Let's All Sing Together!

I've seen a lot of people who expect nothing from the online service that Sony and Nintendo will be offering for their consoles. While I'm tempted to side with the sceptics, all it takes to get on the same level as Xbox Live is a bunch of servers, a central login and a friends list, right?

Perhaps there is more to it. I have played games online on PC before I first booted up Xbox Live and I've always had a kind of 'detached' feeling when doing so. PC gamers seem cold. They would only talk about the game, curse occassionally and use leetspeak. Of course leetspeak. I always run into fanatics or game-crazy people when I play PC games online, people I simply do not connect with, despite my own fanatical gaming habits.

I often hear that Xbox Live is full of smacktalking....people.... That's partially right, there will always be people who use the headset as an outlet for their own frustrations, and there will always be people who will take games a little too seriously. Ran into those on PC as well. However, what really sets XBL apart for me is that there is some kind of community feel, even though there's millions of gamers in that 'community'. When I click a few buttons to jump online in a more laidback atmosphere such as an Arcade game, there's no such thing as leetspeak. It's either quiet, or people are just chatting away about all sorts of things. Most of the time it is not about the game, and they rarely play to win. And you always have something to talk about because you've used the same means of contacting each other, namely the 360 console.

This makes the Xbox Live community seem more like your own city or town. Most of the people in your city you've never met, but still you feel you can connect with them because you share a bunch of the same interests and preoccupations because you live in the same town. When at the bus stop you can chat with them about how the bus is always late and they'll probably agree with you because they understand where you're coming from.

In my opinion, that is the greatest challenge any company who wants to build a unified online gaming service from the ground up has to face. XBL has gamercards, it functions a bit like a phonebook. I can have a few of those in my own personal phonebook and we'll meet up often. XBL has gamerscore, which is nothing but a number but does show how 'active' you are in this community. These elements mean nothing but they do add a whole lot of personality to your online handle.

To me a good online gaming service is not a buddy list, a bunch of central servers and a central login. It turns out that I keep coming back for more on XBL because it's more than just games. It's a social interaction tool where people do not always curse or use made-up languages. It's a big meeting place where people chat about all sorts of things as well, and where people are granted a personality immediately, one that stretches beyond their nickname alone. I challenge you to beat that, Sony and Nintendo.