Xbox 360 Achievements

It is currently the only online gaming service (on consoles) that charges users a fee to play multiplayer gaming. An updated version of the service became available for the Xbox 360 console at that system's launch in 2005.

On the Windows platform, the service is named Games for Windows - Live, which makes most aspects of the system available on Windows computers. Microsoft has announced plans to extend Live to other platforms such as handhelds and mobile phones as part of the Live Anywhere initiative.


History


Xbox 360 Dashboard

As Microsoft developed the original Xbox console, online gaming was designated as one of the key pillars for the greater Xbox strategy.

Sega had made an attempt to capitalize on the ever-growing online gaming scene when it launched the Dreamcast video game console in 1999, including online support as standard. Nevertheless, due to lack of widespread broadband adoption at the time, the Dreamcast shipped with only a dial-up modem while a later-released broadband adapter was not widely supported or widely available.

Downloadable content was available, though limited in size due to the narrowband connection and the size limitations of a memory card. The online features, while praised as innovative, were largely considered a failure, and the Dreamcast's immediate competitor, the PlayStation 2 did not ship with built-in network adapters.
Microsoft, however, hoped that the Xbox would succeed where the Dreamcast had failed.

The company determined that intense online gaming required the throughput of a broadband connection and the storage space of a hard disk drive, and thus these PC-style features would be vital to the new platform. This would allow not only for significant downloadable content, such as new levels, maps, weapons, challenges and characters, to be downloaded quickly and stored, but also would make it possible to standardize bandwidth intensive features such as voice communication.Steve Balmer and Bill Gates both had a vision of making premium download content and add-ons that would attract many new paying customers to earn money. Based on this reasoning, the console included a standard Ethernet port in order to provide connectivity to common broadband networks, but did not include a modem or any dial-up support, and its online service was designed to support broadband users only.

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 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. 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.

Tom Clancy's 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".
On November 15, 2007 Microsoft celebrated Xbox Live's 5th anniversary by offering its then over 8 million subscribers the title Carcassonne free of charge and awarding gamers who had subscribed to Live since its inception 500 free Microsoft Points. Due to intermittent service interruptions during late December 2007 and early January 2008, Microsoft promised to offer a free Xbox Live Arcade game to all Xbox Live users as compensation, concluding that, Marc Whitten has released an open letter to all Xbox Live members. Increased demand from Xbox 360 purchasers (the largest number of new user sign-ups in the history of Xbox Live) was given as the reason for the downtime. On January 18, 2008, Microsoft announced Undertow would be offered free for the week starting January 23 through January 27 as compensation. The game was for both Silver and Gold users, so people who paid for their Xbox Live service got the same compensation as non payers.
On January 6, 2009, Microsoft announced there were 17 million members.
Microsoft’s Entertainment & Devices President Robbie Bach claims that Xbox Live sets the 360 apart from its rivals. “Xbox Live is a big differentiator for us,” said Bach to investor.com, “That drives a significant amount of energy around what’s on with Xbox.” Bach cites the exclusive downloadable content for GTA IV as a reason why Microsoft’s online service is superior to its rivals.
Xbox Live exclusive servers are based in Seattle, Washington while using some of Microsoft's other servers in Quincy and Yakima, Washington.
Xbox Live features


Mottos for display on gamer profiles
Game achievements, which are earned during gameplay
Reputation rating which is voted on by other players who decide to either prefer or avoid another player.The reputation defaults to 100%(Five stars) over time after one player has preferred you.
Gamerscores, which are a total of a player's achievement points
Friends list, which is a list of a player's chosen friends, up to 100 friends allowed
Recent player list, which lists the last 50 players a user has played with
Complaint filing system, which allows a user to report another user that has broken the Xbox Live Terms of Use
Windows Live messenger integration
Access to Xbox Live Marketplace content, including new game content, games and movies
Voice Chat (wireless or wired headset required, Xbox Live Silver members are limited to two-player voice chat, while 3+ player voice chat has been implemented for Gold members with the New Xbox Experience)
Video Chat (Live Vision camera required, with headset optional for chatting)
Multiplayer gameplay, where a user can link up 4 Xbox's to play together (known as system link), or connect online (Online requires Xbox Live Gold)
Enhanced matchmaking using cumulative gamerscore, reputation, location/language profile, and gamer zone
Bio section in which one can list personal interests, URLs, etc.
Parental controls, limiting children's exposure to other users ("Family Settings")
Inside Xbox is a newsletter about Xbox Live news, events, products, interviews and games that is integrated in the Xbox 360 Dashboard. Content for Inside Xbox is created by the Xbox global marketing team and features streaming video segments "Pick Up and Play", "Major’s Minute" with Larry Hryb and "Game with Fame".

New Features announced at E3
Project Natal - A new way to experience gaming on the Xbox 360.

No controller required.
Social Networking - Facebook and Twitter has become partners with Xbox Live to connect gamers to Facebook and Twitter straight on their TV.
1080p HD with 5.1 surround sound - It has been announced that a selection of movies and TV shows on Zune Video will not only be in highest video quality and 5.1 surround sound but, you can stream it directly through Xbox Live without any downloading or waiting required.
Movie Partys - Movies and TV shows from Netflix will be able to be watched with friends over Xbox Live.
Avatar Marketplace - Xbox has announced a new Avatar Marketplace that will have premium items, interactive props, game styles, and items from games too. Gamertags can be changed using a premium service on the Xbox 360 console (for a price of 800 Microsoft Points), although a given console has a total of four slots for such accounts.
A player's Gamertag account status can be checked using a variety of online tools, which is useful especially when looking for a new gamertag, or confirming that a Gamertag exists.

Using a valid Gamertag, any player can be located and messaged from within Live. There are also several websites which allow users of Gamertags to upload photos and information about themselves.
Gamertags can be used in a variety of places, including the original Xbox, the Xbox 360, Games for Windows - Live, Zune, and XNA Creators Club.
Gamertags also contain avatar images (or "gamer pictures"), often associated with certain games or game characters.

Individual gamerpics cost between 15 and 20 Microsoft Points, but they are usually bundled into packs; packs of four or five gamerpics usually cost 80 Microsoft Points, while packs of ten typically cost 150.
Gamerscore
The Gamerscore (G) is a measure that corresponds to the number of Achievement points accumulated by a user with an Xbox Live profile. Initially, retail Xbox 360 games offered up to 1,000G spread over a variable number of Achievements, while each Xbox Live Arcade title contained 12 achievements totaling 200G.

The top bar that displays the Gamertag is shown in front of either a silver or gold bar which designates if the gamer has an Xbox Live Silver or Gold superscription. If the gamer is part of the Xbox 360 Launch Team, the top bar will also have additional text stating "Launch Team" in the background.These can be downloaded onto any Mac with OS X 10.4 or higher via Apple's widget download page.
There are four Gamer Zones; Recreation is for casual gamers, Family is for family-friendly gamers (without profanity, etc.), Pro is for competitive gamers who enjoy a challenge, and Underground is for no-holds-barred gaming where anything goes (as long as it does not violate the Xbox Live Terms of Use). Developed at Microsoft Research Cambridge (England), the TrueSkill ranking system is now used in over 150 titles for the Xbox 360.

For example, a new player joining million-player leagues can be ranked correctly in fewer than 20 games. By design, players cannot easily play with their friends in ranked games.

Such matches do not contribute to the TrueSkill rating.
Windows Live Messenger


The Chatpad for the Xbox 360 Messenger Kit

Windows Live Messenger allows users of Xbox Live, PCs (Both on the Windows and Macintosh platforms), and Windows Mobile devices to connect and directly message each other. Users will see at a glance if their existing contacts on Windows Live Messenger have Gamertags.

As of the December 4, 2007 dashboard update, Windows Live Messenger on Xbox Live is now available to child accounts if the user is 13 years of age or older.
On September 4, 2007, Microsoft launched the Xbox 360 Messenger Kit, a small QWERTY keypad that connects directly into the Xbox 360 controller, either wired or wireless, to support text and instant messaging.
New Xbox Experience
At E3 2008, Microsoft announced that all Xbox 360 owners would receive a new dashboard update, titled New Xbox Experience (NXE), on November 19, 2008 that has added many new features.
One new feature is the ability to watch standard quality and 720p streaming movies and TV shows from Netflix, through the Xbox 360. This feature is exclusive to Xbox Live Gold members in the USA with Netflix Unlimited.

The first announced game is an adaptation of the Endemol game show 1 vs. If a user has installed any game onto their Xbox 360 Hard drive, they are able to immediately start the game from the guide, whether they are in a game or in the dashboard.Microsoft also confirmed that every new 360s come with 3 free Xbox Live gold trial accounts, upon creating a new account the player is allowed to claim a trial period upon refusing to pay for Gold subscription; therefore allowing the user to try online gameplay for that one month trial period, after which the player is required to pay subscription fees to continue matchmaking online. One of these takes the form of a proactive security check that assures that only unmodified machines may access their service.