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XBox (Games) Entertainment Games

Extended Xbox Live Capabilities To Debut 55

Posted by simoniker from the interrupting-suspense-like-telemarketers dept.
Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to Microsoft's page detailing new Xbox Live features debuting on August 25th, including the ability to "...see who's online and what game they're playing [directly from the Dashboard]. If you want to invite them to join you in a new game, you can send the invite from the Dash." As well as this, you'll be able to "...set up a [stand-alone] Voice Chat session from your Dashboard." Also detailed as coming this fall are Xbox Live Aware titles, which aren't necessarily online-playable or even multiplayer, but "give you the ability to keep track of what's happening on Xbox Live" at all times, even allowing friends to invite you online while you're in the middle of a single-player offline game.
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Extended Xbox Live Capabilities To Debut More

Extended Xbox Live Capabilities To Debut

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  • First off, I'll just say that as an Xbox Live player I find the whole concept of integrated the general service (buddy list/matchmaking) into Xbox titles that have no other online component fascinating, and I certainly hope that it's implemented as well as they expect.

    Second, here's a list of the topics I expect to be brought up here on Slashdot with relation to this article:

    1. Online console gaming is a fad.
    2. This is just another Microsoft ploy to find out if you've modded your Xbox.
    3. FreeBSD is

    • My predicted topics:

      7. Somebody whinging about anti-Microsoft sentiment on Slashdot.
      8. At least a dozen astroturfers, all with IDs over 650000.
      9. People bashing the Gamecube, PS2, Dreamcast, C64 and OS/2 for no apparent reason.
      10. Some idiot to append 11. ??? and 12. *you know* to my list.
    • >>>First off, I'll just say that as an Xbox Live player I find the whole concept of integrated the general service (buddy list/matchmaking) into Xbox titles that have no other online component fascinating, and I certainly hope that it's implemented as well as they expect.

      5$ bet that somebody'll make some statement saying "Linux will do better because....". Still, do they intend to do buddy/voice by an OSD overlay? Would'nt that be.. ugly? I'd expect to have a way to "kill" msn messanger (which is
      • You make a few points, but if you can say, "I'd expect to have a way to "kill" msn messanger (which is what I assume's on there)." then you're just talking out of your ass.

        It's not messenger. What you have is real-time voice chat over the internet, which also happens to not take up any screen real estate. It's just the same as when I'm playing GCN, GBA, or PS2 while waiting for a match to fill up in Mech Assault -- I sit there, and can hear everything that's going on, while also participating. I'm busy
    • 1. Online console gaming is a fad.

      Fad? No. Ready for the mainstream? No. Microsoft has been hovering at the "500k XBL subscribers worldwide" mark for months now. Considering that almost 300k of them were sold in NA at the XBL launch, this isn't encouraging.

      With 9.4 million units shipped worldwide (we'll be nice and say that's also sold through for this comparrison), and only 500k XBL subscribers worldwide, that gives XBL a penetration of only 5.32%.

      It's a higher percentage of penetration than So

      • The only reason I don't have XBox Live is because I have no games I wish to play on it, and since it's a subscription-based system, I won't buy it until I will use it.

        The only reason I don't have the PS2 network adapter is because I have trouble finding it without buying a whole new PS2 (I see plenty of the bundled ones, though).

        The only reason I don't have the Gamecube network adapter is because I can't find one in a store near me (I have seen the dial-up adapter, though).

        That being said, neither the PS
        • Oh Painkiller you known fanboy. You would buy a Gamecube network adaptor? To play PSO then? Well you CAN play PSO on XBOX Live. To recap, you would play PSO on your Gamecube but not on XBOX. The logical fallacy is delicious.

          WOULD buy the Gamecube adaptor despite the fact that it has no games, won't buy Live because it has no games (though it has all the games GC has plus many more). I can't stand to read your nonsense anymore.
          • A gamecube adapter is quite a bit cheaper than XBox Live, and if I buy Live today and don't use it then I have to renew the subscription later if I do have games I want to play on it.

            On the other hand, if I buy an adapter for the GC and PS2, the only way it costs me anything in the future is if the game I want to play has a subscription cost.

            Stop putting words in my mouth, I said there are no games I want to play on Live, I said nothing about games on the GC. A $15-20 adapter doesn't mean much compared to
            • So if I may summurize your above post...

              You aren't too good with hardware since it was pretty easy to use the network adaptor with PSO for Dreamcast.

              You will readily buy the network adaptors for PS2 and GC despite a lack of software, but would not buy XBOX Live because of a lack of software. Interesting logic. Again I wonder why I even bother to deal with this.
              • You will readily buy the network adaptors for PS2 and GC despite a lack of software, but would not buy XBOX Live because of a lack of software.

                Thing is, the GC and PS2 network adaptors don't have any auto-renewing subscription fees, nor do they have an activation code that expires if not activated by a certain time.

                Xbox Live is a subscription, and if you buy the kit you only have a certain amount of time to activate it or the activation code expires and becomes worthless. Plus the Xbox Live starter ki

              • unclethursday pretty much handled the second part well enough, so I won't repeat what's already been said.

                You aren't too good with hardware since it was pretty easy to use the network adaptor with PSO for Dreamcast.

                I wouldn't know, because I have never seen the network adapter for the DreamCast available in a store and did not buy PSO for the DC. I'm simply repeating what I had heard, which may very well have been incorrect (and I even prefaced it with 'I had heard').

                I believe that buying the network a
  • There are in this X-BOX live stuff?

    I figure there's those nifty wireless2wired bridges that DLink and company sells. Has anybody sniffed the servers, ports, and protocols?

    I'd be interested in how data is sent to these servers (is it pke'ed with your serial along with a modchip scan?). Oh well, I dont even own an X-Box, but general computers made to cripple-terminals interest me.
  • I'm glad Microsoft took the initiative to actually listen to some of the ideas [dreamops.com] that are being thrown around. But I still can't understand why there's not going to be CDDB/Gracenote [gracenote.com] ability via XBox Live.

    They offer you the ability to rip tracks for use in some games, but refuse to create a keyboard for the system. Wouldn't the next logical thing to do is use their Live service to pull down CD info from the internet? Maybe they're just trying to get another 40 bucks [gamespaper.com] out of my pocket.

    Mike
  • The Department of Homeland Security is seeking to license said technology.
  • "give you the ability to keep track of what's happening on Xbox Live"

    And give them the ability to keep track of what's happening in your living room!
    • This is free consumer behavior patterns for M$. They want to know how many hours are being logged to the different titles. The more hours, the more features to copy from those games.
    • I personally don't care what or if they look at what is on my XBOX, nor do I care what games they see me playing. They will know that I am an adult, playing the best games, so they will know to make more, ie Splinter Cell (it's coming soon) Halo, etc.....you get the point
  • I find this fascinating and mind boggling at the same time. I personally don't own any game systems but I'm sure that this will be a great advancement for video game lovers!
  • This comes in time to try and entice people to renew their one year membership soon. x-box live has done marginaly well, but we'll see for sure how well it does when it comes to membership renewals during the holidays.
    • Have they ever announced how much xbox live will cost after the first year? I know you get a year free with the $50 starter kit (which is a heck of a deal), but how much after that?
      • Yes, yes they did. [xbox.com] Note that your current subscription will be automatically renewed unless you call to cancel, and that it's not listed there but the Starter Kit is going to increase to ~$70 in price.
        • In addition to the $50 year renewal (listed as a special price in some cases....), there is also going to be a month to month option at $7 per month.

          There is also going to be the ability to buy a headset separately, and use a Xbox Live enabled game to get a 2 month trial of XBL as well.

          Full story [gamesarefun.com].

          Thursdae

  • While this all sounds cool, I'm going to burst the bubble a little bit. My thought is what else will X-Box Live Aware games do beneath the surface? Will they log user habits? Such things as "(User) played (game) for 23 minutes before being invited into (live game) by (other user)." I mean I guess they can't do much more than this... can they?
    • DRIVE ME INSANE. You know what that kind of information would do for them? It would help them make better games that people want to play! If they know the kind of things people like they will make more of them and make them even better. Who gives a monkey testicle if they know that you play 3 hours of games a day? They are not sucking anybody's soul out through the internet. I'm all for paranoia but why are so many people paranoid about things that have little to no downfall? I'm not trying to flame, in fac
      • I'm not really opposed to them collecting that kind of information. I'm opposed to collecting information without people knowing about it. I think you'd agree that if they said "Hey, we're logging your gaming activity," most people wouldn't care. But if they went ahead and logged it without clearly notifying you, you'd probably be a little pissed.

        Granted the example I gave isn't really that intrusive, but it was just a thought. You do bring up a valid point, information like that can be used to make
  • Currently the project can use some hacked font files along with the MechAssault or Agent Under Fire exploits to install Linux on the Xbox so it boots instead of the Dashboard when there's no disc in the Xbox. Any bets on whether this'll be "fixed"?
  • I wonder how much this will break future modding attempts that use current chips and save game exploits. Microsoft has had a lot of time to study the different methods currently in use and I bet you they will try to break them. This won't stop hacking in the long run, but it might slow it down for a while.

  • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 )
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • but with Xbox you get two awesome games

      The JSRF/Sega GT 2002 bundle ended right around E3, in mid May.

      Microsoft had already ordered a recall on the units with the 2 games, from retailers, as E3 was starting, and then with the price drop they ordered the recalls even faster.

      The bundle was part of the reason they lost so much money on the Xbox in Q1 2003, because they were third party games, and not first party games.

      So you only get the Xbox for $179.99 now, not two free games with it.

      Thursdae
      Boug

  • Is to fix the exploits in the original dash that allowed the Xbox to run unsigned code without a modchip.

    Xbox-scene [xbox-scene.com] mentioned this as well just for this reason.

  • Let me say first that I'm a total Nintendo Fanboy(tm). I've seriously been considering getting an XBox since XBox Live has been released. I know most people think it isn't a huge selling point, but to me it is one of the coolest things to happen so far to console gaming. Now if I could only find a few hundred dollars in disposable income.... ;-)

  • Cripes it's certainly taken long enough. hald this shit should have been implimented since day one and I've been advocating said implimentation [dreamops.com] nearly as long. I mean, how you can roll out with such basic features is beyond me....
    • I like this. Just the idea that you can use your xbox to chat with people (no long distace charges) is pretty cool by it self. Other than that, they are really trying to make the xbox a cool and friendly ONLINE console. We are not seeing this from sony or nintendo. I like the idea of having a console open and online all the time. Think about people that do not have ICQ/MSN/Yahoo messenger/... they will be able to communicate using their Xbox. I can see really shortly in the future a version of MSN Messenger
  • Xbox Live is one of the few MS products that is truly "innovated", and I love it for such.

    New features continued to be developed and added - but they're nice, useful, and UNOBTRUSIVE - unlike many MS software features.

    Xbox Live is one of the most forward-thinking entities in console online gaming, and even online gaming in general. This is what Microsoft can do in an industry where they are a COMPETITOR instead of a MONOPOLY. If we could get their PC division in the same boat, maybe we'd get more useful

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