Next generation Xbox LIVE in the works?

By DarkArmada

©2008 Lee Edgerton

  November 15, 2002. XboxLIVE launches and promises to be the leading online service available on any console and delivers with flying colours. To fund this, Microsoft puts up US$2 billion over five years to develop and evolve the service and it shows. With only a few hiccups over the last few months, Xbox LIVE has remained the premier console based online service.

With constant upgrades, from the transfer between Xbox and Xbox 360 including additions of Gamercards and the Marketplace to MSN support and Xbox LIVE Vision, many coming in the form of Seasonal dashboard updates, Microsoft has moulded Xbox LIVE into what we see today.

But with Playstation HOME on the horizon many are wondering what Microsoft have to offer when it comes to casual gamers and those looking for a more visual Xbox LIVE experience. As we all know HOME will offer just that, a virtual home for you to personalise and show off as your own as well as a virtual space, much like Second Life, where you can interact and relate visually with others, opposed to access via a friends list as we are all used to with Xbox LIVE.

Generally those of us logging onto Xbox LIVE do so to get online and play as the colour of the livingroom curtains aren’t all that important to us. But as shown in the explosive popularity of the Wii to the more casual gamer, Sony and Microsoft are taking measures to avoid alienating those looking for a more casual and visual experience.

With Sony’s HOME already announced and around the corner, it seems that Microsoft is now moving to fill this space. Last month Microsoft announced they are looking for someone who would -

Source

“Want to be involved in the next release of Xbox? Join the server-backed games team, part of the Xbox Live team that’s responsible for creating a completely new way for mainstream audiences to enjoy the Xbox and Live…

…We’re building the games, the console interface and logic, and the server support for a totally new Live experience. Both the games and the dashboard experience will be deeply paired with dynamic server support to create a compelling, fresh scenario each time.”

This Program Manager would be responsible for developing a new XboxLIVE, offering a “compelling, fresh scenario each time”. Is this Microsoft working to entice casual gamers over to the big X? As the job ad references developing the games, service and dashboard, this would be nothing short of a complete revamp to the service we all know and love.

Surely with GDC ‘08 in full swing there will be some news of what we can expect around the corner, whether it be something similar to Playstation HOME complete with two car garage and white picket fence or something more Wii-esque with a range of family accessible “super-fun” games that lack depth but make up for in simplicity and replayability, time will only tell.

More importantly will these improvements come with an added price tag? With Sony’s service still pro bono and offering dedicated servers opposed to LIVE’s P2P setup and AU$80 annual fee, if Microsoft move to increase the yearly fee with these developments, the least they could do would be to match Sony’s commitment in supplying dedicated servers to cope with the limited intercontinental bandwidth issues already plaguing users all over the world.

Again, only time will tell. Hey, maybe Microsoft might finally roll out a globally unified service, with IXB and Video Marketplace for all as well as dedicated servers for those of us down under! We can only dream…

©2008 Lee Edgerton