Xbox Live
When the Xbox launched on November 15, 2001, the as-yet unnamed online service was destined for a Summer 2002 deployment. Xbox Live was finally given a name at E3 2002 when the service was unveiled in its entirety. Sound-dampened booths and broadband-connected Xbox consoles—featuring an early version of "Unreal Championship"—demonstrated the service on the show floor. The Epic title was one of the flagship titles for the service, which was slated for a debut on November 15, 2002, marking the anniversary of the Xbox launch. Microsoft announced that 50 Xbox Live titles would be available by the end of 2003. Utilizing the required broadband bandwidth, Xbox Live featured a unified gaming "Friends List", as well as a single identity across all titles (regardless of the publisher), and standardized voice chat with a headset and communication, a feature that was still in its infancy.
History of online games
In 2000, Sony introduced online multiplayer to the PlayStation 2. It was the first time of Sony doing so, and like many major consoles to come, will become a norm in the industry. In 2001, Nintendo introduced online multiplayer to the Nintendo GameCube using an add-on called a Broadband Adapter and Modem Adapter. It, however, came dead last in competing with the likes of the upcoming Xbox and the now icon of modern gaming, the PlayStation 2, both in sales and online impact. Later on, in 2002, Microsoft released the Xbox, which by using Xbox Live, offered online multiplayer and other Internet capabilities to the console and continued doing so for its later consoles, the Xbox 360 and the Xbox One. In 2006, Nintendo released the Wii, which offered online multiplayer gaming and other Internet capabilities over Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection and WiiConnect24, respectively. Both services were shut down on May 20, 2014, along with online capabilities of any games that utilize the feature, such as "Mario Kart Wii" (2008). The same year the Wii hit store shelves, rival Sony introduced its new monster to add to its line of industry icons, the PlayStation 3 which used the brand new PlayStation Network (PSN) for online multiplayer gaming and other Internet capabilities to the system, and continued doing so for later consoles such as the PlayStation 4. In 2012, Nintendo made a successor to the dying Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection involving their next-gen console, the Wii U, and its handheld counterpart, the Nintendo 3DS, by creating the Nintendo Network to continue on its online multiplayer and Internet capabilities, in order to compete against Microsoft's Xbox Live and Sony's PlayStation Network. Nintendo's latest console, the Nintendo Switch, does offer online play via Nintendo Network.