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[Kingpen]

I have resisted Xbox live for a long time now, but now have a comcast connection that I am needing help to justify outside of work purposes. What drew you into Xbox Live (paying for it?) I can't get over the fact that it is the cost of a full game just to play online. But it seems that there are a lot of games that are now on my radar that seem to only offer 'half' of the true game in the box, and the other half is online. Being a single player gamer seems to be almost a handicap when buying a game these days.

I'm getting tired of hearing about games coming out that say something along the lines of "single player campaign, plus completely different levels to play in online multiplayer". I almost feel like I am being robbed of the true game by not being able to participate. I wan t to be able to play as the Nazis in the Outfit Dammit!

Games like Outfit, Saints Row, Battlefield 2:MC, Blazing Angels, Dead or Alive maybe... perhaps Fight Night and Full Auto and Ghost Recon 3 are all on my list to buy soon. These are all games that interest me with their content and presentation, without the multiplayer included in the factor on whether to buy. With that many games, maybe the investment is worth it....

Do you have to use the headset to get the maximum experience of the game? How is the lag factor? How is the community? I would love to be able to play with the GAF community since I have frequented this board the past 3 years.... Describe to me what it is like to play with GAFers.

I had a brief period where I digged Phantasy Star Online for DC, and it did make that game a lot funner playing with people. Until people started cheating and crashing your game...

Anyway, my thought for the night.

 

[demi]

I can't get over the fact that it is the cost of a full game a year just to play online.

You dropped something.


You're going to get the best XBL experience(s) through friends and friends alone.

GAF is a good place to start, they're good people. I only played Phantom Dust with some, and a couple games of Splinter Cell Chaos Theory Co-Op with a good friend, but they were fun.

 

[Mrbob]

Describe to me what it is like to play with GAFers.

thumbs up LETTTTTTTTTTTTTTSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Embrace Xbox Live. 50 bucks is nothing for the greatest online experience available.

 

[blackadde]

i came to my senses and cancelled my live sub a week ago. i guess if you have never played online before (???) live would be a good place to start. you don't have to fiddle with server settings or anything, but the system was just not giving me my money's worth - universal login and friend lists really should be provided free, plus to the best of my knowledge all games are peer-hosted. good luck.

 

[demi]

universal login and friend lists really should be provided free. good luck.

Xbox Live Silver

 

[Speevy]

This thread is dumb and ill-informed.

Xbox Live Silver is free, genius.

 

[blackadde]

isnt that just on 360?

 

[demi]

Yep.

Everyone's moving on up, that's all. Have fun in the stone age.

 

[blackadde]

i don't have a 360, ergo i didn't talk about it.

 

[Speevy]

i don't have a 360, ergo i didn't talk about it.

Buy one.

 

[demi]

Neither do I, I am just informing you.

Ergo,

Uh

Bye

 

[JoDark]

Sometimes there is some stupid shit said on these boards. The man says he is buying $400+ worth of games, and Live is somehow too expensive. If you have friends that play online, Live is fucking genious. I spend thousands each gen, and the $150 I spent for Live over the last 3 years was the best money I have every spent on gaming. I have played so many hundreds of hours online. Typically about an hour a day. About 50% of the time with friends. I have gotten SO MUCH more value from my MP games because of this.

About half of my friends are Live friends, people I met on Live. Many I have played A LOT with. I only know them by their tag, but play differnt games with many of them. This is the advantage of Live, constent list across games. It matters if you play. You are paying fucking something around $50 a MONTH for broadband... seems odd to not spend $50 a year to get the real value from it.

PS3 NEEDS TO COPY LIVE. I would pay another $50/year for that as well. GLADLY. What I won't do is give much of a shit for more games of the quality that the PS2 games have given me online. Where I have played at min 1500 hours on Live (avg ~1hr/day since Live day 1). I have played about 50 hours on PS2 online (Mostly SOCOM of course). I feel MUCH happier with the $150 for Live than the ~$100 on the PS2 for the modem+ headset.

Same goes for PSP and DS. Give me services that link all the games with consistent friends lists, scoring/compariosons like Achievements/leaderboards/stats/linked to Xbox.com

 

[krypt0nian]

and LIVE takes another life.

I approve. Welcome.

I kinda poopoo'd LIVE back with the xbox but the 360 LIVE is a different animal.

 

[Aruarian Reflection]

For the first time, Live feels like a full service, not just a means to connect people for multiplayer games. I give Live the thumbs up.

 

[lethial]

I have resisted Xbox live for a long time now, but now have a comcast connection that I am needing help to justify outside of work purposes. What drew you into Xbox Live (paying for it?) I can't get over the fact that it is the cost of a full game just to play online. But it seems that there are a lot of games that are now on my radar that seem to only offer 'half' of the true game in the box, and the other half is online. Being a single player gamer seems to be almost a handicap when buying a game these days.

I'm getting tired of hearing about games coming out that say something along the lines of "single player campaign, plus completely different levels to play in online multiplayer". I almost feel like I am being robbed of the true game by not being able to participate. I wan t to be able to play as the Nazis in the Outfit Dammit!

Games like Outfit, Saints Row, Battlefield 2:MC, Blazing Angels, Dead or Alive maybe... perhaps Fight Night and Full Auto and Ghost Recon 3 are all on my list to buy soon. These are all games that interest me with their content and presentation, without the multiplayer included in the factor on whether to buy. With that many games, maybe the investment is worth it....

Do you have to use the headset to get the maximum experience of the game? How is the lag factor? How is the community? I would love to be able to play with the GAF community since I have frequented this board the past 3 years.... Describe to me what it is like to play with GAFers.

I had a brief period where I digged Phantasy Star Online for DC, and it did make that game a lot funner playing with people. Until people started cheating and crashing your game...

Anyway, my thought for the night.

I've had Xbox Live since day one and have enjoyed it more-so then playing online with a PC. I use the headset if needed, but it's not crucial to have a good time. Lag is only encountered really if you or someone else has a bad connection, ala pc gaming. As far as cheating goes, you see it once in awhile espically in Halo 2, but it's becoming rare (in my experience). Getting away from idiots is impossible, it's just something you have to come to terms with when playing online unless you play with trusted people on your friends list exclusivly. Most of the games you listed are going to have great online experiences (I hope) and justifies the 80 bucks a year ten-folds, plus multiplayer is a great way to get better at the game and definitly extends the replayability.

 

[Musashi Wins!]

I cant even imagine owning a xbox without live. It will change your experience of the console. Its the best feature of any of the existing consoles. Get out and try it, you wont get it by soliciting the majority of gaf.

 

[brandonh83]

My tag is Unforgiveable. Just getting that out in the open. *cough*addmeyoubitches*cough* I mean, please.

 

[eeyore the donkey]

live
-peer hosted games (lag)
-$50 per year...have console for 5 years = $250
-xbox silver don't let play games

ps3 online
-free
-gg

(still going to get live with my 360 i'm just saying)

 

[Speevy]

(still going to get live with my 360 i'm just saying)

You're just saying something dumb. Xbox Live 360 is the absolute standard for online console gaming.

 

[Pedigree Chum]

I wish Live were free, you're basically paying for the "priviledge" to P2P play with people. Almost everything else is included in Silver, so it doesn't ever seem like you're getting much for what you're paying for. That's why I'm hoping that Sony does a basic knockoff of Live and makes it free, that might put some pressure on MS to either 1) add a whole shit load more to Live or 2) drop the price of Live or make it free. Everyone wins (cept MS ).

 

[Smokey]

I cant even imagine owning a xbox without live. It will change your experience of the console. Its the best feature of any of the existing consoles. Get out and try it, you wont get it by soliciting the majority of gaf.

Maybe last gen, but for 360 it seems a little different. I think it may be the achievements that don't make me 'have to jump on Live' when I put in a game. I too have been on Live since the very beginning; hell I beta tested it. But for me, I rarely even go online to play others(besides NBA2k6 which I am a God at), I'd rather get some achievements in my games.

I've got:

PDZ
PGR3
Madden 06
NBA2k6
Need for Speed MW
Call of Duty 2

Out of those I really only play 2k6 online.

 

[eeyore the donkey]

see speevy, pedigree chum makes a good point...all you're paying for is to play games p2p....all other stuff is free with silver

guess what, i can download demos and movie trailers and new content for free with PC gaming, so why am i forced to pay $250 for how long i will own xbox 360

playstation 3 online will be improved from ps2, it would be stupid to think otherwise. it's going to have many of the features of live...of course it will be better. and best thing is? it'll be free as well

 

[Sysgen]

The simple fact is that the Gold subscription extends the life of your Xbox games. Think about the additional hours that you get each month online from a game and then you can justify the fractional cost.

 

[demi]

I wish Live were free, you're basically paying for the "priviledge" to P2P play with people. Almost everything else is included in Silver, so it doesn't ever seem like you're getting much for what you're paying for. That's why I'm hoping that Sony does a basic knockoff of Live and makes it free, that might put some pressure on MS to either 1) add a whole shit load more to Live or 2) drop the price of Live or make it free. Everyone wins (cept MS ).

Boo

I've got:

PDZ
PGR3
Madden 06
NBA2k6
Need for Speed MW
Call of Duty 2

Out of those I really only play 2k6 online.

Hoo

 

[Speevy]

see speevy, pedigree chum makes a good point...all you're paying for is to play games p2p....all other stuff is free with silver

You're paying them for the meat and potatoes of the online experience, when they've already shown you how expansive and valuable online console gaming can be. If it's not worthwhile to you, don't pay for it. Enjoy your PS3 online games I guess.

guess what, i can download demos and movie trailers and new content for free with PC gaming, so why am i forced to pay $250 for how long i will own xbox 360

You're only going to pay $250 if you never buy any Live games. This is why MS offers free trials throughout the generation. I must have gotten 6 or 7 during last gen alone.

playstation 3 online will be improved from ps2, it would be stupid to think otherwise. it's going to have many of the features of live...of course it will be better. and best thing is? it'll be free as well

I'm sure it will be better than the PS2's non-service, but still a pale imitation. The amount of content offered with Live makes it such a well-developed service that I can't imagine where any other company would even start to offer an alternative. You seriously underestimate Xbox Live, or you haven't done your research.

 

[Agent Icebeezy]

Xbox Live is the greatest thing. Just log on, and off you go. Fun times indeed.

 

[Smokey]

Lol demi I'm not talking bad about Live. I know there is enourmous replay value in those games I have online, I'm just sayin I like to collect achievements and haven't really had the urge to go online. I'm sure it'll come soon though. And when it does I'll be like "why the fuck did I wait so long to play this?!"

Hmm, I may dedicate tomorrow a PDZ Live day after class and play it online for a day and see it's awesomeness!

 

[Agent Icebeezy]

I wish Live were free, you're basically paying for the "priviledge" to P2P play with people. Almost everything else is included in Silver, so it doesn't ever seem like you're getting much for what you're paying for. That's why I'm hoping that Sony does a basic knockoff of Live and makes it free, that might put some pressure on MS to either 1) add a whole shit load more to Live or 2) drop the price of Live or make it free. Everyone wins (cept MS ).

Microsoft invested 1 billion dollars in Live. They are still nowhere ahead in the game. For 50 bucks for Live is an easy 50 bucks spent.

 

[MightyHedgehog]

Other than what Live provides itself, there's the other matter of the sheer amount of online games on XBOX/XBOX360 versus PS2. There's a correlation and it's not coincidence that there are more to choose from on MS systems...

 

[Pedigree Chum]

The simple fact is that the Gold subscription extends the life of your Xbox games. Think about the additional hours that you get each month online from a game and then you can justify the fractional cost.

That cost adds up, somestimes I don't play online for quite a while (when there's a lull in releases). But then a big realease comes out and I need Live, so I've gotta go out and spend an extra $60 on top of the game to play...or get raped on the monthly subscription. I just like having the choice of playing online whenever I like and not have to worry about renewing every year. Sometimes I push myself to play online just to get the most out of my subscription, it shouldn't be like that.

 

[Speevy]

Quiz: What % of currently released 360 games are playable online?
What % of (in development) 360 games are playable online?
What % of currently (in development) PS3/Revolution/DS/PSP/PS2 games are playable online?

 

[demi]

You forgot PSP.

 

[Pedigree Chum]

I'm sure it will be better than the PS2's non-service, but still a pale imitation. The amount of content offered with Live makes it such a well-developed service that I can't imagine where any other company would even start to offer an alternative. You seriously underestimate Xbox Live, or you haven't done your research.

If Sony has a unversal friends list and a good frontend I'd be happy. Stuff like matchmaking kinda suck actually, I LIKE server lists, I like to hand pick which matches I want to play in whatever mode in whatever map I choose. Other features of XBL that are worth a damn (like demo, trailer downloads, XBLA stuff, downloadable content) are all Silver. I don't think its worth it, and if I weren't getting a 12 month package from MS for $20 I wouldn't even bother with it. I'd rather spend that $60 on another game.

Like I said, if Sony does a basic Live ripoff for free I'll be buying many more online enabled games for it over my X360. I don't want to deal with paid subscriptions for something that's just a streamlined P2P service.

Other than what Live provides itself, there's the other matter of the sheer amount of online games on XBOX/XBOX360 versus PS2. There's a correlation and it's not coincidence that there are more to choose from on MS systems...

Yeah, this for me is the main reason I like Live. Its well supported by MS and 3rd parties, this is what Sony has to do above all. They've gotta make good tools for Online, but they've got to push for it more than anything. The features for Live multiplayer besides the universal friends list does nothing for me, but the support of Live by everyone working on X360 is what gives it value for me.

 

[Speevy]

You forgot PSP.

EDIT: You're right. Changed.

 

[MightyHedgehog]

Yeah, this for me is the main reason I like Live. Its well supported by MS and 3rd parties, this is what Sony has to do above all. They've gotta make good tools for Online, but they've got to push for it more than anything. The features for Live multiplayer besides the universal friends list does nothing for me, but the support of Live by everyone working on X360 is what gives it value for me.

I'd like Live to be free of charge, but until Sony comes up with something equivalent for free, I don't think it's gonna happen. At least, in the coming gen, Sony will probably make online more of a priority, leading to more selection of online titles...I hope.

 

[blackadde]

Microsoft invested 1 billion dollars in Live.

uh ... where is this money going, again? i'm pretty sure it doesn't cost that much to host a friends list and some demos.

 

[Pedigree Chum]

I'd like Live to be free of charge, but until Sony comes up with something equivalent for free, I don't think it's gonna happen. At least, in the coming gen, Sony will probably make online more of a priority, leading to more selection of online titles...I hope.

Yup, its not going to chance unless Sony does something. Sony has said that online is an intergral part of PS3, so I'm hoping that the system sees XBox/X360-level online support from Sony and 3rd parties.

 

[Speevy]

uh ... where is this money going, again? i'm pretty sure it doesn't cost that much to host a friends list and some demos.

Stop posting. Seriously.

Click every link available to you.
'
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live/

You don't think they've put anything into this service?

 

[blackadde]

you think that sort of infrastructure costs a BILLION dollars?

 

[Speevy]

you think that sort of infrastructure costs a BILLION dollars?

I know it costs a heck of a lot more than "Please test your connection and don't remove the memory card that has your settings on it."

Xbox Live is also an ever-evolving service. Everything, from the content offered to the aesthetics can change at any time.

 

[MightyHedgehog]

you think that sort of infrastructure costs a BILLION dollars?

Who fucking cares if it cost a trillion, a hundred million, or a billion. It costs a shit-ton to do, and that includes making it so accessible to all developers and publishers, which is why you see so many games that are online playable on MS systems...

 

[blackadde]

I know it costs a heck of a lot more than "Please test your connection and don't remove the memory card that has your settings on it."

Xbox Live is also an ever-evolving service. Everything, from the content offered to the aesthetics can change at any time.

is that supposed to be some sorta gc/ps2 reference? i have not played online on either.

just so you know, one billion is a '1' followed by nine zeros. i don't doubt MS has dumped a heap of money into it, but the 'billion' comment is plain bullshit.

ed;

Who fucking cares if it cost a trillion, a hundred million, or a billion. It costs a shit-ton to do, and that includes making it so accessible to all developers and publishers, which is why you see so many games that are online playable on MS systems...

what do you mean 'making it accessible'? do you think the oracle at redmond is the only force in the universe that can unravel the mysteries behind TCP/IP?

i am sure MS has helped some development houses out. and i am sure that live is worth it to many people on this board. but don't jump on my back for calling out a statement that is patently false.

 

[RaySpencer]

a 360 without Live is a fucking waste of money ...

PDZ over live with GAFers is well worht all the money i paid for my 360.

 

[StoOgE]

I swear to God, these threads only exist so someone can feign interest in Xbox Live and then decide that its a waste of money. Look, if you dont want to pay 4 bucks a month for Xbox Live thats fine. Go drink your extra coffee a month at Starbucks and have fun with Sonys online "model".

I can tell you this: our nightly sessions of Perfect Dark Zero have been more fun than anything Ive played in YEARS, and its not even that great of a game. Xbox Live makes decent games great fun and excellent games all the better. It made last gen exponentially more fun than the generation before it.

 

[DCharlie]

i can do xbox live for free -it's a sham

all i need you all to do is give me your MSN id/hotmail address, then have you log onto your computer when ever you want to play...

MS are taking the piss - it should be totally free because it's such a nothing service that costs nothing and is very easy to develop. I expect sony and Nitnendo to create something better from scratch this coming hardware iteration...

(is that everything covered?)

 

[MightyHedgehog]

what do you mean 'making it accessible'? do you think the oracle at redmond is the only force in the universe that can unravel the mysteries behind TCP/IP?

i am sure MS has helped some development houses out. and i am sure that live is worth it to many people on this board. but don't jump on my back for calling out a statement that is patently false.

Since you're the one jumping on this statement, why not explain why it's 'patently false?' I don't give a shit about the claim, and, in my view, neither should anyone else unless you're a worry-wart MS stockholder or company executive. The labor (support & maintenance) and marketing is probably the largest part of that number. The investment in an online platform, and all of things that go into that, such as marketing it to consumers, evangelizing it to devs and pubs, and backing that up with a big push from internal end-user software for both the consumer and the development community is an expensive undertaking.

 

[TheDuce22]

a 360 without Live is a fucking waste of money ...

QTF with the current 360 lineup. Ive been playing PDZ and DOA 4 almost nonstop, they are amazing online. Live adds countless hours to games that would be collecting dust without it. Another one of the biggest positives to me is being able to play and chat with old friends and family that have moved away or whatever. Eaisly worth the price of admission.

 

[StoOgE]

i can do xbox live for free -it's a sham

all i need you all to do is give me your MSN id/hotmail address, then have you log onto your computer when ever you want to play...

MS are taking the piss - it should be totally free because it's such a nothing service that costs nothing and is very easy to develop. I expect sony and Nitnendo to create something better from scratch this coming hardware iteration...

(is that everything covered?)

Unless you paid to develop MSN messenger, created its database and can ensure everyone that plays a given game will get on it. Then no. Also, I want voice chat built in, the ability to see what game someone is playing, with whom they are playing it and the ability to jump into a game they are allready involved in or send my friend who is playing a different game an invite to join mine. I also want to be able to jump to his game with the simple push of a button. Oh, and I want voice chat across multiple games and the ability to check my high scores head to head against the people on my buddy list... and I would like to be able to compare what games I own with what games they own, that way I'll know which games I can invite them to play.

Also, official clan support would be nice. That way I could use your new MSN service to make sure only people invited to the clan can join and to let me set up clan only games where we can search for clan matches head to head without having to coordinate it with another clan.

If this shit is so easy to pull off than why hasnt Sony done it allready? I mean shit, you would think Sony would be smart enough to tell people to log onto AIM on their computer when they wanted to play last gen. They could post a FAQ about it on their homepage and call it a service.

 

[Beer Monkey]

I played PC games online for most of a decade. As far as community and communication goes, Live blows it away.

And since I play hundreds of hours of Live a year, it costs but a few cents an hour. A great deal.

 

[DCharlie]

"Unless you paid to develop MSN messenger, created its database and can ensure everyone that plays a given game will get on it. Then no. Also, I want voice chat built in, the ability to see what game someone is playing, with whom they are playing it and the ability to jump into a game they are allready involved in or send my friend who is playing a different game an invite to join mine. I also want to be able to jump to his game with the simple push of a button. Oh, and I want voice chat across multiple games and the ability to check my high scores head to head against the people on my buddy list... and I would like to be able to compare what games I own with what games they own, that way I'll know which games I can invite them to play."

i can't help but feel all this could have been avoided if i'd just added "" to the end...