Xbox Live Marketplace
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Xbox Live Marketplace | |
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|---|---|
| Developer | Microsoft Corporation |
| Type | Online market |
| Available | November 2005 |
| Console | Xbox 360 |
| Website | Official Website |
The Xbox Live Marketplace (XBLM) is a virtual market designed for Microsoft's Xbox 360 console that allows Xbox Live members to download purchased or promotional content. The service offers movie and game trailers, game demos, Xbox Live Arcade games, Xbox Originals, gamer tag images, and Xbox 360 Dashboard themes.
The Spring 2007 update to the Xbox 360 Dashboard relocated the Marketplace to its own "blade" in order to bring more attention to the service and make it more accessible to users.
The marketplace can also be used to "upgrade" a particular game, such as, the ability to download map packs for Bungie's Halo 3.
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[edit] Microsoft Points
Microsoft Points are used as scrip in the Xbox Live Marketplace, which includes the Xbox Live Arcade. These points may be purchased with a credit card through the Xbox Live Marketplace, or redeemed from gift cards purchased at retail locations. Microsoft Points are universal across the globe, and their use allows content to be priced independent of actual currency, eliminating complicated conversion factors for every purchase.
[edit] Xbox Live Arcade
The Xbox Live Arcade service was re-launched beginning with the release of the Xbox 360 on November 22, 2005. The Arcade service is integrated with the Dashboard user interface, allowing for distribution through the Xbox Live Marketplace using Microsoft Points. Arcade titles on the Xbox 360 support accurate and up-to-date leaderboards, with high scores linked to a player's Gamertag. Players can see where they stand in the Xbox Live community, take a look at the records set by the world's top-ranked players, or see how they match up against individuals on their friends list. Titles can also contribute to a player's Xbox Live Gamerscore.
[edit] Xbox Originals
On December 4, 2007 Microsoft launched a new download service entitled Xbox Originals which allows Xbox Live users to download Xbox games directly to their hard disks. These titles cost 1200 Microsoft Points ($15 USD) each. Launch titles for the service were Halo, Fable, Psychonauts, Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge, Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, Fuzion Frenzy and Indigo Prophecy.[1][2]
In Japan a different set of launch titles were released; Puyo Pop Fever and Magatama, along with Halo, Crimson Skies and Fable.[3]
There have been seven titles added since the initial offering, including: Burnout 3: Takedown, Dreamfall: The Longest Journey, Sid Meier's Pirates!, Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows, Metal Arms: Glitch in the System and Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory .[4]
[edit] Video Store
The Video Store (originally Video Marketplace) is an online service operated by Microsoft that is used to distribute television shows and movies to Xbox 360 owners. The service was launched in USA on November 22, 2006 via Xbox Live. Initial content partners include Paramount Pictures, CBS, TBS, MTV Networks, UFC, NBC, and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. Other movie studios have since supported the service including Lionsgate Films and Walt Disney Pictures as announced at E3 2007.[5] At CES 2008, MGM, ABC, the Disney Channel and Toon Disney announced their support for the service.[6] At the present time, the service is available to users in the United States, Canada, UK, Ireland, France and Germany.
Various films and TV shows are available for purchase in the Video Store, including both past and present series, such as Star Trek and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.[7] TV shows will be saved permanently while movies are only "rentals"; they will become unwatchable 24 hours after initial viewing or 14 days after purchase.
At launch, the Video Store encountered widespread problems such as lengthy download times, duplicate billing for the same content, and downloads that could not complete, or for which users would have had to repay to complete.[8]
On March 6, 2007, the South Park episode "Good Times with Weapons" was available for free download; however, this episode was free only for the HDTV version until April 3, 2007. Starting on March 13, 2007, all episodes from South Park's 11th season were offered uncensored. Also, starting on July 26, 2007, the pilot episode of Jericho was available for download free of charge for both the Standard and HD versions.
[edit] Xbox Live Pipeline
Xbox Live Pipeline was a website that allowed users to view downloadable content available through Xbox Live Marketplace on their PC. Launched by Microsoft on October 12, 2006 the Flash-based web site provided access to an easy-to-use listing of game downloads, demos, game videos, themes, gamer pictures, and other pieces of media content.
At website launch, the site contained 6 main sections:
- Game Downloads - Xbox Live Arcade games and add-ons available for existing games.
- Demos and Game Videos - Downloadable demos and trailers for currently released or future release games.
- Themes and Gamer Pics - Themes for the console's interface and gamer pictures for a user's avatar.
- Media and Entertainment - Trailers for movies, short films, sports, music, and TV content, along with videos from the gaming community.
- Editor's Choice - Featured items chosen by the site's editors.
- We Need Your Help - Surveys inquiring as to how to improve the site.
As of the beginning of 2007, the Xbox Live Pipeline website redirects to the standard Xbox site, which now contains most of the functionality of Pipeline.
This site is no longer active and the domain has changed ownership.
[edit] Xbox Live Marketplace Ticker
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Please help improve this article or section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (April 2008) |
The Marketplace Ticker is a replacement for the recently removed Xbox Live Pipeline. The Xbox Live Marketplace Ticker allows users to view the latest demos, trailers, "gamer pics", themes, games, and TV shows and Movies. [9]
The Marketplace Ticker allows users to see the availability, price, and information of items that can be purchased from the Xbox Live Marketplace. The Marketplace Ticker does not yet let you add items onto the Queue portion of the Xbox 360 for later download when the gamer signs unto Xbox Live.
[edit] Criticism
Most complaints and criticisms leveled at the Xbox Live service concern the Xbox Live Marketplace. Specific areas include the following:
[edit] Problems with replacement consoles
Per Marketplace design, the digital rights management license for downloaded content is tied to both a specific user, as well as to a specific console. This means that to access the content, the user either needs to be signed on to Xbox Live using their Gamertag, or be playing on the original console the content was purchased on.[10]
As a result, users with replacement consoles (either as a result of a warranty claim, or due to an upgrade to the Xbox 360 Elite model) cannot use previously downloaded content without being connected to Xbox Live. This has the effect of restricting usage of purchased content when no Internet connection is available. An additional wrinkle is added when there are multiple accounts on one console. In this case, all accounts can normally share content when it was downloaded on that system. However, if the system is replaced, then only the actual Xbox Live account to which the content is tied can make use of it (a workaround exists whereby the non-purchasing gamertag can use the content, but only if the original purchasing gamertag is signed into Xbox Live as a secondary profile).
Recently, Microsoft has attempted to resolve the issues with the replacement consoles. They are able to transfer the console license to a new console, however one must contact Microsoft support to do so and the console must be replaced through Microsoft itself or a warranty from the retailer where it was originally purchased. Furthermore, Microsoft will not perform license transfers in the case of a voluntary upgrade (i.e. whereby the user has purchased an Xbox 360 Elite to replace their old console). Microsoft support states the license transfer process takes 20-30 days, however users have found that it can take much longer.
[edit] Pricing
The service has been criticized by both gamers and the gaming press for charging users a membership fee while simultaneously displaying advertisements on the dashboard.[citation needed]
The Marketplace charges for most downloadable content, including gamer picture icons and dashboard themes, which have traditionally been offered for free on the Internet (i.e. buddy icons and desktop wallpapers).
A notable incident was Microsoft charging for a Gears of War map pack that developer Epic desired to provide at no cost (although it was made free four months later in September 2007).[11] Exacerbating the controversy, Game Informer made claims that Microsoft forced companies to charge for content the company itself wanted to distribute for free.[12] In this case, Microsoft Publishing was responsible for setting the price, with this not actually being a policy of the Xbox team or Xbox Live Marketplace as was implied. Free content is indeed possible, but with the exception of the Xbox Live Arcade game, Aegis Wing, most of the free content is promotional in nature, such as the Xbox Live Arcade Yaris game.
[edit] Content Region Controls
After the Spring 2007 dashboard update, Microsoft increased the security on the regional content restrictions.[13] This made obtaining entertainment content for international markets impossible, while the US market has a substantial offering in comparison. Even some free content, such as downloadable extras for retail games, is impossible to obtain in certain regions, despite there being no legal or censorship problems (an example of this would be the second Gears of War map pack; while the first pack was initially available worldwide for free, the Spring 2007 update made both unavailable to many Xbox 360 owners).
Critics of the International marketplaces want Microsoft to deliver quality content world-wide, or at the very least offer local content on a region by region basis.[citation needed]
[edit] Network Performance
On April 4th, 2008, Xbox Live Marketplace had encountered a problem when the Variety Map Pack for Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was released. Many Xbox Live users attempted to download the content and due to the mass number of people downloading the content it caused very slow internet traffic that made many users unable to access Xbox Live Marketplace and redeem prepaid cards. Similar issues occurred in December 2007 - January 2008 after a spike in new users to the service after the Holiday season.[citation needed]
[edit] References
- ^ Microsoft To Launch Downloadable Xbox Game Campaign. Retrieved on 2007-11-13.
- ^ Original Xbox Games Available on Live Soon, Plus Free Arcade Game Today. Retrieved on 2007-11-15.
- ^ Xbox Originals: Japan Gets Different Xbox Originals Lineup. Retrieved on 2007-12-23.
- ^ http://www.xbox360fanboy.com/2008/02/05/new-xbox-originals-ninja-gaiden-black-sid-meiers-pirates-and/ (2008-02-05). Retrieved on 2008-02-05.
- ^ E3 2007 - Walt Disney Studios Now on Xbox LIVE Marketplace (2007-07-10).
- ^ Block, Ryan (2008-01-06). Bill Gates: live at his 12th and final CES keynote.
- ^ First Wave of TV Shows and Movies on Xbox Live. Retrieved on 2006-11-24.
- ^ Tech problems hit XBL video marketplace. Retrieved on 2006-11-27.
- ^ Xbox.com | Xbox LIVE Marketplace - The Latest Xbox LIVE Marketplace News
- ^ Xbox.com "Shop 'till you Drop" (subsection):Usage restrictions. Retrieved on 2007.
- ^ Gears of War Map Pack Live on Thursday. Retrieved on 2007-07-06.
- ^ www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5359&Itemid=2. Retrieved on 2007-07-06.
- ^ Microsoft to Tighten Up Xbox Live Marketplace Region Controls. Xbox 365 (2007-05-05).
[edit] External links
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