Page 1 of XBox Live

Well finally got my XBox Live starter kit there today so here`s my initial impressions!

On opening up the parcel...box within the parcel, another box within that one etc...you`re finally greeted with the headset, connector (which plugs into the joypad) and the starter disc and manuals. Earpiece and mic on the headset seem quite nice though the band on the headset seems a bit flimsy but it does the job nonetheless. On the disc is the XBox Live software update for your XBox as well as MotoGP Online and Whacked Online as well as a preview vid of other XBox Live games etc.

Right I had to connect mine up through the PC using ICS as my ADSL Modem like many was a USB one, typically anything involving networking on the PC is a pain however this was relatively straight forward. Plugged in the Network Card of course only to find it didn`t like that PCI Slot so had to move it getting some nice scratch marks over my hands in the process (am sure half the skin off my hands is now in the PC somewhere!).

So once in place and installed I hooked up the network cable between the NIC and the XBox. Next up I had to set up ICS which was actually fairly straight forward, just a case of assigning a manual IP and Subnet to the LAN and enabling ICS on the ADSL Modem connection. Then over to the XBox and enter the appropriate IP, subnet mask and gateway (IP of the PC). Once that was done I tested the connection from the XBox and et voila! It didn`t work! Doh! Thankfully however that was merely due to the firewall software so quick fiddle with the settings and et voila, it works!

Next up you set up your account which is the usual sort of guff, i.e. Username (Or Gamertag rather!), password, billing info etc and once done thats you ready to game! The games I tested out were MotoGP and Unreal Championship, didn`t bother with Whacked yet as UC ended up taking most of my time! Playing onlin couldn`t be simpler really, you just load up the game, select Play Live, select your account and enter ur chosen password. Then you`re presented with the main two options to go for which are Quickmatch or Optimatch. Quickmatch basically finds a decent server and connects you too it, simple and quite effective, Optimatch allows you to specify certain filters etc for say CTF servers only etc and it`ll search and return a list of servers. Games on the whole were stable and only intermittent lag during a couple of games of UC, MotoGP was rather smooth!

Voice coms in game are quite well done on the whole and certanly add to the fun of the game and of course the voice comes purely thru the headset so you dont end up with people`s voices booming around ur room! You can mask your voice via various filters so if you want to remain anon u can quite simply, ideal for parents worried about their kids talking to strangers online or indeed liverpudlians! (sorry but I cant stand that accent!!!)

On the whole I found it relatively pain free and simple to do and of course the ability to play online games on my 5ft Projector Screen and 5.1 Sound System was a big bonus! Basically the joys of PC network gaming without the pains of PCs! Defo something to invest in the future!

Where did you get it from & how much was it

Thanks

Lee

You can order the XBox Live starter kit from www.xbox.co.uk, costs £42.99 (£3 postage included) and what that includes is your Headset, Xbox Live software, MotoGP and Whacked Online games as well as a years subscription which doesn`t kick off till March so it`s basically a couple of months extra free just now! Defo worth it as games like MotoGp, Unreal Championship and Ghost Recon are great fun online.

was round at a friends playing MotoGP split screen on xbox live earlier, it is superb, just wish my satellite broadband had a good enough ping to get it myself.

Chris - I read your painful column ("The Pains of Broadband") a while ago, and was wondering whether the situation has improved so you can get `proper` broadband?

Hehe nope, why do ya think Chris was stuck with coming round to mines to see what like XBox Live was :)

Technically speaking you probably can connect the XBox up to the PC and use ICS and a dial up connection but hey it`d be pretty useless for anything much really! :)

The problem with the satellite (aside from the inevitable high ping) is that BT seem to have over contended it, meaning that during the day it`s painfully slow at times, but in the evening it`s fine.

Put it this way, my average daily download is 2.5-3.0 gb :)

I got my Live! kit on Friday, my broardband goes via an ADSL-Router box which provides the connection to all systems on my home network. This box provides DNS, DHCP, NAT and firewall in one box and I would highly recommend it. Anyway, the XBOX did not pick up an IP address from the ADSL-Router DHCP service, so I had to allocate it one and set the DNS too. After this, the connection has been fast and smooth. My kids LOVE Moto GP, and now I`ve got to go buy a full copy to practice on if I`m going to have any chance of catching the race leaders!
Really looking fwd to MechWarrior.

Robbyt