Xbox Live - beta now, or wait for launch? (1 Viewer)

[Jason Price]

I *just* got the email accepting me into the Xbox live beta. Took 'em long enough. Seeing as launch is just a few weeks away, I wonder if I should bother purchasing the kit now, or if I should wait until the official launch. My thinking behind waiting for the launch is because I'm wondering if there will be any specials for the launch. Does anyone know if there are going to be any launch-day (or shortly thereafter) specials (not money, but pack-ins)?

 

[BrianB]

Absolutely no clue, Jason, but I've been contemplating much the same decision - get now (and pay shipping) or wait & pick up locally. There's no sweetners offered to beta testers at the moment, so it's really just a case of getting it a couple of weeks earlier... :-/

 

[Kelley_B]

I slept on the choice and finally decided to go ahead and get in on the beta.

 

[Chris Bardon]

About the only reason I can think of is to get the gamertag that you want before someone else grabs it (I'm assuming that they all have to be unique).

I actually decided to opt out of the beta once I found out that there was really no incentive to be a tester (other than getting in early). None of the early Xbox live games look that interesting (almost all sports games), with the possible exception of Unreal Championship. We'll see what happens as things progress though... Halo2 might change everything.

 

[Travis Olson]

I got my e-mail today also. The order screen says that it comes with "Online-only game versions of Whacked!, MotoGP and NFL™ Fever 2003. (The games can be played exclusively during the Beta Testing period. Xbox Live will be available in the U.S. on November 15, 2002.)". So what does that mean? Will I only be able to play those games through November 15? If that is the case and I have to buy more games then I'll just wait.
Also, the e-mail said:

.

Is that a typo or will I have to pay $49.95 again next month?

 

[Dave E H]

You only pay that once. your year sub only starts when Xbox live actually launches.

Do it! Good way to start, free month of gameplay - win win IMHO.

 

[Steven_V]

Once Xbox Live officially launches, the beta games will no longer be compatible with Xbox Live. MS will then send all the beta testers the new versions of the expired games.

Beta testers only pay $49.95 once. This covers the Xbox Live kit, beta playing period (which is free), and the first year.

 

[Travis Olson]

Cool, thanks for clearing that up, Microsoft's site was no help at all. I'll go ahead and order it then.

 

[Jeremy_Nelson]

I had the same decision and decided friday to order. Only to find out that they refused to accept Visa check/bank cards. Absolutly absurd, but there it is.

 

[Mike Pattee]

They took mine no problem.

 

[Jeremy_Nelson]

Ah ok, well I was getting an email back saying "wrong address, only zip code is the same" when I tried to order. I called their help line the woman told me it was an erronus error, that they didn't accept bank cards. Funny thing is I used to get this same problem when I used to play Asherons's call (pay to play game that Microsoft also runs).

 

[Jeremy_Nelson]

Just tried again and it went through! Thanks for letting me know that your bank card order went fine, or I wouldn't have tried again!

 

[Mike Pattee]

no problem. glad to help.

 

[Tim Markley]

I got the same email yesterday. I was all set to order and then saw that they were gonna charge me almost $10 for shipping and another $4+ for tax. Since XBL is supposed to officially begin 11/15/2002, I decided to just order the kit through EB Games and saved about $10. The order will ship 11/14/2002. There's not really anything that I'm excited about playing online right now so it doesn't bother me to wait.

 

[Curtis H]

so i placed my order for the starter kit to the beta service figuring the $6 for shipping would be offset by the online games you'd get: NFL fever 2003, whacked and motoGP. but of course we don't know if on launch date that these games will be included in the starter kit too or if there would be some awesome special at stores.
then i just read a CNN article today talking about the possible failure vs success of xbox live and how it may just be too expensive for people. they mentioned that after your 1-yr subscription is over it may cost $10-15/month. that's a pretty hefty fee considering sony online gaming is free for a large majority of existing and soon to be released games and i don't think i play enough to get $10-15/month worth of gaming. then they stated that electronic arts sports games at this time have no intention of being a part of xbox live. that totally sucks. i hope microsoft doesn't end up failing like sega/dreamcast did.

 

[BrianB]

NFL fever 2003, whacked and motoGP. but of course we don't know if on launch date that these games will be included in the starter kit too or if there would be some awesome special at stores.

It's definitely demos of Whacked & MotoGP.

 

[Travis Olson]

Mine will be here tomorrow. After reading Curtis' post I'm starting to have second thoughts.

they mentioned that after your 1-yr subscription is over it may cost $10-15/month. that's a pretty hefty fee considering sony online gaming is free for a large majority of existing and soon to be released games and i don't think i play enough to get $10-15/month worth of gaming.

I agree. I wouldn't play near that much either, especially if EA doesn't make games for it. I'm kind of looking forward to Unreal Championship, but I already have Unreal 2003 on the PC and my keyboard/mouse is much better than the X-Box controller for FPSs.

 

[Jason Price]

Well, I decided to go ahead and order it. Figured I'd be getting it one way or another, so why not get in a little ahead of the game. I should receive my kit by the end of the week.

Is there anywhere online that shows a list of all gamertags that are in use?

 

[Michael D. Bunting]

This isn't all of them, but it will give you an idea:
Link Removed