Xbox live will fail in europe....

[HellSpawn]

This may have been posted before, but i thought i should point this out anyway.

From what i read, you MUST have a Broadband modem to play Live, but Europe is very slow in catching on to broadband, people just prefer the cheaper 56k modem set up. With Broadband practically non-existent in Ireland, very weak in Britan, and only slightly stronger in the rest of Europe, what are ms' chances?
Slim to none.
I know the majority of you wont care, as you live outside Europe, but it is still a big territory for Xbox to succed.
What do you guys think? Should ms let Europe use a 56k modem, making games run slowly, or should they treat Europe like Nintendo are? With Sheer Isolation?

[CrazyCougar]

Well alot of those guys pay for service by the minute. So I don't see it succeeding either. I still get the funny feeling I own a glorified Dreamcast. I just hope I am wrong.

[MerimacHamwich]

Who cares what happens in europe unless you live there. Same goes for Japan. Things are great for the xbox in North America. I love it and it shows me love back.

Oh and if you are worried about broadband. Here in North America microsoft teamed up with boradband providers to bring a "special" service for xbox live and try and make it available to everyone. I am sure they will do the same everywhere else. Xbox Live is only promoting the expansion of broadband internet. It is creating a demand for broadband and internet providers will notice this and start providing supply for the demand. Simple economics my friends.

[LynxFX]

I hope MS sticks to their guns and doesn't release a 56k adapter. It is called moving forward and hopefully it might actually help you guys in a move towards getting broadband. You already are ahead of us in widescreen penetration so I know you don't want to stay behind in technology.

[HellSpawn]

Originally posted by Lynxfx
I hope MS sticks to their guns and doesn't release a 56k adapter. It is called moving forward and hopefully it might actually help you guys in a move towards getting broadband. You already are ahead of us in widescreen penetration so I know you don't want to stay behind in technology.
Thats easy to say when you live in the Rocky Mountains, as opposed to the location of the problem. Thing is, broadband is very scarcely available, for example i cant even get broadband where i live, so im temporarly ****ed. I find it hard to imagine that Ms will bother with some countries in Europe (like Ireland) that have very little use of broadband. Also its VERY expensive to get broadband in europe as opposed to America. So even if your location is supported, chances are you cant afford it.
Unless your Bill Gates:)

[BlubberBuns]

Hellspawn,

Yeah, I hear ya. Broadband is common here in the 'States, and while it isn't cheap, it is mostly affordable. Yep, we know broadband is not available in most areas of Ireland, and the UK is not much better, either. But times are changing, even for the old state monopoly telecom companies, but it's just going to take time, like 12-18 months. Too be honest, the first generation of games for anything is usually not very good, so I can't say your missing out on a bunch right now. Be lound, be nasty, and complain bitterly to your telecom provider. Microsoft is trying to implement something that just won't work on narrowband, period, so I wouldn't waste much time thinking about that option. If the games are good enough, the gamers will come, the word will spread, and eventually, Xbox will do better and better in Europe.

[Baleful]

Microsoft won't release a 56k adapter.

Sending information would create a HUGE bottleneck (think of water going through a 2 inch pipe, then to a 1/2 inch and trying to maintain the same flow, same idea with broadband to dial-up) on the X-BOX SIDE of the 'adapter'. The same thing would happen on the other side. Lag for you and you only. You will be so laggy it won't matter to other people because they will be in a different spot by the time their X-Box recieves the signal that you shot.

X-Box is broadband only.

[MerimacHamwich]

Just so you guys know the United Kingdom is Ireland (north and south), Wales, Scotland and England. It is a way of talking about both islands with one word. So if you say UK you are refering to all of those places.

[ecco]

It's more like a 10 foot pipe vs. a .5 inch pipe... If your area (in the US) doesn't sport broadband, it's stime to move.

~ Chris

[CrazyCougar]

Time to move? LOL! I wouldnt move just because of BB availibility. Video games and the internet aren't that important. If 56K is the only thing available then I just enjoy what I have.

[LynxFX]

I wouldnt move just because of BB availibility.
I did. :) Well I wouldn't say I moved because of it, but where I moved to was greatly influenced on if BB was available or not. Too much of my life and work rely on high bandwidth so 56k was not an option.

Hopefully the UK will get back up to speed in the next couple of years.

Heck I was playing someone that was in Korea the other day. A military guy that was hooked into their lan. :D

[E Nomini Patri]

Microsoft compared dial to broadband as like sucking pizza through a straw.

[HellSpawn]

Originally posted by MerimacHamwich
Just so you guys know the United Kingdom is Ireland (north and south), Wales, Scotland and England. It is a way of talking about both islands with one word. So if you say UK you are refering to all of those places.
Only the NORTH of Ireland is part of the UK. The South, West and the East are part of the Republic of Ireland
Now thats cleared up
Blubberbuns, your right, i should start complaining to the service provider (eircom), and that will start immediatly. I will send an E-Mail to Eircom, and tell u guys what they said...later

[MerimacHamwich]

Huh, I never knew that. How could such a small Island be divided into so many different places? It seems like it has 4 little countries inside one big country.

[SkoalMint]

Originally posted by CrazyCougar
I wouldnt move just because of BB availibility.

Well, I didn't move just because of BB availability as I had it at the previous place I was renting, but when I went to buy a house, the first thing I checked was whether or not I could get BB. If not, then I didn't even bother looking at the house. Personally, I wasn't about to miss out on XBL.

:)

[ShannonX]

any place i move to must have fast broadband, that means at least 2mbit (or 1.5mbit) and a minimum of 256Kb upload, preferably faster, and at a reasonable price (not the 80 bucks you have to pay in some areas for dsl to get those speeds)...

i will NEVER go back to dialup, if i cant have broadband, i will not use the internet.

[HellSpawn]

Two days and still no response.....im getting kinda ****ed off. Guess ill have to make do with PSO on GameCube...

[LynxFX]

From Microsoft:
On Nov. 30, game players in France, Germany and the United Kingdom will enter the Xbox Live online arena as part of an Xbox Live Test Drive in those countries. Xbox Live players will be able to compete in cross-Atlantic battles of "MotoGP." On March 14, 2003, the one-year anniversary of the Xbox console in Europe, Xbox Live will launch in eight European countries: France, Germany and the United Kingdom, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden. In Japan, players of Xbox Live are currently conducting a beta test of the service and will be able to enter the global online arena on Jan. 16, 2003

Looks like it will be broadband only throughout the world. Dialup appears dead to the eyes of the Live team. I think they are making the right gamble. There have been Naysayers for a year saying that making a broadband only network is going to fail because of low penitration of broadband even in the US. This past week proved those people wrong. Maybe it will happen in Europe as well.

[UnitedKingdom]

Broadband may be a bit pricey but its worth every penny, especially for xbox live. I'm a poor ass student, but i'm hooking up anyway!

[BlubberBuns]

Hellspawn,

Keep beating on them. Seriously, they are too old school to take email seriously, send them FAXes and snail mail letters. Complain to everybody you can find, from the local all the way up to the top. Address a complaint letter to the chairman of the board, and of course to the telecom regulation agency ... I dunno what it is called in Ireland. Keep beating, and don't assume they know what a computer is. The more people *****, the sooner something will happen. Sorry guy, hope you are enjoying the Xbox though. Keep trying.