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The Internet XBox (Games) Entertainment Games

Xbox Live Hits One Million Users 63

Posted by simoniker from the good-golly dept.
Thanks to Reuters for its news story revealing Microsoft's Xbox Live online service has reached one million users, additionally noting that "...more than 100 game titles can be played over Xbox Live, and it expects to see about 150 titles by the end of this year." The story also reports on some comparisons: "Microsoft said in a statement that it reached the 1 million mark for Xbox Live users three times faster than other subscription services, such as Time Warner Inc.'s AOL and TiVo Inc." This impending milestone was previously mentioned in an interview with Microsoft's Andre Vrignaud last month.
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Xbox Live Hits One Million Users More

Xbox Live Hits One Million Users

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  • To MS (Score:5, Insightful)

    by SilentChris ( 452960 ) on Thursday July 15, 2004 @03:11PM (#9710727) Homepage
    Congratulations. No, seriously. Mainstreaming online gaming is anything but a small feat. I have Xbox Live (along with PS2 online and play PC games online) and aside from Blizzard games, Xbox Live commands my most online gaming attention.

    P.S. Don't screw this up.
    • Two years (approx.) and tens of millions of dollars of marketing to reach 1m subscribers worldwide?

      That's an interesting definition of 'mainstream'.
      • I agree with that... but i can't see it like a waste of money, first of all, X-Box have a part on the console market, which is really something, of course, with that kind of money they really had their chance and they use it.

        On the other hand, we can say that Microsoft now have a community, they have 1 million people personal info, and they can make with that profiles what they want... migrate to X-Box 2? offers? contests? i mean, they have a big database and they can exploit it (and we know microsoft kno

  • If this is true (Score:4, Interesting)

    by superpulpsicle ( 533373 ) on Thursday July 15, 2004 @03:13PM (#9710750)
    If this is true and not some M$ marketing BS, I'd seriously give them credit. Console online gaming is in need of some fuel for development.

  • I wonder (Score:5, Interesting)

    by LennyDotCom ( 26658 ) <Lenny@lenny.com> on Thursday July 15, 2004 @03:26PM (#9710860) Homepage Journal
    How many of those accounts were paid for and not included free with an xbox promotion Like the 3 1 year accounts that my family is using and won't be renewed when they expire.

    • Re:I wonder (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Captain Splendid ( 673276 ) <`capsplendid' `at' `gmail.com'> on Thursday July 15, 2004 @04:16PM (#9711386) Homepage Journal
      Good point, bu this is about more than just money, it's about building an online community, and by all accounts they've done that very well. As Gabe from Penny-Arcade points out, it's a lot more user-friendly than Sony or Nintendo's offerings.

      Microsoft should definitely get the credit for doing the job right in the area that's going to matter most for console gaming: online play.

      • Re:I wonder (Score:1, Flamebait)

        by AuMatar ( 183847 )
        Having played online PC games for a while- I doubt this. THe community for games suck. 99% of the people playing are absolute morons, assholes, or just plain annoying. Which is why only a very small percentage of even PC gamers actually spend much time in online play. Most of those who do just play real life friends. Online console play is a gimmick, its not going to truely drive console development or sales. If it did, Xbox would be number 1, not struggling for third.

        • Re:I wonder (Score:5, Insightful)

          by bigman2003 ( 671309 ) on Thursday July 15, 2004 @04:38PM (#9711586) Homepage
          While there are certainly some morons, assholes and annoyances on Live, I think the percentage is actually a lot lower than with on-line PC games.

          Why?

          Because your gamertag stays with you- and the gamers run the servers.

          On a PC, if I want to be a jerk, I can run around like an ass, and piss people off. Tomorrow, I can come on with a different name, and attempt to be serious.

          On Live, people will start to know you as an ass, and avoid you. Changing your gamertag is difficult (unless of course they ask you to change it!)

          Also- most games on the PC are played on central servers. With Xbox Live, the games are hosted by one of the people playing the game. (Certain games like Rainbow Six 3 allow 'dedicated' servers, but that is a different story) So, the host has the ability to kick someone who is being a total ass.

          I know that when I host a game I try to have fun, and let people play the way they want to play. But, if someone starts killing their own team-mates, or making racist remarks, or TRYING to annoy other people, they'll be gone in a second.

          Hey, 9 year old kids can't help it, they're annoying- but it's not their fault, so what the hell, let them play. But some jerk out there who wants to scream into his mike the whole time, or call people stupid n&G^#r or something like that...that shit ends quick.

          From your post, it seems as though you've never played on Live. It *IS* different from playing on a PC- in most ways, a lot better. Give it a try before you just assume that it sucks.

          • Re:I wonder (Score:2, Troll)

            by AuMatar ( 183847 )
            I've played MMOs where changing your name requires months of work to get back to where you were. Changing an xbox tag would most likely just be a new subscription. And the MMO asshole percentage was no lower than in other games. And most PC games allow the game's host to kick an asshole.

            For the 9 year olds- I don't care about age, I do care about maturity. If you're mature,at any age, cool. If you aren't, I don't want to be around you in real life, I sure as hell don't want to be around you in a game.
        • Playstation has online play too, and it's a big selling point. It has better onilne games, more online players. Even if its not quite as accessible, it's still usable enough for the average home idiot to use. If the PS2 didn't have online, then your point would hold more weight.
          • And what percentage of PS2 owners have PS2 online? An even smaller percent than MS. Lets face it, online just is not that big of a feature. The demand is only really there in the hardcore gamers market.
        • 99% of the people playing are absolute morons, assholes, or just plain annoying.

          Well yeah, but it's still a lot more fun jerking off by yourself!

          I'm lucky though, my PC game of choice right now is Enemy Territory [enemy-territory.com] and I've been lucky to find a server I can call home. We have a pretty good bunch (attitude-wise and ability-wise), and I've made a few good personal connections.

          So yeah, lots of idiots out there, but there's plenty of people who just want a nice clean game, you just have to put a little ti

      • Re:I wonder (Score:3, Interesting)

        by KeeperS ( 728100 )

        Online play, the area that's going to matter most for console gaming? I certainly hope not.

        This may seem like blasphemy to much of the Slashdot crowd, but I don't think that online play is the be-all-end-all of console gaming or even PC gaming. It's a nice feature, but I'd rather have a rock solid single player experience or a great local multiplayer experience. Dealing with random asshats over the internet isn't very much fun.

        It's kind of interesting that there was a poll on GameFAQs [gamefaqs.com] about this rece

        • Divided still means certain groups want it. Unfortunately the "don't wants" (mostly Nintendo apologists it has to be said) seem to think it's all or nothing. Can't we all just have what we want?
          • Agreed. It's clear that some people do want online play. Nintendo would be wise to listen to those customers. It's not like there's a shortage of multiplayer Gamecube games. And yeah, it wouldn't be as good as playing face to face with somebody, but it's better than nothing.

            I just don't think that online capabilities should be classified as the most important area of console gaming. Online play isn't worthless, but it's nowhere near the most important aspect of a game in my mind.

          • mostly Nintendo apologists it has to be said

            Which is kind of funny when you consider that the original Nintendo, in Japan, had a modem attachment and an online service.

        • but I don't think that online play is the be-all-end-all of console gaming or even PC gaming.

          No, you're right, it shouldn't be. A well-designed game should stand on its own...

          I'd rather have a rock solid single player experience or a great local multiplayer experience

          ...but Multiplayer is much more fun, and, for me at least, setting up local LAN games is very difficult, so online multiplayer is the way for me to go on the PC (no Xbox live for me, sadly.)

          As I mentioned in a reply just above, there

  • Wow, what bias (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    The post - "Ballmer - Xbox 'Can Take Sony' In Next Generation" gets hundreds of posts claiming that MS is dreaming, and that it's impossible, yet a news story that is undeniably positive towards MS everyone ignores... Congrats MS, thanks for bringing online console game to the masses.
    • Congrats MS, thanks for bringing online console game to the masses.

      Excpet that Sony hit the 1 million online consoles mark a little less than a year before, and Sega had more subscribers to Sega.NET in the same amount of time that Xbox Live has been out.

      Whoops, guess MS didn't bring online console gaming to the masses, then.

      And we don't know how far those numbers will drop over the next few months as people with their free 2-3 month trials don't renew.

  • figures as in? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Turn-X Alphonse ( 789240 ) on Thursday July 15, 2004 @04:25PM (#9711481) Journal
    1 million people, accounts, IPs logged or what?

    Theres so many different ways to measure this.

  • not free then not going to pay (Score:3, Interesting)

    by jeremywjones.com ( 776876 ) on Thursday July 15, 2004 @04:31PM (#9711536) Homepage
    I think online gaming is great. I used the free xbox live that came with it, but thats it. I am not going to pay $50 for a game and monthly fees just to play with others. I think the game prices should cover the fees of xbox live.

    • Free Alternative (Score:3, Informative)

      by Inda ( 580031 )

      XBConnect [xbconnect.com]

      Support for 50 games.

      I don't pretend to understand the technology; I plugged a crossover cable between the XBOX and PC, installed the client on my PC and it just worked. Neat.

    • Re:not free then not going to pay (Score:5, Interesting)

      by bigman2003 ( 671309 ) on Thursday July 15, 2004 @04:57PM (#9711757) Homepage
      That's fine, and I'm not going to argue with you, and say you're dumb, or anything like that.

      But, over the past 2 years I bought about 40 Xbox games. Most of them I've traded in, or given away after being finished with them.

      The only exceptions are Xbox Live games.

      Crimson Skies, Rainbow Six, Top Spin, Mechassualt...these are games that I can keep putting in to my Xbox, because there is always something new (different opponents). I'll probably hang onto these games until the next Xbox comes out, because it's just fun to play against other people.

      Each of the games I mentioned (and other Live games that I can't think of right now) have had their playing hours tripled, quadrupled, or increase 10-20 times because of Live.

      So is it worth $50 a year to take Crimson Skies from a 10-15 hour game, to a 150 hour game?

      Yes...it is for me. And don't forget downloadable content. Splinter Cell, Armed & Dangerous, and many others have downloadable missions that make the original game much more valuable.

      So, if you don't think that $4.17/month is worth it, that's okay. But for me, that $4.17 constitutes about half of my gaming (on Live). So I think it's a great value.

      • I am not saying that it is not a good deal for $50. But when there are online games for PC that are just as enjoyable that are free then thats what I am going to do. Plus the graphics on my PC is better then my xbox. I just think that there should be a solution to offer it for free. I still play both pc and xbox games. But for online play I always stick with PC.
    • At $50/yr it comes out to about 1 dime and 1 nickel per day to play online as much as you want, whenever you want.
    • That 15 cents a day gets you downloadable content, a closed network that does not allow cheating (see SOCOM on the PS2), a gamertag that follows you everywhere, friends list with 100 entries, voice chat, voice messaging and very soon video conferencing. Oh you also get to play online games :) Me thinks good value. We have 2 accounts :)

  • In other news, (Score:4, Informative)

    by Inoshiro ( 71693 ) on Thursday July 15, 2004 @04:42PM (#9711624) Homepage
    Nintendo is now up to 3 online games for the GameCube! You have a stunning array of choices, as long as you choose Phantasy Star Online Eps 1 and 2, Phantasy Star Online 3, or Phantasy Star Online Eps 1 and 2 plus!

    This is why I have both a GameCube and an Xbox. Nintendo may make great games, but they sure as hell don't know how to establish a presence in a market that's fairly large and enjoyable.

  • " Xbox Live Hits One Million Users" (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    OUCH! That must've hurt.
  • One Million Users heard to say: "ouch"

    thankyaverymuch...

  • Microsoft said in a statement that it reached the 1 million mark for Xbox Live users three times faster than other subscription services, such as Time Warner Inc.'s AOL and TiVo Inc.

    Does an XBox live account count for the box or is it seperate for each controller? If it's just for the box then perhaps they counted accounts and multiplied by 4.

    --Matthew
    • A Live account is subscription based, not controller based. As in you have to register to be listed as having an account. When MS says one million live subscribers, that means one million accounts, not one million players.

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