After talking with the

other Xbox editors for a while, it was quite apparent that they really were out

of touch with what was happening on the GameCube end of things. 

I’m not going to sit here and bash them, because they seem to be

extremely passionate about the Xbox in a way similar to how I feel about

Nintendo.  But it was clear they

didn’t know much about GameCube at all, and when the GameCube slams came out,

they were truly out of their element.  Typical

slams like “It’s a kiddie system,” “We got Rare now,” and references

to the Xbox flash animation bashing Nintendo were tossed around. 

It was quite humorous, but I pretty much held my ground, and stayed

silent.  (After all, I was on their

turf as a guest.)

My feelings about the Xbox can be wrapped up in a single

sentence:  It’s an extremely

powerful system, with extreme potential and a very large corporate sponsor, that

currently has only one really good game for it.  That’s it.  I

own two Xbox games:  Halo and Jet

Set Radio Future.

That said, I asked one very simple question to a few of

these editors:  What are your five

favorite Xbox games?  Funny thing is

was, they all touted Halo as their favorite game, but then argued with each

other with what else was good.  There

never was a 4^th or 5^th game.  The food came, and then we never got back to the subject

again.

The evening took an interesting turn when Ken Lobb arrived;

I just about fell over when I saw him.  Ken’s a great guy and it was fun shooting the breeze with

him about his Nintendo departure, and his thoughts about Xbox. 

I have to admit, it was strange hearing him pumping Xbox after hearing

him for years being one of the biggest voices of Nintendo. 

It was obvious that he is happy at his new job.

During dinner, I sat across from Andre Vrignaud, Director

of Technical Strategy Xbox Live, and asked him to fill me in on everything

having to do with Xbox Live.  Here’s

the breakdown of the specs of the Xbox Live Kit:

• Price

  of $49.99 Xbox Live Starter kit includes a 1-year subscription to Xbox Live

  and the Xbox Communicator.
  

• What

  happens after the first year expires hasn’t been officially determined. 

  (Rumors point to a monthly plan costing between 9-15 dollars per

  month.)
  

• Games

  may have additional costs to play per month.  Speculated games to have extra costs are Phantasy Star

  Online and Star Wars Galaxies.

  
  

• Xbox

  Live will enable gamers to play online, find friends easily, talk to other

  players during gameplay through the Xbox Communicator headset and download

  current statistics, new levels, and characters to their Xbox hard drive.

  
  

• Xbox

  Live will support NFL Fever, Unreal Championship, Tom Clancy’s Ghost

  Recon, Sega Sports NFL 2K3/NBA 2K3, MechAssault, Whacked!, and Moto GP.

  
  

• In

  2003, more than 50 Xbox Live-enabled games will launch, including Halo 2,

  CounterStrike, Star Wars: Galaxies, and Project Gotham Racing 2. 

  More than 60 game publishers are currently working on Xbox

  Live-enabled games.

  
  

• Xbox

  Live utilizes the built in Ethernet port so no extra hardware is needed

  (outside of the network)

·        

Gamertag is a gamer's unique online ID for all games across

the global gaming service, allowing gamers to have one persistent identity and

to build their reputations, no matter what game they’re playing.

·        

Friends list.

This feature allows gamers to find friends online and invite them to a game —

no matter which Xbox Live game they're playing.

·        

Xbox Communicator.

Voice communication is integrated with all Xbox Live multiplayer games and

enables voice interaction with teammates and opponents. Key elements of this

feature exclusive to Xbox include voice masking, global muting, and parental

control.

·        

Matchmaking.

QuickMatch enables players to enter a multiplayer experience with a single

button-click, and OptiMatch, an Xbox Live exclusive, helps them select games and

opponents based on similar skill levels.

·        

High-speed content downloads to

the Xbox hard disk. Only Xbox offers console gamers the ability to

download and permanently store both free and for-a-fee content that can include

new levels, characters, missions, and statistics.

• If

  a player is annoying, you can block him, and you’ll never see him again.

  
  

• Players

  can be rated via an eBay-type rating system.

  
  

• If

  a player is breaking rules or is extremely offensive, he can lose his

  account.

Since GameCube will only have Phantasy Star Online at the

outset, playing Xbox online is very appealing to me.  I have to admit that I absolutely love online gaming, and am

not thrilled that Nintendo hasn’t done much on this front. 

Since I’m an older gamer, finding friends that want to play games with

me isn’t very easy.  I’ve been playing my PS2 online with Madden, and as of late

have dabbled in the PSO import for the GameCube. 

So this Xbox Live stuff seems intriguing.  The service is great, but it all depends on what games are

available.