By Frank Ling, GN Senior Writer
During the E3 conference, Microsoft decided to open its doors to its Xbox Live Marketplace to provide a free week of gold membership to Xbox owners. No one had to twist the arms of the Xbox faithful, as millions of gamers flooded the gates to download game demos, music videos, Xbox themes, photo packs and trailers to their heart’s content.
The event was such a success that it prompted Xbox head honcho Peter Moore, to crow a bit at the news. Moore said, "The sheer volume of downloads during E3 week was simply staggering. 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."
The statistics quoted by Moore, regarding the Library of Congress, obviously shows that he is a die-hard fan of Trivial Pursuit, but more than that, it demonstrates how successful Microsoft’s Xbox Live online service really is. The service opened for business in November 22, 2005 and has accumulated more than 24 million downloads. The seven day download period during the E3 convention was estimated at 5 million. According to Microsoft, the top ten downloads were:
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
With the overwhelming response to the E3 freebie given by the Big M, it would be a fair guess to say that next year may have a repeat showing of the gold membership offering.
