Slashdot Mirror
Xbox Live Sees Surge in Usage
Arts Technica reports on a large increase in usage on Xbox Live since last month. Network monitoring company Sandvine Incorporated has passed on word that, since November 7th, the service has seen an 80% increase in usage. iTunes usage has also gone up considerably since Apple's latest software update in September. From the article: "[The week of November 7th], Microsoft released six new games for the Xbox 360--one of which was the highly-anticipated Gears of War--which spiked Xbox Live traffic. This traffic pattern is similar to the spike that followed the introduction of Halo II in 2004, says Sandvine, which managed to sustain Xbox Live's popularity after the spike for the first time. Sandvine CEO Dave Caputo said that 'the effect Gears of War and other games are having on networks indicates to service providers that online gaming is not just a craze.'"
If you actually followed the news a little bit, you'd know that they claim to have 4 million users of XBox Live, far more than any of their competitors...
If all you're interested in is game demos (and they are the cat's pajamas, there's no doubt about it), you don't have to pay MS a dime beyond the purchase of the 360. Silver accounts are free, and have the same access to game demos as Gold (paid) accounts.
To date, the only things a Gold account gets you that a Silver account doesn't are a) online multiplayer, and b) earlier access to the Gears Of War trailer.
Playing against people online - with all the benefits and convenience of Live's consistent interface and single login - is worth $50/yr to me, and it might be to you. But it's essentially the only thing you're paying $50 for.
Reality has a conservative bias: it conserves mass, energy, momentum...