|
Users who wish to sign up for the service must buy a USD50 starter kit, that will include 12-months' access to the service, a game and a headset kit for voice communications with other players. Initially, the service will only be available to North American users.
The service will assign participating gamers a unique user ID, which will be linked to each Xbox console. Gamers will only be able to access the network from another console by saving their ID to an SMB memory unit. It is understood that six games will be enabled for the on-line service by the time of the launch.
Through the network, players will be matched to opponents with a similar gaming abilities and the network will also allow for voice communication with sound quality comparable to a hands-free mobile phone. Microsoft said it was placing a large emphasis on security, claiming that it will build the entire network from scratch to make sure it is secure and reliable.
In the midst of the tech downturn, the video game sector is the one of the few markets that continues to perform relatively well. In fact, video game hardware and software sales topped USD9.4 billion in the United States in 2001, with sales expected to break that record this year.
And in fact, revenues from on-line gaming through game consoles will reach USD250 million by 2006, according to industry forecasts. And although this is well behind the expected subscription revenues from on-line PC games, at USD1.5 billion by 2006, most analysts agree that investment in on-line gaming for video console makers will begin to pay off after 2006 when broadband penetration increases in the US and the current generation of consoles are ready for replacement.
Interestingly, Xbox Live players will need a broadband Internet connection in order to connect to the service. Meanwhile, Sony and Nintendo will support dial-up connections for their on-line gaming services, which are also set to debut in the coming months. Sony has already said it will release a network adapter for the PlayStation 2, although Nintendo has not given a date for the release of its GameCube adapters.
Xbox players will also be playing across a closed network, whereas Sony has decided that it will provide the software required to build a gaming network, but will not set up its own network.
With 3.9 million units sold worldwide to 30 June, Microsoft's Xbox sales have in fact not met earlier forecasts of 5.4 million to 6 million units sold by that date. However the company is expected to sell an additional 4.5 million units by year's end in the US alone, according to recent research.
Meanwhile, Sony sold 7.3 million PS2s last year in the United States, is on track to reach an installed base of 15.3 million U.S. units this year. Nintendo is expected to come in third in this year's race with 4.3 million GameCubes sold by year's end, bringing its tally to 5.5 million in the United States.
|
