Xbox Live up and running, but still having "difficulties"

As you may have noticed, Xbox Live has been a little wonky as of late and, according to Microsoft's latest status update, it looks like it could stay that way for at least a little while longer. While the service itself is apparently "up and running," it seems that anyone matchmaking or using client voice communication may "experience difficulties," which is just a little bit more than a minor issue. No word on a full return to form just yet, but it seems that the folks in Redmond are on the case.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

[Hakudoushi @ Apr 23rd 2008 12:42PM]

omg first! but yeah xbl is down =(

[Esat Dedezade @ Apr 23rd 2008 12:58PM]

Two medals are on their way to you.

The first is because you were the first person to comment on this article.

The second is for stating exactly what the article said.

/sarcasm.

[Konstantin @ Apr 23rd 2008 5:12PM]

Don't know what you guys are talking about. My XBox Live works just fine.

[erik gomez @ Apr 23rd 2008 12:46PM]

That's why you should get a PS3!! SUCKERS!

[Duke 2 @ Apr 23rd 2008 12:51PM]

I already have a DVD movie player, but thanks anyway

[makishima @ Apr 23rd 2008 12:56PM]

@erik Don't troll. Its not very becoming.

@Duke 2 Please refrain from using a tired argument that really isn't applicable anymore.

[Duke 2 @ Apr 23rd 2008 1:44PM]

Bu Bu But. HE started it Ma!

hmmmfff! make Erik go to his room. Oh, and take away his PS3 privileges.

(that way I can watch a movie... hee hee)

[ChrisG @ Apr 23rd 2008 2:35PM]

why would i buy a ps3 for online gameplay when Xbox Live is the best form of online gameplay? Sure we get outages sometimes but at least I can play Halo instead of some generic multiplatform game.

[Kahlil Sapp @ Apr 24th 2008 9:57AM]

PS3 is free online. XBOX is suck a rip off. And no blue ray. Oh unless you pay. LOL!

[Abuzar @ Apr 23rd 2008 4:17PM]

Ahh yes XBL is a rip off.

Stop talking about something you haven't even used. I have a PS3 and the free online is GREAT but it still doesn't compare to XBL.

[teej @ Apr 23rd 2008 4:49PM]

omg- $50/yr...what a ripoff. get a job...for one day.

[teej @ Apr 23rd 2008 4:52PM]

forgot to add the good ole /sarcasm

if you bitch about XBL ($50/year, $0.137 cents/day) being a "ripoff", please quit life. sure, PS3 is free, but that $0.13/day saves a lot of headaches and has a much more simple and easier interface. so, DIAF.

[Abuzar @ Apr 23rd 2008 5:09PM]

Yeah plus you will probably end up paying more money if you use your PS3 because it uses more Electricity. It's a trivial matter, but so is paying for XBL.

[Scalper @ Apr 23rd 2008 12:48PM]

Man xbl is a pain in the ass sometimes. Lat night I would login and 2 seconds later it logs me out.

[ScooterDe @ Apr 23rd 2008 3:17PM]

my xbl account just ran out and I am thinking hard whether to renew. Sure, it is dull playing halo3 alone, or with a couple of friends, but the service has been unreliable (and stupid freebie games are no consolation for a poor reliability). I'm also not keen on paying to play, first for the console, second for the game, and third for the community.

[Hooterman @ Apr 23rd 2008 12:49PM]

Just so it's fixed before GTA 4 release date I could care less

[Moby Disk @ Apr 23rd 2008 2:30PM]

I think you mean you couldn't care less.

[Chad @ Apr 23rd 2008 12:49PM]

I own a ps3 and I'm kind of on the fence on whether we should pay for online gaming. If it improves playing experience, I'm all for it. It seems to me though whether you pay or it's free we will still have issues.

[whalenapp81 @ Apr 23rd 2008 12:58PM]

honestly just go with whichever system suits you best, they both have great games coming down the pipe, with lots of money and support from both of their home companies, so either way you cant go wrong with getting either an xbox 360 or a ps3

[makishima @ Apr 23rd 2008 12:58PM]

I don't really play on Live (mostly so I don't go all Van Gogh on myself from all the 12 yo's wining) but I really wish they would stop making the ability to play a game so dependent on Live. I hate trying to just play something only to spend 10 minutes trying to get into Live so that I can access that gamertags save files.

[andy @ Apr 23rd 2008 1:23PM]

Funny. I spend about half of each match muting all the squeeky voices littered with "OMG SUXXORS F'N SUK, I I I I AM PWNING OMG"

I wish we had age verified matches. I would love to set a minimum age for competitors/team mates to 16 or 18. The 12 year olds can have their games, just get out of mine.

[makishima @ Apr 23rd 2008 1:31PM]

Amen to that. Yeah mute is nice but id much rather be able to limit those players from my game entirely.

[Terpy @ Apr 23rd 2008 1:39PM]

I typically don't play on Live until later at night (9-10 mountain time) and have never really had a problem with annoying kids. Probably because their parents have already sent them to bed.

[John @ Apr 23rd 2008 2:00PM]

Yeah, pre-pubescent voices screeching in the matchmaking areas kill the Live experience for me. Age-verified matches would be a definite plus, but I can already see the backlash that would occur over that.

[Joseph @ Apr 23rd 2008 1:00PM]

The only thing worse than Xbox Live being down is having to read about it being down.

[couchpundit @ Apr 23rd 2008 1:03PM]

They aughta just rename the service to "XBox Zombie: The Undead but Not Live"

[papafew @ Apr 23rd 2008 1:08PM]

the playstation network is up and run smoothly. X$box Live is like Windows, always make me think about a green day album title.

[JC @ Apr 23rd 2008 1:22PM]

What, you're a Nimrod? An American Idiot?

[papafew @ Apr 23rd 2008 1:26PM]

yes, you are right Jesus Christ, M$ Windows make me always think about all american idiots...

[luckycharms711 @ Apr 23rd 2008 5:16PM]

what about dookie

[Ysleiro @ Apr 23rd 2008 3:39PM]

Yeah its running smoothly but if I remember correctly it has no features to F up anyway. LOLz..

Furthermore I'm pretty sure I heard the PS had it's share of problems (more than the xbox) when it comes to online performance.

The only reason you hear more about the Live is because there are more users.

[LZBravo @ Apr 23rd 2008 1:20PM]

The system update and Live maintenance earlier this week was for increased capacity handling so I am sure they are still tweaking the network in preperation for the GTA4 release. They don't want a repeat of what happened when COD4 came out over the Christmas break.

[the tank @ Apr 23rd 2008 2:08PM]

and yet that's exactly what they did..... brilliant

[Ysleiro @ Apr 29th 2008 12:58PM]

@ tank: Are you ignorant or do you choose to be?

They are making changes and fixing bugs now as opposed to fixing them once the game is released.

BIG difference.

[Notung @ Apr 23rd 2008 1:33PM]

Give us a frackin' break
The thing was down, sure. Monday downtime was previously announced to us, we felt bad for not being able to play, and blah blah blah, it is still giving some problems?, hey who cares. (me no have experienced them)

But those guys that really feel compelled to rant about it and comparing the evil MSFT does to us with that crappy XBOX Live to the greatness of PS· Netowrk (?!?!?!?) is delirious. Get a life...

Besides we can't play everyday-everytime, our finger articulations hurt and fingerprints have already vanished, These moments to rest from time to time make our loved ones feel alive and valuable

What I'm having trouble these days is remembering how to turn on my beautiful black device rusting near the TV... how was it called? Anyone can pdf-me a copy of the manual?

Anyone want to get beaten in Chinatown (a.k.a.Carentan) tonight? If so, please wait in line, I am already backordered

[frozo @ Apr 23rd 2008 1:34PM]

F'ING GREAT! This means I can't use my PAID FOR downloadable content because Macroshaft refuses to transfer usage rights to my newer Elite! CROOKS!!!

[techyted @ Apr 23rd 2008 1:40PM]

Yeah, it pissed me off pretty good last night. Couldn't play Halo 3 with my buddies, I know it is not the end of the world, but I finally gave up and turned my PS3 on and played online FOR FREE and it worked. Go figure....

[Duke 2 @ Apr 23rd 2008 1:54PM]

Good for YOU for taking a positive approach and finding a solution to a problem instead of playing the pathetic victim like so many others do!

So how was Halo3 on PS3 anyway?

[shonuf @ Apr 23rd 2008 1:53PM]

Engadget just loves to bash Microsoft

Until it's about Xbox Live, then they coddle them

[ZeitgeistXIII @ Apr 23rd 2008 1:53PM]

I enjoy live and the fact that you pay for it can give you a legitimate reason to require good service. For the amount of money it costs its not like its ahuge expense unless you want to buy points and etc...

Plus it gives my daughter and the opportunity to play together as she hasher own account as well. Hopefully this update will fix the issues its been having since the last update.

[Raheem @ Apr 23rd 2008 1:54PM]

Look, all I want to know is WHY?

[willyjsimmons @ Apr 23rd 2008 2:04PM]

Figured something was up...

was playing Forza last night and it kept claiming that we weren't connected to live, except the lil popups would show saying we were and how many friends were on?

It would seem that Microsoft's general update foibles are now spreading over to the Xbox Live side.

Do Not Want.

[yesimalex @ Apr 23rd 2008 2:10PM]

Yea, I could play with my friend as long as a third person was in the lobby. And then we could not talk to each other in gameplay only in the lobby and for 2 seconds during the load screen. Spent 4 hours troubleshooting our routers, just to read this the next day. It seems pretty random *shrugs* at least it's still up unlike the December fiasco.

[BurnedByMSagain @ Apr 23rd 2008 2:34PM]

Whatever happened to the freebie we were supposed to get when Xbox Live was down over the xmas holidays?

[Esat Dedezade @ Apr 23rd 2008 2:49PM]

It was an XBLA game called... damn, I can't even remember, can't be bothered to look it up. Some underwater tihng with men and shooting e.t.c. This is actually really annoying me, the name is on the tip of my tongue and yet the name evades me.

I refuse to look it up, as it will pop into my head later. I'll come back when I remember :)

Oh yeah, I forgot to say: I downloaded it. It was not good.

[Duke 2 @ Apr 23rd 2008 3:16PM]

undertow

[ChrisG @ Apr 23rd 2008 2:37PM]

what sucks the most is that Live is always down or having intermittent issues when I'm on break from school.

[William @ Apr 23rd 2008 3:00PM]

if you don't like playing with those annoying kids you can always do that complain or dispute thing whatever its called on XBL so the chances of you playing with that player again are less. I do it all the time, but it really gets annoying when your having to do it almost every single game..

[erislover @ Apr 23rd 2008 3:58PM]

Oh, what do all the Vista fanboys say, it must be because the XBox360/Servers/Routers/whatever-random-crap is outdated, if they'd just update their hardware everything would run perfectly fine.

[Rob Schoenfeld @ Apr 23rd 2008 3:59PM]

Please also not that the XBox authentication process is the same on that the Zune market place uses. With the DRM news and XBL crap. I would put your Zune/Xbox up on ebay or craigslist.