Microsoft reveals usage stats for Facebook, Last.fm

I find that the Facebook app is beyond useless. The only interesting thing is looking at pictures on your tv...

Last.fm on the other hand is awesome. I love listening to the stations on that thing.

Twitter is a nice environment, but still very difficult to type with a regular Xbox controller. Last.fm I fell in love with, it's on par with the awesome ways of Pandora. Too bad I have a limited amount of time on the thing though, because Mixrosoft enjoys screwing people over with their freakin' gold subscriptions.

The Facebook on Xbox is light years ahead of the Facebook on PS3. Kinda seems that Sony said just throw what we have ready. Then agian, I only use Facebook on my iPhone. Works great.

A lot of those 2 million Facebook users were probably entering the contest that required you to connect to Facebook to enter. These apps are worthless IMHO. Last.fm would be awesome if I could use it in games and Facebook is only good for browsing photos (and don't even get me started on how much I hate the new Zune Video crap and Twitter). Thankfully they aren't forcing you to use any of this stuff. You can even delete the Zune application and go back to using the old stuff if like me you are only downloading videos in the Games Marketplace.

Had they allowed you to use Last.fm while playing games (simply integrated it in a manner close to playing music on the console) with occasional advertisements, I'd probably be listening to it right now. Fact of the matter is: I don't think they spent enough time fully thinking out the best way to implement it, and simply ended up half-assing it. Don't get me wrong, the applications work as proposed, they just simply aren't convenient. I think Microsoft's problem is that they fear putting the power of options in the hands of their user-base, or simply refuse to recognize the need to do so. That, and they implemented these new features as separate applications, rather than fully implementing it into the dashboard.

For example, what they could have done: imagine you're playing a game, you've set up your Facebook application to alert you when someone comments on a specific section (I.E. Messages, Status Update comments, etc.) Your Xbox 360 then alerts you through discrete notification, say, a small alert box while you're playing, similar to an achievement notification. (Remember, these aren't required, you could simply turn off notifications, or select a more appropriate method of notification that coincides with what you would like.) You're then able to click the dashboard button, and through dashboard integration, not separate application, you select a Facebook tab which is organized accordingly (say, Recent Comments, Inbox, etc.) and you're able to interact with other persons on Facebook, or respond to said notification. Game-play experience wouldn't be affected as it could pause similar to pressing the dashboard button in current iterations of games.

As for Last.fm, all it would take would be to allow the streaming over game-play, similar to (as said before) current music listening is concerned on the console (Simply add advertisements.) I realize that these things would take up a certain amount of connectivity which is why the users themselves would have to gauge how much it affects their connection, and determine if it's worth using while playing online during game sessions. Offline play (Or single-player play while connected to Xbox Live) wouldn't be as big as an issue seeing as your bandwidth could simply be redirected to the applications using your internet.

And again, I'm saying this from a complete layman's point-of-view. I don't know how difficult it would be to integrate this, but I'm sure it's possible seeing as what they can do by simply "revolutionizing" their old dashboard. Honestly, Microsoft needs to start providing more freedom and customization for their product (similar to how Sony allows for user-choice backgrounds that they upload themselves. I'm tired of logging into Xbox Live and seeing simply: this is what Microsoft wants, this is what I'm getting. I want more personal organization of my tabs, say the ability to remove certain sections, choose display directions, and other things rather than simply no options at all, and honestly, I want the ability to disable my Avatar, it's like a corporate punch in the fact that they provide us with something for free, exercising it as a provided feature with which they're giving to you out of the good of their heart, and then make you pay for it's clothes? Which brings me back to Sony, I attempt to keep views as unbiased as possible, and seeing as I don't have a Playstation 3, and never have, I would like to insure you that I'm not saying this from a pompous "This console's better" viewpoint. I like how Sony is approaching their user-base. In contrast to what I was saying about the Avatars, Sony made the same system, simply as a different, non-integrated application. You don't have to have it, and if you have it, you don't have to see it unless you want to. This brings me back to what I was saying earlier about content integration. I think where Microsoft is screwing up is that they provide separate applications when they should be integrating them, and integrating things that should be separate applications. I want this Console to reflect who I am, and allow me to feel as though I'm playing on MY console, not THEIR console. I swear, playing my Xbox 360 feels like I'm simply using a company-issued laptop. You're playing by their rules rather than your own, and when it breaks, you send it back in and get a new one. Something ain't right here.

I just think the addition of Facebook and Twitter is just stupid. Given I have limited time to play games at my house anyway, why in the world would I turn on my xbox to get on facebook when I can think of two much more worthwhile activities - Modern Warfare 2 and Borderlands.

I suppose there is no harm in adding it to Live, but it seems utterly pointless to me.

If they can calculate how many users have logged on to facebook then they can calculate how many users they have banned...

fios tv has a facebook and twitter widget, my phone has facebook and twitter, my PC can access it, my PS3 has facebook and twitter.

How man goddamn ways do we have to access FACEBOOK AND TWITTER!?!? Too many

could it be also that one person logged into facebook 2 million times?

I turn on my xbox to play games, sometimes to watch movies. I have a computer to visit websites on. I want this shit off my 360 and off my PS3.

I used facebook maybe once, it is not very convenient, you don't even see your notifications. Last.fm is the only thing that's good on that update, but you can't use it while playing a game! It's not like I turn on my Xbox just to listen to the radio!

Facebook? Slightly convenient if I want to show off a picture on someone's profile and I'm too lazy to open my laptop. Twitter? Unnecessary (especially without a text pad...gotta get one of those.)

I've really liked Last.fm. I've scrobbled my itunes plays for several years now...but I never really knew why. I've used Last.fm on my 360 in the last couple weeks than I have in the several years I've had an account.

Can it track how many people actually logged in for a second time, after just using it the first time for the 'Ooh, something new' factor?

That would be the most important statistic.

You can open up the worst restaurant in the world, and you're going to be busy the first week, because people love new things.

What matters is how many people come back.

To clarify, I was referring to the Facebook and Twitter "apps."

A million new profile activations?

Huh, must be doing something right.

I doubt many of the two million people that used the new facebook feature on xbox live logged in twice. This new addon was a must have for me but when i actually logged in i found it to be lower than my expectations.You can't check your notifications, no chat, and if you don't have the keypad for your controller it will take you 2 mins to write a simple message. However i liked the last.fm addition. it's simple and doesn't take away any of the features of the original online last.fm . i will put it on and get an amazing sound from my new 42 in plasma tv. I haven't tried out twitter but I'm figuring it will be as pointless as Facebook.

Last FM is pretty much worthless since while I do like the fact that I can actually listen to music that's on my computer, it's not worth ever using since I can't listen to Last FM while I game (I might as well use the app on my ipod and game)

The same sadly goes for the Facebook app, something that is kind of neat when you first use it. But after that there's really no point to it and it's just a hassle going through all the menues just to get what you want.

the Last.fm feature is pretty dope

Last.fm is by far the best addition to my 360 in a while. Those Facebook and Twitter numbers are going to bottom out sooner rather than later. It MAY leave the door open for developers to incorporate live messaging into a game itself, but just as its own application, both services are far too developed and accessible on phones and laptops to be useful on a console.

I'm just P.O.ed it's only available for people over the age of 18. Meh, they'll make an update. I'm too busy playing my games to be on facebook. Back to L4D2.

This update is what's getting me to use twitter. A friend and I set up a pretty sweet twitter account for following gaming news -- kind of. If you're the kind of dude or lady checking out Joystiq everyday, I think you'll get a kick out of this.

http://twitter.com/gameheadlines

@Tiptup300

also theirs this thing years ago called WebTV.


Hm I wonder if people still uses that today.

just click on it to check em out. other than that I rather use my Windows Mobile phone or PC, since it takes me forever to update my status using the controller.

AWESOME! Now if they'd just release some games!

still drunk. i would pay 1000 ms points to be able to download firefox for my xbox 360.

Where can I report Gamerscore Cheats?

Check out T3ddy B4gW3LL

He's got all PES 2008 online achievements while offline. He's unlocked Dead Space achievements in the wrong order. Such as 100 limbs, before 50 limbs.

Look on his xbox profile, see his name, search for "eddywatson 360" on google, and it brings up gamesave modding sites, where he's posted, and complained that the dead space save does'nt make his score look legit.

It's ridiculous that he's got away with this for so long.

yea it certainly is the case of people just checking them out...I didnt bother with anything but the Twitter after I saw that the Twitter app is basically worthless and unusable unless you have that stupid keyboard attachment. No thanks, Microsoft.

although I will say the Last.FM app has promise to be kind of like a part jukebox but you could already do that with the Xbox and even more with something like TVersity. They need to add Pandora now.

I've been using last FM alot! I don't have a PC in my living room, but I've got my 360 hooked into my stereo, and where I live I get NO radio reception, even my Sirius is a no-go in my apt. So having Last FM is a nice alternative!

Facebook app is better than Twitter, but both are stupid. Horrible input device + no real integration (it's a stand alone app that doesn't tie in with anything else you do on your 360) + no web browser... Who the hell would prefer to use Twitter on their 360?