Microsoft begins beta testing Friday of the online service for its Xbox video game console, amid grumbling from thousands of console owners who weren't selected for the trial. More than 100,000 Xbox owners applied to participate in the beta program for Xbox Live, said Jennifer Booth, marketing director for Xbox Live. A total of 5,000 applicants were notified Tuesday that they had been selected for the first round of beta testing and will be able to tap into online versions of "NFL Fever" and racing game "Re-Volt" starting Friday. Booth said the response from potential testers was way beyond Microsoft's expectations and an encouraging indicator of interest in the online service. "There's a lot of pent-up energy and excitement," she said.

With such worse-than-Vegas odds for making it into the first round of testing, there's been plenty of grousing on Xbox message boards from those who weren't picked. Some described setting up home networks and checking e-mail obsessively this week in anticipation of a beta program invitation that never arrived. Richard Watkins, a college student in Birmingham, Ala., said that while he figured he only had a 1-in-5 chance of making the beta program, he was irked that Microsoft hadn�t contacted him yet. "They promised an e-mail if we were selected or not, but a lot of people haven�t heard anything yet," he said, "There's a lot of people left hanging...It seemed like Microsoft was just trying to build up the hype."