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New Xbox Live Pricing Revealed
NiteStar writes "The new packages and pricing of the Xbox LIVE Gold service have been leaked. The 'Premium Gold' 12 month pack, retailing at 70USD, will include the Gold Xbox LIVE subscription, a communicator headset, "Billiards" Xbox LIVE Arcade game, $20 discount on a games purchase and 200 points in the Xbox LIVE marketplace. The 'Gold' 12months will just include the subscription and an extra free month for 60USD/year. Packages for 3months and 1month will also be available."
One thing to keep in mind is that even though the official price for Xbox Live today is $50/year, you can buy a 12-month subscription on eBay for under $35, which is a 30% discount. I expect that to still be true when the Xbox 360 is released.
And the men who hold high places must be the ones who start
To mold a new reality... closer to the heart
Price sounds great, especially if you plan to use the discount voucher. What worries me is that individual games may add their own charges for playing online.
I hope MS forces game developers to provide online gaming capabilities without the option of charging extras.
No, the Silver package is free. Everybody with a 360 and a broadband connection can play online for exactly $0 extra.
The only one that seems worth it is the 12 month Premium Gold. You get $20 for another game, a headset, and a quick Billiards game. Once your year's up, just go silver.
e2 | LJ
People are fast to assume that because a premium membership is offered it means that the 360 won't be online out of the box. This is patently false. Everyone can play online, with all the current XboxLive features, for free. Only the "special" content costs extra.
The Silver Package (You're an idiot, btw)
Online Specs
1.gamers can chat with friends online, build and share gamer profiles, send and receive text and voice messages, and access Xbox Live Marketplace for new content such as game demos, trailers and casual games from Xbox Live Arcade.
2. Subscribers to the Gold level of service will also enjoy access to online multiplayer gaming in their favorite games..
Xbox silver = Updates, Demos, patches.
Xbox Gold = Multiplayer gaming.
At least, thats what it says in that link.
From: http://www.xbox.com/en-US/xbox360/onlinespecs.htm
Xbox Live Silver level
Create an online Gamer Profile
Access the Xbox Live Marketplace
Engage in voice and text messaging
Talk to a single friend at a time using voice chat
Receive video messages from Gold level members
Access massively multiplayer online games (additional fees may apply)
Xbox Live Gold level
Paid level of service
All the features of Silver level, and additionally:
o Play multiplayer games online
o Video chat
o Multiplayer online tournaments
o Participate in Xbox Live online programming, such as Game with Fame, Play and Win, and Prime Time activities
Everybody with a 360 and a broadband connection can play online for exactly $0 extra.
Wrong. Everyone with a 360 and broadband can go online with the patently useless Xbox Live Silver. About all that lets you do is have a gamertag and a friends list.
You cannot play online with Silver (the built-in one). You need Gold to play your regular games multiplayer, just as you have to pay for Xbox 1 Live.
The hassle of having to pay and renew is going to turn off most 360 buyers (especially the younger crowd). Nobody likes the feeling of a $70 tithe hanging over the back of their head.
People will ask "$70 for a subscription to what?" The only thing I'd pay for would be downloadable content (i.e. mods and full fledged expansion packs with new levels, bosses, equipment, etc.) but aside from a few Splinter Cell maps and some multiplayer maps for Halo, Xbox Live hasn't released jack *&^%. Considering mods alone, the PC/Internet combo has Xbox/Live whipped.
As for a communication medium, people will use their cell phones and IM on their PCs. The 360 is a gaming medium.
Next year Microsoft is going to start offering HD Cable TV over IP. Cable TV delivered via the internet, all in HD and all through a very capable, very interactive set top box - the XBOX 360.
If you can't be bothered wading through the article, the gist is that if you want the headset and 12 months you buy a premium gold. If you want 12 months only you buy the regular gold.
All other pricing plans (ie 1 month/3 month) are suitably marked up to punish you (as usual).
I'd hardly call a game console without games fully functional. That would run you more like $520 USD
In Soviet Russia, backwards is everything.
The announced cost of Nintendo's WiFi internet connection?
$0.00/month
It looks like Nintendo is really lining up to be a price leader in the next generation, even more so than they were in this one. The question is whether consumers will go for it, or think, "Oh, Nintendo, they're just cheap, not any good." It really does seem like Microsoft is getting a lot of negative buzz about the cost of its new consoles and services though. Will it hurt their bottom line? My instinct is that better graphics are fine and all, but not enough to drive console sales by themselves. XBox-PS2-Cube games all look pretty decent. Would looking even better really enhance gameplay for consumers? It's doubtful in my mind. If anything, it would be nice to see the same level of graphical detail, but more character models and maps packed into the game and on screen.
Nintendo's WiFi connection probably won't be nearly as sophisticated as Microsoft's Live. But will consumers who've plunked down $1k for a console really be excited about paying yet another fee every month?...
We'll see.
From what I heard, there are going to be sponsored events by the game makers so that everyone can play, regardless of package, for a little bit.
Maybe a whole weekend for all games. Maybe for the sponsored game. Just something I recall overhearing.
I had actually forgotten about this. I had been swept up a bit in the hype and was looking forward to getting myself a 360 when they came out.
But no, I refuse to have to pay to make my games work at the whim of microsoft. They either work for ever or not at all in my opinion.
So bring on the ps3 or the revolution. Hopefully they show a bit more common sense!
I have been proven incorrect, and I apologize for inadvertantly spreading false information. Thank you for informing me of the facts.
e2 | LJ
What if I've already got an XBox live subscription? Do I have to purchase a separate "gold" one for the XBox 360, transfer the existing subscription or can I use one subscription for both?
You register your credit card so you can play on Xbox live. Of course you're also using a prepaid card. The reason they make you register a credit card is so they can charge you for any little thing they feel like charging for. For example, they give you a disk with Xbox live filled with retro games, but each one of those games cost like $15 a pop. I probably wouldn't have put $15 in these games when they were state of the art! But Xbox live lets you purchase a game with a single click of the button. If you don't want to purchase it, but you hit the wrong button to go back, you're out $15 and you're stuck with a crap game. I don't feel comfortable paying for an online service. This is definately an issue for me when buying a console. I'm interested in seeing how the other consoles handle online.
God spoke to me.
I wouldn't say it's patently useless (from article above a bit):
You're getting updates, demos, extras... all pretty much as you'd expect. There's more to being online than multiplayer gaming. For once (and this is rare) I think they're pitching it about right *as long* as they spend the profit on decent multiplayer servers.
For about a year, at which point it's just an average computer, and after another year new games start to run sluggishly. A console on the other hand tends to get better over the life of the console, because the games for it tend to get better but run just as smoothly.
But hey, here's a thought. Let's use some logic before we even get to that quest. Let's take the $500 console. Wait, it's $400. So let's buy a memory card. Wait, don't need one. Already got a HDD in the $400 package. Ok, let's buy a hard drive. Wait, already got one in the $400 package. Need more controllers. Wait, PC games require an extra PC for each additional player, so the $50 more for an extra wireless controller is going to cost less than the price of an extra PC, so there isn't much point in factoring that in for comparison purposes. So what's next? Overpriced games? $60 for a Xbox360 game, $55 for HL2 and Doom 3 at launch, wasn't it? Yes, those console games sure are a rip off. A network adapter! Oh wait, built in. A television... wait, already have one of those, along with everyone else in America. A video adapter (I'm assuming you mean the cables). Cables for HDTV and regular TV are included in the $400 package. So, what's our total price so far? $400 plus the cost of games. And you can build a gaming PC for what was that again? $800 plus the price of games?
So how about I buy an Xbox 360 and build a $300 PC that can do everything but play games just as well as your $800 PC?
Feel free to mod me "-1 - Angry Jerk".
You're getting updates..
THey have to do that, because if you release a machine where it's even remotely possible to issue patches, developers will ship buggy games and require the patch.
Xbox Live (in its current incarnation) does not really have gaming servers. Each game is hosted by one of the players.
If they maintain the current user limits (8-16 people per game) then the new Xbox 360 should have no trouble putting the extra processor toward hosting.
No reason to lie.
Not entirely.. they do give you a two month trial with the $400 version...
Yeah, still getting screwed...
This sig isn't original enough, it's time to come up with something witty...
Wait, PC games require an extra PC for each additional player, so the $50 more for an extra wireless controller is going to cost less than the price of an extra PC, so there isn't much point in factoring that in for comparison purposes.
Oh, shut up.
Xbox Live games require an extra Xbox. The types of games that you can play split screen or on the same screen on the Xbox are the same types of games you can play with two controllers on your PC.
Voice chat and friends lists without the ability to play games? That's two game-oriented features sans the actual gaming. Sounds silly to me.
Go here for teh [sic] funny.
Half-Life 2 has split screen?
Half-Life 2 hasn't even come out for the Xbox yet and won't until November so if you want to play the game, you're pretty much stuck on the PC.
Will the Xbox version have split screen? If not, you'll still need two Xboxes to play on Live. Is it even Live enabled?
"Half-Life® 2 for the Xbox® is the entire, award-winning, single player game tuned and optimized by Valve exclusively for Xbox®."
I'm not sure what argument you were trying to make, but it was stupid.
An extra $400 Xbox compared to an extra $800 PC. Also, PC games that offer split screen are far fewer than the number of Xbox games that offer split screen, especailly in the realm of FPS's.
Swing-and-a-miss.
I'm the guy with the unpopular opinion
I'm going to make this simple so you can understand it.
You.
Are.
Dumb.
But I love you like a cellmate.
Pricing for the 360 is bargain basement in my opinion. A video card alone for a PC sets you back 500 bucks. For thgat you get an entire 360 with all the accessories etc all included. I'll be picking up a couple at launch for sure...i thought xbox live would be more expensive but its the same price as always - bargain! And games are not going to be 60 bucks after all apparently. How do they do it so cheap!