Exactly how does XBL work? Is it like the virtual console? Do you pay $x and get to download and keep the game, or do you have to pay a monthly fee or what? Thanks,

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It's a $50 flat fee per year, then you have to buy whatever you want (games, add-ons, whatever). When I first got mine, I think I paid $60 and got a headset, Crimson Skies and 1 year subscription, but that was back in 2004 or so. Not sure what the going rate is nowadays.

It's an addiction similar to crack cocaine. One of my friends stays up most nights until 9 or 11 AM playing online against his friends (which don't come over physically) and people in other countries. He's found some really sick people that keep inviting him to Gears of War; they talk about butt-raping the other players.

I see the potential to get "involved", more so than other things I've discovered, so I will never allow that service in my condo. Simply having the internet in this form is more than enough.

Microsoft did send my friend what looks like a credit card (for having a certain status with Xbox Live). It gives him discounts at Target and a few other places.

For the 360, it is still $60 for the 1 year subscription with the headset and an XBLA game (Bankshot Billiards 2 was what it was, but I'm not sure if they've changed that yet).  Some in-game content is free and others you have to pay for, even if you don't subscribe to pay online, because you can access the marketplace for free as a Silver account member.  For XBLA games, everyone can download a free trial of the game and keep it for as long as they want, but to unlock the full versions and get achievements you have to purchase said game.

And, just in case you care, the next XBLA game being released is the old arcade Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game tomorrow.  It is hoped that Symphony of the Night is next Wednesday, but MS never seems to announce these things until the Monday prior to release.

So, once you download an Xbox game, can you copy it to a memory card and bring it to a friend's house?

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XBox doesn't use memory cards as far as I know.  Everything you download is stored on the hard drive and locked to that hardware ID.

Nothing stopping you from bringing your XBox to a friend's house, though. :)

Yeah, I'm not a big fan of moving computers around! You're definitely more likely to damage something. On the other hand a DVD/memory card is something nice and small, and fits in your backpack without issue An Xbox, doesn't fit so snuggly in the backpack, or coat pocket for that matter.

cheers,

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Hm, which Xbox are you talking about?  Again, if it is the 360, the reason that MS had the size limitations on XBLA games is because some people had to store those games on a memory card, because they chose the system without a hard drive (on a side note, I'd ask those people 'WHY!?').  MS has just announced a larger memory card, that ships with Geometry Wars, because they raised that size limitation---just in time for Symphony of the Night and must please SNK who apparently didn't like that 50MB size limit.

Otherwise, I think Amber has a point---MS wouldn't be so dumb as to allow you to take XBLA games over to a friend's house.  If your friend wants to try out a game then that's what the demo option is for.  Well, the demo option and the obligatory broadband internet access.

A couple things:

-Xbox Live is free on the 360 unless you want to play games online in which case it costs $50/year.  If I had a 360, I'd be fine with the free part since I don't see the point in playing online if I have to listen to pre-pubescents scream obscenties at everything that moves.

-Both the Xbox and Xbox 360 have memory cards (plus, the 360's hard drive is detachable), and, on the 360, you can show your friends the Live Arcade games you've bought.  I'm not sure if you can do it with the memory card or HD directly or if you have to sign onto their console using your Live account and temporarily re-download it, but I know you don't have to lug the system anywhere.