[AXmichigan]

Xbox to Get Online Video-Phone Upgrade - [Console News]
Submitted by Prognostic on 5/11/2004 8:11:18 AM 3 Comments

Users of Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox Live online gaming network can already talk to each other remotely while logged in — but soon they'll be able to see their fellow players' faces and "tickle" each other, too.

The announcement comes at the start of the Electronic Entertainment Expo — known by the nickname E3 — which annually draws thousands of game developers to Los Angeles from around the world to showcase the latest in video game technology.

Other announcements included a new partnership with Electronic Arts Inc., which previously kept its hit sports games off the Xbox Live service, and a nostalgia service that would provide gamers with 1980s arcade titles.

Xbox's video-chat service will be launched this year exclusively in Japan and eventually will make its way to the North American network, Peter Moore, an Xbox marketing executive, said Monday.

"We particularly like the ability to launch in Japan because of the superior infrastructure for broadband. It's a great petri dish, if you will, for what will be the future," Moore said. "You will not only be able to play against your friends, or talk to your friends — now you can actually see your friends."