My So-Called Live #1: And So It Begins ...

I've been an online console gamer since the days of wayback (also known as 1999, when Sega's underappreciated Dreamcast came out), so when the powers-that-be here at GameSpy asked me to think of an idea for a column, I knew what I wanted to focus on. Since I'm also the Man in the Box for the Xbox page, and I spend nearly as much time on Xbox Live as I do in "reality", I thought it would be natural for me to write about the ins and outs of life on the best online gaming service money can buy (or won't have to buy, judging by the number of "Free Year of Service" certificates I've seen falling out of game cases in recent months).

So, you might ask, what games are you playing right now, Mr. Just-One-of-a-Million? Well, I'm playing a lot of the same games as you guys, according to the latest charts. Rainbow Six 3 is just about always in my rotation, as is its fellow spawn-of-Clancy, Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow. In fact, I'd have to say that Pandora is one of the best online titles ever, thanks to its truly revolutionary head-to-head mode, pitting third-person spies against first-person mercs. Me? I'm a spy man, through and through. I've also been enjoying some of the new planes and maps in Crimson Skies, although I'm not totally sold on the new gametypes (C'mon guys, Chicken Pox?).


We all know what the cool kids are playing on Live right now, but what's the skinny on some of the upcoming titles? Well, this being the inaugural edition of My So-Called Live, it's as good a time as any to delve into my most anticipated Live-enabled titles of the coming year. In no particular order, of course:

Rainbow Six 3: Black Arrow

I know, I know, this title is going to be coming our way sometime in the next week, but it still warrants mentioning here. Why? Because it's the first shooter to fully integrate the new features implemented in the Xbox Live 3.0 release. The biggest of these is the ability to create your own clan (or "Squad", as it's know in the game), allowing you to do battle with other groups without worrying about people having problems finding the host's box. You can customize your squad as you see fit, by creating a team motto, as well as a logo that appears on the arms of your men in the game. The mind reels when thinking of all of the beautifully obscene logos we'll be seeing in the coming months.


The leader of the pack will not only have to decide what type of grenade to toss through a cracked door, he'll also have to be the squad's general manager of sorts. It'll be up to you which members of the team will get to play in certain matches or invite new soldiers, thanks to a new ranking system. Basically, you can assign different ranks to each player, from Operative to Director, which allow them greater levels of access within the squad. Directors can do just about anything, from kicking out squadmates to editing the logo, while lower level members can do little else but fight. As in real life, the guys who work the hardest and put in the most time will probably make their way up the ladder faster than the guy who only shows up for big matches.