360 Rant Rave Forums

It was five years ago today; Mr. Gates taught us all to play…online.  It’s been constantly in style, and it’s guaranteed to raise a smile.  So let me introduce to you, that five year old thing we all do.  Let’s hear it for Live!

The console wars rage on.  Fanboys from each side find new articles and news snippets every day, which they use to try and prove (to themselves?) that their console is superior to the competition.  As the debate rages on, one thing about console gaming is definitely not in dispute: Xbox Live is the King of online console gaming. 

From it’s humble beginnings on the original Xbox console in 2002, Live has grown by leaps and bounds, and has added more features than any of us could have dreamed of way back on day 1. 

Beyond just gaming online, we get private chat, arcade games, game demos, game and movie trailers, movie rentals, TV show downloads and so much more.  MS also recently added a new feature, which will allow users to download Xbox 1 games from the Xbox Live Marketplace (for an avg. cost of 1200 Marketplace points per title), and the IPTV feature is on the way. 

Some still rant about Xbox Live’s cost – arguing that the service should be free (after which they generally point to Sony’s free online service for the PS3).  In my opinion, however, the cost for Xbox Live is quite reasonable and well worth it for the seamless online community that Live has become. 

Even for those who do find Live’s cost (which is less than .14 cents per day) too much to swallow, there’s always Xbox Live Silver, which grants the user all the features listed above, with the exception of being able to play games online.  Though, to entice Silver Live members to upgrade to Gold, MS holds occasional free Live weekends, so Silver members can get a taste of what they’re missing. 

To help celebrate this 5 year milestone, MS is handing out a few freebies to their members:

-If you been an Xbox Live member since 2002, look for an e-mail from MS, granting you 500 free Xbox Live Marketplace Pionts.

-All users can go today and download the arcade title Carcassone for free.

-All users can go today and download other free items, including dashboard themes from the Xbox Live Marketplace.

 Look HERE for more details on MS’ Live is 5IVE celebration!
Game on!