Xbox Live downloads hit milestone

Microsoft's online gaming service breaks 24 million downloads mark, more than a fifth came during last week's E3 free trial.

Xbox 360 owners have been all over Xbox Live Marketplace, sucking up game demos, trailers, picture packs, themes, and music videos. During this year's E3, Microsoft offered up a free week of its gold membership to Xbox Live, as well as a boatload of content to download.

The public's response gave Microsoft's servers an unexpected stress test as 5 million downloads were completed last week, bringing the total to more than 24 million since the launch of the Xbox on November 22, 2005, according to Microsoft.

"The sheer volume of downloads during E3 week was simply staggering," said Microsoft's VP of marketing Peter Moore. "To put it in perspective, all the printed material in the U.S. Library of Congress is estimated to be about 20 terabytes, and Xbox Live delivered 30 times that amount in just seven days."

Microsoft announced the next chapter of its flagship franchise Halo during its pre-E3 conference, and shortly afterward, gamers were able to download the trailer in high definition over Xbox Live. Not surprisingly, it was the most downloaded item from the busy week. The top 10 downloaded items are listed below.

1. Halo 3 Game Trailer
2. Lost Planet: Extreme Condition Free Playable Demo
3. Test Drive Unlimited Free Playable Demo
4. MotoGP '06 Free Playable Demo
5. X-Men: The Last Stand Pack
6. Gears of War Game Trailer
7. Call of Duty 2: Skirmish Map Pack
8. Spider-Man 3 Game Trailer
9. Fable 2 Trailer
10. Uno Xbox Live Arcade Game

122 Comments

  • Tommi88

    Posted Dec 1, 2006 10:02 am PT

    nice

  • HyperMetaDragon

    Posted Aug 24, 2006 11:09 pm PT

    Wow, Xbox Live hits its 24 millionth download in the free Xbox Live week? Lol, what a coincidence...

  • trebl1

    Posted Aug 22, 2006 10:55 am PT

    "Sony told EB and GameStop that they would be supplying 3 million consoles at launch worldwide, 1 million more than they claimed at E3. They also broke it down by region: an even cool million for each Japan, NTSC and PAL. Please note that Sony informed retailers that these were launch day figures."

    Unless Sony has somehow forgotten how television formats work, which is unlikely, considering how much televisions they make, they probably didn't say this.

    NTSC is a format used in North America and Japan, and PAL used in Europe and Australia... roughly. So they wouldn't say that PS3 was being released in NTSC, PAL and Japan, but instead, North America, Europe and Japan.

    If you try to pass off that as a quote, I wonder how much of everything else you say actually means anything.

  • FlashNovice

    Posted Aug 22, 2006 6:39 am PT

    Uno with Cam is gonna be SWEET!!

  • grave_rob

    Posted Aug 9, 2006 4:48 pm PT

    uno is pretty rad

  • davidboggsm2006

    Posted Aug 8, 2006 12:55 pm PT

    fable 2 iv actualy belive it or nor sent a reqest to lionhead to see pictures and stuff alls they sad were trying to keep qwiteabout fable 2 for right now i wonder why any body know? or guess?

  • Krauser1992

    Posted Aug 5, 2006 3:11 pm PT

    you go microsoft

    the 360 will kick sony's a$$

  • outmoddedearth

    Posted Jul 31, 2006 5:30 pm PT

    Old topic?

  • MCPresident

    Posted Jun 28, 2006 10:39 am PT

    hello?

  • stoogene

    Posted Jun 12, 2006 12:18 am PT

    hahaha thats sweet. i got about 50-60 of em. i love marketplace!!

  • benall

    Posted Jun 6, 2006 1:27 am PT

    any body readin this know

  • benall

    Posted Jun 6, 2006 1:26 am PT

    people alraedy stoped posting not fair justed wanted to be last

  • RiVeX

    Posted May 27, 2006 8:00 am PT

    out of control

  • V3n0m_Acid

    Posted May 23, 2006 1:53 am PT

    Wow didn't know that people use X-Box marketplace that much

  • x-wing20

    Posted May 22, 2006 6:45 pm PT

    I need a bigger hard drive and more microsoft points

  • mgsseries4life

    Posted May 21, 2006 5:32 pm PT

    From PS3 Portal:
    Sony told EB and GameStop that they would be supplying 3 million consoles at launch worldwide, 1 million more than they claimed at E3. They also broke it down by region: an even cool million for each Japan, NTSC and PAL. Please note that Sony informed retailers that these were launch day figures.

    Sony Computer Entertainment America reportedly stated that gaming would be free, stating: "Please note that online gaming will be free right out of the box."

    Sony has touted free online as an advantage over Microsoft's free XBox LIVE account, called a "Silver" account, which does not include online gaming as one of its services. The pricing structure for premium and downloadable content has still not been outlined
    ....
    See that’s another thing that justifies the 500$ or 600$ for the PS3.

  • i_love_my_ds

    Posted May 21, 2006 3:40 pm PT

    thats a lot of downloads.......

  • AL13NK1LL3R

    Posted May 21, 2006 9:48 am PT

    keep going microsoft. keep up the best and beat sony. microsoft is the best #1 woo woo

  • kim1993

    Posted May 21, 2006 4:43 am PT

    iv watched the trailer so many times its stuck in my head and all i can think about!!!!!!!
    iv been waiting so long and its finaly come THE HALO 3 TRAILER

  • craphoo

    Posted May 20, 2006 1:43 pm PT

    i have watch it 10 times, and i am not even tired for the trailer. It is so beatiful that your eyes just jam on the screen. :E

  • OdiumX

    Posted May 19, 2006 10:58 pm PT

    XBOX LIVE Rules!
    I may have complained about the $50 annual fee for the Gold but, I'm certainly not complaining anymore

    Keep up the good work M$ the service is awesome, really looking forward for the background downloading feature next month.

    I downloaded almost all 74 items in in the E3 section
    So I think I'm part of the 5 mill E3 download

  • OdiumX

    Posted May 19, 2006 10:52 pm PT

    XBOX LIVE Rules!
    I may have complained about the $50 annual fee for the Gold but, I'm certainly not complaining anymore

    Keep up the good work M$ the service is awesome, really looking forward for the background downloading feature next month.

    I downloaded almost all 74 items in in the E3 section
    So I think I'm part of the 5 mill E3 download

  • DismasX

    Posted May 19, 2006 9:44 pm PT

    Fantastic – mark me up for a good number of those downloads… and a pre-order of lost planet. Good work Microsoft. Now just let me download in the background and all will be well with the world!

  • Maraxusofkelds

    Posted May 19, 2006 9:15 pm PT

    Well looks like Microsoft is stepping up its game. Man i cant wait till 360 gets cheaper so i can finally get one.

  • durial117

    Posted May 19, 2006 8:04 pm PT

    Way to go Microsoft! The Halo 3 trailer was cool.

  • n00bslayer

    Posted May 19, 2006 2:30 pm PT

    good work Microsoft

  • Mafmoe

    Posted May 19, 2006 1:28 pm PT

    Excellent..

  • SicsStringFreak

    Posted May 19, 2006 11:37 am PT

    fear not jasongm they are putting more on there example remember contra from nintendo nes and super nes, that is one example there will be plenty just keep patience and it will come

  • jasongm

    Posted May 19, 2006 11:01 am PT

    Thats pretty cool!

    I downloaded and trialed the Uno game... Wickedly Fun!

    So i used my MS points to get the full version, I am almost unbeatable in Uno on Live arcade!

    The only let down...

    ... I wish there were more Arcade games to play though...

  • SicsStringFreak

    Posted May 19, 2006 10:34 am PT

    im laughing with you mbott, but like i said earlier im getting all 3 so i wont miss out from any aspect, i love my 360 shes my second wife, my guitar is my first but i honeslty believe that MS is thinking more of the future, and a lot more of us the consumer.

  • mbott1701

    Posted May 19, 2006 10:19 am PT

    This is awesome news, but not unexpected. Xbox Live IS the future and Sony is so far off the bandwagon I just have to laugh.

  • SicsStringFreak

    Posted May 19, 2006 10:05 am PT

    oh and abput the hard drive for 360 its MS believe me they are working on it, when the 360 was first announced they mentioned an optional 160 gig, which prolly wont happen anytime soon, but a 60 gig or an 80 gig i can relly more on and the price would be better for all,but the release of it is something i can not say because i dont know, but it wont be before long MY GUESS is that around the end of the year or towards the first of next year for a new hard drive, again my guess.

  • SicsStringFreak

    Posted May 19, 2006 10:00 am PT

    yeah manifest i totally agree, in the sony press conference they said that" the basic service would be free, " basic just like silver for live. i mean i root for all three companies, but people tend to leave out the facts and use opinions to try and feel the place, im only 21 years old. but ive gamed all my life, and i dont mean casually, the 360 is the best thing to happen to gamming, but that is my opinion, the fact on that is, it is one of the best things and only time will tell on the rest, but i stick with consoles because, pc gamming gets way to expensive i mean you upgrade every few months to have "top of the line" hardware, but when people and i mean developers and designers start actually unlocking the real power of the 360 more people will come to agree with us, yes it may take a few more years but the games and experiences even up till then will be awesome, something i believe any true gammer should respect

  • skm_2012

    Posted May 19, 2006 9:11 am PT

    X-Box Live is just a part of microsofts master plan (which probably doesnt exist) ~_O WOOT FOR E3

  • JaMeS4418

    Posted May 19, 2006 9:10 am PT

    Keep it coming the marketplace is great!!!!!!!!!

  • terrabreak13

    Posted May 19, 2006 8:40 am PT

    The E3 content was great. Diidn't get to download everything but the Lost Planet Demo is amazing. The downloads dropped to a crawl on the first day of E3. I wonder what MSFT is gonna do when they hit that 10 million user milestone. They are going to need alot more bandwidth to handle the demand for downloads whenever they have another event like this.

  • skitzocyko

    Posted May 19, 2006 7:53 am PT

    CRAZY!!

  • acesion

    Posted May 19, 2006 7:53 am PT

    i guess icant blame them for the slow downs i got a great demo anyways lost planet is shaping up great and that demo was amazing as far as demos go its hard to believe that its still a year away.

  • Manifest_78

    Posted May 19, 2006 7:33 am PT

    I feel you SicsStringFreak....bottom line PS3 is way too overrated for what it's offering and the 360 underrated for what it's doing. I also plan on getting a PS3 and Wii to go with my 360, but I'm also a bit fed up with everyone saying LIVE should be free....$50 a year is too cheap to be whining about it. What we are being offered cost money to make and although as a consumer free is always good....being realistic, cheap is the best way to go.

    Sony says it's service will be free but reality it's not...the game companies themselves will be connecting their servers. In other words it's free cuz to play a particular game online you're going to have to get a subscription to that particular game's server....the same way silver members on xbox live have to pay to play on FFXI. Also let's not forget that's just the basic free service for Sony online...they have a premium online service too like how xbox live is set up, but if you get everything for free initially...why have a premium service? You can read all this for yourself (http://www.gamespot.com/features/6125429/p-4.html ) I'm just offering food for thought boys and girls.

    Also....I wouldn't mind a larger hard drive too, LOL

  • chrisdojo

    Posted May 19, 2006 6:05 am PT

    that's a lot of data being pushed around.......

  • ocdog45

    Posted May 19, 2006 5:40 am PT

    it was crazy trying to download anything on the first E3 day

  • Jedi_Osborn

    Posted May 19, 2006 4:40 am PT

    horray for live

  • beast0117

    Posted May 19, 2006 12:16 am PT

    Now, we just need a bigger hard drive

  • SicsStringFreak

    Posted May 18, 2006 10:56 pm PT

    i own a 360 and it IS the most powerful gamming pc there is, period, yeah they may be better graphics cards out there, but you take a 3,000 dollar gaming pc, and run it next to a 400 dollar 360 and the 360 will out preform that pc, because it was made for gamming , not gamming and word, or notepad or downloading music, or office, or music production, or video production, ..... gamming, it runs more games smoother than the most high-end pcs in the world. read the facts people and at only 400$ microsoft is being generous, considering the shareholders they have to keep happy, being one of the richest american based companies. i back MS the most, but i dont want to see sony crap out, or nintendo but sony has hyped thereselves into a corner.

  • SicsStringFreak

    Posted May 18, 2006 10:44 pm PT

    does anyone realize that the ps3 only has a single core processor running at 3.2 gigs , and if you dont believe me read over it again, and there online fucntion wont begin to compare with live that has been being biult for 5 years, ps3 is the most OVER- hyped system that has ever been and frankly microsoft has the money where sony does not, im not a fan boy im just sick and tired of all these people getting these facts wrong, i mean look at the real "real" facts, im getting all 3 systems, but MS KNOWS what they are doing,

  • jacques117

    Posted May 18, 2006 8:07 pm PT

    yeah, i think i downloaded every new thing for the whole week.

  • link3945

    Posted May 18, 2006 8:00 pm PT

    Combined with Live Anywhere, Microsoft's already made up for whatever the PS3 has in graphics and hardware. And its cheaper.

  • LordGamer0001

    Posted May 18, 2006 7:41 pm PT

    that is alot of downloads.

  • daftfan

    Posted May 18, 2006 7:36 pm PT

    Xbox Live will be the super weapon of the XBOX 360, that's the only thing better against PS3.

  • YD_11

    Posted May 18, 2006 6:55 pm PT

    Yeah that lost planet demo is pretty fun. i could tell the servers were loaded but it wasnt bad. great idea by ms

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