Xbox live

From TF2 Wiki

• Developer: Microsoft Corporation
• Software Type: Online Service
• Update: January 2008
• Started: November 2002
• Console: Xbox, Xbox 360
• Website: Official Website

Xbox Live (trademarked as Xbox LIVE is an online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft Corporation. It was first made available to the Xbox video game console. An updated version of the service became available for the Xbox 360 console at that system's launch. Games for Windows - Live 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.

Contents 1 History 2 Xbox Live features (specific to the Xbox 360) 2.1 Xbox Live Silver and Xbox Live Gold 2.2 Gamertag 3 Pricing and subscriptions 4 Getting online 5 Availability 6 Team Fortress 2 on Xbox LIVE 7 See also 8 External links

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. 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 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. Over the 2007 Christmas period a lot of Xbox360's would not load as they should due to the problems with the Xbox Live service (they would not load the profiles and would just show a moving round circle).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. But if you don't want or like that game there is no alternative. 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.

Xbox Live has since passed the 10 million member mark for paying gold subscribers. This occurred 6 months earlier than Microsoft originally anticipated. On May 14, 2008 Microsoft announced 12 million members.

Microsoft’s Entertainment & Devices Vice-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 4 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 (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, unless a 48 hour trial code is used)
• 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")

Xbox Live Silver and Xbox Live Gold

Features	Live Silver	Live Gold
Download Content	Yes	Yes
Voice Chat	Yes	Yes
Video Chat	No	Yes
Multiplayer Gameplay	No	Yes
↑One week after Gold subscribers

• Every Xbox 360 comes with a 1 month subscription to Xbox Live Gold. To continue this subscription or to fully upgrade to a 12 month, the user either signs up with a credit card through the Xbox 360 or may purchase one of the pre-paid Gold subscription cards available at retail stores.
• Connection to Xbox Live requires a broadband connection.

Gamertag

A Gamertag is the universal name for a player's username on Microsoft's Xbox Live. 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. 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.

Pricing and subscriptions

Image:Microsoft points card 2100.jpg|thumb|right|200px|An example of a prepaid 2100 card, which can be used on Xbox Live Marketplace or Games for Windows

The Silver level service is free, while the Gold level requires a paid subscription. Xbox Live Gold subscriptions can be purchased directly from the Xbox 360, with a credit card and many retailers sell subscriptions, often at a discount. When purchased directly from the Console, the Gold subscription pricing is as follows:

Country	1 Month	3 Months	12 Months
U.S.	$7.99	$19.99	$49.99
United Kingdom	£4.99	£14.99	£39.99
Canada	N/A	N/A	C$ 59.99
Singapore	SGD 13.90	SGD 34.90	SGD 79.90
Sweden	SEK 79	SEK 199	SEK 599
Europe	€ 6.99	€ 19.99	€ 59.99
Australia	AU$ 10.95	AU$ 29.95	AU$ 79.95
New Zealand	NZ$ 10.95	NZ$ 29.95	NZ$ 79.95
Japan	¥819	¥2079	¥5229

If users associate a credit card with their Xbox Live account, when the current subscription ends, it is renewed automatically. When this occurs, a notification e-mail is sent to the e-mail address registered for the account. 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. This procedure has been criticised by some users, particularly with respects to requests made by customer service operators concerning the reasons for cancellation.

Getting online

Since the Xbox and Xbox 360 both include a built-in ethernet port, individuals can access Xbox Live by connecting a cable directly to their high-speed Internet device; however, many users have a more elaborate local area network configuration. Such configurations often take advantage of wireless access, or allow multiple machines to share a single Internet connection (via Network address translation). Users opting to use an existing wireless network can connect to Xbox Live by purchasing a wireless network adapter, which connects via USB into the back of the console.

While Universal Plug and Play attempts to address the needs of advanced users, not all devices support this (or support it properly). As such, manual system configuration and trouble-shooting is sometimes required. The official Microsoft site offers solutions to common errors such as "IP Failed", or "MTU Failed". Another website that offers a free support service is Xbox Live The Guide, which also covers a number of common issues. Additionally, users can often seek help from each other in online internet forums. Common topics include how to assign a static IP address, as well as how to make of use of router DMZs, port forwarding, or port triggering to deal with Network address translation problems.

Xbox Live itself uses a number of inbound and outbound ports on the Xbox and Xbox 360. Therefore, some ports need to be automatically or manually forwarded to the console if it is behind a restrictive firewall.

Availability

Xbox Live is currently available in 33 countries and territories:

Team Fortress 2 on Xbox LIVE

See also

• Xbox 360 controls
• Differences between XBOX 360 and PC version

External links

• Official Xbox Live website
• Major Nelson's Blog, by Larry Hryb, Xbox Live Director of Programming
• Gamerscoreblog, The Inside Scoop from Microsoft Xbox and Games Employees