I bought it today on my lunch, installed it about three hours ago, and I can already say, Xbox Live will change gaming forever. The reason I say this, is because I just played a full football game with a guy in Calgary, entirely lag-free, with full realtime voice chat. The game was a close one, right down to the wire, I ended up taking it by two points. He nearly caught me at the end before I intercepted it, and the last play of the game, I should've had a touchdown, but didn't quite make it into the endzone - was left a few inches short. Either way, we were chatting the whole time, and it's incredible how much more inclined you are to play a full game when you can actually hear the guy at the other end. Not only that, but discuss Quinn's latest blunders or the recent "SI hates the Leafs" article in between plays.

Now, it was a little hard to find a matchup. Thing is, this is the first day it's been out, and when you do find a game, it's like heaven. The friends list, voice masking, game challenges, rankings, everything - it's all exactly what I had dreamed of, and just like the videos showed.

If you have an Xbox, get Xbox Live, now, and get the Sega Sports game of your choice, too - I got NFL2K3, because Future Shop accidentally sold it to me for the price of NFL2K2. The ESPN presentation of everything is sweet, the commentary is rock-solid, and the entire experience is to die for.

Xbox Live will change gaming. Period, end of story, go get it, now.

Ughhh your killin me! I've played a few games on the Xbox and have a feeling now I'm gonna have to drop another 200 on a game I won't have the time to play! My PS2 is allready showing signs of penis envy! 8O

They got any type of games set up for Halo yet?

A sort of "Halo 1.5" is supposed to be coming out, basically the original with added levels and multiplayer support, until they've got Halo 2 ready, which has graphics that beat those in Doom 3, using less polygons than the original Halo used. MechAssault is getting kickass reviews everywhere (9.2 from IGN, 9.0 from Gamespot), and it's got a special deal around here when sold with Xbox Live. I personally love NFL2K3, and I think NHL2K3, aside from the Americanized presentation, will probably cause me to urinate my pants. If only they could strike a deal with CBC, too - your choice of TSN, ESPN, or Hockey Night in Canada broadcasts - help, I'm drooling

Kanuck wrote:.... MechAssault is getting kickass reviews everywhere...

Now you really got me! Sounds like you play a lot with the xbox, you been around enough with the online gaming to have tried Multi Player Battle Tech? Thats the game that got me using this box to play instead of my TV. Moved around to different server until EA bought it about the same time they released Majestic. The flop of that and then 9/11 caused them to abandoned the whole projecy for Solaris 3025 and I have yet to find out anything new. Point is, MPBT was kickass and would have me playing for hours! That was when my 133mhz was top of the line so I can only imagine what it would be like today!!! 8O