Microsoft is offering gamers with broadband the chance to try out its new online gaming system, Xbox Live three months ahead of its official launch.

From tomorrow, gamers with a broadband internet connection can pit their game playing skills against other players in a three-month beta test of the service. These so-called "Live pioneers" will be able to talk to other players via a headset and build up their own profile online.

Microsoft hopes that Xbox Live will help it compete more effectively for the number one spot in the games console sales charts above its rivals, the GameCube from Nintendo and Sony's Playstation 2. Sony is set to follow suit with its own European online gaming network, which is due to go live early next year.

Gamers will need to buy a £39.99 starter pack from the Xbox Live website to get started. The kit includes all the necessary software, plus the communicator headset plus a 12-month subscription to the service, which will be fully launched to the gamers on March 14 next year.

Microsoft says Xbox Live is "designed to work on most broadband services", including BT Openworld, NTL and Telewest Broadband, although AOL broadband is notably absent from the list.

As for the games available, the starter pack includes special versions of Whacked! And MotoGP, while games available for live play during the beta test include Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon, MechAssault and Unreal Championship.

Microsoft has also promised to launch another 50 or so games for Xbox Live next year, including Project Gotham Racing 2, Star Wars: Galaxies and Halo 2. Microsoft says "more than 60 game publishers" are working on games enabled for the service.

Michel Cassius, European director of the Xbox platform, said: "The benefits of Xbox Live's service-led approach, as opposed to an add-on peripheral approach, mean that the gamer's experience is a better, smoother one - no lag asssociated with narrowband, no cheating and hacking because of a decentralised approach, and no individual logins or bills for each game."