Xbox Gaming in South Africa

After years of complaining, threatening, and countless "Bring LIVE to SA" petitions, Xbox LIVE is finally launching in South Africa tomorrow, 10 November. But what does it actually mean for local Xbox 360 gamers? What should current and future Xbox LIVE gamers expect from the new local service? We take an in-depth look at the facts, expectations, and misconceptions surrounding Xbox LIVE South Africa.

Xbox LIVE

At its core, Xbox LIVE is an online multiplayer service which allows Xbox owners to connect and play games with players from around the world. Since its introduction in 2002, Xbox LIVE has grown to offer everything from digital media, such as HD movies and music, to social networking apps for Facebook and Twitter.

When Xbox LIVE launches in South Africa, only the core features will be available. This includes matchmaking, friends list, Achievements, Gamerscore, and a "tailored" Games Marketplace.

Tailored Marketplace?

Every new Xbox LIVE rollout over the last few years has seen regions receive different services and content, and this primarily comes down to licensing restrictions. While the core Xbox LIVE service is run and owned by Microsoft, and can be offered to all regions, the more recent addition of digital media has led to licensing problems over different regions. A good example is music, where licensing agreements have to be formed with record labels and local publishing rights societies before it can be rolled out in that region.

A similar problem applies somewhat to Xbox LIVE Arcade games and downloadable content, which is affected by the laws of a region and the local ratings board. Germany and Australia have both seen content region locked or delayed depending on the content ratings (Mature, etc.). Here in South Africa the local Film and Publication Board (fpb) don't have as much power, but may still influence content on the local Marketplace. So far, however, it looks like all the previous content that was blocked will become available, and locals shouldn't have a problem with future content. The only unanswered question will be whether the local ratings board  may hold up new content arriving on the local Marketplace, seeing new XBLA games and content being delayed. But time will tell.

Pricing

Pricing has been a concern for many current Xbox LIVE users since its announcement, with local pricing substantially higher than international pricing. Below is a quick overview:

There's not much that can be said about the pricing. It's hard to ignore the higher pricing, coupled with a more bare-bone service, so current Xbox LIVE users paying international rates may not migrate for a long time. The only real explanation we could come up with is our exchange rate, with Microsoft probably locking down this price for years to come. So even if the Rand dips to the record lows we saw just over a year ago (R15 to the British Pound!), they'll still be running a sustainable service, and we'll actually be paying the same rates as seen internationally.

There is some hope in that international MS Points and Xbox LIVE Gold subscriptions may be usable on local accounts, however, it's curently unknown as to whether Microsoft has made South Africa their own unique region (meaning only SA MS Points will work), or if they've assigned us under the United Kingdom. Sites such as MSPoints.co.za and EvoPoints have for a long time offered Xbox LIVE products to locals at far reduced prices, and could possibly offer cheaper alternatives if international codes do work.

Local Xbox LIVE servers

If there's one area of the new service that has users confused, it's Xbox LIVE servers. For one, many gamers believe their in-game lag will improve when the service launches locally. This isn't true. Xbox LIVE is predominately run on peer-2-peer networking, such as Call of Duty, Gears of War, Forza Motorsport, and more, and these games either select or use a predetermined Xbox LIVE player as the host. This means that if you're playing with a group of Americans, your host might be thousands of miles away, and you'll undoubtedly hit lag at some point. This isn't as big of a problem as it may seem though, because there's literally thousands of local gamers to play with instead, along with many games being able to automatically party up gamers who are closer together.

There are a few games out there that use dedicated servers on Xbox LIVE, such as EA's Battlefield: Bad Company 2, but these are few and far between, and while you will notice a slight delay, they're generally very playable on all types of connections. We may get local servers for these games in the future, but currently there's no official plans in place, other than a lot of hopeful PR talk.

At the end of the day though, your general latency will not improve with Xbox LIVE launching locally.

So nothing is hosted locally?

Actually, the Xbox LIVE Marketplace content is available on local bandwidth. You'll still need to authenticate with international servers when logging on, but Xbox LIVE Arcade games, downloadable content packs, as well as media such as trailers, all go through the local Akamai content distribution network, which means local and fast downloads on cached items.

Conclusion

We've been waiting a long time for Xbox LIVE in South Africa, and it's finally here. It may not offer up everything we had hoped for, and the pricing will certainly be a factor for both new and old Xbox LIVE gamers, but it's a step in the right direction. The official Xbox LIVE SA stamp of approval will mean more local Xbox 360 gamers, more local promotions, and better support. If you're still undecided, why not try out the one month free Xbox LIVE membership you get with all new accounts, and see what everyone is going on about? There's a reason why Xbox LIVE is considered one of the best online gaming services, and now everyone in South Africa can find out too.

More coverage on Xbox LIVE in South Africa can be found over here. Also, check out the FAQ in the announcement article for answers to common questions, including migration.