Xbox network
Xbox Live is a subscription-based online gaming service for Microsoft's Xbox and Xbox 360 video game consoles. It was launched on November 15, 2002, and re-launched with support for the Xbox 360 on November 22, 2005. The service allows players to play games with or against other Xbox Live players around the world, over the internet. Over 100 Xbox games are Xbox Live Enabled; all Xbox 360 games are at least "Xbox Live aware" with support for game achievements and leaderboards.
Features
Xbox Live provides voice communications through a headset bundled either with the Xbox 360 premium package or with the Xbox Live starter kit. There is a console-related friends list of other selected online players, as well as a messaging system of either text or voice messages.
As long as you are signed in to Xbox Live, while either playing a game, watching a DVD (with the DVD playback kit) or navigating the dashboard, you have access to view all your friends, see what your online friends are doing, and send messages via the dashboard or the Xbox 360 guide. You can send either written messages or voice messages to other players, even if they aren't online. The Xbox 360 has extensive support for a friend's status, often revealing not only the game they are playing, but which mode of play and even which level they are in.
Xbox Live is a secure system regarding credit cards, and in some respects has become even safer, with Microsoft's introduction of Microsoft Points, which greatly cut down the amount of separate credit card transactions Microsoft handles.
Centralization
Unlike other online multiplayer systems (including those used on the PC and PlayStation 2), Xbox Live is highly centralized. This means that while game companies supply the networking code and gameplay, Microsoft provides the server bandwidth and user front-end; this, in turn, removes some of the financial burden from game developers who do not already have such systems in place, adding incentive to add multiplayer modes to certain genres of non-persistent game. This system also means that instead of paying third parties for access to each individual game, users pay only one subscription fee for every game they own. Also, because Xbox Live is broadband-only, it is much less susceptible to network lag, though it does exclude users in geographic areas where high-speed Internet access is not affordable to residential customers. While some third-party services for online play also exist, they are unsupported by Microsoft.
Centralization does have its downsides, however. On the PC, for example, few games charge a separate fee to play online. Players pay monthly fees for massively multiplayer online games (regardless of the platform), which, on Xbox Live, translates to paying in addition to the yearly fee, such as Phantasy Star Online's 9USD a month. The centralized requirement of Xbox Live was also one of the reasons why Electronic Arts was reluctant to use the service. However, Electronic Arts finally released its first Xbox Live title in 2004: NCAA Football 2005.
History
At the Game Developers Conference in March 2004, Microsoft announced plans to make newer versions of Windows support Xbox Live, thereby opening the service to computer gamers.
Xbox Live received a major boost in May 2004 when Electronic Arts announced it would support the service for the first time (the company had formerly only supported the PlayStation 2's online capabilities) — with the concession, however, that EA's own servers could be used instead of the standard servers maintained by Microsoft for other Xbox Live titles. Many users in Europe have complained about the performance of EA's servers, however, particularly on the game Burnout 3, questioning the logic of providing a central service only to decentralise servers for certain titles.
With the release of Halo 2 on November 9, 2004, Xbox Live gained status as a significant killer app. Bungie Studios' website now hosts statistics for every Live Halo 2 game a player has been involved in, including a graphical summary of the key events in the match. These statistics are also available as RSS news feeds.
On November 4, 2004, Microsoft launched the Xbox Live Arcade. A free installation disk (available by mail order from Microsoft, and frequently included with Official Xbox Magazine) allows the player to demo various comparatively simple games, and download them for a fee.
Microsoft has also revealed an Xbox Live webcam, for video chat. The webcam has been exclusively released in Japan, due to high Internet speeds and it carries a price tag of 6800 yen (roughly $60). (Official Xbox Magazine — March 2005 — Pg. 26)
On October 24, 2005, Xbox Live went offline for 24 hours to prepare for the launch of the Xbox 360 and all of its new Xbox Live features. In addition, the Xbox official website received a major overhaul. The upgrades promised greater integration between Xbox Live and the Xbox website.
On November 22, 2005, Xbox Live was re-launched with support for the Xbox 360. The Xbox 360 revolutionized Xbox Live with global leaderboards, game achievements, downloads from the Xbox Live Marketplace, as well as a revamped Xbox Live Arcade.
Xbox Live on the Xbox 360
With the launch of the Xbox 360, Xbox Live went through a major change. The most notable change is the establishment of two subscription types, called Silver and Gold. Xbox Live Silver is free to all Xbox 360 owners. While it does not allow access to online play, it still has access to other Xbox Live features such as the friends list, messages, and the Xbox Live Marketplace. Xbox Live Gold, which requires a monthly or yearly subscription fee, allows users to access all available features on Xbox Live.
- Gamer tags for user identification
- Avatars, or gamer pictures, for association with gamer tags
- Mottos for display on gamer profiles
- Gamer zones which represents your gaming style and influences player matchmaking (Recreation, Pro, Family, Underground)
- Ability to change your gamer tag for 800 Microsoft Points
- Game achievements are listed with gamer tags and can be compared with friends' achievements
- Reputation rating which is voted on by other players who decide to either prefer or avoid another player
- Gamerscores which are a total of a player's achievement points
- Friends list, which is a list of a player's chosen friends
- Recent player list, which lists the last 50 players one user has played with
- Xbox Live Marketplace content
- Multiplayer online gameplay
- Enhanced matchmaking using cumulative gamerscore, reputation, location/language profile and skill level.
Gamertag
Gamertag is the universal name for a player's username on Microsoft's Xbox Live. Using a Gamertag, any player can be located and messaged from within Live. There are several websites which allow users of Gamertags to upload photos and information about themselves. Gamer Tags can be changed using a premium service on the XBOX 360 console, otherwise they are simply created and deleted.
Gamerscore
The Gamerscore is a measure that corresponds to the number of "Achievement" points accumulated by an Xbox Live user. These Achievement points are awarded for the completion of game-specific challenges, such as beating a level or amassing a specified number of wins against other players in Xbox Live matches. The majority of mass-market Xbox 360 games offer up to 1000 points spread over a variable number of Achievements and each Xbox Live Arcade contains 12 achievements that total 200 points. Achievements surprisingly became a very potent system seller for the console [1]. There was even a minor outcry when GameSpot published an article on how to achieve 6,000 easy Achievement points due to the lax nature that some 360 titles had on Achievements, notably EA Sports and 2K Sports titles, that would require almost no effort from the gamer to get the maximum 1,000 Achievement points.
For a comprehensive list of game achievements, see here
Gamer Card
Gamer Card is an information panel used to summarize a user's profile on Microsoft's Xbox Live. The pieces of information on a gamer card include:
- Gamertag
- Gamerscore
- Reputation
- Gamer Zone
- Location
- Personal motto
A player's gamer card can be viewed via the Xbox 360 Dashboard, or online through Xbox.com. Several third party sites offer a free hosting service that allows users to post a render of their Gamer Card as a small Flash applet or JPEG image on any website or webforum.
Xbox Live Diamond Card
A real-world "perks card" known as the Xbox Live Diamond Card is available to Xbox Live subscribers. The card is printed with the gamertag of the owner, and will grant discounts and other benefits at various retailers to the owner of the card. Retailers listed by Microsoft include Ticketmaster, Cambridge Soundworks, McDonald's, Carl's Jr., etnies, Quiznos Sub, Sam Goody, and Timberland. [2] It should be noted though that this service is only in the U.S.
TrueSkill
TrueSkill on the Xbox 360 is a skill-based ranking system that is used across all games. It involves the user playing ranked games against players and estimates your skill level and the uncertainty in the estimated skill level. Custom matches (which are called Player Matches) can be found by either picking quickmatch, Optimatch or by joining a friend's game. Custom matches are found by matching your location, language, and gamerzone (one of four sets of guidelines for users to play by). Note: Custom matches can never be ranked.
Xbox Live Vision Camera
This Xbox Live Vision Camera was announced at E3 2006 and will be available: North America: September 19th, Europe and Asia (except Japan): October 2[3] [4] The first "Camera Enabled" game was released in the Xbox Live Marketplace on May 9, 2006, a video game incarnation of the classic card game UNO, even though the camera is still not available to the public. The Xbox 360 version of World Series of Poker touts a "Digimask" technology that will map a player's facial expressions onto his or her in-game avatar.
Live Anywhere
Live Anywhere will enable a variety of non-Xbox platforms such as a Windows Vista PC, Windows Mobile phones, and Java-enabled phones to connect to Xbox Live, albeit with lesser functionality. A gamer will be able to keep a Gamertag, purchase and play Xbox Live Arcade games, and connect to other Xbox Live users to play Arcade games and conduct text, audio, and (eventually) video chat. The service will be open to any 3rd-party developers, but must be able to provide key functionalities such as game ratings, achievement points, and the ability to properly connect to Xbox Live. [5]
Modchips and Hard Drive upgrades
Microsoft's Xbox Live gaming service contains automated security checks which ban users suspected of modchip use. At logon time, Xbox live conducts a check of the currently running BIOS. If it differs in any way from the original BIOS, that particular Xbox (which is uniquely identified by a code in the motherboard's onboard ROM) is banned from the service. Some modchips include a manual switch which can be attached to the exterior of the case and used to switch the modchip on and off. When switched off, the Xbox will boot the original BIOS and dashboard, and allow the use of Xbox live with an original game as if no modchip were present at all. As seen in the popular Xbox Live game, Halo 2, Modders still find ways to get around the mod bans implemented by Microsoft and compete actively against players with unmodded, legitimate consoles.
Finally, Xbox live also maintains a database of the hard drive serial numbers associated with each particular Xbox (commonly referred to as the 'Marriage Theory'). If the user has replaced the original Xbox hard drive with a larger one, they may become banned from the service even if their modchip is disabled. This pairing of serial numbers is created at the user's first login, so if the new hard drive is locked with the original hard drive's key using a specialized dashboard like Evolution-X, it is possible to use a non-original hard drive on Xbox live, as long as the Xbox never logged on to Live with its original drive.
See also
External links
- Official Xbox Live website
- Major Nelson's Blog, by Larry Hryb, Xbox Live Director of Programming
- Xbox Live Diamond Card
- TrueSkill Home Page
- GamerScoreChart.com, Xbox Live Gamerscore historical charting
- MyGamerCard.net, Flash/jpg Gamercard
- GooMGC, Gamercard with friendslist for Google Homepage
