Xbox Live Tops One Million

Which, Microsoft is keen to point out, has taken less time than it did for AOL.

The Xbox Live service has signed up one million members since its launch in November 2002 Stateside and March 2003 in the UK, Microsoft has announced.

Media experts will be reeling at Microsoft's announcement that peak usage time for Xbox Live occurs between 7:30 and 9 p.m. - taking a chunk of market share directly from "television".

Microsoft was keen to point out that Xbox Live reached the million-member mark three times faster than other subscriber-based entertainment services such as AOL - and cited this was evidence of "online gameplay's mass appeal and growing importance in the digital entertainment landscape."

New Xbox Live features like video chat, content downloads, voice messages and alerts, coupled with highly-anticipated games have fuelled rapid uptake of the service, which is currently played for an average of 265,549 hours every day - about 20,000 years in total!

Interestingly, it was revealed that the top 15 cities boasting the most Xbox Live members, in order are Tokyo; London; Houston; Chicago; Toronto; San Diego; New York; Brooklyn, N.Y.; Los Angeles; Miami; Seattle; Calgary, Alberta, Canada; San Antonio; Las Vegas; and Seoul, Korea.

Microsoft's Robbie Bach, whose official title has thirteen words, said: "Consumers are clearly choosing Xbox Live online video games as the new digital entertainment nirvana... we've got hot new games and expanded features that will continue to feed our customers' almost insatiable appetite for online play."

The addition of Electronic Arts' titles to the Xbox Live line-up is expected to provide a further boost later this year.

Adam Doree
Director, Kikizo.com