lol360: xbox live gold is now $60

not sonic · Aug 30, 2010

awesome.

http://www.giantbomb.com/news/microsoft-raising-xbox-live-subscription-cost/2496/

i'll most definitely not be renewing for $60. amazon still has cards for $35-40 but when that dries up so will live for me.

TerryMasters · Aug 30, 2010

I was on the fence about this to begin with, because what once was a market I enjoyed has now become more popular than the film and music industry and as such has fallen victim to the nickel-and-dime syndrome that in a way killed the arcades.

I could go into more detail, but meh. That's what blogs are for I suppose.

Kaioh · Aug 30, 2010

My Gold runs out in a week or so. Haven't played anything online in months. This is just another incentive not to renew. Thanks for making my mind up Microsoft!

Average Joe · Aug 30, 2010

They've got me by the balls (in a bad way) as I'm too much of an online Halo player to not pay them this money that I very much don't want to.

I was fine with $50 a year.

And honestly? The price increase isn't that bad.

It's just the fact that it is any kind of price increase.

I've defended MS a lot over the shit they've done because I honestly believe the 360 to be an excellent system, but fuck you on this one MS, fuck you hard.

Magician · Aug 30, 2010

Microsoft does what Sony don't.

Well, not yet anyway.

Reality Check · Aug 30, 2010

Nice job breaking it Mircosoft

IDCHAPPY · Aug 30, 2010

You think they'd try and hold prices or even drop them to keep ahead in the online network market....... But it appears not :oh_no:

RabbitTroop · Aug 30, 2010

They've done nothing but offer cheap Live renewals over the past few months. Not to mention companies like Dell have had offers for as low as $30 for a year of Live. You think this is going to change? I mean... did any of you actually pay retail for Live anyway? Talk about knee-jerk responses.

TerryMasters · Aug 30, 2010

You know how members on a support forum typically make up that small number of people who are actually having problems with something? It's kind of the same thing, we're the small number of people who say they won't renew while at the same time for everyone of us who doesn't, there are 100 more who will. Then if you take into consideration the, 'Modern Warfare 2 PC boycott'-effect, where 10,000 or so people signed up that were later found on Steam playing it moments after it's release, and you'll see where I'm going with this.

Long story short, MS knows how to make money.

not sonic · Aug 30, 2010

i canceled my automatic renewal.

to do so you have to go through three pages of advertisements and begging you not to cancel. what is this aol?

edit:
not 10 mins later i get an email telling me my account is going to run out (in november, its not even like its next week or something) and that i should renew and turn on automatic renewal.

really?

Metal Slugnuts · Aug 30, 2010

I quit automatic renewal to prevent shit like this...I get annual cards for $20-25 anyway.

It's been the same price for 7 years so I'm not surprised. Honestly I'm suprised they didn't raise it when the 360 launched.

GregN · Aug 30, 2010

I don't even bother with Live. I don't play FPS games, so there's no point.

I don't like this disturbing nickel & Diming trend of $15 for every XBL game either, M$.

They've rightfully earned the abbreviation, M$.

TerryMasters · Aug 30, 2010

nruva said:
They've done nothing but offer cheap Live renewals over the past few months. Not to mention companies like Dell have had offers for as low as $30 for a year of Live. You think this is going to change? I mean... did any of you actually pay retail for Live anyway? Talk about knee-jerk responses.

While I agree there are cheaper ways to get XBL, it doesn't change the equation that's been in place since the first Xbox:

X dollars a year for XBL = -X dollars towards a new game

If my information is correct, this is how things work: The money coming in via the Playstation Store has a small percentage of it going towards the cost of servers. Developers (or publishers, d.o.t.s.) also have to pay a small fee for each item downloaded off the network (e.g. $0.10 per download) and the combination of the two is what makes the PSN free for us to play. While a negative for developers, I believe this is the best approach as it keeps the focus on the consumer - Microsoft disagrees.

Microsoft knew they could make a fortune off the gaming market by creating a console that uses the same architecture as a PC thus making the porting process worlds easier than before. Combine this with the fact that they don't charge devs for every download and, for obvious reasons, they flock to the 360. Step 1, attract devs - step 2, attract customers. All they needed was a hit game that people were willing to shell out a yearly subscription fee over and they'd become a huge success.

Now everyone and their mother owns Halo.

IsamuBlue · Aug 30, 2010

I just bought a 360 Slim last week, and have yet to "upgrade" to a gold account on Live. After reading about the price increase, not only will I not get a gold account, but I'm also strongly considering returning the 360. I really only got it for the handful of exclusives I can't get on PS3, but when I look at the big picture, there's hardly anything on 360 that I can't get on PS3. While I do think PS Plus is a fucking joke, it's still nice to get the regular PSN content I enjoy and being able to play with friends online for free. Freedom of choice.

Average Joe · Aug 30, 2010

Harriet Tubman said:
They've rightfully earned the abbreviation, M$.

Nope, still makes you look like an idiot for using it regardless of this news.

hoop-jones · Aug 30, 2010

At least you guys in overseas don´t have to pay 60€ for an annual membership like us Europeans have to.

Murray · Aug 30, 2010

I don't play online, the "deal of the week" has been useless for as far back as I can remember, and I can watch Netflix on the PS3 and Wii.

I'm having a hard time justifying renewing my Gold account.

RabbitTroop · Aug 30, 2010

I don't understand why you would consider returning a 360 because Live went up $10 a year. Even if we neglect that it went up less than a $1 a month, and you're telling me you're at your max for what you'll pay for an online service... Just don't buy it. You don't need it if you aren't going to be playing games online or won't be using NetFlix streaming. What's the problem? If you think you'll want it from time to time, just get cheap 1 to 3 month cards at a local retailer and go with that.

Comparing Xbox Live to PSN really isn't apples to apples. It's free, I won't complain, but it is nowhere as good as Live. I have a feeling Sony realized this as well and their new paid membership likely fixes a lot of the problems I've experienced on their service (or is at least on the path to doing so). Let's face it, building a good server back end is expensive. As much as we'd all like to get things for free, the truth is someone has to pay for it.

IsamuBlue · Aug 30, 2010

nruva said:
I don't understand why you would consider returning a 360 because Live went up $10 a year. Even if we neglect that it went up less than a $1 a month, and you're telling me you're at your max for what you'll pay for an online service... Just don't buy it. You don't need it if you aren't going to be playing games online or won't be using NetFlix streaming. What's the problem? If you think you'll want it from time to time, just get cheap 1 to 3 month cards at a local retailer and go with that.

Comparing Xbox Live to PSN really isn't apples to apples. It's free, I won't complain, but it is nowhere as good as Live. I have a feeling Sony realized this as well and their new paid membership likely fixes a lot of the problems I've experienced on their service (or is at least on the path to doing so). Let's face it, building a good server back end is expensive. As much as we'd all like to get things for free, the truth is someone has to pay for it.

I understand your point, but I think it's ridiculous to buy a game on XBL and have to pay $10 a month to play online with friends, when I can do the same on PSN for free. XBL is a lot better than PSN, I'll give you that, but I play a lot of games online with friends, but when I'm already paying for that privilege, and now I have to pay even more, it's dumb to me.

And yeah, it's stupid to get mad and return a 360 over it, but as I said, it's this news, in addition to realizing there isn't much on 360 that I can't play on the PS3 I already have, and I'll admit that it was pretty much an impulse buy because it's shinny and new.

xtremegamer · Aug 30, 2010

Not real happy about this either. On top of it, game developers are going to want more money to potentially play their games online. All the more reason to be a classic gamer.

TerryMasters · Aug 30, 2010

Maybe I'm a little biased, but I have a hard time understanding people who make XBL out to be such a colossal improvement over the PSN. What is it that makes XBL better, the voice chat? Everytime I play Halo I get stuck with a bunch of 10 year olds who wont stop talking about they, 'raped' each other. I've heard some people say the friends list? I fired up my 360 the other day and had to go through 8 tabs worth of Doritos ads before I got to see my friends list. But somehow XBL is the better experience - color me confused.

ForeverSublime · Aug 30, 2010

IsamuBlue said:
I understand your point, but I think it's ridiculous to buy a game on XBL and have to pay $10 a month to play online with friends, when I can do the same on PSN for free. XBL is a lot better than PSN, I'll give you that, but I play a lot of games online with friends, but when I'm already paying for that privilege, and now I have to pay even more, it's dumb to me.

And yeah, it's stupid to get mad and return a 360 over it, but as I said, it's this news, in addition to realizing there isn't much on 360 that I can't play on the PS3 I already have, and I'll admit that it was pretty much an impulse buy because it's shinny and new.

I don't use these services, but I think I see what you're saying. Correct me if I'm wrong.

You're saying it's like having to pay to use iTunes. Why not just download the game on your computer, then transfer it to your console, right? We all have internet connections - if you want to download a game why buy a 1-3 month card to download the games you want?

RabbitTroop · Aug 30, 2010

TerryMasters said:
Maybe I'm a little biased, but I have a hard time understanding people who make XBL out to be such a colossal improvement over the PSN. What is it that makes XBL better, the voice chat? Everytime I play Halo I get stuck with a bunch of 10 year olds who wont stop talking about they, 'raped' each other. I've heard some people say the friends list? I fired up my 360 the other day and had to go through 8 tabs worth of Doritos ads before I got to see my friends list. But somehow XBL is the better experience - color me confused.

The simple fact is the overall performance of the network is better on Live than PSN. It's not that PSN is horrible, but you do see much slower downloads, much higher pings, and an overall less dense population of servers.

RabbitTroop · Aug 30, 2010

ForeverSublime said:
I don't use these services, but I think I see what you're saying. Correct me if I'm wrong.

You're saying it's like having to pay to use iTunes. Why not just download the game on your computer, then transfer it to your console, right? We all have internet connections - if you want to download a game why buy a 1-3 month card to download the games you want?

Well, not really. You can always download the games you want for free on Live. The only benefit the Gold membership gives you is being able to play these games online with others and a few network perks (some demos have early access for Gold members, discounts on games and add-ons, NetFlix streaming, and a few other minor additions). Really, though, if you're like me and hardly ever play online, there is little reason to pay for the service, and the free Silver account will be more than enough to get everything you need.

P00t · Aug 30, 2010

It actually works out as more than that for us all the time in the UK, if you use the exchange rate.

Another lol360, they've stopped members being able to cancel auto renewal, which sucks because you have to call them.

lol360: xbox live gold is now $60

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