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Playstation/Gaming Discussions => Gaming Discussion => Topic started by: rastalant on October 07, 2002, 11:09:41 AM
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http://money.cnn.com/2002/10/03/commentary/game_over/column_gaming/index.htm
Inside Xbox Live
Microsoft will bring its console online next month. Here\'s an early peek.
October 3, 2002: 2:02 PM EDT
"NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Listen closely. That humming sound you hear is the Microsoft hype machine warming up.
Over the next month and a half, you\'re going to be hearing a lot about Xbox Live – the online component of the software giant\'s console gaming system – and for good reason. Microsoft has committed to spending $2 billion on the Xbox over the next five years. A substantial portion of that is on Xbox Live. Before the commercials and promotional activities start, though, I\'d like to give you a few firsthand impressions.
For the past five weeks or so, I\'ve been participating in the Xbox Live beta test, putting the system through its paces and regularly humiliating myself publicly. (While I\'ve covered the gaming industry for more than seven years – and have been a gamer since the Pong era – my hand-eye coordination skills are still roughly on par with those of a wombat.)
The experience, for the most part, has been an enjoyable one. Even though I\'m regularly on the wrong end of a metaphorical butt-kicking, it\'s always fun to play console games against someone else. And it\'s not always convenient to have a friend over. That said, Microsoft (MSFT: Research, Estimates) still faces some significant hurdles before Xbox Live is widely used.
The Xbox Live starter kit
Good stuff first: Setting up the system is a snap. Even luddites will be able to have Xbox Live up and running in 10 minutes. Pick a user name, enter a credit card number and a few other details and you\'re good to go.
Lag isn\'t too bad, which is particularly important when you\'re playing online. Press a button on your gamepad and you\'ll see the action instantly on screen. The trick for Microsoft will be ensuring that lag remains a non-issue when the system opens up to a vastly larger player base.
The most noticeable delays are with the voice communicator -- which allows you to talk with your online opponents. It stalls comments by two or three seconds. And while that might make the trash talking a little confusing at times, it\'s not a real distraction.
Microsoft has made the voice communicator the focus of its limited marketing so far, and that\'s probably a wise move. The headset is light, comfortable and has good clarity (plus, it has a handy mute button that lets you run silent when you\'d like). The only times I had trouble understanding an opponent were when they mumbled. The more players there are, though, the harder it is to distinguish between voices.
If you\'d rather not use your own voice while playing, the system lets you pick from a half-dozen or so altered voices, though there will likely be more when Xbox Live launches. It offers you privacy (and, conceivably, lets children and women disguise their identity to avoid being harassed by other gamers), but it comes at the cost of making you harder to understand. In the games I\'ve played, the number of folks using voice masking has been minimal – maybe 10 percent at most.
If you don\'t like online gaming, you could always be a telemarketer...
It\'s easy to think of the communicator as superfluous, but it adds an intimacy to the game that\'s hard to imagine. After trading light-hearted barbs with a fellow player in NFL2K for a few minutes, I had to remind myself that he was actually hundreds of miles away. Microsoft knows the importance of this gamer interaction and is requiring developers to utilize the communicator in all Xbox Live-enabled titles.
The key to Xbox Live\'s success with casual gamers lies in its ability to match players of equal abilities. Once you\'ve put your game in the console\'s DVD drive and connected to the Internet, you\'re given the choice to join a "Quick Match" – which offers a list of all games being played – or "OptiMatch."
With the OptiMatch option, you can define your gaming experience, deciding the skill level you\'d like to face, the length of the game and more. It\'s a nice touch for gamers new to the online world, because there\'s nothing more frustrating than constantly finding yourself pitted against a massively superior player.
Click Mario for previous columns
From a useability standpoint, Microsoft may well be setting the standard for online console gaming. The features it offers are masterfully thought-out and organized. Convincing users to sign-up for the service, though, is going to be a challenge.
As much as Xbox Live adds to the gaming experience, it\'s anything but a sure bet for Microsoft. Consumer interest is debatable. The financial investment on the gamer\'s part is far above what Microsoft is saying. And the company\'s goals are ambitious – perhaps overly so. Next week, we\'ll take a look at some of the pitfalls the company faces as it tries to reshape the console industry."
Hmmmmmmmm...........sounds very nice. Just one more month til xbox live.............cool............thoughts on this people?
:smokin:
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Originally posted by rastalant
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Hmmmmmmmm...........sounds very nice. Just one more month til xbox live.............cool............thoughts on this people?
:smokin:
well Xbouax live is BB only
and seeing how in the UK BB is only avalible to 5% of the population.
/me hear\'s a toilet flush.
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Meh, I\'m not really interested in Live since Halo, the only game I won\'t to play online for it, will be on the PC next year. Plus, you can already play it online via gamespy. :D
I will however admit that Xbox live is a descent online plan, far superior to what Nintendo and Sony are doing. But alas, all three of them are crap overall and will most likely fail. :(
When it comes to online play, PC>consoles. This will never change.
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rastalant, I can\'t wait for Live!! I\'m on right now 56K but as soon as my g/f contract with CompuServe goes out by Feb or March 2003, we are going on BB and "LIVE HEAR I COME!!!" :D
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Originally posted by pstwo
rastalant, I can\'t wait for Live!! I\'m on right now 56K but as soon as my g/f contrack with CompuServe goes out by Feb or March 2003, we are going on BB and "LIVE HEAR I COME!!!" :D
yeah good news..for you
now what about the 95% of the UK population who can\'t get BB and who\'s only chance of getting it would be to move to a region with a ADSL enabled telephone exchange or a Cable Area.
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shame, #1 fan has to wait to play
regardless, i like my online gaming free
Next week, we\'ll take a look at some of the pitfalls the company faces as it tries to reshape the console industry."
now THERE\'S an article i may read
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yeah, and I\'ll be the first to post it
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Originally posted by ooseven
well Xbouax live is BB only
and seeing how in the UK BB is only avalible to 5% of the population.
/me hear\'s a toilet flush.
Yep, I can just hear the toilet flush while I\'M playing Halo online.
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Is it just me or is this forum starting to resemble Console Debating? With irrelevant remarks such as the one above me, and insults having nothing to do with the topic at hand...
anyone else, or is it just me?
Regarding the topic, I do think online gaming will be very much a part of the videogame industry in the coming years.
The focus...no. Downloadable content, episodic games...it\'s coming. I rather like the idea...I\'ll welcome it with open arms, once I get BB that is;)
Xbox is taking a step in that direction, Sony will follow suit...then there will be no more bitching. Just questions as to who offers the better plan...
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Is it just me or is this forum starting to resemble Console Debating? With irrelevant remarks such as the one above me, and insults having nothing to do with the topic at hand...
anyone else, or is it just me? - Ginko
/me raises his hand.
I\'ve been saying that for awhile now actually. There was a reason why we had console debate. Yes it was a cesspool, that was it\'s purpose. To keep all that sh*t off of the other forums here.. and now without it the raw sewage is starting to back up.
As for Xbox Live.. I\'m sure it will be a great service to those who have Broadband. I\'m sure that\'s probably the one I would choose also. However I, like most other Americans and 90% of the world, do not have access to a broadband connection so it does me a f*ckall of a lot of good. IMO, I don\'t think Microsoft should\'nt be advertising their service very strongly considering it will mostly be a waste of money on customers who have no chance of signing up for it.
Of course, that\'s only a moral objection. I have a funny feeling that in their commercials - MS is only going to be hyping up how cool and effient their service is, and the BB Only part will be a short quip at the end or in the fine print. Quite a few gamers will buy an Xbox expecting all that MS promised only to find themselves cut out of the loop.
It\'s more of a common occurance than you\'d think. Hell my boss at work has an Xbox and is creaming his pants waiting for the chance to try out his skills with NCAA 2004(?) online. Yet he wouldn\'t listen to a word I had to say when I told him that the Xbox was Broadband only. "Oh, but it\'s comming out with a 56k adaptor that will plug into the back. DuDe! I seen it in OXM jus a few months ago!!" :rolleyes:
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lol, Sonyfan.
This generation, online won\'t amount to much. I was referring to the next generation and beyond.
Broadband is expected to boom by 2005, having wider availability and cheaper subscriptions (like 25$/month). I\'ll get it as soon as it\'s available in my area.
I consider the Xbox and Live as the testing grounds.
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Wasn\'t broadband expected to boom 3 years ago also tho? I just don\'t see it happening on the scale it needs to be. Sure all the major metropolitan centers will be covered.. but small towns and rural communities will still be left out in the cold for a very long time. Not to mention, it\'s only supposed to boom in the US by 2005.. who knows how long it will take the rest of the world to catch on.
Unless.. and I\'m hoping here.. some new technology comes along that lets us use pre-existing communications lines to carry a broadband connection as well. I\'ve heard about these new devices they\'re testing that sends the signal out through powerlines which gives virtual every house in the US (except for Amish ppl) access to a high speed connection through their power outlets. I dunno how that technology is comming along recently tho, it may even have been dropped.
Also, I don\'t see how you\'re looking forward to episodic games. What scares me is the possibility that something will go wrong and you\'ll loose all your downloads.. then have to go through the wait of DLing them again to a new console.. or worse yet.. maybe even having to buy them again altogether. I guess I\'m just materialistic in a way.. since just like I\'d much rather have cash in hand than a credit card.. I\'d rather hold a game disk in my hand than simply know it\'s stored on a harddrive. At least with CD\'s and DVD\'s, if you take care of them they\'ll last a lifetime. Data on a harddrive is very finite... ask anyone who\'s used Win98. ;)
I guess if it only applied to SOME games.. or was a deal where you could download an extra game worth of extra levels and updates it\'d be cool.. but I\'d still feel MUCH more comfortable with something solid I can hold in my hand.
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Sony, I also prefer the idea of having tangible games. Storing them on your HDD is fine, as long as you have the CD to back it up. (or its a 3meg ABWare file ;))
All this sounds fine also. I\'ll be getting XBox Live at some point or another. Most likely at launch if Unreal Championship is any good :)
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broadband is gonna collapse before it "booms"
my ISP just raised its price again to 55$ a month
i dont mind paying it, but the average gamer\'s bills are paid by his parents
downloadable content? you mean downloadable patches
its going to be a crutch for devs to push out unfinished code
online gaming is not the future
sony and m$ will realize this too late, but one of them will have spent billions and billions along the way
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They both will have.
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sony didnt spend 2 billion+ setting up a closed network that will be shared with PC users only to have it underused
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Doesn\'t mean they won\'t spend billions over the next 10 years :) Especially if they do go ahead with what they want.
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/me nods
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Wasn\'t broadband expected to boom 3 years ago also tho? I just don\'t see it happening on the scale it needs to be. Sure all the major metropolitan centers will be covered.. but small towns and rural communities will still be left out in the cold for a very long time. Not to mention, it\'s only supposed to boom in the US by 2005.. who knows how long it will take the rest of the world to catch on.
I don\'t remember any reports or speculation dating back 3 years ago.
The only place in the world that BB is highly saturated, I think over 50%, is Korea. Xbox is fixing to launch their too
The internet isn\'t going anywhere...BB will have it\'s time.
downloadable content? you mean downloadable patches
its going to be a crutch for devs to push out unfinished code
No, I was thinking in the way of (ie. downloadable tracks, cars, levels, characters, etc.)
As for the episodic content, tangible or not, I\'ll still play it. Cash or credit card...it\'s all the same to me.
online gaming is not the future
sony and m$ will realize this too late, but one of them will have spent billions and billions along the way
Bah, I said this already. I\'ll quote myself...
"Regarding the topic, I do think online gaming will be very much a part of the videogame industry in the coming years.
The focus...no. Downloadable content, episodic games...it\'s coming. I rather like the idea...I\'ll welcome it with open arms, once I get BB that is"
It\'ll be a niche market...that\'s unavoidable.
I\'ll quote Bobs_Hardware...
"Relax, it\'ll go in easier;)"
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Actually, I said
"Clench, I like it rough"
And I will play the downloadable games, of course. But I won\'t welcome them with open arms with a loving embrace. Let me walk to the store and buy it, put it in my machine and play it. What happens when you run out of room on your HDD? Delete a game that you paid good money for?
No, I was thinking in the way of (ie. downloadable tracks, cars, levels, characters, etc.)
I think everyone knows what you were referring to. But everyone also knows that what will really cripple console gaming will be the incomplete games being put out, and patched. It\'s an advantage to ALLOW patch\'s one would argue, but not if it means developers can simply put out a product that isn\'t fully tested, and it turns out to have bugs. Or even worse, IS fully tested, put out with KNOWN bugs, and patched at a later date.
That\'s what PC\'s are for. ;)
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I could really care less...I buy most of my games over the net anyway. Also, I\'m not talking about whole games for download...although it\'s a possiblility.
Just extra\'s here and there longing the life of the game.
By the time all this really catches on, you\'ll probably see some pretty big HD\'s capable of handling enough content for the average gamer. Look at the 40GB HD from Sony...I could never fill that up...ever! I doubt I\'ll ever even touch on the 8GB in the Xbox.
I\'ll say it again guys...it\'ll be a niche market, not the focus or direction of games. Don\'t freak out!
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deep breaths
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I tried it out with my friend who is a beta tester and found the always connected chatting is pretty cool. Spent more time talking about games than paying attention to the game we were playing. Looks like a cheap way to make long distance calls if you already have the stuff.
________
Roll blunts (http://howtorollablunt.net/)
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I don\'t see any good coming out of this... :(
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Can\'t say as I do either. Only thing maybe good is d/l expansion items/maps and such. I\'ve already had 1 save on my X-box go bad and I don\'t know there\'s any way to remove it from your HDDDDDDDD. If I buy a game I expect a CD not shareware.