Nov 22, 1:30 am
So Live is five, eh? It’s been five whole years since Xbox live first came into being and delivered to console owners a whole new world of communication for gamers. How we’ve come to love it but it wasn’t always so easy. There was a time when getting online on your 360 could be a real pain. You really had to know what you were doing. You couldn’t simply plug the thing in and it would go. To be honest you still can’t. Getting into a lobby and playing with people can still be a little tricky sometimes but there’s no denying that Live has come along way in five years. Microsoft tenaciously pushed Live connectivity as being a major reason to buy an Xbox and it’s taken a long time for that to pay off but pay off it has. There are now eight million Live players across 26 countries. The 360 has made the experience much more user friendly and playing console games online has now become more than accepted with Sony taking it’s importance on board and trying to build up a similar community on Playstation Network. They have their work cut out for them but they have a shining example in Live to work towards and maybe one day surpass.
I remember long ago around the launch of the 360, discussing online play and NAT issues on the Frag Dolls forum. We talked of being ‘Early Adopters’ about how although there had been online console gaming for a while it was still early days and that one day we would look back to this time on Live and say “I remember when it was all fields round here” We’re not quite out of the Early Adopter phase yet but the time has come to take your mum / girlfriend / uncle / little brother by the hand and let them have a shot on Live. The Frag Dolls will be taking part in Xtival 07. It’s a celebration of Live gaming with 4 days of free Gold membership for those new to the concept to give it a whirl. Frag Dolls UK have always been about friendly, inclusive play and welcoming new gamers with encouragement, patience and understanding.
The details of when we’ll be taking part are on our calendar (a summary is below). Tell your Live-fearing friends to come have a game with us. There may be a lot of new people around in your games too from the 23 to the 26th November. Hold out a welcoming hand and show off Live for the warm and wonderful community it can be.
Friday 23rd November: Fragging for Beginners (8-10pm)
Sunday 25th November: Frag Dolls at the Arcade (8-10pm)
