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Thread ID: 40748	2003-12-17 01:58:00	News: Xbox Live could provide new year bill shock!	stu140103 (137)	Press F1

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201163	2003-12-17 01:58:00	from Computerworld Xbox Live could provide new year bill shock Paul Brislen, Auckland Anyone receiving Xbox Live for Christmas could have an unhappy new year if the Australian experience is anything to go by. Xbox Live, launched in time for the pre-Christmas shopping rush, allows users of Microsoft's Xbox gaming console to play against other users online. However the Australian experience is that broadband traffic charges will limit demand for the service. Xbox Live requires at least a 256Kbit/s service - Telecom's new JetStream Home service is aimed at just such a user, however Telecom's billing regime charges users for both upload and download traffic. In Australia gamers have discovered this can be a costly business. According to posters to Telstra's BigPond gamer forum, traffic downloaded during games range from 7MB per hour for the simplest games, such as MotoGP, while the more popular first person shooters (FPS) like Return to Castle Wolfenstein (RTCW) have been clocked at up to 21MB per hour. One Sydney user, who has been playing for up to six months, says uploading to multiple users can churn through traffic at a great rate of knots. "When I host 16 player RTCW on my Telstra uncapped cable I consume about 90MB download and 210MB upload per hour (thats 300MB/hour in total)." On Telecom's basic JetStream Home package, with a traffic cap of 500MB, the user would end up paying excess charges before the second hour was over. From there on, Telecom charges 20 cents per megabyte even for domestic traffic. However, that's only the download side of the game - uploading uses traffic as well. Xbox Live in New Zealand is run as a peer-to-peer (P2P) network. That means one player will host a game, and others will log on to play. The host player will be uploading traffic to the other players during the course of the game. If a game has 10 players that means the upload traffic is increased tenfold, for example. A game with 10 players, each using 10MB an hour of uploaded traffic will cost the host player 100MB an hour, plus their own traffic usage. This would reduce their playing time from 23 hours a month to less than five hours a month. Xbox Live also includes a headset so players can talk to each other during the game. This voice service will also use traffic, although players are less sure how much this will cost. Telstra has recently dropped its traffic caps in Australia, relying instead on a soft cap at 10GB of traffic a month, followed by a reduction in the speed of the user's connection. In response, Optus, the number two telco in Australia, has introduced new caps for its cable service ahead of a complete revamp of the service next year. The new plans include an increase in traffic levels from 550MB per month to 3GB per month. PC gamers can play without incurring traffic charges at all. Telecom introduced its JetStream Games realm several years ago and players who log on to servers within the realm aren't charged for traffic. No such facility is available for Xbox players. Microsoft did not return Computerworld Online calls. -------------- Hmmm, it will be interesting to see what happens in the New Year ;) I wonder if telecom gets a wake up call....!	stu140103 (137)
201164	2003-12-17 02:07:00	a wake up call? more likely a fat load of cash. telecom wont care.	metla (154)
201165	2003-12-17 02:16:00	> more likely a fat load of cash. > > telecom wont care. Na, it will be more like a whole help of unhappy & out of pocked parents!	stu140103 (137)
201166	2003-12-17 02:20:00	Easy solution, find something else to do instead of sitting in front of the brian killer... Lots of books to read, bikes to ride, skate boards to ride etc.. Perhapes parents will finally see the light or debt collectors...	ugh1 (4204)
201167	2003-12-17 02:27:00	Who's Brian?? :D	CYaBro (73)
201168	2003-12-17 02:34:00	> Who's Brian?? :D Should be brain, already it kills mine!	ugh1 (4204)
201169	2003-12-17 03:02:00	telecom should make a new plan for xbox users... more expensive yes but likie 50gig upload and 50gig download for $100 or so a month? I know some ppl would rather use this on the net for downloads but is there a way of limiting it to only use on xbox, meaning if u try and connect to the internet on the computer using that plan then you wont have any luck... i know its more money for telecom but i rather see telecom make money than more homeless people after spending all their wages/pocketmoney/salary on xbox live....and having excess mbs to pay for.. i also wonder since these are expensive, and if the lines go "free" as at the moment they are in telecom's hands...would microsoft set up a ISP to cater for xbox live? and would Sony set upa ISP to cater for Playstation live if that comes out?	csinclair83 (200)
201170	2003-12-17 06:43:00	I doubt telecom would give xbox users a 50gig up/download account at any price, considering what the businesses pay for a 1gig accoung :) I do think that telecom and microsoft should come together and address an all in one package for Live! users though... with clear statements about cost etc and have a reliable way of checking usage in real time ( which narrow/broadband pc users would appreciate ) to the benefit especially of parents.	zminos (5010)
201171	2003-12-17 08:25:00	> I do think that telecom and microsoft should come > together and address an all in one package for Live! > users though... with clear statements about cost etc > and have a reliable way of checking usage in real > time ( which narrow/broadband pc users would > appreciate ) to the benefit especially of parents. I would be surprised if they have not already discussed this. A fly on the wall may have heard something along these lines: Some time ago in never never land a telephone rings MS: Hi ya Teresa how's it hanging, oh yeah! sorry bout that. *Idle chit chat*. Hey anyway we've got the new X Box coming out towards the end of this year or early 04. It will be capable of connecting multiple users onlne for gaming sessions and the upside is that it requires a 256K internet connection. Teresa: Well now, that's very interesting. I'll have to get the marketing crew onto a strategy to migrate our dialup users to a more lucrative...ah, I mean efficient and desirable internet plan. Hmm, I wonder if we can persuade our Jetstarter users to move too, lets see, if we screw down their usage caps by, say half, they just might see the chance of a faster connection as being viable. MS: Cool, I thought you would be pleased. The next version after that is going to be even better. It will need a 512K connection and man, oh sorry again, anyway it'll chew up usage like you'll never believe. The one after that we'll make so that it can only run through our special P2P servers and the ISP must be one of our Trusted Computing Partners. It will have a "Secure" from the user of course, interface with credit card swipe access so we can start charging as soon as the connection is made with the server. Huh? Whats that, you would prefer to charge our fees through your accounts. Ok, that could work, we'll supply the softawre of course, I'll have a truck deliver the draft EULA next week. Teresa: Thinking to herself. Hmm, this guys got it all planned, sneaky little so & so. Will have to watch him or he'll be screwing the life out of our Teleserfs before we can. I can see a pay rise coming earlyish 2004. The End Cheers Murray ;P and a very Merry xmas to you all ;)	Murray P (44)
201172	2003-12-17 08:44:00	lol well dun muzza.... :D I can now imagine the phonecall was something like that... oh yeah and happy christmas one and all. :)	zminos (5010)
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