Xbox Live Prices To Rise

[Camel]

 

Price change for Xbox LIVE Gold subscription

 

I wanted to let you know that as of November 1, 2010 we are increasing the price of an Xbox LIVE for some members. This price increase only affects Xbox LIVE Members in Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom or the United States.

 

 

Unless listed above, there is no change in any other subscription packages.

 

Since launching Xbox LIVE in 2002 we have continually added more content and entertainment experiences for our members, while keeping the price the same. We’re confident that when the new pricing takes effect, an Xbox LIVE Gold membership will continue to offer the best value in the industry.

 

However, we do want to thank our loyal members and give you the opportunity to lock in your current price with an additional discount, so now would be a good time to renew your subscription.

 

Again, the only subscription packages impacted are those mentioned above. For instance, the 12m UK Price? Not affected since it is not mentioned above.

 

Edit: You can sign in and hit this page on Xbox.com to find out when your Xbox LIVE subscription expires.

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Luckily the US is the country most affected by this. They have had XBL at a much lower price than the rest of the world since it was launched. At least the price in the US will be on par with the rest of the world now.

 

As mentioned above, any countries/prices not mentioned above will be staying the same.

[t.]

I pay with 12 month cards so I'm all good. Paying by month was too expensive anyway, now it's just stupid. Sends a clear message that they want more people handing over cash up front for 12 month memberships.

 

People will moan about it but considering what I spend on games I don't see Live as a rip off. Had I come from a PC gaming background then maybe my stance would be different.

[BAk99]

Yeh same on 12month sub && completely agree :lol:

No lose =]

[Eudemon]

The day before GT5 comes out and free multiplayer is shown for many to see, wonder what genius figured that was a great idea. GT5 with it's (supposed) 18 MegaPixel images and HD videos with upload to youtube option. The PS3 needs to seriously maim the 360 and Microsoft so that people can literally tell M$ to stick their console up their arse if they don't let the people who have bought it use it in a way that the PS2 was doing back in 2004.

 

They are just greedy sods basically.

[Ryzza5]

Yeah, I've an unactivated 12 month Gold card sitting in my closet somewhere for a rainy day, but I did try out LIVE for 2 months (buy one month, get one free) using my credit card. MS decided to automatically sign me up so that I would get charged every subsequent month to keep the service. They've even removed the option on their website to unsubscribe, forcing you to ring them up and cancel it. I wasn't impressed. I don't mind them charging for actual services, but I still reckon the actual multiplayer gaming should be free, since it is on PC and PS3.

[BAk99]

I still reckon the actual multiplayer gaming should be free, since it is on PC and PS3.

 

But the quality of the online service that PS3 uses is horrible! It feels like your using 3G onit :eek: Looking at this on a wider term.. Microsoft arent exactly money snatchers on there machines unlike Sony's PS3. Paying a subscription aint that bad tbh.. especially looking at the advancement in technology microsoft have shown us through hardware like Kinect, atleast you can see where some of moneys goin to. At the end of the day you either mind or you dont. && progressing from what 't.' said; it does mainly decide wether your from a PC or PS3 background before the Xbox360 and moan about somethin like this :happyroll: You play xbox.. of course your gona get a 12month subscription and not complain about it :lol: 1month, 3month.. whats the point :rolleyes:

[T0M722]

For all the money they get, the X360 Live/Xbox menus should be faster and not as slow and laggy. Happy that it doesn't effect me though ;)

[Immelmann]

Still can't believe people PAY for watered-down online.

[t.]

Have Sony not been mumbling for a while that they may have to charge at some point? What Sony need to do is charge people roughly the same as Live but create a far superior service, not a particularly tall order to be honest. Live has been around for quite some time and really hasn't made that much progress in terms of the way it operates, M$'s idea of innovation seems to be providing a laggy streaming TV service at an additional cost. Good times.

 

I still stand by the fact that it's not a rip off though, to any young person who has a weekend job £40 a year isn't much...

[Eudemon]

It's not a ripoff in it's cost sure but it's the principle of it. When you look at what you are actually paying for it's a joke. Dedicated servers sure but a p2p network with additional features that are free elsewhere. It's a ripoff in that sense.

 

Also from what I have played of PSN their servers (some dedicated) are just as good as Live! Albeit there isn't any cross-game chat and such but tbh it's not really needed and the lack of a party mode means people actually communicate in the games.

[Who]

M$ really gets on my nerves of late in how cheap they can be. For example, my xbox was bought at launch, and pretty much everything has gone wrong (2 RRODs and E74) so it's been back to them 3 times. Now recently my Disk Drive has been playing up, so I opened up the xbox to look at the problem... The lid of the drive said my Disk Drive was manufactured in... September 2005. That's right, they're so cheap that in the numerous times it went back they couldn't even bother to put a new drive in it, and now the 5 year old drive won't spin up unless I give it a hand to get started (people might recognise me going on about 'budget dj hero')

[hpluls]

Have Sony not been mumbling for a while that they may have to charge at some point? What Sony need to do is charge people roughly the same as Live but create a far superior service, not a particularly tall order to be honest.

 

Sony does have a paid online service called PlayStation Plus, but it's only optional. If you pay for it, you get access to betas and demos earlier than the rest of the world, but if you don't... you can still use the free PSN. Which is what I do.

[Camel]

It's not really a rip-off if you order the 12 month code off of a none M$ website and it can work out at 8p a day. And that's not much for people without jobs or kids. Or it's about 11p a day if you buy a year straight from MS which still isn't exactly extortionate.

 

And the money, or most of it will go towards a somewhat stable environment for your Xbox online. The servers barely ever go down and whenever they do for a day or two, M$ will usually compensate you with a free arcade game(however crap it may be :P it's still worth more than a few days XBL). And connections to the Xbox Live servers are usually quite good depending on your own internet connection. You only see other people lagging when they have a poor internet connection at the time. Compared to the PSN or PC I see a larger amount of people lagging all over the place. Paying a small amount of money each year for an overall better quality of service is fine by me.

 

Doesn't Sony also offer a PSN premium service for £50/$60 a year now?

[t.]

Sony does have a paid online service called PlayStation Plus, but it's only optional. If you pay for it, you get access to betas and demos earlier than the rest of the world, but if you don't... you can still use the free PSN. Which is what I do.

Tbh. That's pretty lame lol. I wouldn't pay simply for that.

[Eudemon]

I thought they [sony] also gave you free games every month or something also?

[Camel]

They do but I think you get a choice out of a few that they choose and they are usually the ones that not many people buy.

[hpluls]

More info about PSPlus can be found here, if anyone's interested.

[GTAMADDOG]

ONE POUND INCREASE? Are they insane?

 

They've lost another sale. I was half way towards getting an Xbox 360 Slim but I'll spend my money on 1p sweets instead now.

 

No, seriously.

[T3hReaper91]

ONE POUND INCREASE? Are they insane?

 

They've lost another sale. I was half way towards getting an Xbox 360 Slim but I'll spend my money on 1p sweets instead now.

 

No, seriously.

 

Stick to the pre-paid cards and you will be fine :)