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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...
I have always been a playstation guy myself - but I'm seriously considering getting a 360 now for a few reasons. One is that it's cheaper than the PS3. I actually got a PS3 last week but haven't opened it yet. I think I'd rather sell it and take the profits and buy a 360. I've seen games on both platforms, and they look similar enough for me to not care much graphics wise. Maybe over time the PS3 will come out on top with things like physics rendering or something, but who knows at this point. I'm more interested in game play and yes, I'd like to go online for the first time with a console. I tried with my PS2, but I didn't like it. With the 360, I'm tempted to pay $50 for the year to try. My buddy has one and always downloads game demos. This to me is awesome because it's a try before you buy type of thing, and it's probably cheaper than paying $9 to rent a game at blockbuster. I'm new to all this though and I don't actually know what exactly the subscription will get me - but for the first time in my life Micrsoft has tempted me into trying this. Now if it was only $25, I wouldn't think twice about doing it.
Word games. Users!=subscribers, that includes the large number of "Silver" accounts that log in to buy stuff and download patches.
I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
Yeah, Sony and Nintendo should get on that. Both of them have zero users of Xbox Live! ZERO! What's with that?
Thunderclone: ONE MAN ENTERS! TWO MEN LEAVE! ONE MAN ENTERS! TWO MEN LEAVE!
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...
Lemme just say you will LOVE the 360 with its online capabilities. Never messed with a ps3. I'm sure their online service is good too but since i have a 360 and can only speak to that one. It is awesome. I got my 360 with Madden 07 (some kind of best buy deal) but had no intention of opening madden (i wanted to trade it on craigslist). I spent a good week with my 360, never having bought a game just downloading demos and playing with them or watching trailers or whatever, its all very cool.
Yeah, and have you actually used Sony's and Nintendo's offerings? They aren't even remotely as comprehensive as Live. Not even close. Hell, with Nintendo you are stuck typing in a long Wii console numbers just to add someone to your address book... and once you do that, instead of the other person getting a "friend request", they get nothing. Instead, they must also add you blindly. Once you have both blindly added each other then you each become "active" in the other person's address book. Yeah, great system. Also, Sony has NOT ruled out charging for their online service in the future.
For what it's worth, if you want an Xbox 360, you can now get a $100 rebate on either system (core or pro) if you buy it in a Micro Center store, and at least my Micro Center (and I suspect most Micro Centers) had plenty in stock, like 50 or so of each. No stupid lines, no 300-400% markup on Ebay, no fuss, no muss.
That brings the cost of the core system down to just $200 (cheaper than a Wii!) and the cost of a pro system down to $300.
In my book, people's best bet is to buy an Xbox 360 pro and a Wii for $650, collect the $100 rebate from Micro Center, come out paying $50 less than a PS3 (hey, Xbox Live Gold membership fee!), and not feel like a total idiot when everyone finally realizes how irrelevant Sony is in the console gaming world now. ;-)
GoW is awesome. If the game mechanics aren't for then, fine. Also, who cares if the game only has 4 v 4 online? There gmaes with more players out there, play those. In my experience, games with massive amounts of people usually amount to a unorgangized mess in online play. I used to play in clans in a couple of different PC online games (UT for example) and although you could find public games that were 16 v 16, serious clan matches were almost aways 5 v 5 or something similar. If you like massive amounts of people, cool, but smaller amounts in no way limits how fun a game is online.
I LOVE 4 on 4. It's so much better than 12 on 12 (Call of Duty 3) or any other big game.
Most big games have so much chaos going on, that it becomes difficult to really come up with a strategy. The game becomes:
1 - Kill one guy
2 - Die
3 - Respawn
4 - Repeat
Gear of War brings the game down to a 'Survival of the Fittest' mentality. The rounds are short enough that waiting isn't a problem, but trying to stay alive is important.
They could not have done it this way with games with too many people.
Also, small maps means that the last guy standing can't go and hide in a corner waiting for the timer to run out.
No reason to lie.
I have played free multiplayer games on PC, and now pay the $50 for xbox live, and I can tell you that just being able to block users you don't like, report users who are abusing the system, etc., is well worth the $50.
Free means that anyone can sign up, create an account, abuse the system all they like, and then sign up for another free account with no cost. $50 a year means that if someone abuses the system, and has their account disabled - well, it costs them another $50 to come back on. At that rate, it is not financially viable for them to abuse the system too much.
I think the cause for the rise in Xbox Live usage is obvious: the wonderful, delicious Xbox Live-enabled games recently released by Burger King! Sneak King alone probably accounts for 80% of this recent surge.
-William Brendel
Yes, but if you don't like a certain player you can select the option to avoid that player and you won't have to worry about them in ANY game. Also, if they do get banned then you also don't have to worry about them ever again unless they pony up $50 for another account. What makes Live great is everything is global. Your friend's list is global and applies to all games. Your friends list shows you when they were last online and what they are currently doing if they are online (e.g. what game they are playing, if they are watching a movie, etc...). Online games have ladders and ranking that allow the system to match you with players of similar skill. It's also divided into Zones so you can choose to play with people with similar attitudes toward online gaming. For example, you can put your account in the Family zone and you should be matched up with other people in the same zone. So ideally it should be safe for your kids since people in that zone aren't supposed to be cussing, trash talking, etc... And if you do run into a bad apple you can just report them and select the option to avoid that player. But if you are someone that enjoys lots of trask talking then you put yourself in the Underground zone and you will be matched with people with similar attitudes. Live has numerous other great features too. It's a lot more than just paying $50 to play just online.