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83-632: In June 2013, Microsoft announced that it would phase out Microsoft Points by the end of 2013, in favor of using local cash currencies (such as the United States dollar and Euro) on its digital distribution platforms. An Xbox 360 software update implementing this change was released on August 26, 2013; users' existing Microsoft Points were converted into an equivalent amount of local currency for purchases. Microsoft Points were sold online and through gift cards at retail outlets. In North America, points could only be purchased in 400 point increments. In

166-561: A Windows 10 PC (running Windows 10 Anniversary Update or later) through Microsoft Store using the same Microsoft account at no additional charge, and vice versa. The scheme also promotes the ability to synchronize save data, achievements, and downloadable content between Windows 10 and Xbox One versions of a game. Microsoft announced in March 2019 that it would be providing Xbox Live SDKs for iOS and Android mobile devices, allowing developers on those platforms to integrate most services of

249-644: A denial-of-service attack . Functionality was restored on December 28, with some users experiencing difficulties in the days that followed. A group called, "The Phantom Squad" has threatened to disrupt the Xbox Live network through a denial-of-service attack on December 25, 2015. In 2019, the Official Xbox Magazine revealed that Xbox Live would be made cross platform, and will serve Android , iOS and Nintendo Switch . Microsoft added Xbox Live Gold to its Xbox Game Pass program as part of

332-588: A dial-up modem while a later-released broadband adapter was neither widely supported nor widely available. Downloadable content was available, though limited in size due to the narrowband connection and the size limitations of a memory card . The PlayStation 2 did not initially ship with built-in networking capabilities. Microsoft, however, hoped that the Xbox would succeed where the Dreamcast had failed. The company determined that intense online gaming required

415-422: A mathematical model of uncertainty to address weaknesses in existing ranking systems such as Elo . For example, a new player joining million-player leagues can be ranked correctly in fewer than 20 games. It can predict the probability of each game outcome, which enhances competitive matchmaking, making it possible to assemble skill-balanced teams from a group of players with different abilities. When matchmaking,

498-616: A development kit for universal Windows applications on Xbox One, with official support for the platform and Cortana coming in summer 2016. As Microsoft continued to refine Windows 10 with the Fluent Design System , the Xbox One interface was also modified to reflect these changes by 2017. Microsoft has since continued to refine this interface to add and remove integrated features, such as inclusion of Xbox Game Pass support and removal of Cortana voice commands. Ahead of

581-485: A digital game storefront. While some portions of the Xbox Live service are free, a subscription-tier Xbox Live Gold is generally required to play most multiplayer games on the console. Starting with the Xbox 360 and continuing through its current consoles, Microsoft has offered a means for users to opt into a beta test version of the console's system software. When first launched for the Xbox 360 in September 2010, this

664-428: A free Xbox Live Arcade game to all Xbox Live users as compensation, in an open letter to all Xbox Live members from Marc Whitten, Xbox LIVE General Manager. Increased demand from Xbox 360 purchasers (the largest number of new user sign-ups in the history of Xbox Live) was given as the reason for the downtime. On January 18, 2008, Microsoft announced Undertow would be offered free to both Gold and Free members for

747-582: A geometrical placement of squares and rectangular items that scrolls as a continuous vertical line, using the Metro design language that is also seen in Windows 8 , Windows 10 , and other Microsoft products. When Microsoft upgraded the Windows 8-based Core to a Windows 10-based one, they made a tour of the new user interface up on Xbox Wire, promising faster, easier navigation, improved community features and

830-428: A headset and communication, a feature that was still in its infancy. Leading up to the launch, Microsoft enlisted several waves of beta testers to improve the service and receive feature feedback. The first wave of beta testers were given Re-Volt ! (which was never released officially) and NFL Fever 2003 to beta test. Once beta testing concluded, Microsoft sent these beta testers a translucent orange memory card,

913-586: A headset carrying case, and a beta tester t-shirt with the slogan "I've got great hands". When the service debuted, it lacked much of the functionality that later titles included, but Xbox Live grew and evolved on the Xbox and many aspects of the service were included with the Xbox 360 console out of the box, rather than through a later update. Microsoft granted Live-related patent that gives Xbox 360 users access to watch other gamers compete against each other over Xbox Live. The packaging for playable Xbox Live titles on

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996-546: A limited form of Xbox Live "awareness". In July 2004, Xbox Live had reached 1 million online users. In July 2005, Xbox Live had reached 2 million online users. On November 15, 2007, Microsoft celebrated Xbox Live's 5th anniversary by offering its then over 8 million subscribers the title Carcassonne free of charge and awarding gamers who had subscribed to Live since its inception 500 free Microsoft Points . Due to intermittent service interruptions during late December 2007 and early January 2008, Microsoft promised to offer

1079-556: A new Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription tier in April 2019. On January 22, 2021, Microsoft planned to increase the prices for the Xbox Live Gold subscriptions, as follows: by $ 1 for the monthly subscription ($ 10.99 from $ 9.99), by $ 5 for the 3-month subscription ($ 29.99 from $ 24.99), by $ 20 for the 6-month subscription ($ 59.99 from $ 39.99), and by $ 60 (double the price) for the 12-month subscription ($ 119.99 from $ 59.99). However,

1162-484: A pilot project, which allows the user to change their region and maintain their Xbox network profile. Subscriptions, such as that for Xbox Music, cannot be transferred with this method. On May 18, 2011, Microsoft announced that it planned to launch Xbox network in the Middle East within the next twelve months, but it never occurred during that time period. However, on October 20, 2012, Microsoft officially announced

1245-487: A variable number of Achievements, while each Xbox Live Arcade title contained 12 Achievements totaling 200G. On February 1, 2007, Microsoft announced on their Gamerscore Blog some new policies that developers must follow related to Gamerscore and Achievements in future releases. All regular disc-based games must have 1,000 Gamerscore points in the base game; the title can ship with fewer than 1,000 points, but anything added later must be free. Game developers also now have

1328-421: A vision of making premium download content and add-ons that would attract many new customers. Based on this reasoning, the console included a standard Ethernet port (10/100) in order to provide connectivity to common broadband networks , but did not include a modem or any dial-up support, and its online service was designed to support broadband users only. Critics scoffed at it, citing poor broadband adoption at

1411-534: A year ago, during the Dive into Media conference in Southern California. In June 2014, Microsoft retracted the Xbox Live Gold requirements to access streaming media apps (including Netflix , Hulu , YouTube , Internet Explorer, Skype, and others), though various rental or subscription fees may still apply. On December 25, 2014, both PlayStation Network and Xbox Live suffered network disruption after

1494-583: Is about 99 cents. But it seems to be less because it's just 79 Points." Walter Mossberg also noted that "to buy even a single 99 cent song from the Zune store, you have to purchase blocks of "points" from Microsoft, in increments of at least $ 5. You can't just click and have the 99 cents deducted from a credit card, as you can with iTunes . So, even if you are buying only one song, you have to allow Microsoft to hold on to at least $ 4.01 of your money until you buy another." Xbox product director Aaron Greenberg defended

1577-473: Is an achievements point accumulation system that reflects the number of achievements accumulated by a user on Xbox through the displaying of the number of points accumulated. These Achievement points are awarded for the completion of game-specific challenges, such as beating a level or amassing a specified number of wins against other players in online matches and other various in game challenges. Initially, retail Xbox 360 games offered up to 1,000G spread over

1660-548: Is an online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft Gaming for the Xbox brand. It was first made available to the original Xbox console on November 15, 2002. An updated version of the service, adding the Xbox Live Marketplace , became available with the Xbox 360 console launch in November 2005, and a further enhanced version was released in 2013 with

1743-439: Is available as both a free service and a subscription-based service known as Xbox Game Pass Core . In 2021, Microsoft renamed Xbox Live as simply the "Xbox network" to cover all of its services related to Xbox, and began slowly phasing out all "Live" branding until it was fully removed in 2023. The Xbox network is available in 42 countries and territories. '*' = Country where Xbox network and Store are officially available, but

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1826-540: Is for casual gamers, Family is for family-friendly gamers (without profanity, etc.), Pro is for competitive gamers who enjoy a challenge, and Underground is for no-holds-barred gaming where anything goes (as long as it does not violate the Xbox Live Terms of Use). However, in practice these gamer zones were displayed only on the Gamercard of the player, and did not tend to affect the gameplay experience or

1909-612: Is now used to cross over the Xbox ecosystem into PC gaming, in addition to handhelds and mobile phones as part of the Play Anywhere initiative. Microsoft's former mobile operating system , Windows Phone , included full Xbox Live functionality until it was discontinued. The service shut down for the original Xbox on April 15, 2010, and original Xbox Games are now only playable online through Insignia , an unofficial Xbox Live replacement service, or through local area network (LAN) tunneling applications. Xbox network service

1992-469: Is offered from MTV , VH1 , Comedy Central , Turner Broadcasting and CBS ; and movie content is Warner Bros. , Paramount and Disney , along with other publishers. Originally called Live Anywhere, Play Anywhere is a cross-platform service allowing owners of Xbox and Windows games the ability to use said games on either operating system. Under the scheme, supported games purchased digitally on Microsoft Store for Xbox One can also be downloaded on

2075-464: Is the operating system developed exclusively for Microsoft 's Xbox home video game consoles . Across the four generations of Xbox consoles, the software has been based on a version of Microsoft Windows and incorporating DirectX features optimized for the home consoles. The user interface, the Xbox Dashboard, provides access to games, media players, and applications, and integrates with

2158-628: The Xbox One , and took effect with the roll-out of an Xbox 360 software update on August 26, 2013. Users' existing Microsoft Points were converted into a currency amount "equal to or greater [than]" their current Points balance. Currency gained from converted Points expired on June 1, 2015. Subsequently, and by September 2013, Microsoft Rewards Points were re-introduced through the Xbox Rewards program (now named Microsoft Rewards). Xbox 360 system software The Xbox system software

2241-399: The Xbox One . The service is used on the latest Xbox Series X and Series S and, in addition to a Microsoft account , is the account for Xbox ecosystem; accounts can store games and other content. The service was extended in 2007 across the Windows platform, named Games for Windows – Live , now defunct, which made most aspects of the system available on Windows computers. The Xbox app

2324-431: The Xbox network for online functionality. Though initial iterations of the software for the original Xbox and Xbox 360 were based on heavily modified versions of Windows, the newer consoles feature operating systems that are highly compatible with Microsoft's desktop operating systems, allowing for shared applications and ease-of-development between personal computers and the Xbox line. Across all four generations of

2407-404: The "New Xbox Experience" (NXE), on November 19, 2008, that added several new features. A major new feature was the ability to install an entire game disc onto the Xbox 360's hard drive , which decreases loading times, and significantly reduces noise due to the game being read from the hard drive and not the louder disc drive. For most games this feature also reduces the amount of time spent reading

2490-467: The "blades" for the Xbox 360 menu, namely the Marketplace, Xbox Live, Games, Media and System. In scrolling from left to right, each section would have a different-colored background signifying its own unique area but users also had the option to change all sections to one background color as well. At E3 2008 , Microsoft announced that all Xbox 360 owners would receive a new dashboard update, called

2573-514: The 6-month and 12-month subscription price increases would not affect existing subscribers when they resubscribed at the same level, nor those already subscribed through the Xbox Games Pass Ultimate program. However, after complaints from the Xbox community, Microsoft made an announcement on the same day that they revoked their decision, and that they would not increase the prices of any of the subscriptions, thus they would remain

Microsoft Points - Misplaced Pages Continue

2656-474: The OS. As part of its ongoing "Windows Everywhere" approach, Microsoft revamped the operating system on Xbox to be closer to its current Microsoft Windows products to provide greater compatibility between personal computers and the Xbox line. The OS was based on Windows 8 Core at the Xbox One launch in 2013. The UI maintained the same "Metro" design that had been used in the last Xbox 360 update, and which resembled

2739-860: The Points system, arguing that the system was intended to reduce the number of individual credit card transaction fees Microsoft would have to manage for its users. The Xbox services launched alongside Windows 8 — Xbox Music and Xbox Video (which both succeed Zune Marketplace) defaulted to using credit card transactions with local currency for purchases instead of Microsoft Points. However, when accessed from an Xbox 360 console, users were still required to pay using Microsoft Points. In May 2013, reports indicated that Microsoft Points would be discontinued entirely in favor of unified gift cards with currency that would work across Xbox, Windows Store , and Windows Phone Store . Microsoft's plans to discontinue Points were confirmed during its E3 2013 media event focusing on

2822-679: The Store is in Global currency USD, not in local currency. Users from other countries are not officially supported, although it is possible for them to access Xbox network if they provide an address located in a country where Xbox network is officially available. The country selected during account creation affects the payment options, content, and services available to the user. Previously, users were unable to change their account region, but in October 2012, Microsoft introduced an account migration tool as

2905-470: The United States, the minimum 400 points cost $ 5 to purchase, 800 cost $ 10, while 1600 cost $ 20. The Microsoft Points system was criticized for being deceptive in terms of actual real-world cost, as well as for users often having to purchase more points at once than those they immediately needed. In his review of the Zune , Paul Thurrott argued that "a song on Zune typically costs 79 Microsoft Points, which, yes,

2988-471: The Video Marketplace. They expire in 14 days after download or at the end of the first 24 hours after the movie has begun playing, whichever comes first. Television episodes can be purchased to own, and are transferable to an unlimited number of consoles. Downloaded files use 5.1 surround audio and are encoded using VC-1 for video at 720p, with a bitrate of 6.8 Mbit/s. Television content

3071-451: The Xbox 360. Launched in the United States on November 22, 2006, the first anniversary of the Xbox 360's launch, the service allows users in the United States to download high-definition and standard-definition television shows for purchase and movies for rental onto an Xbox 360 console for viewing. With the exception of short clips, content is not currently available for streaming, and must be downloaded. Movies are available for rental from

3154-515: The Xbox Game Pass subscription). A gamertag is the universal name for a player's username on the Xbox network. A gamertag is a unique identifier, and can include numbers, letters, and spaces. Gamertags can be changed using an Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, or Xbox 360 console (first time is free, all other changes afterwards are charged), while the Xbox 360 supports eight Xbox network-enabled profiles per memory unit and thirty-two profiles on

3237-497: The Xbox Insider Program, testing not only included updates to the system software but upcoming game and application patches from both first and third-parties. Each iteration of the Xbox software has brought some form of backward compatibility to the newer console. On the Xbox 360, selected original Xbox games could be played through emulation after downloading an emulation profile to local storage. The Xbox One

3320-401: The Xbox app, subject to Xbox approval. Users were formerly forbidden to use strings such as gay or refer to homosexuality in any way in their gamertag or profile due to it being considered "content of a sexual nature", even if the string occurs in a legitimate surname. Incidents where a woman was suspended from the service for identifying herself as a lesbian , and an incident where a male user

3403-709: The Xbox network into their applications and games. Microsoft also stated that they were looking to bring this functionality to the Nintendo Switch , anticipating this to be a post-launch feature for the Switch port of Cuphead . Play Anywhere was originally released as Live Anywhere as a cross-platform initiative to bring the Xbox network to a wide variety of Microsoft platforms and devices, including Xbox , Xbox 360 , Microsoft Windows ( XP SP2 /SP3, Vista and 7 ), Windows Phone , and Zune . Microsoft's Chris Early said of Live Anywhere in 2006 that "it [was]

Microsoft Points - Misplaced Pages Continue

3486-471: The Xbox platform, the user interface of the system software has been called the Xbox Dashboard. While its appearance and detailed functions have varied between console generations, the Dashboard has provided the user the means to start a game from the optical media loaded into the console or off the console's storage, launch audio and video players to play optical media discs, or start special applications for

3569-494: The Xbox such as streaming media services from third parties. The Dashboard also provides a menu of settings and configuration pages for the console that the user can adjust. The Dashboard has supported integration with the Xbox Live service since November 2002. Xbox Live provides online functionality to the Xbox, including a friends list, game achievement tracking, matchmaking support for online games, in-game communications, and

3652-500: The actual games they are playing, which is part and parcel of the company's new direction under Phil Spencer , the current head of Microsoft's Xbox division. Microsoft aims to release frequent updates to the Xbox System Software, mainly containing new or improved features and faster installation and loading times for games and apps. Along with introducing improvements and fixes for native console apps and software,

3735-496: The basic functionality of Windows that could be ported to other systems. Microsoft released the Xbox 360 console on November 22, 2005, a year earlier than both the Sony PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii . Having the advantage of the lead, Microsoft was able to experiment with various customization options for the consumer's individual consoles. The ability to customize the way the console looked with various themes to fit

3818-416: The company". The program that Microsoft launched allows developers to build a single app that can run on a wide variety of devices, including personal computers and Xbox One video game consoles. According to Polygon , Microsoft removed the distinction between Xbox One and Windows PC, and the software has been called "Windows 10 on Xbox One". Since 2016, all Xbox One consoles could be updated to include

3901-632: The dashboard and Bing using their voice. Other updates would include cloud storage, YouTube access, and live television streaming. The new dashboard, nicknamed the "Metro" dashboard, officially went live on December 6, 2011. On July, 29, 2024, along with the discontinuation of the Microsoft Store for the Xbox 360, the Metro dashboard got its final update to remove most tabs, including the Bing tab, to only include Home, Social, and Settings. The home page

3984-407: The desktop Windows 8 interface. In November 2015, Microsoft released the "New Xbox One Experience" which replaced the base system with Windows 10 Core, allowing Universal Windows Platform apps to be available on Xbox One. According to the current head of Microsoft's Gaming division, Phil Spencer , "The importance of entertainment and games to the Windows ecosystem has become really prevalent to

4067-410: The disc, thereby helping to extend the life-span of the optical drive mechanism. The Xbox Guide was redesigned. If a user has installed any game onto their Xbox 360 hard drive, they are able to immediately start the game from the guide, whether they are in a game or in the dashboard. The update gives players the ability to create Avatars , which were required by Xbox Live. They also announced that

4150-650: The first player in history to reach 1 million Gamerscore. The Gamecard is an information panel used to summarize one's user profile on Microsoft's Xbox network. The pieces of information on a Gamercard include: A player's Gamercard can be viewed via the guide, the Xbox app, or online through Xbox.com. Similarly, Mac OS X users were able to download widgets that display their Xbox Live Gamercard within Mac OS X 's Dashboard . These can be downloaded onto any Mac with OS X 10.4 or higher via Apple's widget download page . On Xbox 360, there were four Gamer Zones; Recreation

4233-542: The first time since its inception. The basic service was also renamed. Prior to October 2010, the free service was known as Xbox Live Silver . It was announced on June 10, 2011, that the service is going to be fully integrated into Microsoft's Windows 8 . In October 2011, Microsoft announced live streaming cable television with various providers. In February 2013, Yusuf Mehdi, corporate vice president of Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business, shared that Xbox Live members now number 46 million, up 15 percent from

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4316-515: The front and sides of it was something very different for home console users. In system, the Xbox 360 Dashboard had the ability to have multiple profiles with password on the same console with each user being able to customize the dashboard to exactly fit their own unique style. There were premium themes available for purchase on the Xbox Live Marketplace apart from the default styles. Originally there were five tabs or sections known as

4399-467: The hard drive. A player's Gamertag account status can be checked using a variety of online tools, which is useful especially when looking for a new gamertag, or confirming that a gamertag exists. Using a valid gamertag, any player can be found and messaged from within the network. There are also several websites which allow users of gamertags to upload photos and information about themselves. Gamertags also contain avatar images (or "gamer pictures"), with

4482-517: The matching of players in online games . TrueSkill is a ranking and matchmaking system which was first implemented as part of the Xbox 360's Live service. Developed at Microsoft Research Cambridge ( United Kingdom ), the TrueSkill ranking system is now used in over 150 titles for the Xbox 360 and was used in the Games for Windows – Live game Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II . It uses

4565-553: The monthly updates to the Xbox System Software introduce major features that are voted on or requested by the community, though some months have included more than one update. Starting in February 2014, beta releases of updates are tested before going live to check for unwanted bugs and stability. The following table lists major updates to the Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S system software. Xbox Live The Xbox network , formerly known and commonly referred to as Xbox Live ,

4648-649: The option of adding up to 250 points via downloadable content every quarter after the first year of release (for a total of 1,750 points). Xbox Live Arcade titles also allowed players to obtain Gamerscore, initially up to 200 Gamerscore with additional points up to 50 Gamerscore via downloadable content (for a total of 250 points), but some XBLA games now contain up to 400 Gamerscore without DLC. On March 25, 2008, Microsoft cracked down on "Gamerscore cheaters" (those who used external tools to artificially inflate their Gamerscore), and reduced their Gamerscores to zero without

4731-523: The option to recover the scores that had been "earned", and branded the player by denoting on their Gamertag that they were a "Cheater". The development of the Gamerscore system had created a new niche in the internet economy. Many websites have been created to provide gamers with tips and tricks for getting achievement points. Some sites are solely devoted to these achievement guides, and some blogs provide gaming guides in addition to their other content. On March 13, 2014, Ray Cox IV or "Stallion83" became

4814-399: The original Xbox console featured a trademark luminescent orange-gold bar underneath the Xbox header. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell and Brute Force sported a Live "bubble" design, as they only featured downloadable content. It was changed later, wherein all Xbox Live titles included the universal orange-gold Live bar. By the time of the Xbox 360, all titles were required to provide at least

4897-483: The release of the Xbox Series X and Series S consoles in November 2020, Microsoft updated the Xbox One software to reflect changes in the Dashboard that would also be present in the newer consoles. This included improved performance in some of the storefront features and readability improvements to the interface, which were also propagated across Xbox Game Pass and mobile apps. The system software's interface uses

4980-480: The return of Xbox Avatars. The UI includes a HOME screen, consisting of the top bar, the screenshot viewer ("Album") Icons, and shortcuts to the Microsoft Store , News, and Settings. The main feature on the home screen is a list of the most recently played games. Selecting any given title will give users more information about announcements, achievements, social activity and so forth. It is also more focused on

5063-561: The same as they were. Microsoft officially announced that they would be branding Xbox Live as "Xbox network" in March 2021 as to cover all the services related to Xbox and not just Xbox Live. Xbox Live Gold would remain the same name and to distinguish the subscription program from the set of services. Microsoft also stated that with this, it will eliminate the requirement to have Xbox Live Gold to play free-to-play games on Xbox consoles. By January 2021, Microsoft reported that there were more than 100 million Xbox users (including those through

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5146-399: The same day, Larry Hyrb , Xbox Live's Major Nelson, announced on his blog that Xbox Live support for the original Xbox would be discontinued on April 15, 2010, including online play through backwards compatibility on the Xbox 360 and all downloadable content for original Xbox games. In August 2010, Microsoft announced an increase to the cost of Xbox Live Gold in several countries by 20%, for

5229-469: The separate fork of these apps for the Xbox 360 and for the versions they were developing for the mobile-based Windows CE environment became difficult to maintain. These complexities led Microsoft towards its "Windows Everywhere" approach c.  2010 , reviewing all the dependencies within the desktop, Xbox, and mobile versions of Windows atop the MinWin process and creating a CoreSystem that contained

5312-645: The service will be launching in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia in three days time. On November 4, Microsoft announced that the service would be launched on November 29 in Argentina and Israel . The service also appeared in the following month in Slovakia and Turkey . The service was launched in China in late 2014. As Microsoft developed the original Xbox console, online gaming

5395-472: The stock images sometimes associated with certain games or game characters. On Xbox 360, individual gamerpics are available, but they are usually bundled into packs. It is also possible to take "Public" pictures (which are shown to all that view a profile, unless the user has a different "personal" picture set) which can be taken of avatars while using the avatar editor. On Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S, players are able to upload custom images of their choice through

5478-735: The system attempts to match individuals based on their estimated skill level. If two individuals are competing head-to-head and have the same estimated skill level with low estimate uncertainty, they should each have roughly a 50% chance of winning a match. In this way, the system attempts to make every match as competitive as possible. In order to prevent abuse of the system, the majority of ranked games have relatively limited options for matchmaking. By design, players cannot easily play with their friends in ranked games. However, these countermeasures have failed due to techniques such as alternate account(s) and system flaws where each system has its own individual TrueSkill rating. To provide less competitive games,

5561-617: The system supports unranked Player Matches , which allow individuals of any skill level to be paired (often including "guests" on an account). Such matches do not contribute to the TrueSkill rating. The Microsoft Store is the current digital marketplace for the Xbox ecosystem starting in 2017 for the Xbox One. It is available on consoles and on Xbox's website (as well as its own website), offering games from across all of Xbox's generations, in addition to movies, television shows, and multiple apps available as streaming services for music or television. Xbox Games Store (formerly Xbox Live Marketplace)

5644-458: The throughput of a broadband connection and the storage space of a hard disk drive , and thus these features would be vital to the new platform. This would allow not only for significant downloadable content, such as new levels, maps, weapons, challenges and characters, to be downloaded quickly and stored, but also would make it possible to standardize bandwidth intensive features such as voice communication. Steve Ballmer and Bill Gates both had

5727-421: The turn of the century. When the Xbox launched on November 15, 2001, the as-yet unnamed online service was destined for a Summer 2002 deployment. Xbox Live was finally given a name at E3 2002 when the service was unveiled in its entirety. Sound-dampened booths and broadband-connected Xbox consoles—featuring an early version of Unreal Championship —demonstrated the service on the show floor. The Epic title

5810-416: The update supports 16:10 on VGA or HDMI, expanding the choice of resolutions. On September 22, 2010, Microsoft announced that the Xbox Live dashboard would be updated again. The new design, nicknamed the "Kinect" dashboard, would incorporate the Metro interface used in other Microsoft products, such as Zune HD and Windows Phone . As well as a new color scheme and other minor tweaks to the overall layout,

5893-544: The update would also include a "Kinect hub", designed specifically for the Kinect sensor for easier dashboard navigation. The update was released on November 1, 2010. At E3 2011 , it was announced that the dashboard would be updated once again to have the interface look even more like the Metro design in Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8, and to include the Bing search engine. Kinect would also be updated allowing users to navigate

5976-439: The week starting January 23 through January 27 as compensation. On November 12, 2009, Dennis Durkin, COO of Microsoft's interactive entertainment business, announced that November 10, 2009, the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 marked the busiest day ever on Xbox Live, with over two million active users simultaneously. On February 5, 2010, Marc Whitten announced that Xbox Live had reached 23 million members. On

6059-430: Was leaked in 2020. The Xbox 360 system software was also a modified version of Windows 2000 , expanding beyond the original Xbox console's operating system. This would prove troublesome for Microsoft from multiple directions. For the Xbox division, it made it difficult to bring in other Microsoft applications like Internet Explorer and Silverlight which had to be modified to work on the Xbox software. For Microsoft,

6142-666: Was a target goal for the newer consoles, and as such, these new consoles are fully backward compatible with all games in the Xbox One library with the exception of those requiring Kinect support. The supported list includes the Xbox and Xbox 360 games that were playable via emulation on the Xbox One. The original Xbox runs a custom operating system which is based on a heavily modified version of Windows 2000 , an approach that Microsoft engineer Don Box called "fork and run". It exports APIs similar to those found in Microsoft Windows , such as Direct3D . While Windows 2000

6225-618: Was a unified storefront for the Xbox 360 and Xbox One which offered both free and premium content for download including Xbox Live Arcade titles, Xbox indie games , original Xbox games , Xbox 360 game demos, game expansion material (e.g. extra maps, vehicles, songs), trailers, gamer pictures and themes, television shows, music videos , movie rentals, Apps and games and more. On November 6, 2006, Microsoft announced Microsoft Movies & TV (Microsoft Films & TV in other supported countries) (formerly Xbox Video Marketplace, Xbox Video and Zune Video), an exclusive video store accessible through

6308-423: Was built for multitasking of multiple applications including memory paging , the Xbox console was planned to only run one application at a time, and these features were removed for the Xbox software. When loading a game, the operating system would unload itself to give all of the console's resources to the game, and then when the player left the game, the operating system would load back up again. Xbox Live support

6391-628: Was called the Xbox Live Preview Program, and initially required an invitation from Microsoft after applying for the program. On the release of the Xbox One in 2014, the program was renamed to Xbox Preview Program, and Microsoft made this program open to all rather than restricting through invitation. Later in November 2016 rebranded to the Xbox Insider Program, corresponding to the similar Windows Insider program for those testing its computer operating system. With

6474-654: Was designated as one of the key pillars for the greater Xbox strategy. Sega had made an attempt to capitalize on the ever-growing online gaming scene when it launched the Dreamcast video game console in 1999, including online support as standard, with the SegaNet service in North America and Dreamarena in Europe. Nevertheless, due to lack of widespread broadband adoption at the time, the Dreamcast shipped with only

6557-425: Was not initially shipped with backward compatibility support, but was later added by January 2015 by another emulator to support selected Xbox 360 games, with hundreds of titles added over the following years . A similar emulator was developed and released in October 2017 for the Xbox One for a limited selection of original Xbox console games. Achieving Xbox One-backward compatibility on the Xbox Series X and Series S

6640-513: Was not originally part of the system software as shipped in 2001, but added later in November 2002. While the Xbox was still being supported by Microsoft, the Xbox Dashboard was updated via Live several times to reduce cheating and add features. Microsoft released a dynamic background for its current Xbox Series X/S system software in May 2021 that is based on the original Xbox system software appearance. The original Xbox operating system source code

6723-436: Was one of the flagship titles for the service, which was slated for a debut on November 15, 2002, marking the anniversary of the Xbox launch. Microsoft announced that 50 Xbox Live titles would be available by the end of 2003. Utilizing the required broadband bandwidth, Xbox Live featured a unified gaming "Friends List", as well as a single identity across all titles (regardless of the publisher), and standardized voice chat with

6806-411: Was redesigned to be six uniform rectangles, barring all references to the Marketplace. The Xbox System Software contains a heavily modified Hyper-V hypervisor (known as NanoVisor) as its host OS and two partitions. One of the partitions, the "Exclusive" partition is a custom virtual machine (VM) for games; the other partition, the "Shared" partition is a custom VM for running multiple apps including

6889-609: Was suspended for using his surname "Gaywood" in his username attracted controversy. In February 2009, Xbox Live Lead Program Manager for Enforcement Stephen Toulouse clarified the service's policy on sexual identification, stating that "Expression of any sexual orientation [...] is not allowed in Gamertags" but that the company is "examining how we can provide it in a way that won't get misused". Changes announced in March 2010 permit Xbox Live members to express sexual orientation in their gamertags and profiles. The Gamerscore (G)

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