How to Play a Game in Xbox Live

Connect your Xbox 360 to your Internet by either connecting your console to your router or modem via Ethernet cable or by connecting to a wireless network via the Xbox 360's Wireless Networking Adapter (which must be purchased separately). Follow the instructions supplied with your Xbox 360 Wireless Networking Adapter to connect it to a wireless network.

Turn on your Xbox 360 and log in to your profile.

Test your Xbox Live connection by opening the "Networking Settings" menu from the dashboard then selecting "Test Xbox Live Connection." Your console will connect to Xbox Live or send you steps to fix a failed connection.

Press the Guide button on your controller and select "Join Xbox Live" to open the Xbox Live setup assistant. The assistant will guide you through four stages: account creation, membership selection, creating a gamertag and choosing a picture. Select a Gold account, rather than a Silver account, at the membership selection stage to ensure you can play games online. This requires you to enter billing information, so have your credit or debit card on hand for this stage.

Insert an Xbox Live-compatible game into your Xbox 360. To ensure a game is multiplayer-compatible, look at the specifications section on the back of the game case. The specifications with orange text represent Xbox Live data. If there is no orange text in the specifications area, that means it is not an Xbox Live multiplayer game.

Boot up the game, and select Xbox Live in the game's main menu.