Friday, Oct 10, 2008    Text size: 

Although pitched as "home entertainment" for "14 million members across 26 countries," Microsoft may have created an online community interested in more than the upcoming release of Halo 3.

Among the system's increased performance and new features, a few exploit the online marketplace:

• Xbox LIVE Party: Microsoft has entered the chat room business. Billed as a "virtual party on your TV," seven users can chat, share pictures and play games together in real time.
• Personality Plus: As printed previously in XBIZ, avatars can now serve as sexually active alternate personalities in cyberspace. Microsoft gives users the ability to "create a customizable, animated avatar and literally jump into the world of Xbox LIVE." The size of Microsoft's connected community populates this new online space with "more than 14 million members worldwide." Xbox LIVE will have as many avatars as Tokyo has residents.
• On-Demand Entertainment: Xbox 360 offers on-demand films and TV episodes from a variety of content producers, including more than 12,000 exclusive films and TV episodes from Netflix, and a "large online library of on-demand high-definition TV shows and movies." Disney, MGM, NBC Universal Inc. and Warner Bros. have already released portions of their content libraries to be digitally distributed by the Xbox Live service.

Units will be in stores Nov. 19.

The Xbox 360 will begin retailing in three configurations, starting at $199.