Available in free and subscription-based varieties, Xbox Live allows users to: play games online download games (through Xbox Live Arcade) and game demos purchase and stream music, television programs, and films through the Xbox Music and Xbox Video portals and access third-party content services through media streaming applications. The Xbox 360 features an online service, Xbox Live, which was expanded from its previous iteration on the original Xbox and received regular updates during the console's lifetime. It was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detailed launch and game information announced later that month at the 2005 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft.
