Happy 10th Birthday Xbox Live
Our little boy is all grown up! Microsoft on Thursday celebrated the 10th anniversary of its Xbox Live platform, a connected gaming system that started with the company’s Xbox system and then rolled over to the Xbox 360.
Xbox Live is a gaming marketplace that allows gamers to purchase games, add-ons, and more. The system also allows for seamless gaming between gamers at different locations over an internet connection.
The original Xbox Live platform launched with popular titles that included Ghost Recon, MechAssault, and NFL Fever.
In the last few years, Xbox Live has grown into a full entertainment package that includes streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu Plus, Pandora, HBO Go, ESPN, and NBA Live. Microsoft also offers on-demand movies and more recently showcases election coverage from the Xbox Live platform via its partnership with NBC.
The hugely successful platform includes approximately 30 million subscribers, many of whom use the system to showcase their gaming achievements while blowing each other away via popular first person shooter games.
With a cost of $60 per year, the Xbox Live platform is the only system that charges gamers to take advantage of its network.
In celebrating its 10th birthday, Microsoft has been handing out some special edition Xbox 360s to some of the platforms first and longest users. Some free one year subscriptions are also up for grabs.
It’s amazing to see how far connected gaming has come over the years; now we can’t wait to see what the Xbox 720 will bring to the forefront in terms of next-generation gaming.
