Xbox heads online with phone bonus

By PETER GRIFFIN

The online gaming craze will move out of the darkened bedroom and into the lounge over the Christmas holidays with the launch of Microsoft's Xbox Live service.

But Live is likely to appeal to more than just gamers, with the service's instant messaging and internet telephony elements technically capable of linking communities of far-flung friends.

Those armed with an Xbox console and a broadband internet connection (Microsoft recommends a minimum connection speed of 256 kilobits per second) will be able to subscribe to Live, which launched in the US a year ago for US$50 ($84). The service will cost A$100 ($114.35) in Australia, suggesting a similar price for New Zealand.

That will buy you a 12-month subscription to Xbox Live, a headset for chatting to other gamers, set-up software and a couple of demo games. Internet charges are extra.

But users will by default be able to take part in internet telephony conference calls and message friends who are online all over the world in much the same way as MSN Instant Messenger is used.

Users do not have to be actively involved in a game to chat with friends, but can do so in menu mode using the headset for full-duplex communication - meaning users can speak over each other at the same time as in a normal telephone conversation.

Xbox marketing manager Wilf Robinson said the internet telephony function of Live was a "side-benefit" and not intended as a line of business for Microsoft.

"The point was not to compete with the telecommunications industry, but to add a much more realistic element to gaming."

Users of the service connect to Microsoft's server in Seattle to authenticate their account before launching into their multiplayer community of choice. Microsoft will have no local servers and has to integrate with internet providers for the peer-to-peer connections linking groups of gamers.

"There's a lot of testing to be done with Xtra and the other internet providers," said Robinson.

Gaming will add to users' data download caps at a modest rate of 7-8MB an hour of Xbox Live game play.

But while the Live interface is easy to use, setting up the service may pose challenges to gamers. That's because Xbox consoles rarely inhabit the same room as the family PC, both of which will share the same broadband connection in many cases.

Home networking will be required to share the fast internet connection coming into the home between the PC and the Xbox which has a built-in ethernet connection.