Xbox 360 - Up Close & Personal with Live, the Console and the Wireless Controller
by Anand Lal Shimpi on May 20, 2005 12:57 AM EST- Posted in
- Trade Shows
Microsoft Demos the new Xbox Live
Our first demo with the new Xbox Live takes place while playing through a game. During the game, we receive a Friend Invite from Striker. Please excuse the poor quality of the picture, but you get the idea of how the invite will pop on the screen:
After hitting the 360 button, you are brought to the Friend Invite screen:
From the Friend Invite screen, you can accept the invitation, decline, reply, block, play any messages or view the person's on-line profile. A particularly interesting element of this screen is the user's Gamercard at the top right of the screen:
The next item on your Gamercard is your Gamerscore (GS for short); the Gamerscore is a counter of all achievements across all games that you've played (online and offline). Beating levels in Halo 2 single player, completing races in Project Gotham Racing 3 or winning online matches will all contribute to your Gamerscore.
The final item is your Zone. Currently in Xbox Live, you are matched up against players that are all members of one large pool. While that was a good idea when Live started off, now with over 1.5 million subscribers, such a broad match making system can be a bit painful at times. The problem is that you have casual gamers paired up with very competitive players, which isn't always the best idea.
Now, you'll be able to select the Zone in which you'd like to play. The Zone will determine what sort of players you are matched up with, whether it is Family players (e.g. members with kids online where you should watch your mouth), competitive players, or a zone where anything goes. You can change your Zone before any match depending on your fancy. We are a fan of the idea, but we do wonder how Microsoft will ensure that the Zones remain true to their function (e.g. what will keep vulgar folks from corrupting the innocent minds of children playing in the Family zone?).
Now back to playing your game. If you are playing a game, you can also initiate an invite by hitting the 360 button. Just as before, the game will continue to play in the background (whether paused or not is determined by the developer depending on the nature of the title):
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shaw - Friday, May 20, 2005 - link
The first Killzone was a generic FPS. So I guess the sequal will be generic FPS part 2. I have about as much faith in Guerella as I do in Digital Extremes for making a good FPS.Generic Guy - Friday, May 20, 2005 - link
So, the initial tone of the article is "disappointed." Why on earth should you be disappointed about lack of information about two vapor consoles whose hardware hasn't even been finalized yet, and isn't due out until the end of year at earliestl And machines whose makers are both engaged in ridiculous schlong-swinging hype ("our machine is 4873 times better than last years model..."). Who expected more than empty display shells, a la "Phantom". Who really expected anything other than hype and spin doctoring from either Microsoft or Sony? I mean, C'mon! What did you really expect?The really amazing thing I thought was the reserved, sober, and relatively honest pronouncements coming from the former king of hype: Nintendo.
ascian5 - Friday, May 20, 2005 - link
"If you have any Windows XP machines on the same network that the 360 is connected to, the machine will automatically search for any and all shared music, pictures and videos and make them accessible from the media panel of the Xbox 360 dashboard."What happens with your porn? You don't want your buddies or your girl coming over and having the Xbox automatically find that stuff. Not to mention if you have kids! Hahaha
tfranzese - Friday, May 20, 2005 - link
I'm more interested in the Revolution than the other two consoles. I love my Xbox, but my Gamecube is my baby too and I look forward to what Nintendo will do with their next console. I have too much nostalgia for Nintendo to not just care.Anand Lal Shimpi - Friday, May 20, 2005 - link
flatblastardTrust me, I tried getting reliable technical info on Revolution - it's simply not out there.
I tried getting into the press conference; what was I told? "No new technical information will be presented."
Revolution will be interesting, I'm sure, but the information is simply not out there right now.
Take care,
Anand
dripgoss - Friday, May 20, 2005 - link
#16 Screw the Revolution. There I said it. From what little info I've seen about it, I could care less. They had better release something spectacular in order to grab my money this go around. Nintendo is dying a slow painful death and I hope they hang on just long enough to keep the spirit of competition alive during this next gen. Even then, they have proven themselves as a non-competitor in the current gen console market (note I said console - not handheld) by consistently selling the GC at $50 to $100 less than the other consoles just to stay alive. They just don't understand the changing US market enough to be competitive unlike Sony and MS...barnett25 - Friday, May 20, 2005 - link
No one has found out anything substantial about the Revolution. Nintendo isn't going to let us know the important stuff until MS and Sony's hardware is finalized, they've come right out and said so.flatblastard - Friday, May 20, 2005 - link
That's right Anand, just keep pretending that Nintendo doesn't exist anymore.....it really shows how much you care about consoles. How is it others have found a plethora of info about Rev, but Anand finds nothing? Either didn't look hard enough or plain just don't care.muffin - Friday, May 20, 2005 - link
Anyone else thinking the backgrounds on the first 2 'Marketplace' pictures look like tits from a distance? Or is that just me...barnett25 - Friday, May 20, 2005 - link
Xbox Live is the one thing that is hanging me up about the Xbox360. I am a PC gamer, I'm used to playing online for free. The thought of having to pay for that is foreign to me. Then add the marketplace, which may have some reasonable items for sale. But I can easily see MS charging for things that you get for free on a PC (like game demos, freeware type games, etc). I guess I'll have to wait and see what kind of online setup the PS3 has.