Gates confirms Live spectator modes

By Tom Bramwell Published 6 October, 2004

Xbox Live TV reports real.

Comments made by Microsoft founder and chairman Bill Gates during a lecture at the University of California, Berkeley, have confirmed that the company is planning to add spectator modes to Xbox Live in the future.

Responding to a question about which Microsoft products he's proudest of, Gates told the audience that he has a personal interest in developing new interactive features for the Xbox, citing the ability to assemble online audiences to spectate on games as an example.

This seemingly confirms reports that the company is planning to add spectator modes to Live, under the banner of Xbox Live TV, which originated from a job posting seeking engineers to implement such a system.

It's expected that the system will not only allow users to spectate on games - as has been possible with many PC titles for years - but will also provide additional graphics and displays, similar to a sports TV channel.

However, it's still not clear whether Xbox Live TV will be implemented in titles for the current Xbox platform, or if it's planned as a feature for the next-generation Xbox console.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (18) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • ssuellid #1 7 years ago

    I thought this was a pretty crap idea at first but it would be good for watching tournaments or clan matches that you were involved with.

  • Lutz #2 7 years ago

    I agree with ssue... it'd be a great for big matches between clans etc.

  • IronGiant #3 7 years ago

    Not sure really.. more of a feature for gamers who already are really into online gaming than something that will sell systems or convert people to online games.

  • Blerk #4 7 years ago

    Do you actually have to own the game in order to view?

  • Lutz #5 7 years ago

    Probably. Otherwise you'd be streaming a LOT of info.

  • Blerk #6 7 years ago

    I was thinking more like a 'digital TV' thingy rather than a 'run the game, watch someone else play' sort of gaffe.

    Oh well. Crap idea, then. ;-)

  • p3rks #7 7 years ago

    I would have thought so.

    I like the idea, if linked to proper organised tournaments then people will definitly use it. They actually broadcast big clan matches on TV in Korea. I'd watch the final of a big Halo2 tourney.

  • IronGiant #8 7 years ago

    Sure some cable tv channel could broadcast game tournaments easily enough.. if anyone's really that interested outside of the gamers themselves.

  • Dizzy #9 7 years ago

    >Do you actually have to own the game in order to view?

    They will probably make client software that you download to view the game. So you will get a "Halo 3 lite"-viewer to watch online matches.

  • gamingdave #10 7 years ago

    They will probably make client software that you download to view the game. So you will get a "Halo 3 lite"-viewer to watch online matches.

    With all the textures, models, and sound files I dont think it will be very "lite".

  • Dizzy #11 7 years ago

    >With all the textures, models, and sound files I dont think it will be very "lite".

    Well a specific viewer for specific levels for example. Lower res textures, super high speed broadband.. etc....

  • Xensor #12 7 years ago

    i would really suspect you need to own the game you wanna watch it cos streaming decent quality video would be a bandwidth hog. And besides, why would microsoft give it away free when the least they can do to make a bit of money is make you need to own the game...

  • mash the x button #13 7 years ago

    yawn...

  • 3william56 #14 7 years ago

    I've heard the HLTV thing mentioned before, but really, how many people actually "tune in"? I love my games, but personally, I couldn't think of anything more boring than watching someone else play games - it'd make Backyard Blitz look like Citizen Kane.

    Someone please mention to ol' Billy that despite his best efforts, the world isn't actually populated by MicroNerds, and that he might be better off developing something a little more useful to those with a life.

  • aabyssx #15 7 years ago

    > Responding to a question about which Microsoft products he's proudest of...

    $ony style marketing...
    ...cheap and effective.

  • dadrester #16 7 years ago

    how about if it's a video stream. that wouldn't be too difficult to do and it could work on any game. only thing is you're taking control from the viewer and putting it into the editor/ director's hands. kind of like live tv then.

  • captain-future #17 7 years ago

    spectator mode is watching other people's game like a football match on TV, right?

    GREAT!!

  • Ryze #18 3 years ago

    I wonder what happened to this, then?