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
The Live Marketplace: More Ways to Spend Money
The Xbox 360 will also allow you to bring up the dashboard without having to restart your console. The new dashboard looks a lot cleaner and the entire interface is very smooth and quite media-center like, with a gaming touch, of course.Microsoft is particularly happy about their new Xbox Live Marketplace, a place where you will be able to download or purchase new content (demos, themes, levels, etc.):
The Xbox Live Marketplace in the Xbox 360 Dashboard
See that banner looking thing at the top of the screen? Clicking on it brought us to the following screen:
Here, you can see how much the game download costs and how much credit your account currently has. The download for this particular game took less than 10 seconds after the purchase was confirmed.Honestly, we aren't nearly excited as Microsoft is about the new Live Marketplace, simply because the name implies that we'll be paying for quite a bit that finds its way in there. After spending $300+ on the console, $50 a pop for games and a monthly Xbox Live subscription fee, we're not sure how much more we'll feel comfortable parting with - especially for things like additional content and levels.
Bungie's strategy of charging for early access to levels in Halo 2 for example is reasonable in our opinion, as the levels eventually are offered for free to everyone else in time. Initially, we don't expect to see anything drastic from Microsoft in the Marketplace, but the potential always worries us.
As we mentioned in our first Xbox 360 article, Microsoft is particularly interested in expanding the potential user base of the new console to include "casual gamers." It is these "casual gamers" that the Xbox Live Arcade is targeted at.
Microsoft mentioned that you would be able to conduct a live video chat with your friends while playing the Arcade games.
Messaging in Xbox Live - No Email, No Spam
Connecting your Xbox 360 to a MP3 Player, iPods supported
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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.