Xbox Live on the 360 at 60%

[Michael.R]

Im sure everyone has read that xbox live usage is at 60% on the 360's buy now.

Im just wondering if anyone thinks this is going to continue on all the next gen consoles or this is just a high number because the people that adopted the 360 first are the more hardcore and tech savy gamers. It just seems like such a high jump to go from 10% to 60%.

I think that next gen will see a huge jump in the number of people to connected to the internet with their consoles but I didnt expect to see it go over 50%.

So what do you guys think, is it the early adoption crowd whoes more "hardcore" and tech savy or is this a legit number that will continue through the consoles lifespan.

[K600]

The Wii will probably see more sign-ons but have less retainment. Friend codes and non-unified architecture for the lose.

[Baredor]

Peter Moore said their goal was to make people believe that having their 360 connected to Xbox Live was just as necessary as having your PC connected to the Internet. So far, regardless of what any individual may think about the service, there's no denying that they are working very well towards that goal.

With Arcade, downloadable addons, trailers, and demos in addition to the standard multiplayer, it's getting hard to argue that it's not worth it for the 360 enthusiast. If they continue to develop more content, I think it will be here to stay. With the Wii doing many of the same things, this will become the norm. That's progress for you. :p

[[T5K]thrasher]

I would say its mostly contributed by the fact that they all get live silver for free.
That and the x360 live stuff seems waay more intriguing than the original live stuff.

[Babbster]

It seems like a pretty simple function of integration to me. While the Xbox was designed with networking in mind from jump, Xbox Live was released a year into the console's life and it wasn't until even later that titles started being "Live Aware." For most titles, it would be like loading a single-player game on a PC and having your Internet connection just disappear. With the 360, once you're hooked up, Live is always there no matter what you're doing and no game will ever block you off from the service (well, I don't know about FFXI with Square's funky PlayOnline stuff). I think that "always on," more than the speed increase, is the best thing about broadband connections and Microsoft made that the case with the 360.

[tosp]

K600, google "WiiChannel" ftw! :rolleyes: On topic - XBox Live Silver is what raised the figure. Of course, when your customers are logging in for free, the figure inevitably goes up. I'm surprised it went up so little from the original XBox, actually. With free sign-ons, that number should at least be 80% in line with the XBox 360's current target audience of hardcore gamers. It would be a different story if this thing was selling to casual gamers, but it's still a decent increase from the paltry 10% adoption rate of the original XBox.

[phoderpants]

K600, google "WiiChannel" ftw! :rolleyes: On topic - XBox Live Silver is what raised the figure. Of course, when your customers are logging in for free, the figure inevitably goes up. I'm surprised it went up so little from the original XBox, actually. With free sign-ons, that number should at least be 80% in line with the XBox 360's current target audience of hardcore gamers. It would be a different story if this thing was selling to casual gamers, but it's still a decent increase from the paltry 10% adoption rate of the original XBox.

Where do you get this 80% number from? I would say 60% is pretty significant considering that a majority??? of Xbox 360 consoles that people bought didn't even have hard drives to save all that downloaded content to. And doesn't it have to be an ethernet connection? I'm sure there are still a significant number of people in America that own Xboxen and don't have an ethernet connection.

And if you say that the original Xbox only had an adoption rate of 10%, doesn't 60% constitute a major increase, not just "decent?"

[K600]

K600, google "WiiChannel" ftw! :rolleyes: On topic - XBox Live Silver is what raised the figure. Of course, when your customers are logging in for free, the figure inevitably goes up.

Look at the latest Gamepro. It supposedly suggests that the network will not be unified as was originally intended. Not sure if the claims are true, but there has to be a reason that they've announced so little. It's either bad news or they don't even know yet themselves.

The costs of server maintenance are going to go somewhere. Xbox Live wasn't created overnight.

And if you say that the original Xbox only had an adoption rate of 10%, doesn't 60% constitute a major increase, not just "decent?"

He's a Nintendo loyalist; don't expect him to acknowledge anything positive about the Xbox without referencing some negative.

[deception``]

Where do you get this 80% number from? I would say 60% is pretty significant considering that a majority??? of Xbox 360 consoles that people bought didn't even have hard drives to save all that downloaded content to. And doesn't it have to be an ethernet connection? I'm sure there are still a significant number of people in America that own Xboxen and don't have an ethernet connection.

And if you say that the original Xbox only had an adoption rate of 10%, doesn't 60% constitute a major increase, not just "decent?"

Actually, the majority of users in this country are now on broadband. About 72% of users in this country (assuming you mean U.S.) are currently accessing the internet through cable or DSL. Furthermore, most of the early adopters of the Xbox 360 would certainly fall in this category. Having said that, I am personally surprised that the adoption rate of XBL is not higher, given that the number does in fact include the silver users who can access Live for free.

deception``

[tosp]

Look at the latest Gamepro. It supposedly suggests that the network will not be unified as was originally intended. Enjoy the friend codes.

Link please? I didn't find anything when googling that.


He's a Nintendo loyalist; don't expect him to acknowledge anything positive about the Xbox without referencing some negative.

Enjoy the cheaters and loudmouth rude kids? I am NOT a Nintendo loyalist, just not a fan of Live. The fact that I would rather play local splitscreened or lan'd multiplayer Halo 2 should suggest that to you. That said, I made an extremely logical comment that the Live Adoption rate should be higher than 60% considering that one of the central selling points of the entire console (especially to the hardcore that it is currently selling to) is the online experience and now its basic portion is free! Why is that such a hard pill to swallow? Deception has hit the nail right on the head - much to the chagrin of loyalists like K600.

[Spaceman_Spiff]

Link please? I didn't find anything when googling that.

He clearly referenced a magazine article, which obviously might not be published online.

That said, I made an extremely logical comment that the Live Adoption rate should be higher than 60% considering that one of the central selling points of the entire console (especially to the hardcore that it is currently selling to) is the online experience and now its basic portion is free! Why is that such a hard pill to swallow.

How many gamers have net connections behind their home theatre systems? Connecting a console online either means a pain in the ass wired connection or an expensive wireless adapter. You either have to be tech savvy enough to be able to reconfigure a router or dedicated enough to run a hard line to your console if you're unwilling to spend $100 on ms' wireless adapter. 60% is more than impressive.

[junehhan]

Im sure everyone has read that xbox live usage is at 60% on the 360's buy now.

Im just wondering if anyone thinks this is going to continue on all the next gen consoles or this is just a high number because the people that adopted the 360 first are the more hardcore and tech savy gamers. It just seems like such a high jump to go from 10% to 60%.

I think that next gen will see a huge jump in the number of people to connected to the internet with their consoles but I didnt expect to see it go over 50%.

So what do you guys think, is it the early adoption crowd whoes more "hardcore" and tech savy or is this a legit number that will continue through the consoles lifespan.

With a 60% rate, it's a sign that Microsoft really did XBL very well. It's like a whole new source of entertainment even when not playing multiplayer games with others. Demo's, movie trailers, music video's, text and voice messaging, and the arcade which has been a huge hit. I find that number amazing considering that a broadband internet connection is required for XBL, and that this many people would have one. This whole achievement thing also has been a hit, and i'm very curious to see how their new Live Anywhere concept is going to be integrated. Even if Sony has everything going right for them from this point on, XBL is going to be the thing that keeps those Sony exec's from sleeping at night.

[The_Law]

How many gamers have net connections behind their home theatre systems? Connecting a console online either means a pain in the ass wired connection or an expensive wireless adapter.

Dead on for me. I currently am part of that 40% that isn't connected. I will be in the future, but I have always played games online with a computer and offline with a console. I guess old habits just die slowly. And it isn't just the "hardcore" that have adopted the 360. I am far from it (as can obviously be seen from not even hooking up to the internet). I play maybe 5 hours a week. But I do enjoy playing and will get it connected to play others at some point (likely when more sports titles are out).

I would probably already be connected just for the heck of it, but as you correctly pointed out, my internet connection is not run to my entertainment center. Sure, I could run it or buy the wireless adapter. But at this point I am not that worried about playing online. I guess my point it is that the 60% number seems about right to me. Just because signing on is free doesn't mean everyone who has broadband wants to take the time to do it. For many people playing online just isn't all that appealing.

[theNoid]

Seriously guys... Xbox Live > * Its even safe to say it dwarves anything any PC service has to offer.

XBL ftw! :D

[theNoid]

Dead on for me. I currently am part of that 40% that isn't connected. I will be in the future, but I have always played games online with a computer and offline with a console. I guess old habits just die slowly. And it isn't just the "hardcore" that have adopted the 360. I am far from it (as can obviously be seen from not even hooking up to the internet). I play maybe 5 hours a week. But I do enjoy playing and will get it connected to play others at some point (likely when more sports titles are out).

I would probably already be connected just for the heck of it, but as you correctly pointed out, my internet connection is not run to my entertainment center. Sure, I could run it or buy the wireless adapter. But at this point I am not that worried about playing online. I guess my point it is that the 60% number seems about right to me. Just because signing on is free doesn't mean everyone who has broadband wants to take the time to do it. For many people playing online just isn't all that appealing.

You can use ANY wireless ethernet bridge with the 360 since no USB drivers need to be installed on the box. I FleeBay'd mine for $12 and got my 360 online wirelessly.

:cool:

[Isaacav2]

Look at the latest Gamepro. It supposedly suggests that the network will not be unified as was originally intended. Not sure if the claims are true, but there has to be a reason that they've announced so little. It's either bad news or they don't even know yet themselves.........

Or it could be good news that they are hiding so they can drop two "bombs" on the press, with the official announcement of The Wiiconnect and the price. ...

Heres hopin :)

[The_Law]

You can use ANY wireless ethernet bridge with the 360 since no USB drivers need to be installed on the box. I FleeBay'd mine for $12 and got my 360 online wirelessly.

That is most likely what I will do. It really isn't about the money either. I just haven't been that motivated to connect to this point. I am sure once I do I will regret the time that I went without it.

[Staples]

This is just like the PS2. It had a ton more people than 10% connected because it was free. The actually percent of paying XBL members is no more than 25%. It would be 10% but many get baited with the free but you can't play on line.

[swatbat]

This is just like the PS2. It had a ton more people than 10% connected because it was free. The actually percent of paying XBL members is no more than 25%. It would be 10% but many get baited with the free but you can't play on line.

Do you really think more then 10% of ps2 owners were connected to the net with the system? Considering you had to buy an adapter and most games didn't support online play I would think it would be much less.

[[T5K]thrasher]

Do you really think more then 10% of ps2 owners were connected to the net with the system? Considering you had to buy an adapter and most games didn't support online play I would think it would be much less.

Even if its only 10% or less.. 10% of all PS2 owners is a way bigger number than 10% of xbox owners. (or 60% in this case)

[Spaceman_Spiff]

thrasher']Even if its only 10% or less.. 10% of all PS2 owners is a way bigger number than 10% of xbox owners. (or 60% in this case)

Its all pure speculation, but imo not anywhere near 10% of ps2 owners were online. I cant think of anyone i know that ever went out and bought the wireless adapter, because there just wasnt anything to do on it. I bet a lot of people got it bundled later on (like, say, they bought one at launch then another one later when that one started giving disc read errors cause the hardware sucked) but these people probably used it a handful of times at most. Playing online a half dozen times doesnt constitute "using" the console online, you have to do it repeatedly, and in that case xbl dominates. Sony's ps2 online strategy sucked, it was wrong, and theyve admitted that and are trying to copy ms now to fix it. Ms are the pioneers of online console gaming.

That having been said- if the rumors of nintendo not going unified architecture are true, they're screwed. The truth is nobody knows what they'll do but a network of that size takes a tremendous amount of time, money, and testing to set up. If they were currently developing that, wouldnt it behoove them to umm...MARKET it a little bit since they're devoting so many resources to it? I want nintendo to succeed but oh boy im getting a little worried here. Friend codes blow.

[Michael.R]

I dont think Nintendo can go with a non unified approach. Look at how well XBL is doing right now. Nintendo might just have to learn a lesson from Microsoft this time and not just go about doing it their own way like the want to.

What companies need to understand is that PC multiplayer is totally different then console multiplayer. In my opinion unified is the only way to go for consoles. (To a certain extent)

I have had XBL since day one and what is there today is a vast improvement since the beta. I hope Sony and Nintendo take note. I do think there is still room for major improvement.

I still am amazed that the adoption rate is at 60%. But I understand XBL silver has something to do with this and that Xbox 360 was built around XBL from the start this time. I still believe that the number is going to drop sometime in the next year and will start to build up again.

I am looking forward to see what sony is going to offer because I think it will be a good competitor to XBL. The competition is going to be the best thing to happen for both XBL and Sony Online.

[Staples]

Do you really think more then 10% of ps2 owners were connected to the net with the system? Considering you had to buy an adapter and most games didn't support online play I would think it would be much less.
Well I am not sure with the original PS2 but with the PS2 slim in which you didn't have to buy an adapter, I am sure that more than 10% played a game online at one time or another. I am sure even many of people paying for XBL rarely play games online. I rarely do and I have had tons of friends on my XBL list since the launch day that also play online games only a few times a year.