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The challenge is to write an interesting piece about online gaming as:
XBOX Live Experience - Pro's and Cons
or
PS2 Networking Experience - Pro's and Cons
or
PS2 Networking vs XBOX Live - Comparison
The winner will be the best entry (in the opinion of the judges) submitted before midnight on Sunday November 14th.
Your entry will be judged on the basis of concise, readable, well written information. i.e. it must be written like a review. Try to include your experiences from initial interest and sign up through to full use.
All entries, whether they are the winner or not, may be used elsewhere on our site. The best entries will probably appear on a subsection of the UKconsoles site.
DO NOT COPY ANY WORK. These must be original.
I recommend that you save your work into a word processing document before entering it in case you want to work on it later.
Good Luck Chaps and Chapesses
This generation has seen online gaming take a starring role in the battle for supremacy between the PS2 and Xbox. The Gamecube fell by the wayside early on, with not enough great games and not enough third party support, even before you consider the woeful lack of net-supported games; however, Microsoft and Sony's duel has been fascinating to watch and participate in. We've seen prices slashed continuously, massive games made exclusive, massive games made cross-platform, and best of all, a thrilling start to mass participation in online console gaming. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that the way the console market is moving, Microsoft are simply too good.
Sony's laissez-faire attitude towards its fan base is well documented. Self-destructing hardware, the infuriating lack of third and fourth controller ports, and overpriced DVD remotes have all been overlooked due to Sony's dominance. This can be attributed to a lack of credible opposition, and good fortune in securing great franchises such as Grand Theft Auto, Pro Evolution Soccer and Final Fantasy. However, Microsoft's Xbox has arguably been marketed straight to the 'hardcore', the demographic that's far more likely to splash out extra to explore online capacities and their PC-based experience has meant that Xbox Live has made Sony Online look quite poor in comparison.
Of the three titles mentioned, GTA and PES are both available on the Xbox now. Sony's online games are rarely only available on the PS2, and when they are the games are either unsuccessful (Final Fantasy XI) or underwhelming (Killzone, Fifa 2004). The Xbox's infrastructure has won many plaudits, due in no small part to the meticulous organisation. You pay a yearly subscription fee, which gives you a free pass to play as many online games as much as you want. While Sony charges no such fees to use the service, individual games companies may introduce costs at their own discretion - worrying, and when it comes to the flood of MMORPGs threatening to come over to the UK (such as the Everquest port), potentially very expensive. With Xbox Live, Microsoft is in control of everything, whereas Sony Online is a more patchy, hit-and-miss affair. The PS2 can go online with broadband or a dial-up connection, whereas the Xbox requires broadband - however, this means that the experience is always relatively smooth, by setting the standards higher. Indeed, Xbox Live's standards seem higher in every aspect; no unsolicited content can be traded through the service, as everything must go through Microsoft (an aspect that prevented several features from Tony Hawk making it onto the Xbox a year or two ago). Any modified consoles will also be banned from Xbox Live, even if they are used by paying customers. This responsible attitude not only shows how much Microsoft wants Xbox Live to be a success (and an enjoyable experience), but it entices developers to use the system.
Pro Evolution Soccer 4, released last month on PS2, will debut later this month on the Xbox. A significant coup, but made even more dangerous for Sony when you consider that the Xbox will feature online compatibility, which is still nowhere to be found on the Playstation versions. Konami's marked hesitancy in 4 complete cycles of the series to use Sony Online highlights clearly the gulf between the two online systems. Recently, the Xbox Live servers were upgraded to cope with the massive influx of demand from Halo 2 players. No other game better exemplifies the Xbox Live system; an easy-to-set-up friends list and nametag system means that you can quickly start up games with your friends, and even start clans or enter tournaments, as with PC gaming. The universal gametag also makes it easy for games to offer extras, as shown on Bungie's webpage with complete, exhaustive statistics for every match played by every player.
Initially, Xbox Live may seem daunting. It immediately reduces its pool of potential customers by only allowing broadband users, but also maximises the fun for those that do indulge themselves. The lump sum paid up front may seem incredibly steep compares with Sony Online's £0, but it pays for a better service, cleaner servers and a hell of a lot more bells and whistles. Microsoft have seized online gaming with both hands, making it easy for friends to play with and against each other, while still making it perfectly painfree when you decide to duel with a stranger from Wisconsin or Amsterdam. Sony Online may have more console owners to market to, but with lacklustre library it can't compete. All the sheen in the world can't compete with a brilliant catalogue of games, and Xbox's Halo 2, Pro Evolution Soccer 4 and Rainbow Six easily beat SOCOM and the aforementioned Killzone. Xbox Live offers better titles, and a better experience - when online gaming enters the mainstream as gaming itself has started to do, the Xbox will be the clear victor.
Now feel the power, and super fast porn downloads.
Don't employ fit girls Tony, it makes you feel even geekier when you're buying games and they're serving you.
Thanks
Game
Game
I play games casually. I rarely finish adventure games. I only play Assault On The Control Room on HALO Campaign, because I like the level. I play Evo 4, but only a Match, never the Master League. Why? Because games for me are more of a casual pass-time. I don’t take them seriously. I don’t need to escape in to the world of Planet Celsius VIII, and forget the worries of the day.
I have XBOX LIVE and it is AWESOME. You can’t really fault the thing. The servers are always up; it’s clean, quick, easily set up and looks great. They’re continually improving on it, adding more features. LIVE 3.0 means you can send Voice and Text messages to other players playing a LIVE 3.0 compatible game completely free, any time you want. You’re out of date friend playing Black Arrow, when the rest of your gang are on blasting each other in HALO 2? Send him a message, and get him on HALO 2!
This isn’t a comparison, but what I do like about LIVE, compared to Sony’s Central Station, is that it’s all inter-woven. Everything links. You have familiar options and setting on all the games. The template of options in LIVE games is much more clear. Quick Match – Just getting in any kind of game as quick as you can, Opti-Match - A refined selection of available games that suit your requirements; and Create Match – Where you create your own type of match, are in every LIVE game. It’s a compliancy issue from Microsoft, and thank God for it! It makes everything familiar, and XBOX LIVE incredibly easy to use! You also have a Friends List, so you can make ‘friends’ with your favourite gamers, and play with them time and again!
The world we live in is filled with some strange folk. They swear, become abusive, act cool, and some of the time, are just ugly in their attitude to everything. If you join a game and get landed with some of these Boneheads, you’ll experience the rougher side of XBOX LIVE. They might kick you out straight away, because your connection isn’t quite as good, due to an IP status or Trans-Atlantic delay, if they’re from the US. You might miss a shot on Black Arrow, having genuinely not seen the opponent, and been killed as a result; Only to have abuse hurled at you, by people who think they’re ‘gangsta’.
Having foreseen this, Microsoft have a reporting system knitted into LIVE games, that lets you report gamers using abusive foul language, a bad attitude or similar ‘crimes’. I’m not sure of the intricacies of the service, or how it works, but I imagine it beings investigations into the behaviour of the perpetrators!
If gaming is something you hold ever-so-close to your heart, and you’re moved and relaxed by Final Fantasy games, Zelda games or KOTOR type games and want nothing but you, the TV, the XBOX and a game, then XBOX LIVE may not be for you. If you love getting in the mix of things, having a great time on-line, playing against players from ALL OVER THE WORLD, and seeing how you stack up, then XBOX LIVE is PERFECT! More and more companies are implementing LIVE features into their games, even if it’s just ‘LIVE AWARE’ meaning you just have a Friends List available; so while you’re in Fable, for example, you can see your Friends List and who’s playing what! LIVE is sheer genius. And opens up games like never before! You’ll need Broadband, An XBOX, and a Credit Card to get going. Not to mention your Starter Kit, which gives you 12 Months of UNLIMITED XBOX LIVE for only £40!
If you dig on-line gaming, love XBOX and wonder why all your friends are ‘never in’ when you call for them, here’s your answer:
[URL] http://www.srdn.com/q_GG5321_official_microsoft.html [/URL]