Xbox Live is Live and Gets Upgraded

Examiner: "Xbox Live is now back online after maintenance. There aren't any new functions or features when you turn the system, but there are few new tweaks to Xbox.com and your Friends List -- detail that in a bit. This was for scheduled maintenance only and for Microsoft to prepare for fall updates that include Twitter and Facebook access. Service hasn't returned to everyone, currently. The service is working in many regions and will be up for everyone shortly."

[BadboyCivic]

guess next time

[Why dis]

You were hoping to get new features in a maintenance/prep shutdown? They announced the update will be this fall at E3 lol.

[Chicken Chaser]

Thats a nice upgrade on the xbox site

[Why dis]

:)

[BLuKhaos]

I like how this guy just posts a smile and gets 12 disagrees lmao!

Edit:WTF and he now just lost two bubbles.

[vhero]

Gotta love how you actually pay for MS service yet you cant access huh?? At least Sony's is free so you cant complain... Since you bloody pay they should move you to a temp server or something while they upgrade main servers in this day and age it cant be too hard. But hell that would cost money and MS would rather screw its consumers with downtime.

[Cheeseknight28]

Or we could be using LittleBigPlanet's servers, which constantly ban maps and kick you off at random.

[ctfkev]

lame.

[Meus Renaissance]

This is awesome. It's one of those key features Sony have started to implement with their own 'trophy cards' and friends list but you can't interact with them so far, so they need to improve on their integration.

[edhe]

..is that they're now expected to keep up.

[KingKionic]

I am loving the new layout on xbox.com.

[y0haN]

I was until the friends list broke.

[Rob Hornecker]

I love these comments! As a owner of both a 360 and ps3, the xbox has the best online setup and even a little improvement is welcome. There was a post on N4G yesterday about "things to do while XBL is down" that maybe some people should have read. I for one took a break from XBL gaming and caught up on my latest game magazines.

As for the "fall update",I could care less about Facebook,twitter, or Zune! Thats why I have a PC if I care to get social or download music ( whatever happened to buying music in stores? and YEA,I'm old! LOL! ). I still say that the 360 needs a web browser and/or atleast access to "myspace" if they want be a part of these so called social web sites.

[Spolodaface]

come to think of it, what hapenned to buying music?

[36T]

"As for the "fall update",I could care less about Facebook,twitter, or Zune! Thats why I have a PC"

But you would like a web browser and Myspace on Xbox Live? I thought you had a PC? Everybody has their preferences i suppose. Personally i would love Hulu. Anyway's, this is just the beginning. Microsoft will add more features to Xbox Live over time.

"whatever happened to buying music in stores?"

Honestly, the last Cd a bought was Eminem. Before that i can't even remember. Buying music at stores will soon be a thing of the past. Kinda sad actually.

[kewlkat007]

But yeah, if you don't care for social websites then why would you still want a web browser after mentioning, you can go on your PC to do such ventures but you wouldn't mind a "Web browser" for Myspace and other networking sites?...

Because they are missing the myspace integration means, they are not part of "these so called social web sites. "??? confusing post

I think, MS is just extending the XBL service to users, that do take part in these social networking rigs. Plus, it's integrated to allow most to do simple updates from these sites, while connected through live. I don't think it's trying to replace the comforts of a PC.

[Grown Folks Talk]

but I understand why they don't put 1 on there. Kewlkat bustin out the Silverhawks avatar. The good ol days when cartoons didn't suck. Last good one was Pirates of Darkwater.

[D4RkNIKON]

Buy a PS3.. it has a web browser, FULL access to twitter facebook myspace hulu youtube and more. Not that I use any of that crap on my PS3, I stick to Killzone and inFAMOUS for now.

[likedamaster]

PS3 hypocrisy at its finest(Rob Horn). Surprising? No. Is it sad? Yes.

[cherrypie]

How about last.fm?

It is going to be terrific if we can *stream* last.fm while in-game. I really hope this is the case.

If not, I'll still be happy. I currently pay $3 per month for last.fm access, I'll be very happy to be getting that for free as part of my Xbox LIVE Gold subscription.

[Halochampian]

facebook > myspace

I know no one who uses it anymore. lol

[Mo0eY]

Eight months of waiting for some sort of exclusivity, and this is it?

LOLOL. FailBox PleaseTweetMe

[Realgamer23]

huh

[AngryTypingGuy]

Yeah, exactly, huh? You'll have to excuse Mooey, he's retarded.

[Ace Killa 08]

u were waiting for 8 months for regular maintenance?

[NeoSprtacus]

@36t and kewlkat007 (7.2,7.3)
Rob didn't say he wanted a web browser and myspace, he suggested they need it to be up with all of these social websites. And I agree, I would rather do all of that on my laptop, much more convenient. Only reason to have web on a console is for something you want on a TV, aka hulu or movies.

@Spolodaface
Napster.

Though I still buy CD's. New one comin out soon.

[Edit]
Missed the reply buttons. Whoops.

[skottey]

It is a small amount of money, so no, we shouldn't be getting thirteen cents back but it would be nice if they just bumped everyone's renewal date forward a day. So if you renew every Jan 1, you now renew on Jan 2. Take a day, give a day... that is only fair.

I as unable to get Castle Crashers to work on my second Xbox. It worked on the one I purchased it on, but not the second. Even though my gamertag is on the MU and I take it between 360s. Lode Runner and other purchased games worked fine. There were reports of other Live Arcade games not working for some as well. I was able to play COD World at War and my achievements earned synced when I signed onto Live this AM. So that was cool.

They just owe us a day or even throw us a bone with 100MS points or a free 200MS point item or something. Heck, how about one of those game picture pack themes that I cannot believe they charge for. Those are usually pretty cheap but I cannot believe they are charging for them. Give that away. Do something. A couple weeks notice was better than nothing but think about the low wage earners stuck working during the weekend in service and their only days off are during the week and they play Xbox Live on Tuesdays. Not cool for them. Granted, updates need to be done and with this sort of thing weekends and holidays are out because that is when all the kids play but then again, June 16th is summer break for most kids. I'll bet the crime rate spiked nationally for petty crimes yesterday. I remember when I was a kid we would get in all sorts of trouble doing vandalism and really stupid stuff out of boredom. I mean, you could only play Super Mario Brothers for so long before you got bored and went out to pull Christmas tree lights down or shoot up the church school windows with pellet guns. At last now these kids have a choice with games. Games like Halo or whatever you fancy on Live in multiplayer don't lose their appeal so fast. These games keep kids out of trouble.

Thanks MS. Thanks for sliced up tires and blown out windows across America by today's youth! All because you took down live during summer break!

[skottey]

What is the person disagreeing with on my post above?

You want your 13 cents?
You think MS should NOT give us an extra day in exchange for the day out?
You think some teenagers do not partake in petty crime out of boredom?

You have the opportunity to reply to me. Do it if you disagree with something.

This agree-disagree system is flawed. Some people just go down the list and click on disagree for the heck of it, not reading the posts. The guy underneath mine asked a question. How can you disagree with a question? He wasn't making a declaration that the website was getting updated and the Live service was down because of it, he was ASKING a question. How can you disagree with a question? He didn't understand that both the Live game service and website were involved in the updates in preparation for the autumn updates, so he was asking a question. "Why do I have cancer doc?" "I disagree with your question sir." Sorry, but there is nothing to disagree with. Answer the question or move on kids.

Well, I guess if it means these immature teenagers are off the streets not causing mischief, it is worth putting up with the immaturity of a 16 year old who acts like he or she is 9 going down the thread and clicking disagree, disagree, disagree.

It is the fault of the moderators of this site for not addressing this matter. I've said it before and I am saying it now, there should be a mandatory text box up to 256 characters where you are required to put a reason for disagreeing or agreeing. If the immature person fills the text box with "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa" or something and doesn't give a reason, he or she is given a set number of chances (perhaps 3) and then after that they are not allowed to agree or disagree. Non-registered members are not allowed to agree or disagree and IP addresses are logged and blocked if they keep changing usernames. This is foolish. An otherwise pretty good site of information is ruined by immaturity. Grow up kiddies.

[skottey]

case in point....^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

disagree disagree.... funny. Sixteen going on nine.

[Ace Killa 08]

not a bad idea to get a day back if MS takes a day to do maintenance, but really i never heard of any company that pays for subscription to give their service for free if they're service goes down. i know wow should do this and we would get around a month worth of time since they always do maintenance, but really i played fallout 3 with the dlc so i dint loose anything at all.

[rTR-Pioneer]

why do they need to take xbox live down to do updates to the website???

[Grown Folks Talk]

maintenance on the whole service to prep for the upcoming additions. Most of the updates will be this fall, but the games on demand is set to start sometime this summer.

[outlawlife]

one key reason is the xbox live site is integrated fully into the system and the use database and you do not ever work on live databases unless you like playing russian roulette with your network

xbox live and the my xbox section of the website are the same thing, one is for your console and one is for your PC they must remain uniform

[-IronMan-]

PS3 got facebook, youtube, twitter, myspace etc... and it also has a web browser which the 360 dont have. That too bad.

And its FREE on PS3.

Pay to play online on a 360. NO THANKS!!!!!!!!

Did i mention its FREE ON PS3. :P

[Grown Folks Talk]

Glad you did, because until now, I was completely unaware. Nobody has ever posted that here before.

[maxcer]

go away troll...

at least XBL users have the decency to stick to their own stories instead of being so utterly bored with PSN that you feel the need to comment on something that doesn't effect you....

oh i get it, you downloaded a demo and you need to kill three hours waiting for a 700MB file.

[Golfcoachh]

That is for sure, I havent played on psn in a long time, but I am on xbox live nightly. Don't get me wrong, I love my PS3 with its incredible first party lineup, but home is useless to me, running around dancing, and I like the functionality of Xbox live better. My 2 cents.

[CRAIG667]

But i was horrified when i got my PS3 up and running at how shoddy and slow its web browser is,and youtube xl is a joke,it looks like it was designed with a 5 year old child in mind!?

Me personally though,i think facebook and twitter are soul destroying,time wasting pieces of crap,cant someone please stop me checking my facebook everyday,its a dirtier addiction than H!

I am however looking forward to sky player here in the UK,if it works well i'm going to be sooo happy,but it could fail miserably...who knows?
Also last FM is a cool idea,i like the thought of having a random METAL selection on in the background as i slice some locust in half with my lancer...oh yeh!

xbl tag- CRAIG667
psn id - CRAIGZ667

[AsILayDying]

well live is being a little funny at the moment but i suppose thats because it aint up everywhere yet, oh well back to GHOSTBUSTERS :D

[maniacf50]

just twitter and facebook???? what the hell is microsift thinking? thats a direct slap in the face from microsoft to their owners.

[GiantEnemyCrab]

The PS3 browser isn't exactly stable or enjoyable to use. I would rather have these features integrated into the dashboard given the choice. I can pause a game and check my Twitter and then jump back in while with the PS3 I have to stop my game, exit to the XMB, open the browser and then go to the page.

[likedamaster]

PS3 browser is like the PSP's browser, it was never that good to begin with, e.g. crashes, hard to navigate, etc.

[vhero]

Crab there is no proof you can even leave you game and go into twitter yet etc so stop sprouting crap yet before we know and wait for launch. I also agree I would prefer a browser on my 360 like the PS3 browser which over time has become a decent browser it can run FULL facebook features including applications something the 360 version cannot not to mention myspace etc..

[BRG9000]

The xbox live iPhone apps I've tried have all sucked. Really glad to see they've put out a mobile version of their web site.

[likedamaster]

agreed

[spiky1228]

PC is enough

[360_Rules]

Droids you can talk the day you get Cross voice game chats. Now back to your texting! hahahahahahaa

[Ace Killa 08]

if the ps3 web browser like the psp then im better of using wifi on my palm pre then the webos makes all the web pages look like a regular web page in a comp. the only bummer no flash yet.

[MriownBOTH]

man i love xbox live....without it id have no fun online experience without having to buy a bad-ass pc.

[akaFullMetal]

whoopeee do facebook and twitter, god really can't wait for that
/end sarcasm

geez give us some good features