Slashdot Mirror
Extended Xbox Live Capabilities To Debut
Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to Microsoft's page detailing new Xbox Live features debuting on August 25th, including the ability to "...see who's online and what game they're playing [directly from the Dashboard]. If you want to invite them to join you in a new game, you can send the invite from the Dash." As well as this, you'll be able to "...set up a [stand-alone] Voice Chat session from your Dashboard." Also detailed as coming this fall are Xbox Live Aware titles, which aren't necessarily online-playable or even multiplayer, but "give you the ability to keep track of what's happening on Xbox Live" at all times, even allowing friends to invite you online while you're in the middle of a single-player offline game.
Second, here's a list of the topics I expect to be brought up here on Slashdot with relation to this article:
1. Online console gaming is a fad.
2. This is just another Microsoft ploy to find out if you've modded your Xbox.
3. FreeBSD is dead. (yes, completely offtopic but almost inevitable).
4. Microsoft is using this to gather information about offline gaming habits. (Maybe not a bad point!)
5. I would rather have a Gamecube which I can use in privacy and play Zelda and Metroid.
And my most eagerly anticipated topic?
6. Xbox needs more than one game before I'll buy it.
There are in this X-BOX live stuff?
I figure there's those nifty wireless2wired bridges that DLink and company sells. Has anybody sniffed the servers, ports, and protocols?
I'd be interested in how data is sent to these servers (is it pke'ed with your serial along with a modchip scan?). Oh well, I dont even own an X-Box, but general computers made to cripple-terminals interest me.
I'm glad Microsoft took the initiative to actually listen to some of the ideas that are being thrown around. But I still can't understand why there's not going to be CDDB/Gracenote ability via XBox Live.
They offer you the ability to rip tracks for use in some games, but refuse to create a keyboard for the system. Wouldn't the next logical thing to do is use their Live service to pull down CD info from the internet? Maybe they're just trying to get another 40 bucks out of my pocket.
Mike
The Department of Homeland Security is seeking to license said technology.
"give you the ability to keep track of what's happening on Xbox Live"
And give them the ability to keep track of what's happening in your living room!
I'm not a huge fan of the xbox myself. But these new features sound rather impressive. However just off the top of my head I can think of a couple potential problems.
What happens if some spammer figures out how to send you messages as invites? I hope they would give you the ability to turn the features off. I would hate to be really into a single player game to have a message box pop up and snap me back to reality.
Or could this possibly lead to ingame commercials / advertisements? Besides the fact that they could gather info on what you're doing with you're xbox and gear them directly at you. It doesnt seem like it would be that hard to popup an ad for something durring a load screen. I wouldn't be surprised if they tried.
are boundless for XBLIVE users. hmmmm...
Let's see, if we go with other Xbox Live content release dates compared to reality, we should see this update in December, perhaps. Or next year.
I find this fascinating and mind boggling at the same time. I personally don't own any game systems but I'm sure that this will be a great advancement for video game lovers!
This is free consumer behavior patterns for M$. They want to know how many hours are being logged to the different titles. The more hours, the more features to copy from those games.
This comes in time to try and entice people to renew their one year membership soon. x-box live has done marginaly well, but we'll see for sure how well it does when it comes to membership renewals during the holidays.
Have they ever announced how much xbox live will cost after the first year? I know you get a year free with the $50 starter kit (which is a heck of a deal), but how much after that?
Microsoft even supports it, for less money than some of the "hacking sites". Me, I want two of these for Xbox Linux.
-insert a witty something-
While this all sounds cool, I'm going to burst the bubble a little bit. My thought is what else will X-Box Live Aware games do beneath the surface? Will they log user habits? Such things as "(User) played (game) for 23 minutes before being invited into (live game) by (other user)." I mean I guess they can't do much more than this... can they?
Currently the project can use some hacked font files along with the MechAssault or Agent Under Fire exploits to install Linux on the Xbox so it boots instead of the Dashboard when there's no disc in the Xbox. Any bets on whether this'll be "fixed"?
-insert a witty something-
The guy is a troll, collecting Karma before going on another FP-like binge. Check his posting history if you don't believe me.
There is also going to be the ability to buy a headset separately, and use a Xbox Live enabled game to get a 2 month trial of XBL as well.
Full story.
Thursdae
DRIVE ME INSANE. You know what that kind of information would do for them? It would help them make better games that people want to play! If they know the kind of things people like they will make more of them and make them even better. Who gives a monkey testicle if they know that you play 3 hours of games a day? They are not sucking anybody's soul out through the internet. I'm all for paranoia but why are so many people paranoid about things that have little to no downfall? I'm not trying to flame, in fact this isn't really aimed at you in particular, the whole thing just annoys the crap outta me.
Trust Your Technolust
I wonder how much this will break future modding attempts that use current chips and save game exploits. Microsoft has had a lot of time to study the different methods currently in use and I bet you they will try to break them. This won't stop hacking in the long run, but it might slow it down for a while.
Chika Chik-ah... do-e ow ow.
I read here a few months back that the second version of XBox Live contained support to play media files off your home computer, over the LAN. So I went out and bought Live to try this out.
:-(
No such feature exists.
Is this feature actually planned, or was this some slashdot geek's dream that made it onto the front page? Check it out
The first post predicted this rediculous statement so it is neither insightful nor informative. Mod parent not. And your name is Metroid so we know you are a fanboy right off there buddy. GG.
You make a few points, but if you can say, "I'd expect to have a way to "kill" msn messanger (which is what I assume's on there)." then you're just talking out of your ass.
..
It's not messenger. What you have is real-time voice chat over the internet, which also happens to not take up any screen real estate. It's just the same as when I'm playing GCN, GBA, or PS2 while waiting for a match to fill up in Mech Assault -- I sit there, and can hear everything that's going on, while also participating. I'm busy doing something else, yet they don't interfere at all.
As for your point about the SNES and PSX.. 11 years ago, people were saying, "why buy a SNES? On the NES, I have FF, A boy and his Blob, Formula 1: Built to Win, Mega Man, etc, etc. SNES just has cookie cutter games like Mario World and Legend of Zelda"
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Internet Explorer (n): Another bug -- that is, a feature that can't be turned off -- in Windows.
you misunderstood -- PC link capabilities are being included in XBOX music mixer, NOT xbox live.
Newsie, Moderator, www.tauniverse.com
I'm no Microsoft lover, but people need to start to realize that even tough they're not the best at making games, they are bringing a lot of innovation to the console market, and Sony is not the one doing the innovation in that area.
:) ). The PS2 with online adapter costs as much at the Xbox right now, but with Xbox you get two awesome games and the HD (which still isn't out for the PS2 btw) for the same price.
:)
So maybe the Xbox box and controller design is bad, and the controller bigger than other consoles (tough I never found that an handicap for me), but they're really trying to push the enveloppe of what console gaming is. Sony never did shit to improve gaming. Using a CD instead of a cartridge wan't innovative, it was just the next logical step, and the controller is just a ripoff of the SNES controller with two pairs of L/R buttons instead of one.
So, maybe you'll argue that the Xbox and its broadband connection and HD isn't innovative, since it's already available to the PC for years, but you have to understand that this console only game out a year after the PS2 and only a couple of days before the GameCube, and these consoles still don't have anything comparable to offer in North America right now (sure, Japan gets all the cool stuff first, well, except for the Xbox
Now, with Xbox Live, Microsoft is integrating GameSpy-like features directly into the gaming experience. They might not have the greatest games, but with all the momentum Microsoft is gaining right now, I wouldn't be surprised if people started buying even more Xboxes. In fact, my local ebGames store told me that two months ago that Xbox outsold PS2 5 units to 2 in his store at that time. I don't know if it's still the same tough.
Anyway, the point I'm trying to get across here, but loss focus of because I just love my Xbox and games(ok, so maybe I was a bit trolling over there, sorry!), is that Microsoft, for once, is the innovative one. While everybody else in console gaming is trying to catch up (or not at all as Nintendo is pretty much doing), they should deserve a little more respect they are getting, even tough they're still Microsoft, and most of us would not want to get caught dead with a licensed Windows copy of WinME in their hands.
Now, let the trolling begin!
Xbox-scene mentioned this as well just for this reason.
Let me say first that I'm a total Nintendo Fanboy(tm). I've seriously been considering getting an XBox since XBox Live has been released. I know most people think it isn't a huge selling point, but to me it is one of the coolest things to happen so far to console gaming. Now if I could only find a few hundred dollars in disposable income.... ;-)
Forget the whales - save the babies.
The JSRF/Sega GT 2002 bundle ended right around E3, in mid May.
Microsoft had already ordered a recall on the units with the 2 games, from retailers, as E3 was starting, and then with the price drop they ordered the recalls even faster.
The bundle was part of the reason they lost so much money on the Xbox in Q1 2003, because they were third party games, and not first party games.
So you only get the Xbox for $179.99 now, not two free games with it.
Thursdae
Bought his Xbox a week before the bundle was announced =-(
Cripes it's certainly taken long enough. hald this shit should have been implimented since day one and I've been advocating said implimentation nearly as long. I mean, how you can roll out with such basic features is beyond me....
You need a FREE iPod Nano
New features continued to be developed and added - but they're nice, useful, and UNOBTRUSIVE - unlike many MS software features.
Xbox Live is one of the most forward-thinking entities in console online gaming, and even online gaming in general. This is what Microsoft can do in an industry where they are a COMPETITOR instead of a MONOPOLY. If we could get their PC division in the same boat, maybe we'd get more useful additions out of them.