Microsoft apologises for the spotty service over the holidays, will be offering a free Arcade game to all members to make good.
Over the holidays Xbox Live suffered a week of off-and-on-again outages, comprising a variety of different errors including problems signing in to the service and difficulty recovering accounts.
Microsoft put the issues down to the fact that "record numbers" of people had been trying to get online, either to register for new accounts after picking up an Xbox 360 for Christmas or to play games online over the break.
Xbox Live director of programming Larry Hryb admitted that the issues were "not acceptable." Now Microsoft wants to say sorry by offering Xbox Live members worldwide a free Xbox Live Arcade game "as a thank you for your loyalty during the holiday period."
A post on Hryb's Major Nelson blog, which contains a statement from the general manager of Xbox Live, states that January 2 saw the biggest ever number of concurrent members using the service, and the holiday period also saw the most new users sign up for the service in its five-year history.
More details of the free game offer will be made available "in the coming weeks."
What is wrong with sewing?? Without sewing we wouldn't have clothing, bedsheets, pillowcases, hot-air balloons... and countless other textile-based products!! Who else is against SEWING?? I bet you're naked then aren't you? matthewseal123, I'd like to know where you are going to school, just to make sure I don't send my (future) kids there...
Mathewseal: Whats wrong with a Texan doing needlepoint? Or a moneylender? That's right, your use of the English language.
judge_judy: That's stupid. They could easily stop that by only gifting the points to XBL accounts created BEFORE a certain date. And not only that, you can only play the game you download on THAT account, so what would be the point?
If they gave points then everyone could start making heaps of fake accounts and download everything they want, so no matter what it's not going to happen.
Id rather they A) Fixed XBL (Though im sure there working hard on it) and B) Give us the points for the game instead of the game.
Something even worse about wanting stuff is people complaining that they want stuff, I did not even feel that xbox live thing, people are actaully geting mad at it (a few are even sewing), these people are complete loaners that cannot live without xbox , these people need to stop *itching cause they cant play halo 3 on pro mode , just go outside and entertain yourself, or maybe just play SINGLE PLAYER or have you loaners already finished that 5 times over? (people in texas are SEWING!!!!!! GET SOME LIFES!) And also the game SHOULD not be that good , because microsoft should not have to give free stuff out,
When many complained about XBL you asked for a free Arcade, now that you're getting it many complain is going to be something crappy. Can never please the costumers.
If I was Micro$oft...I wouldn't give you kiddies NOTHING. Listen to you immature rats complaining makes me sick. IT'S A FREE GAME. Grow up and get some manners.
I think they should have a large variety so that what silence said they dont offer one that you already have non the less i wouldnt be surprised if they went CHEAP on the game knowing ms
how pissed will you be when the game they offer for free is one you have already? lol. points plz. you know you wanna microsoft.
I wish that we could pick our free game...if MS is going to give us something that we'll play for a whiel and get bored with it...whats the point? I would much rather choose my free arcade game, or better yet as many other people are syaing...get free microsoft points.
why are you guys complaining? xbox live worked fine for me every once in awhile and i get an arcade game? nice!
who the heck wants free garbage? every game you download is crap...it costs microsoft nothing. It cost me service. I'd rather get 10 bucks back instead.
huh, count your blessing high speed users, you dont have dial up :( but does this mean i get 5 free games since there are 5 accounts on my 360, cuz then ill just make ten more and get all i want from the marketplace, for now.
i just wish i had known it was on their end sooner. i thought my system was messing up and i cleared my cache while trying to fix the problem. lost my checkpoint and cog tag collection on gears of war, among things from other games. and had to download updates for my games all over again
"PS. christmas is just a day like any other, nothing special." Except for those 2 million new people trying to get onto XBL...why thats only a 20% increase in a single day period...hardly worth a raised eyebrow.
I'm in the UK and have been having problems since Christmas Day. I still can't play Guitar Hero 3 online. Is getting on my nerves now. Has been just over 2weeks with this problem. Microsoft have lots of money and am sure they could've sorted this out when it first happened! I hope this free game's gonna b good 2 - probably just fob us off with a crap game!
I know it has had problems, but its no big deal. I expected it to be worse, actually. Most of the time it was fine, but sometimes I would just lose my connection for a while, or things would be slow. I do like the fact MS is taking action and offering something. However, I do feel like it should be points instead of an actual game. What if I already own the game they offer? Or what if I already own all the games I want? This isnt the case for me, as there are several arcade games I wouldn't mind owning (Metal Slug 3 just came out, for instance), but Im sure there are some out there that it would apply to. Points are good for everyone...800 sounds good. And to the person who said MS doesnt give away good games...they recently gave away Carcassone. Some may not like it, but I feel like it is a good game and fun to play against other people online.
I lost my gamertag for a business week because of this. My gamertag was stuck in live sign-in limbo so I couldn't even log in to play offline. After I got it back some of my save files weren't linked to my gt anymore. As an apology we get, "He guys go download Uno/Zuma/Scrable, its on us." Shenanigans I say!!!
As of last night COD4 was still not working right. A day or two of problems I can understand but it has been a few weeks and they still haven't fixed it. What does MS do with all that money?
It should be free points as opposed to a free game. Enough to buy a $10 title or something, because many will already have the free title.
Like it or not, it's a contract, they have the right to sue if they want, altough, of course asking 5 million is an idiocy, they should be only refunded with amount accordling to the days it was malfunctioning, let's say... $3 or 4? I don't know, this can be much comply for a little problem, but they are right, and no one have the right to complain about that. PS. christmas is just a day like any other, nothing special.
Wow.....you all need to calm way down. I love games as much as the next guy but freaking out over this is just stupid. Take your free game which they didnt have to give us and shut up. The guys that are suing i hope they lose and then get sued for being stupid.
lulz I love how this has become fodder for ps fanboys. zomg people are actually using xbl... and after some 5 million people logged on the servers start crashing.. how nuts is that. Psn has what... thirty... fourty people on at a time? Yep, take that microsoft.
I heard about the free game, and was all happy and stuff, then I tried to get it ,only to discover my membership expired last october. Shows how much I use it ,huh?
i have to agree with noahcycle12 even though i subscribe to XBOX live. it is rediculous that we have to pay for this crap service and they aren't going to give us any good game from their library. they will proabably give us Yaris 2 for" free."
This is why you dont pay to play online. :wink: And sorry, but I have to laugh in general at the people that think MS would give away "good" free games. :P lol
WELL...that explains everything!!!! BTW i dont want some crappy game that will only make me mad because i tried to get on at least 5 times a day! and only sometimes it worked i even kicked my DSL modem a couple times, i wrote to XBL support and everything god, they better give me Halo: Combat evolved as my free game or ill be pissed
every time i tried cod4 something was goin on with xbl... i cant wait to see how we get our free game. I soo want to get puzzle quest
I wonder when they are gonna give out the free game? It serves them right for messing up, couldn't play COD4 all winter break.
stop over reacting if you guys are so mad over a day or two of no video games online why didnt you just invite them over and play or i dont know what your life is like but really you only lost tens of cents
You pay for a yearly service, that means 365 days, not 355 not 360, but 365. If I pay for a service, I expect to be able to enjoy it when I have the most time to do it with friends and family, and that's the holiday period. They should have been prepared, there is no excuse for this. A free game won't do, M$ should give out free subscriptions.
this better be free 4 ever becuase i just got dang rod and i hope its something good
They were just unprepared for this kinda holiday boom... and to lose customer satisfaction.
Irate gamers demand over $5 million in damages following slate of reported problems over holidays.
Users who looked at this article also looked at these content items.
United States Vice President Joe Biden believes there is no legal restriction on ability to tax violent media. Full Story
Avalanche Studios co-founder says developer's ambition is for action, not moments that make players cry; steampunk-style game on hold. Full Story
Developer confirms image suggesting version of upcoming shared-world shooter in development for Sony's latest portable is a fake. Full Story
Assassin's Creed and Far Cry publisher says its network of 26 studios and over 7,000 developers will allow company to ship major franchises more regularly. Full Story
4A Games creative director Andrew Prokhorov thanks Jason Rubin for telling the studio's story, but says, "We deserve the ratings we get." Full Story
DICE head would also like to poach top talent from rivals Infinity Ward and Treyarch. Full Story
Future EA games won't require Online Passes; the service is being scrapped after tepid player response. Full Story
Microsoft: We understand the importance of used games
Publisher says supporting secondhand titles on Xbox One was a fundamental design criteria.
