Your Thoughts on the Future of Live?
I’m doing some thinking around the future of “Xbox Live”. I put Xbox Live in quotes only because Live will be stretching beyond the console this year with the release of Live on Windows, and we’re looking at a future where multiple devices will all be able to connect into the same service. My question to you is what big features would you want to see out of Live in the future?
Imagine a world in which your account can work with different devices, each with different capabilities. Some might have a keyboard, some might not. Some might connect to your TV, some might be mobile and fit in your pocket. Some might be built from the ground up for gaming, some might have gaming as an ancillary function. The common thread across all of these devices is internet connectivity and Live, with your single login (Gamertag), your single friends list, and the ability communicate and share with those friends and the community.
What do you want to see? Think big here – ideally, think about what you want to see over a five-year period, and how your ideas evolve over that time. What’s the crawl step for your idea? The walk? The run?
It’s important to say that I’m just one of many people who will be working on this, and I will not be able to commit to anything being done, or even confirm that many ideas might even be considered. On top of that, you should assume that any ideas discussed publicly here are just that – public. Microsoft may use them in product ideas, and for that matter, anyone might use them. If you have some ideas that you want to keep private because you think you might do something with them yourself one day, you should not post them here.
That said, if you’re ok with the above, we’d love to hear your thoughts… and remember, think big, think long-term, and think stages to get there. That’s how we can get this sort of thing done.
[Edit: you'd think I'd know how to spell "publicly" by now. <sigh> Fixed.]
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disable/enable ads on dash option
1) I haven’t thought up the consequences for this, but I routinely find myself wishing for the ability to have more than one person in a single Private chat. Perhaps combined with grouping within friends lists, or clan support Live-wide, you’d have something.
2) Get rid of the 50MB limit for XBLA. We know it’s crap, you know it’s crap, can we just drop it now?
3) Eliminate player-hosted ranked games. If it’s ranked, it should be ran SERVER SIDE ONLY. Developers may make the decision, but you still have the ability to refuse to certify it, so we know you have plenty of say in what developers can and cannot do. Peer-ran ranked games is not next gen, and we all know it.
xbox360/vista distributed computing
1) Bigger HD would be greeat
2) Seeing as Castlevania Symphony Of The Night has broken the 50mb limit for XBLA, how about seeing some hard to find games or stuff that never saw a US or Euro release, stuff by Treasure, like Radiant Silvergun or Guardian Heroes, Dynamite Heady etc….
3) Euro HD movie downloads and TV shows like Lost, 24, Battlestar, The Simpsons and Family Guy
4) An age filter so I dont have to listen to teens tell me how they are going to kick my a$$
5) A return of old games series remade for XBLA like the Dizzy series or Creatures 1 & 2, or Out Of This World (Another World) and Flashback
Cheers !
1. Live messaging from mobile devices… not just windows mobile. Maybe have "mobile.xbox.com" so that I can check my friends list and send text messages to Live players.
2. 10 or 15 second "Video Messaging" with the Live vision camera to be able to send a video message to friends that may be offline at the time.
3. Balanced gameplay, meaning that if a game is cross platform that neither PC users nor XBOX 360 users have a controller "advantage" the classic Keyboard Mouse VS. Controller debate. Or an identifier of who is on what platform.
4. Release a 256MB Memory Card & Larger HDD and up the Cap on XBLA games to 200MB. Also an update to allow users to upload their "protected" gamesaves to your servers temporarily to transfer then to the larger HDD. (This would eliminate the need to swap between the larger HDD and the 20GB HDD.
1. Stop adding the Demo of Xbox live arcade titles to your gamertag as played. And please remove the titles that we have just played the demo. I would like to download more demo’s and probably buy more arcade games but I am tired of seeing others and my own gamertag with 20 games with 0 score cause we just wanted to test a game.
2. Group private chat, instead of just one on one private chat.
3. I use the streaming media function very often for the xbox with WMA lossless. And 1080p videos (other codecs would be awesome). But so far its a great feature
Overall love the xbox
Not so big ideas, but something that should easily be implemented (or was available before).
1. Multiple voice or video chat. This would be so helpful to make playing games like FFXI more enjoyable.
2. More frequent game updates and arcade games.
Some big ideas I think would be cool are…
1. Ability to view a friends ongoing gameplay screen, something like a Picture in Picture feature , without having to be playing or owning that particular game.
2. Ability to record gameplay and possibly edit them to save and share with friends a great kill in Rainbow Six or a great play in NBA2K7. Again, this should be available to view regardless of game ownership.
3. Maybe even the ability to view different gaming channels, for those times you’d rather just watch people play, instead of actually playing.
4. Ability to play xbox live arcade games or view media on a separate "layer" or picture in picture while waiting, for example, for a game to start in Rainbow Six.
1) Group/Clan support so you can play with a group of people without adding everyone to your friends list.
2) Halo2-like matchmaking for every game. Picking games from a server list just isn’t as smooth as just picking your gametype and getting thrown into a game.
3) Gamerzones that actually do something. This probably goes along with the Halo2-type matchmaking. If my zone is recreational I’d prefer not to play with people in the underground zone.
It would be good if every one who have access to Xbox live could go to Internet or more interessent, to go on MSN Messenger with Xbox live, cause we know that most people off the world have an account on hotmail so it could be very praticable
The ability to mute individuals on online matches. Also It would be cool to have a touch screen on the bottom of controllers so that you can have a gesture based messaging system (instead of the stupid onscreen keyboard we use now.
Age Matching – I would like to select who i want to play with..
Any Group
Under 12 – Kids Account
Under 18 – Teenager..
Over 18/21 Adult Gamers Only..
–
Gives us the option which group….
Downloadable games released more often.
Larger games available for download.
Here is an article I wrote 3/26/2006 with Ross Erickson’s replies.
http://themacjedi.com/files/02102eb577e152aa775de89ee29a0741-128.html
Here is really what I would like:
Total, all-inclusive, media center. I want to be able to have my 360 do everything my computer can. I would like, even some "desktop streaming", id est some ability to work from my computer on my 360. I then, on my computer want a Universal Login for EVERYTHING. When you want to go on a computer, you type your gamertag, a password, and you can use your computer. Same with the 360. No MU jockeying around. Then I want to have that associate that with ALL of my games. On my mobile phone, on my Xbox, and my computer. I want Microsoft Live to be immediately associated with Internet. I want to be able to play my Arcade games on my Computer, and my phone. I want my music and videos on my Xbox, and my phone. I want my pictures on my Xbox and computer. I want my contacts EVERYWHERE. How cool would it be to be able to just "call" gamertags with phones, or through your computer. I could call up my buds (playing GRAW) while I’m at the grocery store, tell them that Frank’s playing Uno. What’s their score? But jokes aside. I want everything on my phone on my Xbox and computer, everything on my computer on my Xbox and phone, and everything on my Xbox on my computer on my phone. I want my gamertag to be my identity. When I open up my (unnamed, yet foxy) browser, I don’t want to be "Random Guy", I want to be "ClownX". When I want to call my friends, I can call them in a game, and vice-versa. I can cross-platform videochat if I want. That’s what I want to do. If you’re going to expand the platform, go the whole eleven yards. In fact, go the twelfth. You make yourself able to pay for RL things using MS points. Sounds "pointless" (no pun intended), but it would make for fast transactions.
id like to see "Conference Private Chat" and "Conference Video Chat". That is the major biff I have for XBL. The ability to talk to one person at one time = not cool. The ability to talk to more than one person at one time = cool.
Ok, let me join the chorus of those who would see you start simply. PLEASE give us a web browser. I would love to be able to at least do some basic browsing on my TV, and it seems the 360 would be more than capable as a platform. Heck, make it optional to assuage those who adamantly don’t want it.
A customizable sports/news ticker. I know some games have it built in, but one that would be available during all games.
E-mail client or an Outlook type application
A USB bluetooth module. The thinking behind this is that i could link up my laptop/phone to my 360 via bluetooth and listen to music.
Themes based on music groups….all that is needed here is a contract with some record companies…
That’s all I can think of off hand….
What would be AWESOME is a feature that automatically bans jerks, and then doesn’t let any new jerks buy a gold membership. Hey, we can all dream right?
How bout a Message All Friends or Message All Online Friends option from the dashboard?
How about making 1200 pt Arcade titles against the rules. 400 or 800. 1200 is just too high.
Spectator Sports:
Who doesn’t enjoy watching athletes at the top of their game? The same goes for video games. While it may not apply to all games or even genres, watching a top-notch player is sometimes as exciting as playing.
Gameplay education builds community:
Sometimes it’s helpful to play with (or against) a seasoned pro. To me, building a solid gaming community is about helping to bring others up the ranks. The end result is stronger loyalty to the game and the platform. If I could team up with a better player than me (potentially assigned via TrueSkill), in some form of "silent" co-op that allowed me to fully spectate, I’d learn a heck of a lot more, and faster, than I would poking around a game map.
- Voice/Video Chat with multiple friends
- More game & movie trailer downloads
- Music videos (not just artist of the month)
- Internet Radio
- Download Sports Highlights
- More online Co-Op play in games
- Message friends via Cell Phone
- "GamerRank" and Leaderboard for "GamerScore"
- more game stats, records, etc… shown online
very simple: a way to disable alerts when watching a DVD. I know i can change my notifications options, but I don’t want to have to set my notifications EVERY time I sit down to watch a DVD and reset them everytime I finish. I don’t need to see that my friends are online when I’m watching a movie.
1680 x 1050 support
1. NEED MORE STORAGE NOW! Screw the bigger hard drive, you know that thing is going to be insanely over priced. How about support for a USB HDD, or remote storage on your PC. I’m sorry, but I don’t want to download, delete, and redownload. I want to archive!
2. I like the idea of a Live family subscription. An additional $50 for another member of my family to play mutiplayer (with thier own gamer tag) is a bit steep. At least allow other users to access Live under one account (separately, of course).
3. Can we get HDMI connectivity!?!
4. A web browser would be great! I want to surf from the couch with a wireless keyboard. Also, I know 360 owners who want to connect to live, but don’t because they don’t own a pc yet. For some, a built in browser would be very convenient.
5. Unified messaging across all platforms.
6. I want the ability to mute/hide messages when I’m watching a movie. (No pop ups disturbing my HD DVD bliss)
7. A calender is a great idea. Schedule your play dates.
8. Due away with the BS points! Let’s get real, how about a $1 = 1 point. Otherwise, it seems to be intentionaly vague and misleading.
9. Track your time in game, and set up some kind of alarm/sleep timer. As in, It’s time to go to bed now, dumb ass!
10. Allow games to be put on HD DVD discs.
11. Greater Connectivity, Greater Integration with Everything, JACK ME IN!
P.S. Can somebody ask the fiber optic gods to run some cable to my house
Xbox 360 team, I’d like to see a more improved custom soundtrack that’s even more "customizable."
I would like to replace a song for an entire level with one of my own so it would play every single time I entered that area, or instead of having Ken’s theme play in Street Fighter I would have my own theme for him play every single time his theme would normally play.
I hate having to hit the guide button and switch songs manually because that takes up so much time and is extremely inconvenient, particularly when you are playing online and can’t pause the action so you end up getting your butt whooped.
Two things that really jump out to me are the ability to stream music and videos off of my PC whether it’s using some DRM or not to my Xbox 360. I hate the fact that I cannot listen to music that I legally purchase on my Xbox; only music that I rip from the CDs I purchase (or burn to rip just for non-DRMed MP3 files). If you could capture the sound on the sound card, or however your engineers feel its best to capture the sound, then I would be able to play the music that was (I think) legally played on my PC, but through my TV/Xbox 360.
The second thing would be to allow users to use Xbox Live from their PC in conjunction with their Xbox 360. What I mean by this would be to basically allow the PC to control the Xbox 360, and use the PC’s web browser to browse the Live Marketplace.
This would allow for much simpler, and faster searching, which would encourage wider use of the service than is even currently applicable because honestly, as good as Live is, it still can be annoying to scroll through the long lists using the controller.
What if Xbox Live were integrated into a social networking site, i.e. myspace.
Social networking sites already have friends lists, email, music, youtube-style video, and a whole slew of other things that would be great to be able to acces via an xbox 360 or zune. For gaming, you could use it to send bulletins. You could use it for clan-related activities. Gamers could post calendars to let their friends know about upcoming multiplayer games.
I think that’s a pretty big idea that could have a lot of benefits. Since such services already exist, it wouldn’t have to be built from scratch.
Collation of suggestions from Singapore gamers: (Batch 1)
1) Video Marketplace made available here
2) All Game Demos made available here
3) Extend Gold Service Friends’ List to 200
4) Exclusive content for Asian gamers
5) Delete XBLA trial games from gamertag
6) Better preview for Themes and Gamer Pictures that are for sale.
7) Reward gamers with Gamer Pictures (or even Themes) for unlocking certain achievements or the entire game.
9) Rework the reputation system. There has been far too many complaints of unfair feedback on certain players, for reasons beyond their control (eg. Disconnection problems)
10) More resolution support for VGA HD Cables. In particular 1680×1050, 1440×900 and 1920×1200.
Whats the point in posting suggestions here when MS and the Xbox team won’t add them? I posted huge lists on one of the developer’s blog. He asked for feedback and what we would like to see on the next Dashboard Update (Xbox 360 obviously). He works on the GUI team.
I took a lot of time to write down my ideas and I also collected ideas from several people and created a huge list of features everyone would be happy with. And guess what? Only about 3 features were on the Dashboard Update from the 30 features I listed. And 1 of the 3 features on the Dashboard Update was already confirmed.
So yeah, I’m not going to contribute anything this time.
Hi, Thanks for the opportunity to comment:
1. Global video/Gamma settings – A lot of games are too dark on standard def TV’s, I’d like an option to set a global gamma correction like most video cards have.
2. Group XBLA games into groups – specifically bought and trial, make it easier to launch the ones you’ve bought (maybe from the guide button?)
3. Web Browser WITH PARENTAL CONTROLS
My plan for MS to take over the world –
Make a web browser available as a XBLM free download, and restrictable by parental controls. AND make an application like Net Nanny available as a paid for add on to the service.
Thereby leapfrogging the competition on a very contentious issue.
Fix the issue with Downloadable content being linked to the Xbox360’s serial number. I had to take my Xbox360 back to the store and get it replaced because it stopped working. Now with the new unit, I can’t access the Downloadable Content that I’ve payed for, when wanting to play offline.
The escalation team have asked me to create a Silver account and then they told me that they will refund my lost points to that account, so I can then redownload my missing content. They still haven’t refunded me the points, despite many follow up calls to UK support.
Here’s a really important one, the ability to defrag hard drive!!
You dont need a web browseron a console!!!!
PROFILE 2 GO:
In the SYSTEM > MEMORY page, there is an option for PROFILE 2 GO. Here you first select a profile you want to move to a new storage device. Then, it pulls a list of all games associated with that profile. You can then go down the list, checking off all the save games you want to move. Then with a single OK, all that content is moved to the specified storage device.
There are times when I’m going over to my friend’s house to play some XBox, and since it’s not always feasible to bring the box itself, it’s awesome having the profile on my memory card. Unfortunately, it’s really cumbersome to move each savegame I want and profile one at a time.
Help people organize their games within xboxlive rather than within the games themselves. Even group-list invites would be fine.
Games don’t always setup a nice lobby system for invites and such, and by providing this frame of reference natively, you’ll at least ensure that /playing with friends/ is handled well. It’s a pretty important thing for the longevity of the game. The playing with strangers part can remain the developer’s problem.
Would love to see 1440×900 & 1680×1050 support in the next dash update….
I’ve been getting the idea that Microsoft would want to have users use one identity, such as a gamertag. That sounds great, but that identity could only be limited to one email, one phone number, etc. In reality, most people have more than one email, phone number, etc. It would be great if we were able to integrate ALL of our contact information into that single identity. To be more specific, to be able to add/remove a number of emails/phone numbers/etc into that identity.
The ability to set the 360 to set your status to offline when you turn it on. For marketplace a "What’s New" section that just lists ALL of the new content no matter what category. Also, have Marketplace content dated so I know when it was put online.
Have ‘preferred’ frends (possibly 10 out of the 100).
Having a preferred freind notify’s you when that person logs on, starts to play a game, changes to play another game and logs off.
Sometimes freinds log on but check messages, watch a movie or just stay at the desktop. I can play COD3 and when I see my freind start playing Gears of War I can switch over to play with him.
Good luck with these idea’s! Some are really good.
When playing a game and you bring up your Guide and go to the friend list and select a friend for more info (and to send messages/invites): I think it would be handy if you could scroll through all your friends from that screen using the LB and RB buttons, instead of having to back out to the friends list and select the next friend.
Also, is there currently a way to mass send out a game invite to all of your friends who are currently online in the same game you are? If not, that might be handy.
After recently jumped in the console bandwagon, I was surprised of the lack of several elements in Live:
1. Lack of background interaction: If the console is active and connected, why is that the dashboard looks so "dead"? In PC, I have widgets that let me stream video and pictures in the background, along with a digital clock, a weather forecast, Wifi strength signal, chat, music/videos that are always active and accessible everywhere -not only in 1 screen-. Make it like a true "live" dashboard.
2. Unified dashboard. Even if your research shown that it’s better to keep features clearly separated, they don’t make as much sense as they should: Shouldn’t Live connections go with .. Connection setup? Try to keep everything tight so we can see common elements at same time. At least give the option for those that do have a larger Screen. After some time, you will notice that do have to navigate through a lot of screens and confirmation messages detracting a lot of the experience.
3. Add an option to keep values previous entered so you can access them pressing down in the field: Yesterday, I attempted to register to Live, and it was a serious pain: It said that I was eligible for Gold membership but kept mentioning that the address was wrong. I could not get out of the loop, so had to restart the whole console. And guess what? To type everything again. Tiring if you don’t have a keyboard.
4. Have a upper/lower bar visible in every screen, with the most used features, like checking the active downloads/play music/etc without having to show yet another Window.
5. Allow to jump to/from the start or end of the lists: If I go to the last element of a list, it would be nice that if I press down again, it would jump to the first element (circular list). Same if I press up when being at the beginning. Even better if you have to "double tap" to make such jump.
6. Add more (easily reachable) modifiable options for games/videos like changing the gamma/center screens when they are already running.
7. The most of important of all:
Allow to copy/move/store the savefiles in the same HDD. Both XBOXs are essentially computers. Why is not possible create multiple copies of my game files in different "locations/subdirectories/folders"? What if my savefile get’s corrupted or just want to have more than one so I don’t have to play the same part of a game over and over? Not all of us have as much time to spend in a console. Why not to allow at least send savefiles to a PC (or other XBOXs) instead of having to resort to memory cards? It doesn’t make any sense whatsoever and I’m extremely disappointed about the lack of obvious features like this.
I can understand to not want to allow file sharing so easily to protect content and security of the owners, but it shouldn’t be difficult to validate that the data is a savefile. Why not?
Rep needs a total overhaul. Now, rep is just some stars next to your name, which don’t mean much. I haven’t seen anyone below 3 stars. I think rep should go down more easily, and it should take awhile for rep to change to avoid anyone from knowing who may have left the feedback on you.
Zune/Ipod accessory interoperability
I’ve been looking for an alternative to an ipod for months and right now I honestly want a zune. But I can’t afford the cost of entry for the device.
It’s not the cost of the Zune itself, its the accessories that put it out of my price range. If I switch to a zune, all of the speakers i’ve bought become useless. So my cost of entry rises from $250 to over $1000.
If I could use my zune at home and in the office with the equipment I currently own, I wouldnt hesitate to get one.
-A Web Browser: The Wii does it well, but its low resolution prevents a truly good experience.
-Manage friends into groups: Don’t restrict it to "clans" or whatever, just let us create our own groups and sort our friends. Maybe 1-3 groups/lists?
-Support for more video codecs.
For the video marketplace, I’d like a link which better organizes my purchases. If I’m forced to delete and redownload videos frequently, I would at least want better access to the stuff I "own".
I also would like to have a "season pass" purchase option, like on iTunes, where I can purchase an entire season of episodes (and possibly at a discount).
How about being able to rent games through Xbox live. We`re already renting the movies so why not games?
no web browser its not needed……
game demo a week before/after the game comes out
add the ability to alias buddy names
XBOX LIVE V.2 – COMMUNITY, COMMUNITY, COMMUNITY
1) Game News / Forum
————————–
For every game I put into my xbox, I should be able to choose to see, within one of the blades, news and information both by the games developer/publisher, industry and Microsoft.
In addition, it would also be useful to input and view contributions to the community with respect to said game all within the same interface.
2) Sharable Personal Page
————————–
Bring the web onto the 360. Enable all users with the ability to create a personal page (ala blog-like) with the ability to manage from the web and or within the 360’s UI.
3) Game vids
————————–
Microsoft should enable the ability for gamers to record videos of their latest game against foes (real or AI). Such vids could be shared (with limitations to size/duration) with the rest of the community (ala your very own ‘Shared Personal Page’).
My biggest gripe is that you have to be invited into your FRIEND’S games! I am getting very tired of having to ask everytime I get online to join my friends’ games! A "quick text" option would be good too; although the original XBOX’s XBOX Live was much better; the only requirement to join a friend’s game was being on the friend’s friends list. THIS is how it should be!
My biggest gripe is that you have to be invited into your FRIEND’S games! I am getting very tired of having to ask everytime I get online to join my friends’ games! A "quick text" option would be good too; although the original XBOX’s XBOX Live was much better; the only requirement to join a friend’s game was being on the friend’s friends list. THIS is how it should be!
I’ve got a suggestion for you guys. And it’s one that thousands of others want badly as well:
Microsoft, fix your broken DRM policy. Seriously. You guys are losing sales from me and many, many others every day that passes without a solution.
If I buy an XBLA game or DLC, that better be mine. And that means if my console breaks, I better still have the full rights to that content. That includes offline use.
Did nobody in the drawing room ever think, "Hey, if somebody’s console dies, they’re gonna get screwed over."? Content should have been tied to the Gamertag from day one.