RSSMicrosoft Outlines Xbox Live Changes
By Nate Mook | Published September 8, 2005, 5:05 PM
With the forthcoming launch of the Xbox 360, Microsoft's online gaming service Xbox Live is taking center stage. The next-gen console will come with a free basic, or Silver, subscription to Microsoft's online community, but the company has also announced offerings for those who want multiplayer features.
Silver Xbox Live users can create their own gamertag and personalized profile, along with sending text and voice messages to other players. In addition, Silver members receive access to the Marketplace where they can purchase game add-ons such as weapons, new levels, and additional characters.
But the free Silver subscription does not include Xbox Live's primary functionality: multiplayer online gaming. To take advantage of such functionality Xbox 360 users must purchase an Xbox Live Gold membership, which will be available at retail outlets and via the Xbox Dashboard.
Xbox Live Gold users also receive enhanced matchmaking, feedback tools and what Microsoft calls "exclusive privileges." A Premium Gold Pack, complete with Xbox 360 headset, will be sold in 3-month and 12-month options.
Three months of Xbox Live Gold runs $39.99 USD and includes 100 points for buying goods in the Xbox Marketplace. An annual subscription is priced at $69.99 USD and includes 200 Marketplace points. These prices are the same as the current Xbox Live offering.
"With a choice of service level and multiple offerings, gamers everywhere will get the most out of their games by experiencing breakthrough features on the most innovative video-game and entertainment system to date," said Peter Moore, corporate vice president of Worldwide Marketing and Publishing for the Home Entertainment Division at Microsoft.
The Xbox 360 is expected to debut toward the end of November, with the day after Thanksgiving -- known as Black Friday among avid shoppers -- a likely launch date. The console will run $299.99 USD without hard drive and peripherals, with a premium model priced at $399.99 USD.
I'm gonna get an Xbox 360 to play Obllivion (Elder Scrolls 4). That's the only reason. I have no use for on line play at all, and I doubt I'll even connect it to my LAN.
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Online gaming is great, I love it. However, I will not buy a Xbox360.
Here are my reasons why:
I don't want to pay for xbox live multiplayer support. (playing online w/ PC/PS2 =Free +me
=more money to buy new games with.)
The PS2 is going to be able to process 2x more polygons per sec. which =Better graphics
Microsoft charges way too much for windows
(has nothing to do with xbox360 except that they make it.
Bill gates has way too much money (FIFTY BILLION DOLLARS approx.) I wonder how he has that much... Could it be from charging too much for Windows, or Xbox live hmmm?
Of course this is just my opinion, I'm sure nobody else really feels this way.
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"The PS2 is going to be able to process 2x more polygons per sec. which =Better graphics"
First, the PS2 does not have more polys per second, maybe the PS3. Secondly more polys per second does not mean better graphics, other techniques can be used to deliver better graphics using fewer polys. The x360 GPU has a theoretical 2% performance advantage over the PS3.
"Bill gates has way too much money (FIFTY BILLION DOLLARS approx.) I wonder how he has that much... Could it be from charging too much for Windows, or Xbox live hmmm?"
Bill gates has too much money and windows costs too much, therefore Microsoft charges too much for Xbox Live. Wow, that is a water tight argument.
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Sounds like XBox owners have been brainwashed into paying for online gaming and content.
PS2 is FREE people... it may not be the "Experience" that you get with XBox live, but it works, and costs nothing.
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Sounds like broadband subscribers have been brainwashed into paying for internet access.
Netzero dialup is free...it may not be the "experience" you get with dsl or cable...but it works, and it costs nothing.
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Touché!
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Xbox Live is well worth it. I like playing games at home by myself, or with friends, but taking it online is a whole new experience. Halo2 online is fantastic. Half the fun is talking to other players. $70 bucks for a whole year isn't that much. It sounds like they are making some pretty cool improvements. I switched from the PS2 to Xbox a while back and unless the PS3 is amazing I don't think I'll be going back to Sony.
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Yeah online gaming is fun on PC and would be good on console to, but people with a fast PC and a broadband connection might rather just buy a new online game for their PC rather then pay for a subscription thats runs out in a year, how about a permanent subscription option? I dont like paying for things twice. But i guess lots of games are making people pay to keep playing these days eg. everquest etc, so what am I talking about
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"An annual subscription is priced at $69.99 USD and includes 200 Marketplace points. These prices are the same as the current Xbox Live offering."
Umm... no it's not. Current Xbox Live price is $49.99/year... how is that the same as Xbox 360 Live for $69.99/year?
I hope there's an option w/o the 200 Marketplace points that makes it $49.99/year.
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Microsoft (and Sony) continues to miss the fact that a huge majority of console gamers are NOT playing online, but are playing alone or with friends offline. Game developers are raving about fantastic online gameplay features that most of their customers simply are not using. Add to this that, in the UK at least, a broadband connection that supports Xbox Live costs about £1 per day, and Xbox Live looks like an expensive form of entertainment even before you add the cost of Xbox Live subscription.
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are you kidding me? Do you have any idea how popular online console games have become? Socom for PS2 is probably the most played online game...box live has surpassed 1 million subscriptions this year I believe...I'm one of them, and I'll tell you this much, you can ALWAYS find someone to play with online. Online console games are doing VERY good...I dunno about the UK, but in the US they have been very successfull.
I never played fantasy star online, but didn't that game blow up the charts for a while??
Xbox live is 50/year...that's about 4 a month...doesn't seem so bad to me at all.
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You have to remember though, the networks in the UK are completely different than here in the US. Also, we get first dibs at things being that it's developed here. I know Halo and Halo2 brought online play into a new age. Just like the internet itself, online play will grow over time, dont fret.
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"Xbox live is 50/month"
That's $50 a year. Don't need to scare anyone off from trying out Live. Awesome service and money well spent!
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I haven't played much games - my PS sits there on the shelf gathering dust.
But I'm looking forward to getting a XBOX 360 to replace it :P
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ha...yea I corrected that. You'd figure someone would read "50/month, that's $4/month"...people would figure it out...:)
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lol. Or they would just think you don't know how to divide.
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Hi Niro, I am keen to get online, and Live certain does have plenty to offer. The UK market is growing and I would like to see it grow a lot more. However, I don't think your math adds up... there are over a million online Live customers but that is a fraction of the total number of Xboxes out there. If we consider 2003, Microsoft sold about 16 million units, and if that was all they ever sold, that would mean just over 6 percent of Xboxes are on Xbox Live. By 2005 far more units have been sold, making that 6 percent even smaller. It means that well over 90 percent of Xbox owners are not on Xbox Live.
I have no real argument with Live's charges, but here in the UK, while a basic broadband connection is cheap, a connection compatible with Live is still expensive. For example, BT OpenWorld suitable for Live costs 24.99 GBP per month, that's about 45.82 USD. That's a bit less than I suggested earlier but still makes Live a relatively expensive form of entertainment. My partner costs less than Live, and she is a lot more fun than Live ;-)
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Well it's not that my math doesn't add up considering I didn't do any math in the post...:)
1 million online subscribers for a console can't be considered bad (and that was in June, so I'm sure it's higher now), if you want to look at it as ONLY 1 million out of 16 million for xbox...what's the ratio of online PC gamers to PC's in the world...what would that be, like 0.2%?
How about PS2? Do they even have a count...everybody and their mother played socom online...
45/month for broadband internet access doesn't seem so bad to me...what speeds are you getting out of that? It's a little more then what I pay, but I wouldn't consider it outrageous. Add to that the xbox live fee and you're paying less then $50/month for broadband internet access and xbox live.
I wish my gf was cheaper then that...I spend $100 on dinner last night for the two of us.:) I need to take some lessons from you on that one...at least she's paying next time:)
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Actually they passed TWO million users for XBox Live back in June or July, not one million.
Jason
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I agree with you math this time :-)
1 million subscribers is a lot of people, no doubt about it. I just think that most Xbox players are not benefitting from all the Live features built into today's games. I am sure they will in time, and when broadband is a little cheaper here I will sign up too. It is just a matter of time.
Much more importantly... $100 for a date, ouch! I recommend you introduce your gf to a much less expensive evening of entertainment that is an Xbox deathmatch :-)
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