Xbox Live (Xbox) 11.18.02

**Wolffen** · 18 Nov 2002, 04:45 PM

The time has come. Online gaming is available for the console playing masses. People all over the United States will be able to challenge each other to games of skill, without even leaving their couches, except for bathroom breaks. All thanks to Microsoft. (Well, actually, Sega and Sony beat MS to the punch, but who’s counting?) With the arrival of November 15th on the Gregorian Calendar, Microsoft officially launched their online gaming network for the Xbox. And the masses rejoiced…mostly.

When you purchase the retail Xbox Live kit for $50 US, you receive the following: (1) headset communicator, to make you look even nerdier, (1) game disc with video demos of NFL Fever 2K3, Mech Assault, and the beloved Dark Master video, as well as playable online demos of MotoGP and Whacked, and (1) Xbox Live subscription code for a year’s worth of online play. All that’s required to play on Xbox Live is the aforementioned retail kit with your subscription code, an Xbox, a broadband connection (satellite and ISDN lines need not apply), and a gamertag that no one else has taken. Oh, and one more thing: a credit card (I’ll get to that in a minute). 90% of the time, setup is a snap. Plug an ethernet cable from your DSL/cable modem (or router) into the back of the Xbox, power the Xbox up, and run the Xbox Live disc. Go to create a new account, and hand over your soul to Microsoft. Just kidding. Well, I think I’m kidding. I need to look over the user agreement again. After providing Microsoft with your credit card info (for potential premium content purchases and the inevitable renewal fee they will charge late next year) and agreeing to their rather large, cumbersome, intimidating EULA, your Xbox will attempt to connect to the Live servers and create your account. There can be some problems at this stage depending on how your internet connection is setup. Users with DSL connections will need to provide a little more information in the Advance Settings area of the XBL network setup, but nothing too painful. If you get too stumped, you can always call 1-800-4MY-XBOX or check out http://www.xbox.com/support/xboxlivesupport.htm .

Once you’re signed up, it’s time to crank up some demos and see what this online thing is all about. I suggest MotoGP. Sure, you’ll get your ass kicked by fifty thousand other people, but it’s all fun. When starting up MotoGP, you have the option of a “Quick Match”, which throws you straight into the first available asswhooping, er, game lobby for a race, an “Optimatch” where you can specify certain requirements for getting your ass kicked (other racers can only be 90 seconds faster than me, etc), or you could even “Host” a match, which allows you the pride of coming in last to everyone you invite along for the ride. You can also practice (highly recommended) in Time Trial mode, check to see what your friends are doing via your Friends List, check how pitiful your ranking is world wide (or just in comparison to your friends), or play a mini game shooter after watching the credits. If you choose to race, you can send a friend invitation to other players in the game your playing. Y’know, in case they have pity on you, or something. This is what Microsoft calls “community building.” Basically, it’s total strangers becoming friends by playing games together. Overall, a cool concept. While you’re racing, you need to put your communicator to good use. The best feature of XBL is the fact that it offers real time voice communication. Everyone can scream at one time if they want. This feature is nice just because now you don’t have to read l33t speak when you’re getting fragged or run over. It really is amazing to hear someone thousands of miles away begging for mercy in real time.

Ok, so you’ve worked up a bit in MotoGP, and you can finish a lap on Jerez in under 4 minutes. Good for you! Now you’re ready for a new challenge. Well, head down to the store and take your pick. Several great titles were released along with the launch of XBL: Unreal Championship (for FPS action), Ghost Recon (great team based tactical action), Whacked! (great uh…I have no idea what’s great about it. Great for bouncy third person cameras and whacking 3 other players with mallets and staple guns), and Mech Assault (arcade-like mech warfare). Each game offers new opportunities for you to be King of the World. Or, the World’s Biggest Loser (good luck competing with me on that last one). Since XBL is a shared network controlled by Microsoft, you can look forward to games that all share a similar interface, that allow you to sign on with your unique gamertag in seconds, and get you into the online game fast. Well, in theory. I’ll get to that in a bit.

Along with making friends and keeping up with them via the Friends List, you can actually invite friends to play a game with you when they are online. So say EvilMog is kicking everyone’s ass at Unreal. He wants to kick my ass too! He pulls up his Friends List, finds me online, and sends an invite. The next time I see my Friends List, I’ll see a little icon letting me know someone sent me a game invitation. Upon further inspection, I see EvilMog wants me to join him for some Unreal fragging. I can accept or decline his invitation. If I accept, the Xbox tells me to put the Unreal disc in and restart. Doing so, the Xbox should boot up, and go right into Live, asking me if I want to play with EM. If I decline (which I will, since I don’t have Unreal), EM gets a note that says I’m a bastard and don’t want to play with him. Or something like that. Again, since XBL promotes a standard interface across any games that are XBL compatible, this functionality will be the same in all games (‘cept Mech Assault).

Another potentially great feature of XBL is downloadable content. The wonders of a broadband connection and a hard drive being built into Microsoft’s gigantic black console allow developers to put “hooks” into their games that enable consumers to download new levels, characters, etc. to extend the life of a game. Also, with optional “Premium Content,” Microsoft and developers can charge an extra fee beyond the original XBL sign-up cost for special downloads. Say, rather than develop and press a new game for the 2004 season, Sega could offer a $15 download that would update the playbooks and rosters for NFL 2K3. This gets to be a sticky area that could backfire on Microsoft, for several reasons. First, this opens up the first instance of patching on a console (which will most likely happen on Mech Assault). Second, there could be abuse of the downloadable content feature when it comes to rushing titles out the door. There’s been some grumbling about Mech Assault in this area, given the limited number of maps available for use online via the retail disc. Finally, Premium Content opens up the possibility of developers delivering a product that is purposefully crippled, in order to charge the consumer a second, third, or even 10th time to get features and options that should have been in the game when it went gold.

One of Microsoft’s favorite features of XBL is Voice Masking. This is basically a real time voice modulation that can be used to disguise your voice whilst in game. Some games, like the MotoGP demo, allow you to test the voice mask out before you use it in game, which is nice. But overall, as cool as the tech is, voice masking is annoying as hell in game. Trust me, hearing you best bud down the street come on to you using the “woman” voice mask is just plain creepy. 9 times out of 10, though, it will be the 13 year old kid singing Eminem songs with the “robot” or “child” voice that will cause you to shoot yourself. Luckily, Microsoft saw fit to build a mute function that allows you to mute specific players when they get vulgar or annoying. Unfortunately, you have to suffer through the match until it’s over, or simply give up the match to drop to the options menu to mute said annoying players.

One final feature I’d like to mention is Player Feedback. This feature lets you pull up a player’s gamertag as you play, or between rounds, and allows you to leave good or bad feedback. So for the aforementioned brat with the robot voice who just won’t shut up, you can leave them negative feedback for “spamming.” Microsoft will hopefully use this feature to discipline the bungholes who will inevitably appear on their network. It remains to be seen if this feature will be abused by clans, however (think about it).

So, given all the above, is Xbox Live worth the $50? If you have a broadband connection already, and either enjoy online gaming, or want to give it a shot, then yes. The range of games that work with XBL are limited in genre, but this should change as time goes on. If no games currently available for Live tempt you, hold off for now. XBL has a lot going for it. Real time voice communication, the Friends List, nationwide leaderboards, and downloadable content all offer something that hasn’t been available in such an easy to use form before. It’s also incredibly addicting once you start playing. However, things are by no means perfect. Contrary to what Microsoft would have you believe, there is still lag in XBL games. It’s just not as bad as narrowband games. The first thing to act up when lag hits is the voice communication. Also, since XBL is primarily P2P based, the connection of a game’s host becomes important to the overall network health of that game. If a person with a slow connection hosts a game, everyone else will suffer more warps, hiccups, and such during play. It would also be wise to keep in mind that while most XBL games will be P2P, some, like PSO and KOTOR, will be server based and most likely cost an extra monthly fee beyond the $50/yr XBL fee. There is also the potential abuse of the downloadable/premium content feature by unsavory developers. Microsoft also has to do a better job of making developers standardize the XBL interface. Mech Assault owners know what I’m talking about. Finally, Microsoft needs to deal with some of the usability issues that exist in XBL. Things like having to stop a race/match to mute annoying players or leave bad feedback, how to let a friend know you’ll be on at a certain time without resorting to IM or email, being able to disable voice masks for those players who dislike them, etc. Microsoft currently plans on growing the service and updating it once a year. This means XBL users might be stuck with the existing problems for another 360 days. For some people, this isn’t a problem. I know I’ll live with it. See ya online!

**bahn** · 19 Nov 2002, 05:50 AM

Nice review, unfortunately, this does not qualify as an entry. You have to review an actual game, reviewing Xbox Live's online functionality and such is not part of the criteria.

No hardware or peripheral accessories.

(Moved to standard Reader Review board).

**Wolffen** · 19 Nov 2002, 07:49 AM

While I wouldn't consider XBL hardware or a peripheral, that's fine. This was as much for my site as anything else. It gave me a nice warm up for Mech Assault.