Slashdot Mirror
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
for Xbox live, on top of the $400 dollars I will already have paid?
So, the fully functional Xbox 360 is $460 US dollars?
Ooooh, I see, I see, This is for the regular xbox. Not trying to spread FUD here, no sir.
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.
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.
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
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).
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.
Piss off. Don't post on Slashdot anymore. You're stupid and I hate you.
DID YOUR MOM SERVE YOU AN EXTRA HELPING OF DUMB TONIGHT?
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!
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 dont understand why -any- console game would charge money for an online experience. Your already pushing 50-60 bucks into the fucking game. I havnt payed for online experience with a PC game since my last mmorpg, so why consoles? There servers are all the same, theres not some magical console server that costs more! Just more ways to bleed the customer out of there money. By the way, to the person said they would take a 500 dollar console over a pc is crazy. A console can only do -one- thing well, and thats play games. Not only do you have to pay for the console, you have to buy memory cards, a hard drive, overpriced games, a network adapter, more controllers, a television, another video adapter if you want a better looking picture and so on. All this adds up, i could build you a 800 dollar computer that would put any online console game into the 'shit' category.
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.
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!