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[daMandus]

http://zdnet.com.com/2110-1104_2-5271004.html?tag=zdnn.alert

"Microsoft announced on Thursday that it now has more than a million subscribers for Xbox Live"

 

[jenov4]

Wow.

 

[DarienA]

Where is the huge MS PR for this?

 

[TekunoRobby]

Where is the huge MS PR for this?

It's probably just beginning to start. I imagine a whole PR campaign push behind those numbers.

 

[Greekboy]

I guess this proves online gaming is profitable. Where can I buy my own servers?

 

[neptunes]

WOW

 

[Mashing]

What is that 7.5% of the userbase? [/damage control]

Good for Microsoft though... Xbox live is a great service

 

[jedimike]

We should start seeing lots of PR from MS since they are about to release their Fiscal Year earnings.

I expect a PR by MS with the headline... We're number #2.

 

[DSN2K]

“It’s Good To Play Together”

 

[Tritroid]

I guess this proves online gaming is profitable.

How so?

 

[robot]

WOW

OMG SOCOM 2 XBOX PORT GOTY 2004

Thats awesome news, any new Live games coming in the next 2 months? My headset is dusty.

 

[human5892]

How so?

*whispers* I think it was sarcasm...

 

[Tritroid]

gotcha. I was hoping someone wasn't that delusional.

 

[Mock]

... and to think, just about all of them quit out after playing the Merc side in SCD and are mouth-breathers.

I also get to hear how stoned they are. Nobody ever tells me how drunk they are on Live, for some reason. Drunk people only happen when EQ or FFXI are involved. Well, that and smoke breaks.

 

[Chopin Trusty Balls]

1 Mio x 50$=50 Mio $,minus expenes obviously.

I wonder if they are still counting people who terminated thier accounts

 

[sonycowboy]

1 Mio x 50$=50 Mio $,minus expenes obviously.

I wonder if they are still counting people who terminated thier accounts

They've gotten $100 out of some percentage of those folks. And then some are two month free trials and some amount more are 3-month Xbox Live subscriptions.

 

[sonycowboy]

Xbox Live Hits 1.0M Members [7/15/2004 12:37:17 PM ET]
Microsoft Corp. today announced that its Xbox Live online service has surpassed one million members, a figure the company claimed to reach faster than HBO, America Online or TiVo.
Xbox Live launched in November of 2002 and now features over 100 Xbox games online-enabled, with plans for that number to reach 150 by the end of 2004.
The 15 cities around the world with the most Xbox Live members, according to Microsoft, are—Tokyo; London; Houston; Chicago; Toronto; San Diego; New York; Brooklyn, N.Y.; Los Angeles; Miami; Seattle; Calgary, Alberta, Canada; San Antonio; Las Vegas; and Seoul, Korea.
Microsoft also noted that Xbox Live members in 24 countries have logged over 160.0 million hours playing online to-date, with members averaging 265,549 hours played on Xbox Live per day. 220.0 million online sessions have been logged so far, an average of 10.5 million per month.

Anybody else find this part hard to believe?:

"The 15 cities around the world with the most Xbox Live members, according to Microsoft, are—Tokyo; London; Houston; Chicago; Toronto; San Diego; New York; Brooklyn, N.Y.; Los Angeles; Miami; Seattle; Calgary, Alberta, Canada; San Antonio; Las Vegas; and Seoul, Korea

 

[cja]

Where is the huge MS PR for this?

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040715/sfth052_1.html

 

[rastex]

What's so hard to believe?

I think they were just saying some big cities where XBL users come from. Which makes sense since big cities have a lot of (richer) people. But these cities aren't *that* impressive, they mention friggin Calgary pfft.

 

[DJ Demon J]

But Iwata said consumers don't want online games!

 

[Dr.Guru of Peru]

Heh. I played some Korean on RTCW yesterday. Told them I was French. I think they believed me, seeing as how I can speak fluent french.

 

[StoOgE]

Cant believe Paris isnt up there.. the French have overrun MM3.

 

[FinFan]

It's easy to believe!

inexspensive subscription, plug and play, no additional hardware to purchase, great games, downloadable content, did I miss anything?

 

[shibbs]

Yes...

Where is this from?

ps: Go MS

 

[Mashing]

I can't be sure, but I think that Mario Golf: TT

 

[Dr.Guru of Peru]

Yes...

Where is this from?

ps: Go MS

Mario Golf intro(on the GC).

Can be downloaded here:
http://www.fileshack.com/file.x?fid=4922

 

[jarrod]

But Iwata said consumers don't want online games!

A significant amount of consumers... yet. 4 million in an 100+ million industry isn't something to get up in arms over.

 

[Subitai]

Anybody else find this part hard to believe?:

"The 15 cities around the world with the most Xbox Live members, according to Microsoft, are—Tokyo; London; Houston; Chicago; Toronto; San Diego; New York; Brooklyn, N.Y.; Los Angeles; Miami; Seattle; Calgary, Alberta, Canada; San Antonio; Las Vegas; and Seoul, Korea

Yeah, I'm surprised Tokyo and Seoul are up there. BB penetration must really make a big difference considering how few Xbox owners there are in those countries.

 

[DJ Demon J]

A significant amount of consumers... yet. 4 million in an 100+ million industry isn't something to get up in arms over.

B-b-b-but Iwata said consumers don't want online games!!! ;(

 

[jarrod]

B-b-b-but Iwata said consumers don't want online games!!! ;(

Can I get an exact source? Was that the whole of his statement?

 

[DJ Demon J]

Can I get an exact source? Was that the whole of his statement?

"B-b-b-but consumers don't want online games!!! ;("

Yes, IIRC that's what he said...which was immediately echoed worldwide by The Horde's collective consciousness.

 

[DarienA]

They compared it to HBO, AOL and TiVO...WTF?

 

[DaCocoBrova]

1 Million. Of which, 75,000 logged on to play in the month of May.

 

[human5892]

1 Million. Of which, 75,000 logged on to play in the month of May.

Wait, are you serious? Because if so, 1 Million subscribers is either a) pretty damned misleading, or b) means that over 90% of the subscribers use Xbox live far less than I thought (if I paid money for a subscription to it, I'd try to use it at least once a week, personally).

If you're not serious, ignore this.

 

[TekunoRobby]

Keep the fanboy spirit alive DJ Demon J. A thread just isn't the same without it although it would certainly improve the quality.

 

[Wulfer]

There all services Darien I would have thought you would have figured that out. Sony's online is a service (I guess for downloads and first party games mainly.) but, it's not one enter connected service for all of it's games. So MS compared it to next closest services.

 

[Wario64]

I wonder if this 1 million figure counts the name tag changes that Microsoft is doing

 

[ManaByte]

I wonder if this 1 million figure counts the name tag changes that Microsoft is doing

How so?

The person having the name change doesn't get a new account.

 

[TekunoRobby]

The best thing about this PR is these are Pre-Halo2 numbers.

Imagine the massive increase in numbers this winter. That'll be some celebratory figures indeed.

 

[DarienA]

There all services Darien I would have thought you would have figured that out. Sony's online is a service (I guess for downloads and first party games mainly.) but, it's not one enter connected service for all of it's games. So MS compared it to next closest services.

Duh Wulfer I'm a member of two of those services.. HBO is a one-way only services... that's not close to what MSN provides... TIVO is sort of interactive in that I can choose what I'm going to record but I still don't really interact with other people... AOL is the closest service.... the other two I can't see why they bothered.. they aren't that close in what they provide.

 

[Daxter Too]

That 75,000 was the highest number of different users in one day. Don't screw the stats with your fuzzy math Bush fan.

 

[Jesiatha]

Duh Wulfer I'm a member of two of those services.. HBO is a one-way only services... that's not close to what MSN provides... TIVO is sort of interactive in that I can choose what I'm going to record but I still don't really interact with other people... AOL is the closest service.... the other two I can't see why they bothered.. they aren't that close in what they provide.

HBO and TIVO are both entertainment subscriptions.

 

[human5892]

That 75,000 was the highest number of different users in one day. Don't screw the stats with your fuzzy math Bush fan.

Ah. That makes a lot more sense.

 

[DarienA]

HBO and TIVO are both entertainment subscriptions.

HBO is a one-way non-interactive entertainment subscription at least AOL is Interactive.

 

[sonycowboy]

Ah. That makes a lot more sense.

If you're relying on Daxter too for reliable data, I feel sorry for you. Not saying it's not true, but take his comments with a grain of salt.

 

[Teknopathetic]

"If you're relying on Daxter too for reliable data, I feel sorry for you. Not saying it's not true, but take his comments with a grain of salt."


[pot]cliche'[/kettle]

 

[TekunoRobby]

[pot]cliche'[/kettle]

Haha. What a novel way of saying that statement, good job. Just in case: I'm not being sarcastic. I found the statement funny, not the mockery of sonycowboy.

 

[Suikoguy]

I wish I could see the number of CURRENT subscriptions... *sigh*

 

[DarienA]

I wish I could see the number of CURRENT subscriptions... *sigh*

I doubt that Sony or MS will ever give you a current subscription #.

 

[Jesiatha]

HBO is a one-way non-interactive entertainment subscription at least AOL is Interactive.

Why does it matter if it is one way or not? Both are offerings that will enhance your entertainment experience. Very different routes to the same end result (you pay money to entertain yourself).


I would guess that as cable TV got popular, people bought less board games. Cable and board games are completely different things, but they are both competing for discretionary entertainment dollar.