XBox Live details announced

[K-BOMB]

According to various sites, the XBox live service will launch on November 15th. The initial starter kit costs $49.95 and will get you the Communicator, a demo disc, and a one year subscription to the broadband-only service. No details as to what the monthly fee will be after the first year.

Seven games will be available at launch (a bit shy of the 50 that other people were hyping in previous threads - man I am tired of being right :stick)

MechAssault
Unreal Championship
Ghost Recon
NBA 2K3
NFL 2K3
NFL Fever 2003
Whacked!

I'm afraid to ask what "Whacked" is about ;)

Anyhoo, thought you XBox owners would like to know the scoop. If any of you do subscribe, let us know what you think of the service. Later...

[K-BOMB]

In theory, you will be able to connect all of the consoles to your network or your broadband modem (with Cat5). I imagine the XBox will be straightforward, since at it's core it's a stripped down PC. The XBox live service is not a broadband service in itself. The fee is in addition to whatever you pay your ISP, and the service works with your existing internet connection.

There are plenty of potential snags (such as MAC adress filtering for cable modems, PPPoE scripts for DSL connections). I would guess the best bet would be to get a router that handles the internet connection for you, then the console simply gets an IP address from the router. That way you don't have to constantly switch from your PC to your console.

PS2 and GC owners will also have the option of dial-up. While I definitely prefer broadband, I was quite surprised how good dial-up gaming worked on the Dreamcast two years ago. The sports games suffered some lag, but Quake and Daytona Racing ran beautifully.

[LA_MERC_Cowboy_From_Hell]

K-BOMB...do you intentionaly TRY to piss me off or is i something that just comes with ease for you. I never said 50 at launch so if youre gonna quote me do it right. I got the info from XBOX magazine August issue...if it was wrong then oh well. My understanding is you don't have an XBOX correct?? Why do you care WHAT happens with it then? You don't see me in the PS2 or gamecube forums so stay out of mine.

Scott:mad:

[LA_MERC_Dirge]

Hey look, big brother didn't have any typo's! :stick

[LA_MERC_Cowboy_From_Hell]

The "no typos" should tell you something about my mindset when I wrote that.
And no, I don't think he's "just making jokes." Because I defended XBOX early on, he has taken it upon himself to knit pick my posts and point out any errors that may be in there. I usually at least make an attempt to know someone before I take liberties at their expense. I don't know him, have never seen him on the server, and don't care to.

Scott
still:mad:

[K-BOMB]

No disrespect intended at you BB, I was just poking fun at M$. Don't take it personally - I was simply trying to point out yet ANOTHER instance of Microsoft's hype being just that - hype. There was no way they were going to have 50 at launch (now that I think about it, you might have said 20 at launch, with 50 by year end - my bad). Either way, the magazine was wrong - twice in the same article apparently.

Just thought I would post the info since no-one else seems to post anything in this forum. No, I don't own an XBox - I refuse to buy it just for Halo. But, I do follow the consoles pretty regularly, and the sheer amount of hype and BS from M$ does tend to annoy me. They've been spewing this crap since well before the XBox launched. This is just the latest example. Like I've said before, if you're happy with your choice of console, great - enjoy it. Just don't believe everything you read in the "Official" Xbox mag.

Peace...

[LA_MERC_Cowboy_From_Hell]

OK, fine but if you read your own post you were directing your jabs at me....not Microsoft.

I'm willing to step back and start over...Hi I'm Scott, what's your name? :)

BTW, Obi Wan is a really good game and so is Jet Set Radio Future. I thought the whole idea was really lame with the graffiti and all (especially being a cop) but it's actually fun. There is nothing really special about Amped but dern if I don't play that thing for hours at a time. There are other good games for it...you just have to try them. I'll be the first to say there are a bunch patheic excuses for games too. Bloodwake comes to mind immediately.

Scott

[LA_MERC_Cowboy_From_Hell]

PS2 question...in a long gone thread I said PS2 doeant have broadband but someone said it does have a CAT5 port. What I was driving at was it doesn't have an on board ethernet card....is that correct or am I wrong again? My point was that the XBOX does.

Scott

[LA_MERC_Cowboy_From_Hell]

The cat5 is for LANing though right? My understanding is PS2...when it goes online will be a 56k connection. More retoric from XBOX mag. I'm just currious is all. Does it have an on board ehternet card?

Scott

[K-BOMB]

Dang, you guys post a lot during the day!

Hello BB, my name is Steven - former roommate and college buddy of Dirge, Diesel, Andyconda, and DagoDagger :) Dirge originally asked me to come by the forums to defend the Gamecube. Sorry to pick on you so early on, but that original post happened to coincide with the time a co-worker of mine picked up his X-Box. When he told me why he chose XBox, I couldn't believe how many of the reasons were either lies or half-truths that the salesman had told him. For example:

- Sega is exclusively on XBox
- You will be able to use your dial-up connection to play online - should be any day now (this was in June)
- XBox will be the only console to use broadband
- No extra charge to get online
- It will have a ton of games online when the service launches
- It play's DVD's (not untrue, but didn't mention the required $30 kit)
- It has the fastest MHz processor, so it must be the best, right?

I'm cool with salesman having a preference. Many of the dudes in EB are PC gamers, so it's only natural that they drift towards XBox. I'm OK with saying it has the best graphics, but don't act like they are leaps and bounds beyond the Cube, because they are not. Besides, anyone who values graphics over gameplay is a fool IMHO. But don't lie to people. Give the consumer all the information so they can make an informed decision.

Sorry, I'm ranting again. But when I heard your info from the "Official" mag, it just kind of set me off. I just want people to realize there is a bunch of mis-information out there.

I thought Obi Wan was a little weak compared to Rogue Squadron on the Cube (I know they're not the same type of game, but I was just comparing Star Wars launch titles). Amped got a lot of press before the XBox launch when it was revealed that the "official" screenshots were doctored in Photoshop :emb. I heard it's a good sim - I'm a big fan of SSX Tricky. I played Jet Grind Radio on the Dreamcast a couple of years ago - it was unique, but it never really grabbed me.

Glad to see you've found some other games that you consider wothwhile besides Halo. All of the consoles have those games that aren't "AAA" quality, but are fun enough to warrant a purchase. You should check out some of Sega's other titles. Project Gotham (sequel to Metropolis Street Racer on the DC) was good too. I've been very pleased with my Gamecube so far, even though there hasn't been a major franchise released yet (except Smash Bros). Eternal Darkness and the Residient Evil remake are probably my favorite - until Mario, Starfox, Metroid and Zelda come out over the next few months (woo-hoo!!!).

There are worthless games on all the systems (especially the PS2 - I'm sure I'll be hearing from Vicious about that statement :) ). Two XBox games that several mags were looking forward to were Cel Damage and Bloodwake - both huge disappointments. Bouncer was but one of many disappointments on the PS2. The most pointless game on the Cube so far is Universal Studios, hands down - it was hella-lame:)

Oh, and Vicious' quotes from the PSM mag about broadband are correct (imagine that - truth from a fan mag) ;)

BB, do you plan on subscribing to the XBox live service? Do you currently have broadband?

Oh, and if it makes you fell better, I just started playing CS at the urging of Dirge and Diesel. If you see me online, feel free to own me (lord knows everyone else does) :laugh:

Man, one of these days I'm gonna figure out how to write a short post.

[LA_MERC_Dirge]

See, I told ya I was the bad one of the bunch. ;)

[dA nYc pIMp]

when cs is on xbox u think there gonna leave these low poly models in the game? i think they are if u have screens of new high poly models in the xbox please show me

[LA_MERC_Dirge]

cs on x-box... who would play that?

[LA_MERC_Cowboy_From_Hell]

NO CS screens for XBOX yet that I know of. I will try XBOX Live...it's only $50 and the games for LIve are single player too. Yes I have DSL and a router so it won't cost me any extra. Just have to crawl under the house and run the line. EAs NHL 2002 is damn cool too. Ive never been disapointed by an EA sports game.

Scott

[K-BOMB]

Originally posted by Vicious

D00d, i can't agree with u more :-P...there are ALOT of those games...but guess why :) CAUSE PS2 OWNZ!!! lol.

BUT the majority of the PS1 and PS2 games are really really worth playing....

Dude, you just contradicted yourself. The majority of PS1 and PS2 games are NOT worth playing. No way, no how. (especially the PS1 - there were hundreds of games, and only a handful of them were AAA). Same story with PS2. BTW, if you're getting back into consoles, does that mean you're going to get your PS2 repaired?

Vicious: "DARN CD TRAY. OPEN...OPEN FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!! I SWEAR THE MAJORITY OF PS2 GAMES ARE WORTH PLAYING - I MUST PLAY! PLEEEEAAAAASE OPEN! Ahh screw it, I'm going to get a Cube - it doesn't have a tray" :stick :roll

I heard that CS will look better on XBox since they have a constant set of system specs, they can max out the polys to match the specs. On the PC version, they are still leaving the lower poly models so fans of the game won't have to upgrade their PC to run it - a nice change in this day and age. My PC is only two years old and already useless...

Dirge asks a good question. Are any of you guys really that interested in CS on XBox since it will also be on the PC? Will you buy both?

I'm a fan of some of EA's sports games - mainly football. I'm glad to have their full support on the Cube, NCAA Football 2003 rocks. NBA Live hasn't been good since it was on the SNES - Sega's basketball games are where it's at. I haven't gotten into Hockey sims much, but I loved Midway's NHL Hitz (if you haven't played it, check it out - it's no rules, multi-player madness at it's best). I'm a big fan of the "arcadey" sports games.

[LA_MERC_Diesel]

LOL, :stick boy
The bomb just :owned j00.
:p

[K-BOMB]

Dude, I already KNOW what a lot of the PS2 fans LIKE (it's very obvious by the sales numbers) - lots and lots of crappy games to choose from :)

Don't take it so seriously Vicious - just poking a little fun. I said a lot of the games weren't GOOD, and that's not just my opinion, that's based on the ratings from lots of fan sites, magazines, etc. I didn't say anything about people liking them as a lot of people obviously do.

[K-BOMB]

Agreed, but if anything most fan sites and console-specific mags are biased towards the system they cover. If even THEY rate a game poorly, it probably sucks.

[K-BOMB]

Who? Me?