux success!
Xbox is very cool... regardless of the fact that Microsoft made it. And I KNOW if it was a linux based console, you'd all love it in an instant.
Very sad... if only people were fair and mature...
Frankly, I'm somewhat glad that MS has forced broadband in this product. There's nothing worse than paying the $40 a month for broadband, mostly for gaming, just to get on some awesome CS server where within minutes a bunch of losers with dialup come on and ruin the game for everyone.
By at least setting the bar to broadband they have excluded some gamers, but they will have improved performance for everyone left.
It works fine here in the UK on a Univerity dorm connection. If you are able to get out of your Uni network on port 3074 you should be okay. I tested it for a friend before the service went live using a little perl script listening on that port running on an off-campus machine.
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon
Awesome! Now I can buy an Xbox, then buy Ghost Recon, then pay monthly for Microsofts online service which is the only place I can play it with other people!
Oh wait, I forgot. I already paid ONCE for this game which I can use on my computer with much faster hardware to play online with other people for FREE as much as I want.
Outdoor digital photography, mostly in New Engl
Absolutely this would be a real useful feature and could quickly gain strength. The problem for MS is that PS2 is much better positioned to take advantage of this if/ when it takes off.
It's the Network effect at play.
There are 30mu+ PS2's out there vs for 3.5Mu+- Xbox. Sony have sold more than 1Mu adapters for the PS2 in the last few month, and if they wanted they could team up with a company like IDT and be offering a "Longdistance telephony game" in a few months.
Help fight continental drift.
You could say the same thing about Microsoft's Internet Explorer. For some time, it was known as having less than stellar performance, and for being a copy-cat of Netscape Navigator, with a very similar UI and features.
Since then, it has improved somewhat with its stability and performance, but since Netscape has gone to the wayside, almost no features have been introduced. In fact, most of the changes between version 3 and version 6 have been internal, such as additional automation calls and additional events for programmers to use.
In reading your comment, something occurred to me.
The only live capable game I have at the moment is Mech Assault, which is a great game, but I was hoping for a couple more play modes, including Co-Op.
One of the most popular FPS shooters is still Half Life because of the Counterstrike mod. Gamers took a basic game and changed it completely to become the kind of game that they wanted. With an XBox, this isn't going to happen because Microsoft has to keep tight control over the game licensing. If they don't they can't make back all the money they lose on selling the boxes. Furthermore, to even begin writing games you have to buy their SDK which is very expensive for an amateur developer.
This was one of the promises of the Indrema game console that was making me really look forward to its release which will now never happen.
This sig has been temporarily disconnected or is no longer in service
I think it's great the PS2 and XBox now have their online gaming abilities. Each has their own advantages and disadvantages, and I think there's definitely room for both.
"I'm a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar."
-Hoban Washburn
If you had a gaming platform, wouldn't you be expecting online play to take off like mad? A lot of us have had the pleasure to play PC games online, but a part of the console market never has.
Think of it this way, it's usually more fun to play with/against a human than the game AI (for now, at least). Online games == there's always a friend around to play with.
-- jimmycarter
I don't MEAN to be a bitch here... but if the shoe fits...
Anyway... exactly who made you arbiter of "what console gaming is supposed to be about"?
I'm not a supporter of M$ or the Xbox (although I have to honestly admit it is a nice console and some of the games are pretty damned good, but that's beside the point), but your statement is a bit presumptuous on your part. As with most activities, console gaming is what console gamers want or make it to be. There is no 'Big Book of Console Gaming' with a set of rules for what is and is not console gaming.
Having said that, FWIW I'm a Mac user and I prefer Gamecube. I say that in anticipation of some paranoid troll saying I'm some M$ stooge.
- I am made of meat.
"If you have a USB broadband connection, fuck off.
If you have proprietory broadband software (AOL?), fuck off.
If you have ISDN, fuck off.
If you have dialup, fuck off."
Considering the effect on gaming that those particular groups have, I would whole-heartedly agree.
You may be a god at madden with your 56k on AOL, but on my side, its like waiting for christmas.
Side Note: USB broadband connections are seldom USB only. Most modems have ethernet and USB, and USB is not the best of the two. if your gonna spend the cash on x-box live, go get a 5 dollar Ethernet CAT5 cable. If you're still sour, just think of most computers that dont have broadband USB connectors on the back. USB for broadband is the exception, not the rule.
wow, so many words, so little meaning.
PHEAR MY BAD SPEWLLING!
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