Xbox online gaming gives voice to participants

By STANLEY A. MILLER II smiller@journalsentinel.com, Journal Sentinel

Tuesday, October 15, 2002

Microsoft will open the online gaming service for its Xbox video game system in about a month, and early testers say it will be worth the subscription fee.

"For me, the most impressive thing is the voice communication," said Dale Coenen of Green Bay, who is an early "beta" tester of the online service called Xbox Live. "We can basically have a phone conversation over the Xbox. I have noticed that when you say something, people respond right away. On a rare occasion there will be a little echo."

Coenen, a 27-year-old graphic designer, said he used a hub to link his Xbox to his nearby home network. He was connected to Xbox Live within minutes after installing the software that comes with the kit.

"I have played online games on the PC, and there are issues of lag, and you can only communicate through typing," he said. "Here there is virtually no lag."

Lag happens when a player's slow connection to the Net -- or bogged-down network computers hosting online games -- causes the action to slow down, sometimes to the point of becoming unplayable.

Xbox Live is only for the Xbox console, which has a high-speed port for a cable modem or digital subscriber line Internet link and not slower dial-up modems.

The Xbox -- which costs $199 -- is also the most powerful of the current generation of video game systems with the fastest computer processor, and it has a hard drive for storing information.

The result, according to Xbox Live testers: fast-paced online video games with clear voice communication, allowing players to chat smoothly and evenly during competitions.

'Numbers are where it counts'

"The numbers are where it counts," Coenen said proudly. "I decided to get the better system as opposed to the more popular" system, which is Sony's PlayStation 2.

Microsoft has been testing Xbox Live with volunteers from the public since late August, and the service and eight network-ready games will be available by mid-November.

Microsoft has selected about 15,000 candidates so far to buy Xbox Live connection kits for $49.95. Testers -- who get several free games -- agree to play online and report any problems they find.

Coenen said that while he has run into a few bugs during these early trials, he still thinks Xbox Live will be worth a subscription. One glitch he has encountered is in a racing game from Acclaim called "Re-Volt" in which the game will freeze at the same point on a specific track.

Another "consistent complaint is some of the voice masking is hard to understand," Coenen said, referring to a feature that lets players distort their voices. "It's a quiet echo you hear in the headset. It doesn't happen often, but it does happen."

The Xbox Live kit includes a headset, a couple of games and unlimited hours of online games for a year. Subscriptions for additional years will cost extra, although prices have not been set yet.

Xbox Live will begin in North America on Nov. 15 -- which is the one-year anniversary of the Xbox console launch -- and Microsoft plans to ship more than 100,000 kits by the end of the year. The company is also planning to start Xbox Live services for Japan on Jan. 16, and the European release is March 14.

Online computer games -- including subscription-based massively multiplayer games such as EverQuest -- are already popular and suggest potential success for consoles systems like the Xbox and PlayStation 2, which is already online. International Data Corp. predicts the online games market for both computers and consoles will reach $300 million in 2002, growing to $41.8 billion in 2005.

Massively multiplayer games David Hufford, Xbox marketing manager, said massively multiplayer games will be a "big part of what we do" on Xbox Live.

He said "Star Wars: Galaxies" -- which will be available for the Xbox next fall -- is one of several massive online games playable on the system.

Hufford also said Xbox Live will be able to handle the thousands of players expected to sign on thanks to a massive data center in Redmond, Wash., running the service.

"It all but assures of us a solid Day One launch to handle the capacity and traffic that we expect," he said.

Kevin Jackson, an Xbox Live beta tester in Milwaukee, said he likes the virtual "rooms" that let players pick their opponents.

"You don't have to go up against someone who eats and sleeps this game," Jackson said.

He also appreciates the player conduct features in the service that help protect against poor sportsmanship and "idiots who want to swear or decide to disconnect" in the middle of a game because they are losing.

Jackson said players can leave public feedback for others on the Xbox Live Web site -- similar in spirit to the system that eBay buyers and sellers use -- so each player earns a reputation tied to how they handle themselves.

"Right now, I like the system," Jackson said. "A lot of people aren't going to have a problem paying . . . I don't know what the price is going to be next year."

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