XBOX LIVE - SNEAK PREVIEW AT STUFF LIVE
Plus the best of 175 new games for Christmas
Xbox(tm) Live, the fast-action, always-connected broadband gaming service
which launches in Europe later this year, will be previewed on the Xbox stand in
the Games Matrix at Stuff Live, Europe's biggest technology showcase, from 3-6
October at Earls Court in London.
It will be the first chance for UK gamers to play the world's most realistic
and exciting games online with the ability to talk tactics with other players
through the Xbox Communicator headset and download stats, new levels and
characters to the hard drive.
Also on show for the first time in the UK will be some of the 175 Xbox games
out in time for Christmas this year, including Blinx, Buffy The Vampire Slayer,
Unreal Tournament, Sega GT 2002, Quantum Redshift and Splinter Cell.
Xbox Live's features across all games include the following:
* Gamertag - a gamer's unique ID for all games across the global
service.
* Friends list - allowing 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, enabling interaction with friends and foes.
* Matchmaking - QuickMatch enables players to enter a multiplay
experience with a single 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 including new levels, characters, missions and stats.
"Online technology is the next revolution in video games, and it will
fundamentally transform gaming into a new form of social entertainment," said
Michel Cassius, head of Xbox Live in Europe. "Within five years every important
game will be online."
