GamerSpeak:
Beta Tester Reunion
Hey, can you believe it's almost FIVE years since Xbox LIVE launched in the United States? In honor of the anniversary, TriXie gathered together some of the Xbox LIVE Beta Testers to answer some questions.
TriXie: What is your best memory of the Beta days?
Mr Destructo: My best memory was getting everything set up and being able to talk to players across the country just like me. It was so easy to use I felt like I was in gaming nirvana!
boid: Xbox Live Boot Camp in Redmond! 12 HDTV's, about 20 pizzas, a heeeeuge bucket of beer and sodas, and MechAssault® with the Xbox team in Xbox HQ. Total blast.
MechAssault was one of the games the beta testers played.
PostalGoat: My best memory of the beta days is how exciting it was to finally do something we had all envisioned in our previous years of gaming. I can still remember, "You got me? Yeah, I got you. Where are you from?"
Aceattorney: Getting the T-shirt that reads, "I've got great hands."
LoneStarGal: I met so many of my current XBL friends in MotoGP, that I'd have to say the days of racin' around the track on my cycle were the best. Having never played an online game before (not even on PC) I was blown away by how I could race and talk with people from all over the country.
Droolman7: Playing Whacked!® for hours on end and laughing so hard my stomach hurt.
Kojubat: Trying to figure out how I was going to get my network connection to my Xbox, and convincing the wife that it was okay to run CAT5 cable along the wall through our dining room. You know, so I could race fake remote control cars with people I don't know.
NPYYZ: The ton of good times, and loads of laughs we had playing Re-Volt. That was a great game.
Mr Silverblood: The fact that it was brave new territory for console gaming.
Keg O War: My best memory would be the late nights running around on Re-Volt. Rooms of 6 people racing around the same 4 tracks never got old.
Zamees: Using the large selection of Voice Masks in Whacked! What ever happened to those things?
Kilroy Was Here: Finally being able to talk to people in a game on a consistent basis, because everyone had a headset. It added a sense of community that PC games just didn't have.
Headgamer: Until the day the Xbox LIVE Beta began, all images of online gaming involved hunched over a small monitor, in a desk chair, frantically typing away to communicate with people. The thought of sitting there, playing a game and TALKING with a French Canadian, a British guy in Washington DC, a husband and wife down in Texas, and a guy that literally turned out to be living 10 miles from me that I had never met all at the same time, was amazing. Xbox LIVE literally redefined how EVERYONE thought of online gaming. Forever.
kiki kat: I was so excited I probably took a good hour just to open the box and thoroughly investigate every single item and read every bit of fine print I could.
Asphyxiate: The first game I played was MotoGP where some crazy and quite possibly inebriated Irishman was running custom games where everyone would have to pause and do a donut at each corner we came to.
Ready for that donut?
Night Creature: Having to boil the Beta disk to make it work. I couldn't believe it worked.
LoneStar: For me it was the countless hours playing NFL Fever. I swear I wore that disk out! I remember thinking how awesome it was to be able to make a great play and talk smack to a friend in real time.
giant octopus: I can't forget joining JFrag and Sassypants to build the original GamerTagDataBase.
big j: My best memory was the early forums and the heated conversations that were held on there.
DaddyoTCB: I still use the same headset that was included in the Beta Kit. In my opinion it has the best sound quality out of all the headsets I have tried.
OTTAWA MATT: I loved being an early adopter and sharing that experience with others. I brought my fair share of friends, family and others on to LIVE.
Shamrock: Hearing the excitement in your opponent's voice if he scored a game winning touchdown or the frustration if he threw a game changing interception. After that I knew this was going to be 1000x better than playing the computer.
IRB: Being the first at something that wasn't open to everyone made you feel special … oh, and being able to choose your Gamertag before all the good ones were taken!
TriXie: What do you think has been the best new LIVE feature in the last five years?
Mr Destructo: The ability to leave voice messages. It was something I wanted to do since day one and was one of many that suggested it be implemented.
boid: The Marketplace. An excellent business model for Xbox, and an excellent variety of new content for users.
MegaDeath: Downloadable demos.
The Joker: Video Marketplace.
Kojubat: LIVE aware functionality for non-online games. It's a given now, but being able to progress in a single player game and still get game invites was a godsend.
Lord Kenny: The Friends List and chat integration that we now have is fantastic.
Scary Aaron: The 360 dashboard. It really took online gaming to the next level for me.
Tbird: Gamerscore!!
Kilroy Was Here: Online co-op in games like Gears of War® and Halo® 3, because Dom and Arby can get really annoying at times.
Co-op play is always a plus for a game title.
SiN ViCiOuS: Seamless chat cross over.
WoWarcraft Fan: HD content, movies, TV on LIVE is amazing. IP TV on the 360 will be HUGE!
RAM2600: The evolution of the dashboard from just access to the system to a communications and media center.
kiki kat: The achievement system is, by far, one of the best new LIVE features. There are so many games I wouldn't have thought twice about trying (let alone completing) if it wasn't for achievements, and the satisfaction from earning them.
Asphyxiate: Integration. It struck me one day on the 360 when I had just finished watching a game trailer, then was downloading a game demo while playing a single player game, then I got buzzed by my friend Justicar with a chat request. He was playing a different game and wanted to have a chat about a certain section. We continued to chat while each playing our own games about how seamlessly everything just _worked_ and how that was the future of gaming. Brilliant.
Sir Thing 2: It's fun to look at all of my friends and see what they're playing, or how far they've gone in a game. There's just something inherently enjoyable about watching someone play through a game the same time you do.
DeathscytheHC: I think my favorite so far is the ease of use on the mute feature. It has saved me a lot of pain, misery, and undue suffering in Halo 3.
DaddyoTCB: Private Chat/Video Chat. My friends and I have moved to different cities and states and Private/Video Chat has kept us close and in-touch.
Strattos: The last five years have brought more features (that I love) than I've received on any Christmas. Being able to accept a game invite while doing anything on your Xbox, and getting right into that game.
TriXie: Do you still play with folks you met during the Beta?
Maxjive: Not really, but the ease of online play has since helped me keep in touch with friends who've come and gone through the years. It's amazing, cause it's just like they never left!
SPARTAN 121: I don't play with anyone I met during the beta anymore, but that doesn't mean I won't if I ever come across them online!
LoneStarGal: Oh HECK YA! XboxLiveFriends.net was created because of the beta test, and we still have several beta testers among us!
Vicious696: Yes, I still have 5 people on my friends list.
Mr Silverblood: Religiously! I game with no other folks, and public rooms are just plain scary.
Scary Aaron: Xbox LIVE Friends for life! This has grown to be my "other" family! I meet some of the people at least once a year, some more often than others, but they have all become close family to me. I suffered from cancer last year and these guys and dolls were just my inspiration and just kept me going!
Richard: I play all the time with Beta people. I have even met some in person. Luckily, early on in the Beta, I fell in with a great group of gamers that formed a group that became Xbox LIVE Friends.
Keg O War: Absolutely, I still have flow and IRA on my list. The Beta crew was a tight community, no bad seeds, just a bunch of people who really embraced the idea of online gaming.
Headgamer: ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY. I would say that almost everyone on my friends list (about 90) are people I met in the Beta test. Because there were so few of us back then, it was easier to find the older, more mature (read: less adolescent and annoying) gamers to game with. We have generally held on to each other ever since.
WoWarcraft Fan: I don't play with anyone from Beta but I recognize names and it's very nostalgic when I see them in a community board.
giant octopus: Umm, if by "play" you mean go to their house halfway across the country and eat their cream pie and coffee cake, then I sure do! Oh, and we still game together a lot too.
Shamrock: Over 5 years I don't think I have anyone left from the Beta on my list, however I do have many friends still on my list from the first Ghost Recon which was an Xbox LIVE launch game.
