What's the difference between Gold and Silver membership?

Xbox Live membership is divided into two types--Silver and Gold.

Silver membership allows you to create an online gamer profile and manage your friends list, along with accessing the Xbox Live Marketplace to download game demos, addons, Xbox Original and Xbox Live Arcade games. It also allows you to create an Xbox avatar, which you can personalize and use in several Xbox Live Arcade games.

Gold membership lets gamers play online against or with other Gold membership gamers, along with enhanced friends list management and matchmaking.

Xbox sometimes holds "Gold Weekends", which offer Silver users free Gold membership for the weekend--look out for these events on Xbox.com.

What do I need to create an Xbox Live account?

An Internet connection and a computer! You don't need to connect your Xbox 360 console to create either a Silver or Gold account. Simply head to the Xbox site to begin your account creation. From there, you'll need to enter basic information to create a Silver account, but an address and credit card information will be required to create a Gold account, even if you'll be paying with subscription cards bought from stores. You won't be charged, but Microsoft still requires a card for validation purposes.

What are Microsoft Points?

Microsoft Points are the online currency used to buy game addons, Xbox Original games and Xbox Live Arcade games on the Xbox Live. A typical Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) game will cost 800 Microsoft Points, or about S$16, but all XBLA games are available as free trials, limiting you to only a few levels and no Achievements, but it's a good way to try a game before you buy.

Additional songs for music games such as Rock Band, Guitar Hero World Tour and Lips cost about 160 points a song, depending on the title. Track Packs are available for Guitar Hero and Rock Band games for 440 points, and usually include three titles, although larger ones are available.

Recently, entire albums, such as Red Hot Chilli Peppers' Blood Sugar Sex Magik, Pixies' Doolittle and Foo Fighters' Colour and the Shape have become available for download, with many more titles on the way.

How do I buy Microsoft Points?

Microsoft points are available for purchase either online through the "My Account" page on Xbox.com or your Xbox console, or from stores in the shape of cards similar to iTunes gift cards (they're also a great gift idea). It's probably simpler to buy points online rather than through your Xbox as you'll have to choose to buy an item before you can buy points--you won't have to buy the item itself, but the method itself is fairly obtuse.

I really need to download something, but I'm at work away from my Xbox! What can I do?

If you can't access your Xbox console and have a burning need to download that Call of Duty map pack right away, you can purchase the item on your computer, and your Xbox will automatically begin downloading it when you next connect to Xbox Live. So you'll always be able to download stuff from Xbox Live, even when you're away from your 360. Thanks, Microsoft!

Tags: Microsoft Xbox, Microsoft Xbox Live, Microsoft Corp., Microsoft Xbox 360, cable