MS Statement on playing xbox over Internet (1 Viewer)

[David Proud]

Here's their official statement which is found on retail.xbox.com (thanks XboxForEver949):

"It's amazing and exciting to see the lengths that gamers will go to in order to take their Xbox games online. The GameSpy arcade efforts are a strong indication that people want online console game experiences. Additionally, these efforts showcase the superiority of Xbox because it was built from the ground up to provide people with the next generation of exciting online game play. The Xbox online experience will enable, natively and in a highly reliable and secure manner, an end-to-end online gaming experience that will go well beyond matchmaking to include things like voice, multiplayer with more that just two players, downloadable content and more."

We think the GameSpy efforts are an interesting science experiment by and for hard core gamers. The suggested set up requires every player to have a PC located close to their Xbox. It appears to work pretty well for 2 players, but beyond that, it doesn't scale. With the online service and capabilities of Xbox, the experience will be unlimited. In order to engage several players, voice, content download, and online support with no PC required, gamers will have to wait for the Xbox online service. And it will be worth it.

Our online efforts are designed for the ultimate in online console speed, simplicity, community, and content. Right out of the box, Xbox online will be an always-on, fast-action service that provides multiplayer and episodic gaming, and tournaments that appeal to all types of game players

 

[Jason Handy]

Uhh...that doesn't say much about when they plan to support online gaming properly through subscription-based servers. Everything here from Xbox is in the future tense...I wonder when they will break out the online stuff?

Jason

 

[BrianB]

LOL. There is *zero* hard factual content in that quote!

 

[Iain Lambert]

Well, it could be worse. What this amounts to is 'congratulations Gamespy, don't worry we won't sue as it just makes us look good. But all you hungry consumers should get our pay service when it launches, as it will be better, honest'. Gamespy's hack is a bit of a kludge, but its a really nice one.

 

[Wolf Jenkins]

And they didn't sue them... Gotta be worth something... Some companies tend to sue as soon as someone does anything 'out of spec'.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

Lets see GameSpy make an X-Box emulator and we'll see what MS says.

As long as GameSpy doesn't allow online games (the ones made for online) to be played without MS' subscription service, MS will probably be happy.

 

[Leroy]

Too bad I won't be able to experience online play until hell freezes over :frowning: (which is just about when I should get broadband service in my neck of the woods!!).

 

[Jeff Peake]

I would not be suprised to see Microsoft sue GameSpy after the xmas buying season. I think if they sued now, it may hinder sales of XBOX due to bad press.

Either they will sue, or counter-measures will be taken to hinder performance of 3rd party online options. Halo is pretty choppy over GameSpy...I wouldnt doubt if that was by design. You really need rock solid pings to play online. And I havent measured the bandwidth it is using, but I think it is ALOT, like 256KBps. My 384/384 SDSL is barely able to keep up!

If Microsoft offers good online content, I will subscribe. If it is just a lobby to launch games, I will continue to use GameSpy or something similar.

Jeff

 

[Gary Rhine]

The online service is scheduled to begin summer 2003. Microsoft often takes a few versions to get things right but with the X-Box I think they have done a great job right out of the gate.

 

[Dean Cooper]

I think it'll be more like summer 2002 but who knows really. Seriously though, what grounds would MS have to sue? All Gamespy is doing is emulating a hub online, just like Kali did with doom and countless other network games before the online thing became a standard. It really has nothing to do with hacking the hardware nor the software so I just don't see how MS could justify a lawsuit.

Dean

 

[David Proud]

I agree with Dean, nothing wrong with what gamespy is doing. And yes guys there will be other services that are free to compete with microsofts online network. If microsoft charges for its online network, that will be a dumb move. They own zone.com and don't charge for it.

 

[Wolf Jenkins]

I kinda think that MS will _NOT_ charge for online play. They don't need it as a revenue center or anything. For instance, how many people would use Battle.net if they charged? If they have good free online servers, _THAT_ alone will sell games like mad. Sony and Nintendo might need to charge as they may need to offset the costs, but MS has soo much money that they wouldn't _need_ to do it. Look at what happened to Sega.

We'll see - MS hasn't said anything about fee-based online play have they? I could see if its a MMORPG (or whatever the acronym is) but for games like Halo, it doesn't make sense.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

I think MS is going to allow companies to charge for their games if they want to, plus they might have a small fee of their own for their service (like a SegaNet thing). Every month, all the charges are put on one bill and its mailed to you.

So you will have to pay, but it depends on the games you play. I think its a game-by-game basis, cuz if its not, then its just stupid.

 

[BenS]

Why is it just stupid?

 

[Morgan Jolley]

Because the console market is different from the PC market. People who are willing to spend thousands on a great PC are more likely to spend money each month to play a game on the internet. Console gamers, who scream at consoles costing more than $300, are not the same type of people. Console gamers are more casual, and the only ones who will pay are hardcore gamers or spoiled kids.

If anything, MS should leave it on a game-by-game basis and leave it to the developer/publisher rather than have a fee of their own on top of game fees.

 

[David Proud]

If microsoft invest Microsoft money into building an online network

why would they give game companies the right to charge $$$ for there free network they built?

The game companies did not develope the network. Microsoft did.

if the game developers wanna profit from the Microsoft Xbox network they must include online play in there games thus giving the consumer a reason to buy the game, "Online play".

And yes I consider myself a hardcore gamer, very hardcore and I am switching to the xbox b/c its basically a pc and doesn't have the characteristics that typical consoles have had in the past. limitation of a hard disk, limitation of resolution, limitation of positional audio, lack of highspeed online PLAY, etc the list goes on and on.

The xbox is a pc made for gaming and as a hardcore gamer I am putting my money on it instead of a new gefource3 for my pc.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

Microsoft is making a network for people to play games on, but sometimes developers make their own networks, like Squaresoft did. They are able to charge for online play if they want to. They don't NEED to use MS' network, plus if they do, MS will probably charge them for it, so it would be better for the companies to make their own networks or charge.

Square is making one network with one fee for all their games, as well as Enix and Capcom's games. All three companies are using the same network with a low fee, like $10 a month, with unlimited online play of any online games. Thats $10 total for all games, not per game. MS is either charging for their network, or will let developers charge for theirs (like Square is).

 

[BenS]

IMO I don't think this will fly EA-$10 Sega Sports-$10, 989-$10, and so on. Plus the charge of dsl each month. Not too many parents will pay that much for there kids to play. I won't that's for sure it could end up costing $50-100 each month. This is what sega did and I haven't been online since. I think MS will charge one fee and that's it.

 

[Scott FP]

Here is a good article on some of the logistics that cable companies with high speed data face when considering adding xbox and playstation on their broadband network.
http://www.cedmagazine.com/ced/2001/1201/12a.htm

 

[Morgan Jolley]

MS should do like Sega and Sony and create a network for games to be played for free. Square, Capcom, and Enix also have a good idea with their network.