Xbox Live 360: $59.99 Yearly

[Zeal]

I don't know about you guys, but I'm not too happy about Microsoft bumping the yearly Live fee up $10. This is just for a basic 12 month subscription card, too. It's now called Xbox Live Gold, but it's essentially the same as the original Live service with additional fluff.

X360 Live subscription details (http://www.planetxbox360.com/?view=article&article=116)
$69.99 - 12 month gold pack
$59.99 - 12 months
$39.99 - 3 month gold pack
$19.99 - 3 months
$07.99 - 1 month
Original Xbox Live annual subscription card (http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/product/238820.asp)
$49.99 - 12 months

[Varsity]

Yeah, I mean they've added absolutely nothing! :rolleyes:

[Frogleg Special]

You can whine anyway you can, but you'll subscribe to it anyhow.

Resistance is futile. Go Microsoft

[Paranoia]

$10 bucks? That's up by 0.83 cents per month. No biggie..

[Deathbane27]

Yeah, I mean they've added absolutely nothing! :rolleyes:

Well, they did add a lot, but you get it all in the free Silver membership.

Looks like the hardcore online gamers will be picking up the tab. *sigh*

Not that much, though. The total extra cost for the duration you'll own a 360 will add up to... what, one game? I'm assuming 5 years before the next batch of consoles rolls around.

And, actually, if you buy that $69.99 package each year and use all the $20-off coupons, it'll end up costing the same, plus you'll have five headsets for when the first four break. And 200 "Whose Line Is It Anyw-" er... XBL Marketplace points to boot.

[Morratut]

Yeah for Live it's good value for money.Especially with all the new enhancements and little extras you will be getting on the Xbox360.

[MajSheppard]

Yes, and I hear Microsoft excepts Visa, Mastercard, kidneys, grandparents, children, human souls, and American Express. Sorry no Discover card.

[Zeal]

In the event that 360 games were actually supported by Microsoft-hosted dedicated servers, I would glady pay the extra $10. That would be a good deal.

What many Live subscribers don't seem to realize is that practically every game's bandwith is supplied by the player's connection. The only thing Microsoft provides is a match-making service, but the player supplies the bandwith.

Take Halo 2 for example. The game gives its hosting up to the player with the highest upload bandwith.

If Microsoft is gonna provide a broadband gaming service, they could at least supply dedicated severs to go along with it. This would greatly decrease lag and even the playing field throughout all games.

All I'm saying is that I feel any price increase should be justified by a real addition, not just fluff.

[Dirty Harry]

Im just waiting for the people who actually are going to be enraged about this.

[bapenguin]

In the event that 360 games were actually supported by Microsoft-hosted dedicated servers, I would glady pay the extra $10. That would be a good deal.

What many Live subscribers don't seem to realize is that practically every game's bandwith is supplied by the player's connection. The only thing Microsoft provides is a match-making service, but the player supplies the bandwith.

Take Halo 2 for example. The game gives its hosting up to the player with the highest upload bandwith.

If Microsoft is gonna provide a broadband gaming service, they could at least supply dedicated severs to go along with it. This would greatly decrease lag and even the playing field throughout all games.

All I'm saying is that I feel any price increase should be justified by a real addition, not just fluff.


They do provide storage for all your voicemails as well.

I have a feeling they will be announcing online storage for saved games as well....but that's just a rumor...basically it'll be how you transfer your saves from XBox to XBox 360.

[TrackZero]

I don't know about you guys, but I'm not too happy about Microsoft bumping the yearly Live fee up $10.

Uhhhh....maybe I'm just blind but the 360 12 month price is identical. The extra $10 is if you want the gold edition, which ends up savings some people quite a bit of coin:

12 Month Premium Gold Pack", is also the best value, with a headset, $20 game discount voucher, free Xbox Live arcade game, and 200 XBL marketplace points all being thrown in as extras. Once you take away the price of the headset ($19.99) and the games voucher ($20), it is really only costing you US$30 for the entire year including the arcade game and marketplace points.

You save $20 off another game and get a free headset (considering I've already went through at least one, that's a good deal). Heh, unless you're not planning on getting any actual games for your 360, or playing the Live service you're paying for, in which case "what a ripoff!". ;)

[Zeal]

X360 Live subscription details

* $69.99 - 12 month gold pack
* $59.99 - 12 months
* $39.99 - 3 month gold pack
* $19.99 - 3 months
* $07.99 - 1 month

Original Xbox Live annual subscription card

* $49.99 - 12 months

Oh, I see what you're saying, but I'm just pointing out the yearly fee in contrast to the original fee. I wasn't talking about the premium package or any of that, simply the yearly fee itself.

Either way you look at it, a standard 12 month subscription is now $10 more.

[Evil Avatar]

All I'm saying is that I feel any price increase should be justified by a real addition, not just fluff.

Well said. Xbox Live needs dedicated servers really bad.

[Dirty Harry]

Well said. Xbox Live needs dedicated servers really bad.
Xbox live needs dedicated game servers like a hooker needs a std checkup.

[mkelehan]

Since your account carries over, you can just load up on Live cards now.

[Taco]

$60 for a full year? Is that really going to put a dent in your pocket?

[Wyrm]

Did you read what the 70 dollar version comes with? It's worth the cash. It would be stupid not to go ahead and get the headset and 20 bucks off a game.

[Hellstorm]

Xbox = lose tons of money to break in.
Xbox 360 = ream the userbase to make all the money back.

[Atorak]

$10 bucks? That's up by 0.83 cents per month. No biggie..

Give this guy the "Quote of the Day Award". 0.83 cents.

[Xerxes]

DS would help with the lag I get for people who know they have crappy internet service want to host games.

[emperordahc]

Complain complain complain. For gamers, this is just like gas prices; you know you're going to pay whatever they ask, so get over it.

[Demo_Boy]

oh that reminds me, I have to cancel my live avccount!!

[Heretic Machine]

I like pay9ing $60 for the priveledge of hosting games on my own damn connection!

[Atorak]

Man, I guess I have to make sure my XBox Live account isn't on automatic subscription!

Think we'll be able to jump into Halo 2 matchmaking with X360 Live out of the gate?

[fitbabits]

I like pay9ing $60 for the priveledge of hosting games on my own damn connection!

So I guess your sold then? :rolleyes:

[Mr.Green]

Sure, to me it's worth it. No brainer. But only 10% of all Xbox owners subscribe to Live, ain't it a little early to raise the fee? I guess they really count on the "silver" membership to convert more heathens.

[Beelzebud]

I'll stick with playing games online with my PC. No access fee beyone internet for that.

[Blue]

I actually just canned my LIVE account. I rarely used it and when I did, it was for Halo 2 (or maybe a wee bit of Chaos Theory although I still lick at that multiplayer) and even then I would get a headache from all the idiots running around. I had such a hard time getting a decent game in that it was a near-struggle to play the game and what was supposed to be relaxing simply wasn't anymore. Couple that with the fact that out of all of my friends, I'm the only gamer, and I'm one lonely puppy.

The price tag (either this gen LIVE or this coming LIVE service) really isn't worth it to me for the time being. That said, the new pricing system looks to be pretty okay - even for the extra 10 bucks (which really isn't all that shabby), you get some cool stuff along with it. I fully agree that *** needs to hit up their players with DS (as I can't count how many times a game would get put on hold as the server was reconnecting), but all in all, LIVE is one of the best things to come console gamer's way in a long time.

[rein]

Did you read what the 70 dollar version comes with? It's worth the cash. It would be stupid not to go ahead and get the headset and 20 bucks off a game.

yea... it's worth it. Just like the extra $100 is worth it for the hard drive. Oh, and let us not forget the extra $10 we will be paying for each title. These little extras are starting to add up....

..don't get me wrong, I can afford a little extra but I think MS would be better to try and reach more subscribers than to up the cost.

I will be curious to see if all of these little extra cost do not end up losing sales. While $10 isn't that big of a deal, I think it will make people be a little more selective. I think it could lead to changing entire shopping habits instead of someone just skipping that one extra title to make up the difference each year. Game purchases will become less of an impulse buy.

[Pluvious]

OT:. Don't forget today is the day you can download all the new HALO 2 content for FREE. Glad I waited. :)

[Roc Ingersol]

And 200 "Whose Line Is It Anyw-" er... XBL Marketplace points to boot.
well put.

@

[if76]

I'd like it if MS gave the option of a free or at least far cheaper account for people who just want to host their own X360 dedicated servers.

[bean19]

I think I'll just live and die off my free 2 month trials that come with every online capable game.

Hopefully, they'll make an option to not automatically renew service so I don't have to subscribe/unsubscribe all the time.

Also, I won't even use the service if it is not greatly improved in game-matching. I'm a PC and a console fan. . . screw waiting 5 to 10 minutes to begin matches.

[*Legion*]

Well, $60 for Live and $50 for each game is a lot better than the $50 for Live and $60 for each game that was previously expected.

I'll pay the extra $10 for one feature alone: Reputation.

Do your part to banish the losers and idiots to 1-star territory, and play the rest of your games in peaceful harmony!

Sure, it won't work PERFECTLY, but definitely a big step to making online gaming in general a lot more enjoyable.

[Pumped'Up]

This sucks. I don't mind not having it, so far...