Don't Get Caught Dead Without Xbox LIVE (Review)
Posted Friday, November 15, 2002 at 11:10 AM Central
by Ken Rhodes
Welcome to the future of console gaming! The XBox Live™ online gaming service has officially launched in America on November 15th, one year to the day from the North American launch of the most powerful console gaming system on the planet!
Other game manufacturers and developers please take note: This is how online gaming should be. The service will be for broadband users only. High speed internet gaming will eliminate that irritating lockup and lag that dial-up users have with slower phone line connections –as anyone who has experienced Dreamcast online gaming will attest to.
Yes, on the front end you will pay $49.95 (US$) for the Xbox Live Starter Kit™, but for the price of a new game, it includes:
- The XBox Communicator™ , which is a high tech headset that can be adjusted to be placed on either ear (your preference) and connects into your XBox controller interface that has previously been just for memory units. (Oh, so that’s what that is for?)
- A setup DVD which will initially register you to the service and will also program your XBox™ with a new menu option that will easily allow you to get right online with Xbox Live Online Enabled™ games.
- Included on the disc will be several game demos. The included demos contain a demo of, Whacked!™ and an online version of Moto GP™ This special online version contains everything the retail version does except a majority of features are initially locked. These can all be fully unlocked by completing several races and “training modes” in full retail version of Moto GP™. When these are unlocked in the retail version, (which of course be saved on the Xbox’s massive hard drive) they will be unlocked for online play when using the included XBox Live™ demo disc version of the game.
The biggest innovation and advantage with Microsoft’s online initiative is the usage of the XBox Communicator™. With other game consoles past and present, online gaming communication has been achieved with the use of a keyboard, which detracts from the gameplay due to the fact that the players are forced to interrupt the game in order to get their message across. Let’s look at an example of a current online American Football game (which title & console shall remain nameless in this review). If you wish to communicate with your online opponent, you must pause the game, select a chat option from the menu, and then type in your message. If your opponent wishes to reply, he must do likewise. It is undoubtedly a waste of valuable game time, and detracts from the gameplay. With the XBox Communicator™, the player can communicate or talk trash immediately during game play.
Additionally, players can choose several different types of voice masking, so that the sound of his/her voice can be changed using a wide variety of voice-masking options such as a robot, a deep dark Darth Vader-like voice, among many others for fun. The XBox Communicator™ will also have a Mute feature, giving users the option to mute annoying people that they do not want to hear. The Communicator will also allow players mute themselves so if the player wants to discuss something with someone in the same room, the conversation does not have to be shared with the entire online community or in-game opponents.
Microsoft™ is going all out with their online initiative, and has invested millions of dollars to usher in a new era of gaming. There are several attractive features that will be included in the service. First, gamers will have one ID for all games which will be known as their “Gamertag™”. Gamertag™ will be your universal ID across all games on Xbox Live™, no matter which game you are playing. This takes place at the time you initially set up your Xbox with the set-up DVD that is included with the XBox Live Starter Kit™.
Another feature in Xbox Live™ is the “friends” feature, which will be much like instant messaging in that players are able to save a personal “buddy” list. As you are gaming online, you will make acquaintances with gamers all over the world. If you choose to do so, you may save the gamer that you are playing to your “friends” list. Once you have done this, you can contact them at any time that you are both online, from within any game that is an XBox Online Enabled™ game and invite them to play whichever game you are playing. For instance, if you have NFL Fever 2003™ in your Xbox™ and log onto Xbox Live™ and you notice that one of your buddies is playing another game , such as Unreal Championship, you can choose his icon from your list and send him an invitation to join your game. Your buddy then has the option to accept or decline your invitation. In this situation, not only can you see that your buddy is online playing a different game, but you may also view the status of your buddy’s game and choose to join the game he is playing if there are open slots available. If you are the friend accepting the invitation, you can complete your game, and then seamlessly switch to the game your friend has requested you to join him in. This is so simple that you can do all this without losing a beat! No restarting of your Xbox™ will be necessary, just eject, swap game discs and go. So in essence, in addition to online gaming, Xbox Live™ will create a worldwide online community.
XBox Live will also feature matchmaking options called ‘QuickMatch™’ or ‘OptiMatch™’. These options will allow the player to choose options within an Xbox Live Online Enabled™ game so that you can play a game with settings to your liking. Want to start off on rookie level? Want to play a game with fifteen kills in your death match? Want to only race ten laps? Then choose OptiMatch™. You will be able to choose your own options for the game you wish to play, and the service will match gamers up with similar preferences. OptiMatch™ will also identify the people who are more skilled at certain games than others so that a beginner does not walk into a hailstorm of fire in a new game. Additionally, Optimatch™ will give gamers options to play a more challenging game against someone equally skilled on a game that advanced players have already mastered.
It will be that easy, too! The great thing is that all Xbox Live™ games will feature these options so that you can select the type of game and/or skill level of your preference. Don’t care about any of these options? Then choose ‘QuickMatch™’! QuickMatch™ will allow gamers that just want to play the ability to jump into a game and have at it.
Another feature that Xbox Live™ will offer is the identification of those cheaters who quit games simply because they are losing. As those who may have experienced this on the PC side of gaming already know, sore losers like this are possibly the most annoying aspect of online gaming.
Every Xbox Live Online Enabled™ game will support these features. Just look at the impressive titles that will be on the service at launch to year end: NFL Fever 2003™, Whacked!™, MechAssault™, Unreal Championship™, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon™, Sega Sports NFL 2K3™ & NBA 2K3™, Sega Sports NHL 2K3™ Moto GP™, Tetris Worlds™, Capcom VS. SNK 2 EO™, & Phantom Crash™. With many other titles currently planned into 2003 as more developers have been announcing that they are coming on board with games for the service such as the highly anticipated, best seller on PC –Return to Castle Wolfenstein™. The service will also offer downloadable content, and so far the early known offerings will be added levels for ‘Toe Jam & Earl III™, Ghost Recon™, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell™, MechAssault™, MX Superfly™ and Unreal Championship™. Of course the service will also offer updated rosters for sports titles as well.
Clearly, Xbox Live™ will be the biggest & most innovative thing to ever hit console gaming. What a great time to be a gamer. Welcome to the 21st century, and I’ll see you online! If you like online competition, you owe it to yourself to get XBox™, & get on Xbox Live™!