The Future of Live?

When Microsoft's Xbox Live service debuted in November of 2002, gamers were told to expect the best online gaming ever to hit a home console. In many ways, the promises were fulfilled. It's hard to argue that Sony's PS2 online servies or Sega's Dreamcast have performed as well, especially when you take a look a the total number of subscribers. According to their most recent estimates, over 1 million gamers have signed up for Xbox Live, and that number is sure to grow with the highly anticipated release of Halo 2 on November 9th.

Despite all of the accolades Xbox Live has received, however, Microsoft isn't content to simply give gamers a place to play. They want to make Xbox Live a place to keep in touch with friends, let your mom play some of her old favorites, and even allow businessmen to take over their childrens' Xbox to set up a videoconference. We might even be able to play games against those who prefer PC action to playing in front of the TV. It's hard to say whether all of these potential features will actually draw casual gamers or even non-gamers to the console, but it's interesting to see Microsoft think outside of the proverbial box.


Let's start with the implementations that will let gamers challenge friends to games even when they aren't at home. Typically, if you see a friend on Live, you can send him an invite to play against you, though you must be playing the same game that he is. The recent Xbox Live 3.0 updates made it possible to send him a voice message using your headset, and you can now receive alerts and challenges via MSN Messenger, or even on your mobile device. This is sure to come in handy for players who don't spend all of their time on Live (yes, it's true, some people have other things in their life), as getting together to play with friends can often be a hassle. Now, you can just set up a time and pick a game, then meet up to do battle.

At this year's E3 press conference, Microsoft showed off a new service that is aiming to bring more casual gamers onto Xbox Live. Called the Xbox Live arcade, it will feature a bunch of downloadable games, from old favorites by Namco and Atari to newer games that are featured on Pogo.com or can be downloaded from specific game sites. This appears to be Microsoft's chance to let people ecshew violent shooters or sports games in favor of puzzle games, card or board titles (chess, poker, checkers, etc.), or even popular action games like Hamsterball and Feeding Frenzy. Although, there isn't much known yet about the pricing system, there's a good chance that the Xbox Live Arcade will give non-hardcore gamers a reason to test the waters.