The real challenge to Xbox Live: reaching the masses

[zekrahminator]

One of the major features of Xbox(360) is internet gameplay. Xbox Live is one of the most important things separating the Xbox(360) from competition coming from Sony and Nintendo. However, most Xbox(360) owners do not use this feature. Only 10% of people owning an Xbox had an Xbox Live account, and 50% of Xbox360 owners have an Xbox Live Gold account.

While there are over 4 million owners of the $50-a-year Xbox Live Gold accounts, there are several reasons that this number is not much higher. The first and most important reason is an intimidation factor. Immature players who are pitted against very experienced players may be scared away from Xbox Live. There is also no shortage of "aggressive and sometime verbally abusive players" who can make even the best players stay off of Xbox Live. "A lot of casual gamers are intimidated by online in general, both in terms of the technology and the human competition," said Cole. "That's changing, but it still has a ways to go." In an attempt to make Xbox Live a friendlier service, Microsoft recently started an Xbox Live Video service, as we reported here.

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[jocksteeluk]

"The first and most important reason is an intimidation factor"

Negative, the first and most important reason people dont use Xbox live is the fact you have to pay for it, if they made it free to play games you own Xbox360 games online i am sure the vast majority would do so. Micro$haft should alow gamespy or someone else to offer an alternate free service and they would soon see that take of like a rocket.

 

[Wile E]

"The first and most important reason is an intimidation factor"

Negative, the first and most important reason people dont use Xbox live is the fact you have to pay for it, if they made it free to play games you own Xbox360 games online i am sure the vast majority would do so. Micro$haft should alow gamespy or someone else to offer an alternate free service and they would soon see that take of like a rocket.

Both points weigh in equally for me. I'm not fond of having to pay $50 a year to play online, but I'm also not fond of signing on, only to have my arse handed to me by a trash talking 14 year old. lol

 

[Steevo]

Too true on the money thing. Why pay for something you have already paid out the nose for? And really, why so much per month. But this just goes to show that PC gaming is better.

 

[Wile E]

Too true on the money thing. Why pay for something you have already paid out the nose for? And really, why so much per month. But this just goes to show that PC gaming is better.

I agree. The only reason I have 360, is for some of the exclusive titles, and being able to play split screen multiplayer when friends are over.

 

[Steevo]

I had a couple friends over last night and was trying (one guys system was jacked from his incessant pron and crap downloads) to LAN CS:S and halo. And a console gamer was one of them, he started playing HL2 and Halo and didn't want to stop.

 

[Wile E]

I had a couple friends over last night and was trying (one guys system was jacked from his incessant pron and crap downloads) to LAN CS:S and halo. And a console gamer was one of them, he started playing HL2 and Halo and didn't want to stop.

That's just the thing, most of my friends don't have gaming worthy PCs, so LAN parties are out of the question. It's really a shame, because CS:S, and FEAR are 2 of my favs. And I hate FPS on the consoles. I'm too spoiled by aiming with the mouse. lol. But with the 360, they can still come over and play some multiplayer.

Quick question, anybody try using a keyboard and mouse on 360 for a FPS?

 

[Steevo]

USB.......



And mebey a hack on some mouse pointer software could do the mouse part.

 

[wazzledoozle]

And on top of that $50 a year charge, if you ever want to download anything thats going to cost you too. This "micro-transactions" bullshit is a big reason why people (such as myself) stay away from live. If I paid for the game, paid for the online service, paid for the internet, paid for the damn console, why the hell should I have to pay for things like an avatar, themes to customize the gui, and anything that adds-on to a game will have you paying out the ass.

All this on top of charging 59.99 for new games.

 

[Wile E]

USB.......



And mebey a hack on some mouse pointer software could do the mouse part.

I knew the keyboard worked, mostly wondered about the mouse. I'm away from the 360 right now, or else I would try it myself. If I could use the kb/mouse on things like CoD3, I'd be much happier. Aiming sucks with the controller. lol

 

[Azn Tr14dZ]

If you think about if, $50 a year isn't bad, compared to some people paying $30 for every two months for games like WoW, and the service that Xbox Live gives you is great, with so much downloadable content, and you can also rent HD Movies for a certain amount of points. It's amazing.

 

[Wile E]

If you think about if, $50 a year isn't bad, compared to some people paying $30 for every two months for games like WoW, and the service that Xbox Live gives you is great, with so much downloadable content, and you can also rent HD Movies for a certain amount of points. It's amazing.

I just noticed the HD movie thing last night. Is that only for Gold members? I'm on a 3month subscription now(gift), I might buy some points to give it a shot. (Plus I've kinda been wanting to download Gauntlet from the arcade. lol)

EDIT: From what I gathered last night, downloading a movie is kinda like ordering a PPV on cable or sat. Once you start playing, it expires in 24 hrs. Is that how it works?

 

[Track]

PCs are SO much better than anything else.
Why pay 50$ a year to play an un-polished shooter with a gamepad and extra for videos i can download on my PC for free?

 

[Wile E]

PCs are SO much better than anything else.
Why pay 50$ a year to play an un-polished shooter with a gamepad and extra for videos i can download on my PC for free?

Because downloading the videos from free sources on the internet usually isn't legal. If you have a free and legal source to download movies in HD, please clue us in.

The reasoning behind playing a shooter(or any genre of game, for that matter) on 360 is because some of them aren't available on PC(Call of Duty 3 and Gears of War jump to mind immediately), and multiplayer doesn't require a LAN or server. If I could only get a mouse and keyboard to work in gameplay on the 360, I'd be perfectly happy.

 

[Steevo]

No LAN are you sure?


Then what is the cable going to the 360's for?

 

[Athlon2K15]

you can play xbox 360 online for free,just not using XBOX Live there are other services that work just as well...i used to use them when i had my xbox and played halo all the time on them

but still i dont think 50 bucks a year is bad at all,as long as your not a kid and have a job is nothing.......i just wish it were cheaper to get ms points it kinda expensive

 

[Azn Tr14dZ]

you can play xbox 360 online for free,just not using XBOX Live there are other services that work just as well...i used to use them when i had my xbox and played halo all the time on them

but still i dont think 50 bucks a year is bad at all,as long as your not a kid and have a job is nothing.......i just wish it were cheaper to get ms points it kinda expensive

Do you mean Xbox Connect? It's a good online service, but you have to pay if you want to talk...which sucks because it doesn't have as many features as Xbox Live.

 

[Athlon2K15]

Xlink Kai is what i was talking about personally

 

[Wile E]

No LAN are you sure?


Then what is the cable going to the 360's for?

You can LAN them, but most multiplayer games on the 360 doesn't require it. Most of them let you play split screen. Just easier to deal with for casual gaming amongst friends.

 

[WarEagleAU]

$50 a year isnt bad at all, not at all. But when you have to add on the other stuff that the $50 a year gets you, it starts adding up over $200+. Seriously, who is gonna turn down all the cool stuff Xbox live offers you? I wouldnt. In fact, I used my gold account (free mind you) and it was awesome. I have the silver membership which is free and good for me, but I have to agree with paying $400 Console, mebbe $50 for another wireless controller, $180 for decent games ($59.99 X 3 = $179.97, so I rounded up) that is $730.00 right there. Then you pay the $50 for Gold. That is $780. Then add in other stuff you want and you can spend well in excess of $1000 right off the bat. Then after that, anywhere between $0.00 to $200.00 or more a year with all the Live stuff. I mean, its a raping of gigantic proportions. Sony has a nice thing they are doing, but even their premium stuff will cost. ::sigh::

 

[mout12]

I think that %50 is a good number considering you have to pay $50 a year. It's easy to say "XBL is a ripoff - you can play PC games online for free" - and believe me, I was so against paying for XBL when I first got it, but that was a year ago. Xbox Live is something that PC just cannot offer. Example: Everyone who has Xbox live, has an account which you can send messages, voice/video chat, and Inivite to games. I could be playing Gears of War, and then invite my friend who's playing Call of Duty into a private chat, or I could just invite him to my game. With a PC, you cannot easily invite friends you meet in one game, to another. On top of that, XBL is updated constantly, and receives new content all the time (I can't wait until the amateur game programmer's section is up, so I can see what the average joe can do!). I own a PS3 and an Xbox360, and I can say that even tho I pay $50 a year for XBL, it totally blows Sony's online service out of the water.

People just aren't playing online because they are too weak, and cannot quickly adapt to new things. I truly believe this, because Xbox Live is free for a first month.

 

[NamesDontMatter]

The problem isn't intimidation, or verbal abuse. Its all the 12-13 year olds who have high eardrum bursting voices, who scream phrases like "I'm too 1337 for you", or "Die Noob", or "you got pwned." The thing is Xbox live, is too immature for me or so it feels. I want a console to play split screen on my 40" LCD with friends, not to get harassed by little kids. When I game now, which is not often. I want to take a small break from the real world and just have fun, not get frusterated or stressed out. Which is what Xbox Live does for most people.

 

[Athlon2K15]

you can set your preferences to who you play.....its in the preferences section on the dash board of the 360

 

[NamesDontMatter]

you can set your preferences to who you play.....its in the preferences section on the dash board of the 360

I'm aware of that, still not a fan.