So you’ve got a shiny new Xbox Live account and a fat stack of games gathered into small (but organized!) piles on your floor, but you don’t know where to start. Well, here’s our guide to everything Xbox Live: the games you can play online now, the games that have downloadable content, and the games with online capabilities that you should be looking out for in the near future. We’ve also got a list of the most popular games out there as of right now, so you know where to go for the stiffest competition around.

Titles With Downloadable Content

All-Star Baseball 2004 - Acclaim/Acclaim - Roster updates as of June 2003.

All-Star Baseball 2005 - Acclaim/Acclaim - Future roster updates and stadiums planned.

Amped 2 - Microsoft/Microsoft - Three new courses: Sky, Pioneer, and Slopestyle 2003.

Armada 2: Star Command - Metro 3D/Metro 3D - Future downloads to be announced.

Armed and Dangerous - LucasArts/LucasArts - Summer Home and two other missions are ready for download.

Brute Force - Digital Anvil/Microsoft - Two deathmatch maps and one campaign.

Burnout 2: Point of Impact - Developer’s Cut, Criterion/Acclaim - Online scoreboards.

Cabela’s Dangerous Hunts - Fun Labs/Activision - Online scoreboards.

Conflict: Desert Storm II— Back to Baghdad - Gotham/Pivotal - Four new soldier outfits.

Counter-Strike - Valve/Microsoft - Office and Inferno maps available for download.

Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge - Microsoft/Microsoft - Five new planes, including the Vampire, and two new maps.

Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay - Starbreeze/VU Games - Live Aware.

Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix - Konami/Konami - Five single songs and two song “packs” available for purchase and download.

DRIV3R - Reflections/Atari - Share replays online.

ESPN College Hoops - Sega/ESPN - Roster updates available soon.

ESPN Major League Baseball - Sega/ESPN - Roster updates available soon.

ESPN NBA Basketball - Sega/ESPN - Roster updates available soon.

ESPN NFL Football - Sega/ESPN - Updates available.

Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee - Pipeworks/Atari - Downloads coming soon.

High Heat Major League Baseball 2004 - 3DO/3DO - Roster updates as of May ’03.

Hunter: The Reckoning—Redeemer - High Voltage/Vivendi - Two sets of new costumes.

Links 2004 - Microsoft/Microsoft Plantation, Ocean Mill Director’s Cut, and The Gallery North courses now available.

MLB Inside Pitch 2003 - Microsoft/Microsoft - Roster updates planned for release.

Magic: The Gathering—Battlegrounds - Secret Level/Atari - Ten new spells coming soon.

MechAssault - Day1/Microsoft - Four downloadable update packs available, some at a small cost.

Metal Slug 3 - SNK Playmore/SNK NeoGeo USA Consumer Group Online scoreboards.

Midtown Madness 3 - Digital Illusions/Microsoft Fourteen new cars and 40 new checkpoint tracks, all free.

Midway Arcade Treasures - Digital Eclipse/Midway Games Inc. - Online scoreboards.

MTX: Mototrax - Left Field/Activision New tracks and other downloadable content coming soon.

MX Superfly - Pacific Coast Power & Light/THQ - Two new tracks and nine new riders available.

NBA Inside Drive 2004 - High Voltage/Microsoft - Spring roster update now available.

NFL Fever 2003 - Microsoft/Microsoft - Roster updates as of fall 2002.

NFL Fever 2004 - Microsoft/Microsoft - Roster updates to be announced.

NHL Rivals 2004 - Microsoft/Microsoft - Roster updates as of March 2004.

Ninja Gaiden - Tecmo/Team Ninja - Ninja competition scoreboard.

Outlaw Volleyball - Hypnotix/Simon & Schuster - Interactive Downloads to be announced.

Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II - Sonic Team/Sega - Many new quests, the latest released in May.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time - Ubisoft/Ubisoft - Content TBA.

Project Gotham Racing 2 - Bizarre/Microsoft - The Paris Premium pack contains eight new cars and seven new tracks.

RalliSport Challenge 2 - Digital Illusions/Microsoft - Downloadable content TBA.

Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Tides of War - Nerve/Activision - Barn and Safe missions are available for download.

Run Like Hell - Interplay/Interplay - New levels and monsters.

Secret Weapons Over Normandy - Totally/LucasArts - Four new planes, new skins, new maps and missions available.

Sega GT Online - WOW/Sega - Four new tracks and monthly “key” competitions available.

Soldier of Fortune 2: Double Helix - Gratuitous/Activision - Five new deathmatch maps available.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic - BioWare/LucasArts - Yavin station location available for download.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Pandemic/LucasArts - Two maps available, Rhen Var and Kashyyyk.

SWAT: Global Strike Team - Argonaut/Vivendi - Two new maps, Militant Hideout and One-Stop Shopping.

Tenchu: Return From Darkness - K2/Activision - New bosses and two new maps.

ToeJam & Earl 3: Mission to Earth - TJandE/Sega - Three new characters and two new environments available.

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon - Red Storm/Ubisoft - Content TBA.

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Island Thunder - Red Storm/Ubisoft - More than 10 new maps, as well as three new game modes. Free.

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six 3 - Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft - Five new deathmatch maps available.

Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell - Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft Kola Cell, Vselka Infiltration, and Vselka missions available.

Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow - Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft - Two new premium maps.

Top Spin - PAM/Microsoft - Downloadable content on the way.

Unreal Championship - Digital Extremes/Atari - Four new deathmatch levels available.

Whacked! - Presto/Microsoft - Content to be announced.

Worms 3D - Acclaim/Team17 - Content coming soon.

XIII - Ubisoft France/Ubisoft - Content coming soon.

Xbox Music Mixer - Wild Tangent/Microsoft - Four karaoke bundles available for download as premium content.

TITLES WITH ONLINE PLAY CAPABILITY

All-Star Baseball 2005 - Acclaim/Acclaim

Amped 2 - Microsoft/Microsoft

Capcom vs. SNK 2: EO - Capcom/Capcom

Counter-Strike - Valve/Microsoft

Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge - Microsoft/Microsoft

Dead Man’s Hand - Human Head/Atari

ESPN College Hoops - Sega/ESPN

ESPN Major League Baseball - Sega/ESPN

ESPN NBA Basketball - Sega/ESPN

ESPN NFL Football - Sega/ESPN

ESPN NHL Hockey - Sega/ESPN

Full Spectrum Warrior - Pandemic/THQ

MLB Inside Pitch 2003 - Microsoft/Microsoft

Links 2004 - Microsoft/Microsoft

Magic: The Gathering—Battlegrounds - Secret Level/Atari

MechAssault - Day1/Microsoft

Midnight Club II - Rockstar San Diego/Rockstar

Midtown Madness 3 - Digital Illusions/Microsoft

Midway Arcade Treasures - Digital Eclipse/Midway Games Inc. - Online scoreboards.

MotoGP 2 Climax/THQ

MTX: Mototrax - Left Field/Activision

NBA Inside Drive 2004 - High Voltage Software/Microsoft

NCAA College Basketball 2K3 - Visual Concepts/Sega

NFL Fever 2003 - Microsoft/Microsoft

NFL Fever 2004 - Microsoft/Microsoft

NHL Rivals 2004 - Microsoft/Microsoft

Outlaw Volleyball - Hypnotix/Simon and Schuster

Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II - Sonic Team/Sega

Project Gotham Racing 2 - Bizarre/Microsoft

RalliSport Challenge 2 - Digital Illusions/Microsoft

Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Tides of War - Nerve/Activision

Sega GT Online - WOW/Sega

Sega Sports NBA 2K3 - Sega/Sega

Sega Sports NFL 2K3 - Visual Concepts/Sega

Sega Sports NHL 2K3 - Visual Concepts/Sega

Soldier of Fortune 2: Double Helix - Gratuitous/Activision

Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy - Vicarious Visions/LucasArts

Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Pandemic/LucasArts

Steel Battalion: Line of Contact - Capcom/Capcom

Tenchu: Return From Darkness - K2/Activision

Tetris Worlds Online Edition - THQ/THQ

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon - Red Storm/Ubisoft

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Island Thunder - Red Storm/Ubisoft

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six 3 - Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft

Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow - Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft

Top Spin - Pam/Microsoft

Unreal Championship - Digital Extremes/Atari

Unreal II: The Awakening - Legend Entertainment and Tantalus/Atari

World Championship Pool 2004 - Blade Interactive/Jaleco

Worms 3D - Team 17/Acclaim

XIII - Ubisoft France/Ubisoft

Titles Coming Soon With Online Capabilities

Battlefield: Modern Combat (available fall 2004) - EA/EA

Burnout 3 (available Sept. 2004) - Criterion/EA

Conker: Live & Reloaded - Rare/Microsoft

Dead or Alive: Ultimate - Team Ninja/Tecmo

Fable (Live Aware only) - Big Blue Box/Lionhead

Forza Motorsport - Microsoft/Microsoft

Halo 2 - Bungie/Microsoft

Jade Empire (Live Aware only) - BioWare/Microsoft

Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders - Phantagram/Microsoft

Madden NFL 2005 - EA/EA

MechAssault 2: Lone Wolf - Day1/Microsoft

Star Wars Battlefront - Pandemic/LucasArts

TimeSplitters: Future Perfect - EA/EA

Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict - Epic/Microsoft

Top 5 Xbox Live Games

As of July 2004

1 Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six 3 Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft

2 Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft

3 Counter-Strike Microsoft/Microsoft

4 Project Gotham Racing 2 Bizarre Creations/Microsoft

5 Full Spectrum Warrior Pandemic/THQ

Copyright © 2005 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in Xbox Nation.