Xbox Live Gold: is it still worth it?
After hundreds of dollars spent on Xbox Live, is it still worth it? What does Microsoft have to do in order to keep people paying year after year?
With Xbox 360 now over seven years old, gamers that have subscribed to Live Gold have spent over $400 to access the service. Tomorrow, Microsoft will announce their next-gen console--but will they announce a next-gen Live service to go along with the new hardware? If so, what does Microsoft have to do in order to keep people paying year after year? Many gamers are quite content with paying for Gold, if only because the service offers more than the competition. Fans like @rezonolicious think the fee is worth it for the "superior online" offered by Live. @passthemstickss points out that Live has private and party chats, and the addition of new media partners on Live allows him to "use it as a cable box," helping him save $15 every month.
Unique experiences like 1 vs 100 can make Gold stand out
-
Shacknews
replyAndrew Yoon posted a new article, Xbox Live Gold: is it still worth it?.
After hundreds of dollars spent on Xbox Live, is it still worth it? What does Microsoft have to do in order to keep people paying year after year?-
-
[deleted]
-
-
It does, yeah.
-
-
Never played Rock Band, but that'd be the only game I ever heard of that required Gold for leaderboards. Usually Gold is entirely reserved for online multiplayer.
I think stuff like Autolog and other asynchronous multiplayer in Need for Speed and SSX works without Gold.
-
-
-
-
[deleted]
-
I really miss 1 vs 100.
-
-
Personally I see PSN, XBL and Steam as competing services. I was surprised to see no mention of Steam at all. For me it offers much more and for free than either competitor.
-
Really? I'd never thought of them as competing services. PSN and XBL are your only choice when it comes to interacting with people or services outside the physical box of your console. Steam, while the best and largest service for purchasing games online, is but one in a sea of many, many ways to purchase goods and services for your PC.
I don't see them as being analogous at all.-
They are the three major social hubs for gaming on their respective platforms. When compairing pricing and services I certainly compare them to eachother.
-
-
-
-
-
This is the exact same for me. Probably for the past 2 years.
XBOX live, the online equivalent of a gym membership.
-
-
This was the year I didn't.
-
I stopped using XBL about two or three years ago. There's nothing exclusive to the 360 I want to play online.
-
[deleted]
-
I heard they were going to totally revamp the entire xbox live operating system, and marketplace for the new xbox.. whether its free, I highly doubt it..
-
I subscribe to Xbox live every year, because I have to. To play games online (which is mostly what I do) you have no choice. Still, I'm usually content with the service and games that come to Xbox, and I don't see myself forking out money to buy a PC anytime soon.
-
[deleted]
-
Mine runs out this month and I'm not resubbing. It's the first time since XBL launched in 2002, and the only thing I might actually miss is Kinect voice commands for my video streaming apps.
-
I did not renew at Christmas this year. Suddenly my XBox was a gaming system again and not some pimped up "gold" access to marginally discounted random content and a plethora on non gaming related ads. I'm a Seattle-ite and want to support the new Xbox - I have friends who work at the MS Games - but I will go with Sony for the next-gen if this Gold requirement is part of the new Xbox.
One more thing - I should be able to access Netfix, Netscape, and any other "app" as well, including Amazon prime.... -
I had the original XBox for Splinter Cell and Mechwarrior, so I paid for Live for a couple of years. Maybe it's because I mostly pub in MP games, but Live stopped having value to me once you could get online play out of Sony/Nintendo machines (and Steam, of course).
-
Cancelled Live Gold a long time ago.
I don't play games online with my Xbox and without the Gold subscription it's a doorstop since it can't do anything else. Why should I pay just to have access to video streaming apps when the PS can do that for free? Also, I already save money without a cable box because I don't have TV service.
If I were Sony, I'd be flaunting how the PS does things for free that the Xbox does not. -
[deleted]
-
I think they got to make multiplayer gaming free, its becoming a staple of gaming that a gamer shouldn't really have to pay to play a few deathmatch games online
-
MP gaming is free...for just about every other platform there is. It has always been free on PC, long before the Xbox ever came out.
-
-
Unfortunately I am paid up till August of 2014. I would have cancelled last year when I got that Xbox Usage email which stated I had turned the Xbox on for a grand total of like 20 minutes (I think i was just futzing with Smart Glass) in the previous 6 months.
I play games on PC, and watch Netflix on the Boxee. -
Don't you have to have gold to use netflix?? Or did I read it wrong?
-
yes, as of now you do...but hopefully that changes.
-
-
[deleted]
-
Netflix is the only thing I was using it for, so I cancelled and bought an appleTV, which has since paid for itself.
-
At $60 I would say no unless you are heavy into online multiplayer. At around $35 it becomes much more palatable because that's not much to ask spread across a year. Live doesn't provide dedicated servers but it still takes a good amount of backend infrastructure to enable the platform's communication options and friends list features. I am willing to chip in some money to support that backend so it runs well and is continuously upgraded. $30-$35 is not robbery. I expect Live will get a BIG upgrade with the debut of the next Xbox and those additional features will help to further justify the $30-$40 sting. What Microsoft can't do is push far beyond the cost of a new game (i.e. $60) or start nickel and diming users for individual features. They also should not rollout a tiered service model/pricing plan. It needs to remain as one flat annual fee to keep things as simple as possible.
-
My beef with XBL has been MS forcing people wanting to play online or watch movies using their Netflix account to pay for an XBL subscription. If MS wants to sell a 'premium' service that's fine but offer something beyond what people have already paid for. Offer dedicated servers for better performance. Offer premium movies that you can't get with a vanilla Netflix membership. Charging extra for services already paid for is complete bull.
-
[deleted]
-
Oh come on, now. There is the added bonus of paying for your own ads!
-
Yay closed systems!
-
-
[deleted]
-
[deleted]
-
[deleted]
-
you get what you pay for, account hacked on sony ps, xbox live never been hacked or compromised, more people play online on xbox and pay for it than a free service of sony ps which does not have a online community like xbox. free is not always good. i have enough expendable income to pay for quality service. i rather pay good hard earned money on my Ford Raptor than a regular nissan truck because the raptor is 100x more better than the lowest quality of a cheap truck. nuff said.
-
What is this post?
-
-
Ah, I see
-
ahaha I totally remember this post but didnt realize it was him
http://www.shacknews.com/chatty?id=30127599#item_30127599
-
-
-
[deleted]
-
-
[deleted]
-
-
do you really think that somehow the PS3 just attracts a completely different demographic of gamers from the 360 even though they share exactly the same type of games?
Or did you really expect the demographic of Demon's Souls players to frequently want to troll you at length via text messages typed via an on screen keyboard navigated with a controller?
-
-
-
-
[deleted]
-
Crabs if you are ever out here we can take a our sweet Silverados out in the desert and chase rabbits and piss outside in the dust like men.
-
-
Ill just leave this here:
http://www.gamespot.com/news/microsoft-confirms-high-profile-xbl-accounts-targeted-in-new-hack-6405663
No online service is safe from hacks or DDOS. Paying for it doesnt make it any safer.-
that's completely different from what happened with PSN...
-
-
I lost my account for 5 fucking months and microsoft didnt know how to recover it because it was transfered to another country.
So.. no. -
[deleted]
-
No service is immune to being hacked because they have a pay wall or monthly revenue. What matters really is the IT protocols for updating and upgrading the systems. I own a fair number of systems PC and console and mobile alike and I have noticed you don't really get much for that yearly subscription. Why are apps that are free everywhere else behind a paywall and especially ones with a separate account/service (Netflix/Hulu).
The reason they can get away with it is because they have a captive audience and zero competition on the platform. -
I thought you thanks.txt'd after 15 minutes?
-
more better
-
-
I'm pretty much done with XBL... I think I'm going to get a PS4 for my next-gen gaming.
-
-
-
Gabe Newell is praying as hard as he can that the next Playstation and Xbox will require a monthly fee.
-
-
-
-
No. I was sitting on an unused 12 month gold card for the longest time, but only renewed when I finally got around to playing Forza Horizons for the first time after getting it last black Friday for $15. Factoring in the cost of gold renewal means I basically got suckered into paying more than retail for it. Microsoft: 1, My Documents: 0
-
Considering there is an endless stream of discount opportunities to pickup Gold membership; I think crying about the fee is overblown. I can't remember the last, or any time for that mater, that I've paid full price for a year of Gold. I've always managed to find some kind of promotion or discount to knock it down to something I thought was reasonable enough.
Gotta agree that removing the ads would be nice though. -
I canceled my subscription the moment they made it easy to do so from the website. Before that you had to call them and argue with a CSR or cancel your credit card. I barely took advantage of the services Gold provided, and I certainly don't miss it. If I played lots of online games on XBL it would obviously be worth it, but I do most of my online gaming on PC.
To contrast I got more value out of PS+ the instant I subscribed. -
aw yeahhh I got in the article :D
-
I payed for the gold service for 10 years and what did it get me? Nothing. I don't care about cross game chat, if I'm playing a different game, why the hell would I want to talk to that person while playing? Seriously..
The discounts suck 99.9% of the time so I was pretty much paying for the ability to play online. I'm glad I stopped using that service. I haven't been too happy with Plus but that's only because I haven't been interested in most of the games they've offered so far or already had them but at least they offer something worth the yearly price tag. -
Been a member for about 7 years straight. Never paid more than $30 for a one year gold card (used slickdeals). That's like $2.50 per month, not a big deal.
Should I be paying for it? No. Is it cheaper than buying a good gaming PC? Yes. Will I stop answering my own questions like a douchebag? Probably not. -
BRING BACK 1 vs 100
-
^^^ This
-
-
If PS4 does it right, I may very well make the switch. The only reason I use it right now is because my son love his Netflix and Xbox has the best interface to it.
-
