Online

Xbox Live Gold Xbox Live Silver Online Gaming Parties & Video Chat Facebook Twitter

Xbox Live Membership

We Recommend: The 12-month Xbox Live Gold Membership card

Here's Why: Again, the Xbox 360 offers an amazingly fleshed-out online experience, but Gold is the way to go. Silver Membership is free to all users, and Gold costs about $4 a month if you get a 12-month package. However, Silver grants you access only to free downloads, the Marketplace, and voice/text chat. Gold gets you all that in addition to online play against friends, Netflix streaming, Xbox Live Parties (which connect up to eight different Xbox Live users with voice chat), and photo sharing by way of Photo Party. Other features include ESPN sports broadcasts, last.fm music streaming, and Facebook and Twitter updates.

Buying Games & Content Online

Xbox Live Arcade Xbox Live Marketplace

In addition to letting you play games online, connecting to Xbox Live will get you access to Microsoft's Live Arcade and Marketplace. Arcade is the place to go to download any number of smaller-scale (but still enjoyable) games, which you can read about in the Xbox 360 games section. Marketplace will let you browse through loads of video, and will also let you purchase additional content for the games you already own (better known as "downloadable content," or "DLC"). Several high-profile games, such as Grand Theft Auto IV and Fallout 3, have extensive DLC that can really extend your enjoyment of the original game by adding on entirely new stories and new areas to explore with new characters. Of course, to go shopping on Marketplace, you'll need to buy points with real-world money, either through your Live account or with a points card.

For a step-by-step walk-through of getting set up for online, please visit CNET Australia's Live It Up: 10 Steps to Get Your Xbox Online story.