Xbox Live Hits One Million Users

Thanks to Reuters for its news story revealing Microsoft's Xbox Live online service has reached one million users, additionally noting that "...more than 100 game titles can be played over Xbox Live, and it expects to see about 150 titles by the end of this year." The story also reports on some comparisons: "Microsoft said in a statement that it reached the 1 million mark for Xbox Live users three times faster than other subscription services, such as Time Warner Inc.'s AOL and TiVo Inc." This impending milestone was previously mentioned in an interview with Microsoft's Andre Vrignaud last month.

Comments

To MS

[SilentChris]

Congratulations. No, seriously. Mainstreaming online gaming is anything but a small feat. I have Xbox Live (along with PS2 online and play PC games online) and aside from Blizzard games, Xbox Live commands my most online gaming attention.

P.S. Don't screw this up.

Re:To MS

[fondue]

Two years (approx.) and tens of millions of dollars of marketing to reach 1m subscribers worldwide?

That's an interesting definition of 'mainstream'.

Re:To MS

[KamuZ]

I agree with that... but i can't see it like a waste of money, first of all, X-Box have a part on the console market, which is really something, of course, with that kind of money they really had their chance and they use it.

On the other hand, we can say that Microsoft now have a community, they have 1 million people personal info, and they can make with that profiles what they want... migrate to X-Box 2? offers? contests? i mean, they have a big database and they can exploit it (and we know microsoft know how to do that)

Personally, i don't like Microsoft products, but on the console market they are doing some new things which is great, because now Nintendo and Sony will catch up and try to smash them, some nice competence doesn't hurt at all, we are going to benefit from that, unless one of this companies do something really great that monopolize the console market...

just my two cents

If this is true

[superpulpsicle]

If this is true and not some M$ marketing BS, I'd seriously give them credit. Console online gaming is in need of some fuel for development.

Re:Goals?

[SilentChris]

Several months delayed. Although, the same could be said about iTunes. Predictions are never reliable.

I wonder

[LennyDotCom]

How many of those accounts were paid for and not included free with an xbox promotion Like the 3 1 year accounts that my family is using and won't be renewed when they expire.

Re:I wonder

[KDR_11k]

Because they're free-for-1-year accounts and renewingthem would cost money?

Re:I wonder

[LennyDotCom]

Yes because they cost money and because we only got the xboxs to play rainbow 6

Re:I wonder

[Captain Splendid]

Good point, bu this is about more than just money, it's about building an online community, and by all accounts they've done that very well. As Gabe from Penny-Arcade points out, it's a lot more user-friendly than Sony or Nintendo's offerings.

Microsoft should definitely get the credit for doing the job right in the area that's going to matter most for console gaming: online play.

Re:I wonder

[bigman2003]

While there are certainly some morons, assholes and annoyances on Live, I think the percentage is actually a lot lower than with on-line PC games.

Why?

Because your gamertag stays with you- and the gamers run the servers.

On a PC, if I want to be a jerk, I can run around like an ass, and piss people off. Tomorrow, I can come on with a different name, and attempt to be serious.

On Live, people will start to know you as an ass, and avoid you. Changing your gamertag is difficult (unless of course they ask you to change it!)

Also- most games on the PC are played on central servers. With Xbox Live, the games are hosted by one of the people playing the game. (Certain games like Rainbow Six 3 allow 'dedicated' servers, but that is a different story) So, the host has the ability to kick someone who is being a total ass.

I know that when I host a game I try to have fun, and let people play the way they want to play. But, if someone starts killing their own team-mates, or making racist remarks, or TRYING to annoy other people, they'll be gone in a second.

Hey, 9 year old kids can't help it, they're annoying- but it's not their fault, so what the hell, let them play. But some jerk out there who wants to scream into his mike the whole time, or call people stupid n&G^#r or something like that...that shit ends quick.

From your post, it seems as though you've never played on Live. It *IS* different from playing on a PC- in most ways, a lot better. Give it a try before you just assume that it sucks.

Re:I wonder

[Ayaress]

Playstation has online play too, and it's a big selling point. It has better onilne games, more online players. Even if its not quite as accessible, it's still usable enough for the average home idiot to use. If the PS2 didn't have online, then your point would hold more weight.

Re:I wonder

[bigman2003]

If you're only playing Rainbow 6, then how could you NOT renew your Live subscription?

Rainbow Six is one of the best, and the most popular Live games out right now. Every once in a while I try to play the single player campaign, and it usually takes 4 or 5 minutes before I quit that, and go back to some Team Survival.

Crimson Skies is just about the same thing. The game is *ok* single player- until you start playing Live- then it gets REALLY good.

Of course, maybe you are playing system link, and playing the cooperative missions. I guess that would be okay, but you are still playing against AI instead of the real thing.

Re:I wonder

[AuMatar]

And what percentage of PS2 owners have PS2 online? An even smaller percent than MS. Lets face it, online just is not that big of a feature. The demand is only really there in the hardcore gamers market.

Re:I wonder

[AuMatar]

I've played MMOs where changing your name requires months of work to get back to where you were. Changing an xbox tag would most likely just be a new subscription. And the MMO asshole percentage was no lower than in other games. And most PC games allow the game's host to kick an asshole.

For the 9 year olds- I don't care about age, I do care about maturity. If you're mature,at any age, cool. If you aren't, I don't want to be around you in real life, I sure as hell don't want to be around you in a game. And unfortunately, the maturity level of online players is damn low.

The fact is MS can try whatever they want to make it better, but people are people. They can't change the human demographics of their players. And a minor decrease in the number of annoyances isn't enough to make it worth it. Besides which- while I don't own Live myself (I do NOT give money to Microsoft, I do not own an Xbox), I have played it at friend's places, and if anything the moron percentage was higher. My guess is its due to the younger average age of console gamers vs PC gamers.

Re:I wonder

[KeeperS]

Online play, the area that's going to matter most for console gaming? I certainly hope not.

This may seem like blasphemy to much of the Slashdot crowd, but I don't think that online play is the be-all-end-all of console gaming or even PC gaming. It's a nice feature, but I'd rather have a rock solid single player experience or a great local multiplayer experience. Dealing with random asshats over the internet isn't very much fun.

It's kind of interesting that there was a poll on GameFAQs about this recently. It's probably just as inaccurate as a Slashdot poll, but the gaming community seems sharply divided on how much weight online play has. It'd be even more interesting to see some real numbers on how many people actually play games online vs offline.

Re:I wonder

[fr0dicus]

Divided still means certain groups want it. Unfortunately the "don't wants" (mostly Nintendo apologists it has to be said) seem to think it's all or nothing. Can't we all just have what we want?

Re:I wonder

[KeeperS]

Agreed. It's clear that some people do want online play. Nintendo would be wise to listen to those customers. It's not like there's a shortage of multiplayer Gamecube games. And yeah, it wouldn't be as good as playing face to face with somebody, but it's better than nothing.

I just don't think that online capabilities should be classified as the most important area of console gaming. Online play isn't worthless, but it's nowhere near the most important aspect of a game in my mind.

Re:I wonder

[Captain Splendid]

99% of the people playing are absolute morons, assholes, or just plain annoying.

Well yeah, but it's still a lot more fun jerking off by yourself!

I'm lucky though, my PC game of choice right now is Enemy Territory and I've been lucky to find a server I can call home. We have a pretty good bunch (attitude-wise and ability-wise), and I've made a few good personal connections.

So yeah, lots of idiots out there, but there's plenty of people who just want a nice clean game, you just have to put a little time and effort into finding them. Once you do, stick to them like glue.

Re:I wonder

[Captain Splendid]

but I don't think that online play is the be-all-end-all of console gaming or even PC gaming.

No, you're right, it shouldn't be. A well-designed game should stand on its own...

I'd rather have a rock solid single player experience or a great local multiplayer experience

...but Multiplayer is much more fun, and, for me at least, setting up local LAN games is very difficult, so online multiplayer is the way for me to go on the PC (no Xbox live for me, sadly.)

As I mentioned in a reply just above, there are plenty of non-asshole gamers out there, you just have to find them. Thankfully I have, and I spend very little time dealing with them and more time just having fun.

Re:I wonder

[SuiteSisterMary]

mostly Nintendo apologists it has to be said

Which is kind of funny when you consider that the original Nintendo, in Japan, had a modem attachment and an online service.

Wow, what bias

[Anonymous Coward]

The post - "Ballmer - Xbox 'Can Take Sony' In Next Generation" gets hundreds of posts claiming that MS is dreaming, and that it's impossible, yet a news story that is undeniably positive towards MS everyone ignores... Congrats MS, thanks for bringing online console game to the masses.

Re:Wow, what bias

[unclethursday]

Congrats MS, thanks for bringing online console game to the masses.

Excpet that Sony hit the 1 million online consoles mark a little less than a year before, and Sega had more subscribers to Sega.NET in the same amount of time that Xbox Live has been out.

Whoops, guess MS didn't bring online console gaming to the masses, then.

And we don't know how far those numbers will drop over the next few months as people with their free 2-3 month trials don't renew.

figures as in?

[Turn-X Alphonse]

1 million people, accounts, IPs logged or what?

Theres so many different ways to measure this.

Re:figures as in?

[unclethursday]

1 million paid accounts.

Sure about that? Plenty of free 2-3 month trial accounts out there, and not every one of them will renew. IE they won't pay.

Only a fool would assume MS isn't including all the current free trial members in with this statistic... that means they don't necessarily have 1 million fully paid accounts, just 1 million active accounts right now..

Re:Its easy and fun

[Ayaress]

Easy, yes. But personally, I don't find it much fun. Penny-Arcade hit the nail on the head when they said that the people you meet on Xbox Live are complete and utter cockmongers.

It's no better on any of the online PC games I play online, but the microphone makes it ten times worse. Give an idiot a microphone, and they invent entirely new ways to be stupid.

not free then not going to pay

[jeremywjones.com]

I think online gaming is great. I used the free xbox live that came with it, but thats it. I am not going to pay $50 for a game and monthly fees just to play with others. I think the game prices should cover the fees of xbox live.

Re:not free then not going to pay

[bigman2003]

That's fine, and I'm not going to argue with you, and say you're dumb, or anything like that.

But, over the past 2 years I bought about 40 Xbox games. Most of them I've traded in, or given away after being finished with them.

The only exceptions are Xbox Live games.

Crimson Skies, Rainbow Six, Top Spin, Mechassualt...these are games that I can keep putting in to my Xbox, because there is always something new (different opponents). I'll probably hang onto these games until the next Xbox comes out, because it's just fun to play against other people.

Each of the games I mentioned (and other Live games that I can't think of right now) have had their playing hours tripled, quadrupled, or increase 10-20 times because of Live.

So is it worth $50 a year to take Crimson Skies from a 10-15 hour game, to a 150 hour game?

Yes...it is for me. And don't forget downloadable content. Splinter Cell, Armed & Dangerous, and many others have downloadable missions that make the original game much more valuable.

So, if you don't think that $4.17/month is worth it, that's okay. But for me, that $4.17 constitutes about half of my gaming (on Live). So I think it's a great value.

Re:not free then not going to pay

[VividU]

At $50/yr it comes out to about 1 dime and 1 nickel per day to play online as much as you want, whenever you want.

Re:not free then not going to pay

[jeremywjones.com]

I am not saying that it is not a good deal for $50. But when there are online games for PC that are just as enjoyable that are free then thats what I am going to do. Plus the graphics on my PC is better then my xbox. I just think that there should be a solution to offer it for free. I still play both pc and xbox games. But for online play I always stick with PC.

Re:not free then not going to pay

[Sysgen]

That 15 cents a day gets you downloadable content, a closed network that does not allow cheating (see SOCOM on the PS2), a gamertag that follows you everywhere, friends list with 100 entries, voice chat, voice messaging and very soon video conferencing. Oh you also get to play online games :) Me thinks good value. We have 2 accounts :)

In other news,

[Inoshiro]

Nintendo is now up to 3 online games for the GameCube! You have a stunning array of choices, as long as you choose Phantasy Star Online Eps 1 and 2, Phantasy Star Online 3, or Phantasy Star Online Eps 1 and 2 plus!

This is why I have both a GameCube and an Xbox. Nintendo may make great games, but they sure as hell don't know how to establish a presence in a market that's fairly large and enjoyable.

Re:Its easy and fun

[bigman2003]

Simple answer- host your own games, and kick the cockmongers.

After a few rounds, the 'normal' gamers will stick with you, and all the losers will go elsewhere. Soon you'll find that you have a group of 16 fun people playing games together. Losers usually leave quick when they find out that their 'childish antics' aren't appreciated...especially if the host doesn't have a problem kicking them.

Re:Its easy and fun

[August_zero]

I have had X-box live since launch

I have not used X-box live in over 3 months, the last time I did use it was to download the KOTOR add-on which I needed since my original X-box died and I needed the patch again. I am still waiting for something enjoyable to play besides FPS and sports/racing. FS Warrior and Splinter Cell just don't do it for me.

Not that the service is bad or anything, I have little doubt that I will use it for something eventually but for now Its just a $50 a year money sink for me.

Re:I'm not a fan

[bigman2003]

on an xbox or PS2 you need to hold the joystick for an hour, just to turn around to shoot the guy behind you.

Try adjusting the joystick sensitivity- you're playing in 'dummy mode'.

But then again, if you didn't know that, maybe you were in the right place.

** Rainbow Six: 3 has adjustments from 1-10, with 3 being the default. Try putting it on 6 or 7 and see how much faster you aim.

Free Alternative

[Inda]

XBConnect

Support for 50 games.

I don't pretend to understand the technology; I plugged a crossover cable between the XBOX and PC, installed the client on my PC and it just worked. Neat.

Re:Free Alternative

[jeremywjones.com]

I havn't heard anything about this before. Thanks for the URL. I am going to try this out.

Re:Its easy and fun

[Ayaress]

I did that for a while, but eventually it wasn't worth it. I'd usually kick nearly everybody out of the game, and it would be me and a guy who lives a block away hoping somebody would come in and not announce to the world how high he was, how big of a dump he'd just taken, or how big his penis was. We decided to stop spending money on Xbox Live and just go back to having lan parties.

" Xbox Live Hits One Million Users"

[Anonymous Coward]

OUCH! That must've hurt.

Re:I'm not a fan

[Ayaress]

on an xbox or PS2 you need to hold the joystick for an hour, just to turn around to shoot the guy behind you

I think your stick is broken. If you mess with the sensitivity, the response is just as fast as a mouse. Not as accurate, granted, but just as fast.

Re:how many

[Anonymous Coward]

Insightful? Sheesh...might as well change it to (Score:2, Mentions Linux)

Xbox Live Hits One Million Users

[scrytch]

One Million Users heard to say: "ouch"

thankyaverymuch...

Re:I'm not a fan

[bigman2003]

It's usually part of the player set-up...like whether or not you want the joysticks to be inverted, or not. Not something that requires a screwdriver, or something like that.

Re:Its easy and fun

[FriedTurkey]

They should rid the online world of microphones. I turn it off during counter-strike. 99.99% of what is said has nothing to do with the game. Can't understand what they say in that high pitch pre-puberty speech anyway.

dubious statement

[St. Arbirix]

Microsoft said in a statement that it reached the 1 million mark for Xbox Live users three times faster than other subscription services, such as Time Warner Inc.'s AOL and TiVo Inc.

Does an XBox live account count for the box or is it seperate for each controller? If it's just for the box then perhaps they counted accounts and multiplied by 4.

--Matthew

Re:dubious statement

[Peteloaf]

A Live account is subscription based, not controller based. As in you have to register to be listed as having an account. When MS says one million live subscribers, that means one million accounts, not one million players.

Re:Its easy and fun

[MBraynard]

Agreed. And I know absolutly no one who has lan parties. I'm not saying the don't happen, just not in my circle of friends/colleagues. XBL is perfect for me and it is also an easy way to stay in touch with my brother who is also on XBL. See, we can't have a lan party if he is 600 miles away, but we can team up for a game of Ghost Recon or Halo 2.