Xbox Live
An updated version of the service became available for the Xbox 360 console at that system's launch. The Windows Equivalent is Games for Windows - Live that makes certain aspects of the system available on Windows Vista PCs, with plans to extend Live to other platforms such as handhelds and mobile phones as part of the Live Anywhere initiative.
History
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.
The online features, while praised as innovative, were largely considered a failure, and the Dreamcast's immediate competitors, the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo GameCube 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. 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.
Critics scoffed at the idea, citing poor broadband adoption at the turn of the century.
When the Xbox launched on November 15, 2001, the as-yet unnamed online service was destined for a Summer 2002 deployment. Xbox Live was finally given a name at E3 2002 when the service was unveiled in its entirety. 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. Microsoft's 5000th patent was Live-related and gave Xbox 360 users access to watch other gamers compete against each other over Xbox Live.
The packaging for playable Xbox Live titles on the original Xbox console featured the trademark gold bar underneath the Xbox header.
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".
Xbox Live hit a milestone in July 2004, when it achieved 1 million subscribers; and again in March 2007, when it achieved 6 million subscribers. In August 2007, Xbox Live had over 7.1 million active users. 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. This is part of the new dashboard update available this November.
Xbox Live features (specific to the Xbox 360)
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
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
The Xbox Guide, which opens a window on the left side of the screen at any time for easy access to common features
Windows Live messenger integration
Access to Xbox Live Marketplace content, including new game content, games and movies
Voice Chat (wireless or wired headset required)
Video Chat (Live Vision camera required, with headset optional for chatting, this is on Gold membership only)
Multiplayer online gameplay (Gold only)
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")
Avatars, which are customisable by the user and can be used in specific games.
(Will be included in an upcoming update).
Xbox Live Silver and Xbox Live Gold
Every new Xbox 360 comes with a 1 month subscription to Xbox Live Gold. A Gamertag must be unique and can be up to 15 characters in length.
Using a 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 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, this is useful especially when looking for a new gamertag, or confirming a Gamertag exists.
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. These Achievement points are awarded for the completion of game-specific challenges, such as beating a level or amassing a specified number of wins against other players in Xbox Live matches.
These possible totals per game have been raised to 1250G and 250G, respectively; see below.
On February 1, 2007, Microsoft announced on their Gamerscore Blog some new policies that developers must follow related to Gamerscore and Achievements in future releases. All games must have 1,000 Gamerscore points in the base game - the title can ship with fewer than 1,000 points, but anything added later must be free. Xbox Live Arcade titles may add up to 50 points via downloadable content (for a total of 250 points).
On May 26, 2007, Halo 2 was the first Games for Windows game to feature Achievements, which counted towards a player's Xbox Live Gamerscore.
On March 25, 2008, Microsoft cracked down on "Gamerscore cheaters" (those who used "external tools" to artificially inflate their Gamerscore), and reduced their Gamerscores to zero without the option to recover the scores that had been "earned", and branded the player by denoting on their Gamertag that they were a "Cheater".
At PAX 2008, Bungie Studios unveiled new achievements for Halo 3, which when all of them are added, equals 1750 Gamerscore instead of the normal 1250 limit.
Gamercard
Gamercard of Major Nelson.
The Gamercard is an information panel used to summarize one's user profile on Microsoft's Xbox Live.
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).
TrueSkill
TrueSkill is a ranking and matchmaking system premiering in the Xbox 360 live services. In this way, the system attempts to make every match as competitive as possible.
In order to prevent abuse of the system, the majority of ranked games have relatively limited options for matchmaking.
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. 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 will connect directly into the Xbox 360 controller to support text and instant messaging.
Users can connect the keypad into any Xbox 360 controller (Wireless or Wired), and have the ability to write a message back, and get right back into any game or movie the user is playing.
The New Xbox Experience
At E3 2008, it has been announced that all Xbox 360 members, Gold and Silver, will be receiving a new dashboard update this holiday that will add many new features.
One of the many feature will have the ability to watch streaming movies and TV shows from Netflix onto the Xbox 360. Players would be able to customize from changing body shape, facial features, hair and clothes, as being able to download more clothing from the Xbox Live Marketplace. Another small feature would be able to install an entire game disc into the Xbox 360's hard drive.
During the Press Conference at E3, Microsoft announced Xbox Live Primetime, a series of scheduled programs where Xbox Live members can play against each other.
The first announced game is an adaptation of the Endemol game show 1 vs. Players would not only be able to view their friends and messages, but will be able to access their game library.
In order to cancel this automatic renewal, users are required to phone a customer service number as cancellations cannot be made directly from the console. The service will be open to any 3rd-party developers, but they must be able to provide key functionalities such as game ratings, achievement points, and the ability to properly connect to Xbox Live.
The only non-Xbox platform supported by Live is Windows Vista, with the new Games for Windows - Live service which launched on May 8, 2007.
Xbox Rewards
Xbox Rewards was a promotion designed to provide gamers incentives to play on Xbox Live by subsidizing achievement points earned with actual rewards.
One of these takes the form of a proactive security check that assures that only unmodified machines may access their service. On May 17, 2007, Microsoft ceased permitting consoles with modified firmware from accessing Xbox Live.
According to Microsoft, consoles with firmware of unknown origin, quality or intent were banned permanently from Xbox Live. A Microsoft representative indicated that the action was taken to assure "the integrity of the service and protect our partners and users."
Recently, individuals have bypassed these firmware security checks using custom firmware (e.g., the iXtreme firmware) which prevents detection of alterations, effectively "stealthing" the modification.
Another website that offers a free support service is Xbox Live The Guide, which also covers a number of common issues.