Call of Duty 4 is very bad for Xbox Live

If I were to ask you what game is the best representation of the Xbox 360 console in game play, what the system can do and fan base what would you say? I'm sure a lot of you are thinking Halo 3. Oh sure, it's the easy choice. The original Halo game is what put the original Xbox on the map. And at it's release that game had more hype than a Brittany Spears night on the town.

But you're wrong.

If you ask me the same question I'd have to say Cal of Duty 4. Why? Just look at the facts. There's nothing personal or preferential in my choice. I've played a lot of Call of Duty 4 (mostly multiplayer) and not so much of Halo 3. I haven't played enough of Halo 3 to really get a firm opinion of the game or the franchise. But what I have played I've liked . . . except for most of the people that I've played against. I just want you to know that because my decision is not based on my opinions of the game but what the game has done for Microsoft and their Xbox Live service.

When Halo 3 came out there were stores staying open until midnight to sell the game. And once it was out everybody seemed to be playing the game on Xbox Live. The system was a little slow for that first week but it wasn't disruptive to those not playing Halo 3. Call of Duty 4 on the other had was a whole different story.

The release wasn't so much the media event as Halo 3's was. But at the same time there were just as people playing Call of Duty 4 as there was Halo 3. There was a bit of a slow down in the Xbox Live network for COD4 but once again it wasn't as much Halo 3. What's different about COD4 is that it's audience grew by word of mouth and more and more people bought the game and started playing it. With Halo 3 you were pretty much going to get it at release or you'd wait until the price comes down or you wouldn't get it at all.

The more people who started to play COD 4 the more the Xbox Live network started to have problems. Over the Christmas holiday was the worse. You could feel the slowness of the network in COD4 and it affect not only your gameplay but everyone else's gameplay on the network.

Yesterday a batch of new maps were released for COD4 and things went down hill from there. The market place crashed and you couldn't get to the place where you could download the maps. And some of us were kicked off of Xbox Live altogether while we were playing other games. Yes, that's right. I was logged in but I was playing Begeweled 2 when I heard that lovely little beep. I had thought I unlocked an achievement. Nope. What I got instead was "Pengwen has been disconnected from Xbox Live". Why? Probably because I wasn't really playing a game over Xbox Live and they needed the server space/power for someone else who was. Do I think it's just a coincidence that this happens on the day the COD4 maps are released? I don't think so. So what does that tell us about COD4?

To me, it says that more people want to pay 800 points for 4 new maps for that game. Enough people to overwhelm their network and make it difficult for some of the rest of us to get online. Has this happened with anything for the Halo games? Not that I'm aware of. There's been map packs for previous Halo games and the rush of users trying to download those and play them hasn't tanked the system. So you've got to see that Call of Duty 4 is more the quintessential Xbox 360 game instead of Halo 3. I know the Halo fanboys out there aren't going to like it, but it is what it is. And for some of us it means we won't be able to connect to Xbox Live through our consoles until everyone's had their fill of the new maps and have moved on.