CES 2009: Microsoft wants to increase the 100-friend Xbox Live limit

So, it's not quite the "ZOMG Friends List Increase Confirmed" announcement that we hoped for but Xbox director Aaron Greenberg came as close as we've heard to revealing that it's in the works.

When we spoke to him at CES today (more on that later) Greenberg told us "I can't commit to when that will happen, but that is something we want to do. It's definitely something we're looking at expanding and, as this social network grows, we've absolutely heard the pleas for that. It's on the list."

Greenberg explained that original Xbox games were coded to be limited to 100 friends, and that limit was brought into the current generation. But now that Live is built in to the system, they've got a little more flexibility. We, and the thousands of potential friends we turn away daily, can't wait to hear more.

Reader Comments (63)

Here's a random anecdote about the 100 person friend's list:

I used to have the original xbox and got to beta test Mech Assault 2 at Day 1 Studios because I was really good at it and could do something called "wall walking." They thought they fixed the problem in the sequel and invited me in to see if I could still do it. Well, I could. Easily.

Anyway, they let me beta test some more and after a while I figured out there was this massive technical glitch if your friend's box was full. No one there had a full friend's list so they asked if I would bring in my xbox so they could replicate the bug. I did so and they ended up fixing it.

They also let me write an early review of the game on the xbox forums that ended up being one of the biggest threads in the forums at the time.

/e-peen stroking over

I'm a retard for adding the possessive to friends.

Not a bad idea.. especially for communities like X3F who try to get people together. As well as the JPAG. Though personally I have no need for more people.

I would be more excited by an organization tool. Such as custom categories and so forth to sort through your friend list.

I've got about forty friends on xbl. 10 or so are people I don't even know. About five are people I used to be friends with in real life. About another five are friends that just don't play anymore. Fifteen of them are people I know in real life but just added because they asked. About five of them are my close friends that I play with when I play on XBL. I just don't play online as much as I used to though.

Ah and yeah I'm not saying it shouldn't be increased. Just because I wouldn't utilize it doesn't mean I don't think it would be nice for others. They need to add clan support though and options for notifications. At just forty friends, the stupid pop up comes up all the time. I wish I could select what friends would pop up when they came online like I can with AIM.

AGERocks.com lots of us there have been wanting an increase in the size of our friends list

I too have been looking forward to increasing my size

i wouldnt mind the new space, but cant see myself really using it. i have about 80 friends. 20-30 of them are people i actually know/went to school with. and its nice to play the occasional game with. the others are people i meat in games, in class, or in the line of eb games waiting to get our copies of halo 3. i still play with them, but its more often just a hey whats up? or a mtaf type of thing.
so hey, if you have that many friends, yay for more space. but to me, its like an 120 gig ipod, how many people actually can name that many songs? and even if its filled, how often do you listen to each one.

Finally! At least Microsoft now acknowledges it's a feature people want.

Gamers in online gaming communities are going to appreciate this a WHOLE lot.

Now, what's the release date?

I have 16.

I think I play with 3 of them.

Yeah....

finally the "live" people listing some one to what people say,ah well i only have about 20 friends at least now i guess can add random people,or "cool" people.

There are many, many people on Xbox Live who constantly find themselves having to delete friends to add new ones. Part of Xbox Live is being able to join and play with your friends. If you only have 8 friends, the opportunity to do so shrinks drastically. I, along with thousands of other Live users, have between 90-100 friends on their list, and I'm probably more successful than most of you people claiming that people with 100 friends are "douches" or "losers".

As some games are not playable for girls as it is not suitable for girls or not as much convenient to the ladies gamers just like that the producer has made this game for giving the benefit of doubt to them.................
http://www.electrocomputerwarehouse.com

CES 2009: Microsoft wants to increase the 100-friend Xbox Live limit

Reader Comments (63)

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