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Those of you who have followed the Electronic Articles
coverage of the arrival of the Xbox360 - from the exclusive
revelation of the machine, through E3
2005, TGS 2005 and
right up to launch – my have realised by now that, as the most
independent and honest videogames Press Agency in the UK,  we are yet
to be entirely overcome by Microsoft’s second retail console
instalment. With a mediocre Launch Line-Up at best, stated publicly
by J. Allard, unofficial God of the Xbox and Xbox360, as being, in
his opinion, “the best console Launch Line-Up ever…”, little
public visibility and no retail units available to the
consumers over the desperately-rushed-for Christmas period, we
really can’t see how Microsoft expect us to believe this was a
well thought-through plan years in the devising. However, this is
only the meat and veg; it’s time to see the Xbox360’s potatoes
– XboxLIVE!.
The online capabilities of the Xbox were always intended to
be the systems’ Killer App. There’s no denying that, since early
2003, Microsoft have dominated the home console’s online arena
with the most fluid and expansive online-play arena available,
anywhere in the world. However, their marketing savvy certainly
seems to end with PC consumables as, late in 2004, the figures were
comparatively appalling when compared with the PlayStation2’s
bottom-of-the-league effort – only 750,000 UK subscribers to that of 1 million PlayStation2 subscribers. Yes, the
PlayStation2 has sold more than three times as many units as the
Xbox in the UK alone – but the online-play was promoted as a
side-line for SONY, a feature behind DVD Playback, Optical output
and high-capacity storage, as opposed to one of the system’s better
features. Now, with the advent of Microsoft’s new effort for
hardware capabilities comes a lot of promises; and a lot of
possibilities for the online-side of videogames.
A major fear presented with spoken word of many Microsoft
executives is that of incomplete games. One of the industry
buzz-words at the moment is “expansion” – currently being
carried as an idiom for making more money from an existing product.
Nintendo clearly have a passion for this, with their reluctance for
reducing software prices years after release and repackaging
products such as with the NES Classics series. However, the
fear is more about how publishers will view the XboxLIVE!
Marketplace, and exactly what would be considered “expansion”
and what would merely be deemed the rest of the game you should’ve
got on the disc. Microsoft certainly aren’t in any position to
start dictating to companies the minimum length of a “complete”
game and, although they will regulate what publishers post on the
Marketplace; who’s to say they’ll limit it? Especially when
they, quite obviously, draw revenue from every product sold on their
network.
I’m happy to say that, at least as far as Microsoft,
Activision and SEGA are concerned (three out of only five publishers
involved with the Xbox360’s UK Launch), the Launch Line-Up appears
to be relatively devoid of any kind of upgrade  tom-foolery. The
fears of forced-pay add-ons seem to be unfounded – for now.
Clearly, this can only be a good thing, but each of these publishers
has involved themselves, to a varying degree, with the XboxLIVE! Marketplace
– so what else is available?
Well, currently, that 20GB HDD is looking rather empty.
Countless free movie trailers and two (yes, two) music videos are
ready for free download, as well as a demo of Fifa: Road to World
Cup ’06 coming close to 500MB. Additional skins, GamerTag
Avatars and Themes are available, at a price, and fill-out a list in
desperate need of something original. There’s currently a distinct
lack of the presentation of an offer for user-support, and as much
as this could be attributed to the lack of any custom-build options
in the Launch Line-Up, it’s a supporting feature that could show
much promise when supported, and is sorely missed at Launch. XboxLIVE!
Arcade
, however, currently shows plenty of initiative. With every title
offering a free trial before paying for the fully unlocked game and,
rather than offering a Demo version, instead simply removing extras
such as XboxLIVE! features and Multi-Player Modes, there’s
plenty of room for exploration while starting from a firm standing
– much like Nintendo’s recent entrance into the online arena
with Mario KartDS.
It’s pretty obvious that the actual online-play will remain
pretty much identical; added features such as additional player
quantities and less Lag are inevitable with technological
progression, but the innovation for online-play is limited by the
software made available to the public. It’s not exactly clear how
close to Microsoft’s dream of XboxLIVE! being “where
games and entertainment come alive, the only unified place where you
can play with anyone, anytime, anywhere” the revitalisation of
XboxLIVE! with the Xbox360 will become from this very modest
start, and while there’s still no denying that, as we exit 2005,
Microsoft remain the king of console online-play; yet, as anything
other than additional stream for marketing and revenue, the
publishers have certainly to prove XboxLIVE! Marketplace has
a point to make in the gaming industry.
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