Xbox Live

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Xbox Live is a multiplayer gaming and content delivery system created and operated by Microsoft Corporation. It was first made available to the Xbox video game console in November 2002. An updated version of the service became available for the Xbox 360 console at that system's launch. Live for Windows makes certain aspects of the system available on other platforms such as PCs (using Windows Vista), handhelds and mobile phones.

1 History
2 Features
3 Availability
4 On the Xbox 360
5 Fraud
6 References
7 See also
8 External links

[edit] History

As Microsoft developed the original Xbox console, online gaming was designated as one of the key pillars for the greater Xbox strategy. Opting to create a unique console experience, it was decided that a hard disk drive and an ethernet port were vital to the platform, allowing for a more PC-style experience. The former would allow for downloadable content, such as new levels, maps, and characters, while the latter allowed adaptability to standard ethernet equipment. The ethernet port also served as an end to a means, since Microsoft decided that their online gaming service for the Xbox console would require a broadband connection, stating that dial-up connections would not allow them to standardize features (such as voice communication) and were inappropriate for intense online gaming. Critics scoffed at the idea, citing poor broadband adoption at the turn of the century.^[1] Sega made a similar attempt to capitalize on the ever-growing online gaming scene when it launched the Dreamcast video game console in 1998. The console shipped with a dial-up modem while a later-released broadband adapter was not widely supported or widely available.

When the Xbox launched on November 15, 2001, the as-yet unnamed online service was destined for a Summer 2002 deployment.^[2] Xbox Live was finally given a name at E3 2002 when the service was unveiled in its entirety. Sound dampened booths and broadband connected Xbox consoles - featuring an early version of Unreal Championship - demonstrated the service on the show floor. The Epic title was one of the flagship titles for the service, which was now slated for a debut on November 15, 2002, marking the anniversary of the Xbox launch. Microsoft announced that 50 Xbox Live titles would be available by the end of 2003.^[3] The service was revolutionary in many aspects. Utilizing the required broadband bandwidth, Xbox Live featured a unified gaming "Friends List", as well as a single identity across all titles (regardless of the publisher), and standardized voice chat and communication; a feature that was still in its infancy, even on the PC.

Leading up to the launch, Microsoft enlisted several waves of beta testers to improve the service and receive feature feedback. When the service debuted, it lacked much of the functionality that later titles included, but Xbox Live grew and evolved on the Xbox and many aspects of the service were included with the Xbox 360 console out of the box, rather than through a later update. Microsoft's 5000th patent was a Live-related patent which gives Xbox 360 users access to watch other gamers compete against each other over Xbox Live.^[4]

The packaging for playable Xbox Live titles on the original Xbox console featured the trademark gold bar underneath the Xbox header. Splinter Cell and Brute Force sported a Live "bubble" design, as they only featured downloadable content. This was changed later, wherein all Xbox Live titles included the universal gold Live bar. By the time of the Xbox 360, all titles were required to provide at least a limited form of Xbox Live "awareness".

Xbox Live hit a milestone in July 2004, [1] when it achieved 1 million subscribers; and again in March 2007, when it achieved 6 million subscribers. [2] With the release of Halo 2 later in 2004, the subscription base doubled within the following 12 months.[3] Since its release, Halo 2 has generated over a half a billion game plays totaling up to over 710 million hours.

On March 27, 2007, Xbox Live was down for maintenance, while many people waited to be able to download their beloved game content, including a new expansion to the bestselling Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, which was released mere hours before the downtime began.

[edit] Features

Out of the box, the Xbox 360 supports voice chat through a headset, bundled with the Xbox 360 premium package, with the Xbox Live starter kit, or available separately. The headset is not bundled with the Australian or Mexican premium packages, instead being included with the Xbox Live 12 Month Subscription retail kit. The service includes a friends list of other users, as well as a mail-like system of either text or voice messages in which the user can take a picture with the Xbox Vision Camera and add it to the message to send to an online or offline user.

On the Xbox 360, whenever the user's console is powered on and is signed in to Xbox Live, the user's friends list and ability to send messages become available. On the original Xbox, this is only available in Xbox Live or Live Aware games. The system also reports what activity is currently being performed, so that one can see what a friend is doing on his or her console. This is typically the game being played, although the system supports more detailed information (the player's progress through the game, for example).

Online multiplayer features operating on Xbox Live do not expire and are always accessible by Xbox Live subscribers. Exceptions are online games that use Xbox Live merely as a portal to connect to external servers that are not part of Xbox Live, such as games published by Electronic Arts (which operate on EA servers instead of Xbox Live) and other games, such as MMORPGs, that require their own dedicated servers. Many EA games have had their online functions terminated by EA in order to force people to buy the latest version of a franchise title to access multiplayer online features.

[edit] Availability

Countries in which the Xbox Live service is/will be available


Currently available	Expected Q1 2007	Not available

Xbox Live is currently available in 35 countries and territories:

In addition, Brazil, Hungary and Poland are scheduled to be brought online during the first quarter of 2007.

[edit] 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. This fee can be paid automatically through a recurring credit card charge, or can be paid using a code supplied from a card purchased at a retail store. Neither versions of the subscriptions require the use of the 360's hard drive, but must have a memory card for downloads.

Xbox Live features:

Gamer tags for user identification
Avatars, or gamer pictures, for association with gamer tags
Mottos for display on gamer profiles
Gamer zones which represent gaming style and influence player matchmaking (Recreation, Pro, Family, Underground)
Ability to change one's 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, skill level, and gamerzone.

[edit] Marketplace

Main article: Xbox Live Marketplace

A system of Microsoft Points based transactions and prepaid subscription cards are available for the 360, cutting down the number of separate credit card transactions Microsoft handles and allowing users without credit cards access to the service.

Additionally users have viewable profiles, listing in-game "achievements" which can be accessed through the 360 itself or via the internet. Xbox Live, when used on an Xbox 360, also supports and messaging when using the Xbox Vision Camera, which provides webcam functions as well as gesture-based gaming similar to the EyeToy. Any reports of misuse of the service for criminal or sexual purposes result in a permanent ban of the account.

[edit] 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. Gamertags can be changed using a premium service on the Xbox 360 console; there are four available slots in which to create and delete them.

A player's Gamertag account status can be checked using a variety of online tools, this is useful especially when trying to organize games on 3rd party websites where you cannot always be sure if a person has a genuine Gamertag or not.

[edit] 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 isn't 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 [4]. 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. It must be noted that the following year's sports titles (2K Sports' 2K7 and EA Sports' 07 titles) featured far more challenging Achievements.

Larry Hryb (aka Major Nelson) coined the term for individuals who played games explicitly for the purpose of unlocking achievements to add to their score: Gamerscore Whore[5]. In late November, a gamer reached the 100,000 Gamerscore mark. As of March 11, 2007, RANCE6 has the highest Worldwide Gamerscore with 126,341. David Dreger (aka Knuckles Dawson) owns the legitimate record for consecutive days earning at least 1 Achievement point with 436 straight days.

On February 1, 2007 Microsoft announced on their Gamerscore Blog some new policies that developers must follow related to Gamerscore and Achievements in future releases.^[5] All games must have 1,000 Gamerscore in the base game - the title could ship with less than 1,000 Gamerscore but anything added later must be free. Game developers also now have the option of adding an additional 250 points via downloadable content (for a total of 1,250 Gamerscore) - this content can be either free or paid. Xbox Live Arcade titles may add up to 50 points via downloadable content (for a total of 250 Gamerscore).

During the final development of Crackdown, developers pleaded with Microsoft to raise the number of achievements per game. As a result, the maximum number of achievements a game can have has been raised from 50 to 80.^[6]

[edit] Gamercard

Gamercard is an information panel used to summarize a user's profile on Microsoft's Xbox Live. The pieces of information on a Gamercard include:

Gamertag
Gamerscore
Reputation
Gamer Zone

A player's gamer card can be viewed via the Xbox 360 Dashboard, or online through Xbox.com. Several third party sites, such as Mygamercard.net and Xboxusersgroup.com, allow users to post a rendered version of their Gamercard as a small Flash applet or JPEG image on any website or webforum.

[edit] Xbox Live Diamond Card

A real-world "perks card" known as the Xbox Live Diamond Card is available to American 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, Timberland, Hollywood Video, Gamestop, TiVo, DogFunk, Velocity Micro, Circuit City, and Papa John's. [6] The card is free, but only available in the U.S., and only for 12-month subscribers.

[edit] 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 other players, with the results used to update the skill level estimates of those involved. For each game, a user has two hidden statistics: an estimated skill level, and an uncertainty factor. As a player continues to play further matches of the same title, the system revises the estimated skill level and decreases the uncertainty factor. As the uncertainty in the estimate decreases, the estimated level moves up or down by a smaller amount with each successive match. The eventual goal is to exactly determine the level of the player, i.e. his or her "true skill level".

When matchmaking, the system attempts to match individuals based on their estimated skill level. If two individuals are competing head-to-head and have the same estimated skill level with low estimate uncertainty, they should each have roughly a 50% chance of winning a match. In this way, the system attempts to make every match as competitive as possible.

In order to prevent abuse of the system, the majority of ranked games have relatively limited options for matchmaking. By design, players cannot easily play with their friends in ranked games. Instead, the system supports unranked Player Matches, which allow individuals of any skill level to be paired (often including "guests" on an account). Such matches do not contribute to the TrueSkill rating.

[edit] Xbox Live Vision

Main article: Xbox Live Vision

Xbox Live Vision camera

The Xbox Live Vision camera was announced at E3 2006,[7] and was released September 19, 2006 in North America, and October 6, 2006 in Europe and Asia (not including Japan). Release dates for Japan, Australia, and New Zealand have not been confirmed.[8] The first "Camera Enabled" game, a video game incarnation of the classic card game UNO, was released in the Xbox Live Marketplace on May 9, 2006. [9] The Xbox 360 version of World Series of Poker and Rainbow Six: Vegas tout a "Digimask" technology that will map a player's facial expressions onto his or her in-game avatar.[10]

Any purchase of the camera comes bundled with at least 1 free month of Xbox Live Gold Membership, and at least 2 live arcade games (UNO with TotemBall being a free download on Xbox Live Marketplace). Based on the release of TotemBall, this product appears to be in competition with the PlayStation EyeToy product line.

[edit] Xbox 360 Wireless Headset

Main article: Xbox 360 Wireless Headset

The wireless headset uses the console's built-in 2.4 GHz wireless receiver to communicate with the Xbox 360. This allows players to use the headset without an active controller from up to a range of around 30 ft. It runs on a rechargeable battery and has a charger included. The headset is currently available in North America and is priced at $59.99 USD.

[edit] Games for Windows - LIVE

Main article: Games for Windows - Live

Games for Windows - LIVE 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 . 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.

[edit] Fraud

Recently incidents of fraud on Xbox Live accounts have been on the increase^[7]. Security researcher Kevin Finisterre disclosed the information to a security mailing list on 19th March 2007 and Microsoft's helpdesk also acknowledged the issue. It has been discovered, though, that the fraud was caused by pre-texting^[8].

[edit] References

^ Dean Takahashi. Opening The Xbox: Inside Microsoft's Plan to Unleash an Entertainment Revolution, 339.
^ Microsoft. Xbox Erupts on the Scene. Retrieved on 2006-12-01.
^ Microsoft. Xbox Live Turns up the Volume on the Future of Gaming.
^ Console Watcher. Microsoft’s 5000th Patent: Allowing Users To Spectate Other Players Through Live.
^ http://gamerscoreblog.com/team/archive/2007/02/01/540575.aspx
^ http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1551557/20070202/index.jhtml
^ http://www.itweek.co.uk/vnunet/news/2185976/xbox-live-fraud-rise
^ http://www.majornelson.com/archive/2007/03/23/xbox-live-security-update.aspx

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Official Xbox Live website
Major Nelson's Blog, by Larry Hryb, Xbox Live Director of Programming
Gamerscoreblog, The Inside Scoop from Microsoft Xbox and Games Employees
Xbox Users Group, The best Xbox Live Add-on seen by Xbox.com

v • d • e

Microsoft consoles

Consoles: Xbox • Xbox 360
Games: Xbox Games • Xbox 360 Games • Backwards Compatible Games • Platinum Hits
Online Services: Xbox Live • Arcade • Marketplace • Microsoft Points • Games for Windows - Live
Peripherals: Xbox Media Center • Xbox Live Vision • Wireless Headset
Kits: Xbox Development Kit • Microsoft XNA
Media: OurColony • Official Xbox Magazine • X
Misc.: Xbox 360 Launch • Xbox 360 Technical Problems

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