Gamespot:Xbox Live: No Longer the Gold Standard

[QUOTE="youpieceopoo"]psn does suck compared to xbox live though darkspineslayer

Microsoft can easily make it free, they already have ads every where on it.

[QUOTE="youpieceopoo"]psn does suck compared to xbox live though darkspineslayer

XBL, as it currently exists, won't survive in the coming years if it doesn't adapt. Tom McShea is dead right about it but what is going to be the triggering catalyst? An iGame device from Apple? The next Playstation? It's all the intangibles that keep people tied to Xbox (consolidated friends list, most premium hardcore controller) and if something "more cool" comes along, what's left to stop the exodus? There is no incentive to retain your membership at this point. PS Plus is by far a better model for continued success so long as you can facilitate a reasonable and acceptable method to provide those intangibles. MS is simply milking their cash cow until people realize better, at which point they'll restructure to ensure they can hold on to as many accounts as possible.

In other news, water is wet.

Also Lawl at Mcshea if he seriously thinks m$ is ever going to drop the subscription fee.

What XBL does is take the online burden off the developer and puts it on the customer.

The developer then doesn't have to host servers, because it's all done within XBL.

The developer doesn't have to host demos.

The developer doesn't have to spend alot marketing because it's marketed within XBL.

What this does is create a situation where developers prefer XBL over others, hence they develop FIRST for the 360 and then port to everybody else, so the 360 often gets the best version of games with the most DLC's, content packs, map packs, timed exclusives you name it.

XBL fee is integral to their whole strategy, it's part and parcel of the platform itself.

On Steam, it's just a store, all the burden of videos, demos, marketing, hosting, etc is on the developers, and hence many devs consider Steam to be their third string sales platform, especially if they can afford to be in the console market.

Only indy devs see Steam as their primary platform.

So while PC hardware is cheap and everybody can afford a beefy system, alot of games on Steam just end up being third-string botch jobs that got sub-contracted to India, and when a customer buys one of these games, they become frustrated and start buying things on the 360 instead to ensure a clean version.

PSN is somewhere between XBL and Steam in terms of developer attractiveness, and somewhere in between XBL and Steam in terms of customer attractiveness.

Steam has the most customer attractiveness but the worst dev attractiveness.

XBL has the worst customer attractiveness but the best dev attractiveness.

I don't think this will change at all.

TomMcshea and Gamespot are biased against the 360 so I dont give a fck what they thinkfr3ddiemercury

I probably broke my sarcasm detector but you are joking right? If anything, he dishes out criticism equally to everyone. This is the Tom McShea that cows were screaming for his head on a pike after InFamous 2. This is also the same McShea that bombed a Zelda game. He probably blasted some PC games too but I can't remember them.

[QUOTE="youpieceopoo"]psn does suck compared to xbox live though darkspineslayer

It worse than sucks, it's not even powerful enough for cross game or party chat. It's a pathetically WEAK service.

It really should be free. It's stupid having to pay for it when online multiplayer and other services are free elsewhere.

it amazed me you need gold to access things like internet explorer and netflix on the 360, why are you paying to play the same games that are free online on other platforms?

Chris_Williams

So happy the wrote this. I love this exerpt: "Xbox Live Gold is an antiquated dinosaur that no longer fits within this industry. It's an exploitive service that takes advantage of people's innate desire to connect with others, charging significant money ($59.99/year, or $9.99/month) for features given away for free on competing platforms. As the next generation approaches, it's time for Microsoft to shelve this nickel-and-diming venture once and for all. "

MS won't care, but it's one of the main reasons I don't have the console.

Chutebox

[QUOTE="Chutebox"]

So happy the wrote this. I love this exerpt: "Xbox Live Gold is an antiquated dinosaur that no longer fits within this industry. It's an exploitive service that takes advantage of people's innate desire to connect with others, charging significant money ($59.99/year, or $9.99/month) for features given away for free on competing platforms. As the next generation approaches, it's time for Microsoft to shelve this nickel-and-diming venture once and for all. "

MS won't care, but it's one of the main reasons I don't have the console.

blackace

I believe Tom is talking about the payment for services, not the services themselves. MS could get away with paying for Netflix when it first came to consoles because it was the only console with it. But now Sony and Nintendo also have Netflix and it is free. So why does MS still charge? That is the basis of Tom's "dinosaur" bit I would think.

If we (gamers) could agree to cancel our XBL subscriptions, MS wouldnt have much choice.

lol the amount of people that will listen to mcseah'd now as compared to the past 2 years...

And this is why I will never own a M$ console,cause that fee is not going anywhere,its been too successful this gen.When I buy a game for my PS3 I can play everything on that disc as It should be.You really don't own your games on Xbox you're just renting them from M$,ridiculous really.

In other news, water is wet.

Also Lawl at Mcshea if he seriously thinks m$ is ever going to drop the subscription fee.

topgunmv

As an online gaming service it's been outdone by Steam and as a paid gaming service it's been outclassed by PS+. Even the Wii U has started to compete now that Nintendo has discovered the internet.

So Tom's right. But Microsoft will keep on charging as long as people keep on paying, which they will because it's the only way to play their 360 games online.

Slashkice

As an online gaming service it's been outdone by Steam and as a paid gaming service it's been outclassed by PS+. Even the Wii U has started to compete now that Nintendo has discovered the internet.

So Tom's right. But Microsoft will keep on charging as long as people keep on paying, which they will because it's the only way to play their 360 games online.

[QUOTE="blackace"][QUOTE="Chutebox"]

So happy the wrote this. I love this exerpt: "Xbox Live Gold is an antiquated dinosaur that no longer fits within this industry. It's an exploitive service that takes advantage of people's innate desire to connect with others, charging significant money ($59.99/year, or $9.99/month) for features given away for free on competing platforms. As the next generation approaches, it's time for Microsoft to shelve this nickel-and-diming venture once and for all. "

MS won't care, but it's one of the main reasons I don't have the console.

OneLazyAsian

I believe Tom is talking about the payment for services, not the services themselves. MS could get away with paying for Netflix when it first came to consoles because it was the only console with it. But now Sony and Nintendo also have Netflix and it is free. So why does MS still charge? That is the basis of Tom's "dinosaur" bit I would think.

I actually signed up for gold for the first time because of the $2 for 2 months thing (and believe me, I hate even paying $2). I love how even if I activate a 3 month points card, they will AUTOMATICALLY renew my subscription at the $9.99/monthly rate (even though I had just turned off automatic renewal). Such a scam. I removed my payment information as soon as I read that nonsense. Like I've said in other threads, XBOX Live Gold is like the final days of AOL, where it's almost a sham service and they try to do whatever they could to keep people hooked. But at the end of the day a service where customers pay for NOTHING can't last indefinitely.2Chalupas

If we (gamers) could agree to cancel our XBL subscriptions, MS wouldnt have much choice.

moistsandwich

XBOX LIVE is clearly the gold standard. Nothing to see here folks, false article, move on.

percuvius2

Paying for P2P gaming... really gold. Now that you can get web browsers, netflix and pretty much everything else Microsoft offers on TVs and smartphones for free (hell even Apple doesn't charge for online gaming), it really has come to a point that people are paying just to unlock the online portions of their game, peer2peer gaming too which makes it really sad.

If they want to continue charging they need to get deals with publishers/devs to have dedicated servers for big games, putting it ahead of PS4, WiiU and get other content for free to the people like PS+.

Of course this won't happen and we will continue to have the Microsoft apologist turning up on this forum.

Aside from cross-game chatting and invites, the PlayStation 3's online features go toe-to-toe with the Xbox 360's, and just about every other aspect of the premium experience is made redundant by free equivalents on other systems.TomMcshea

I'll file this one under the TLHBR category. Glad we can put the argument behind us.

And yes, the article is 100% true.

it amazed me you need gold to access things like internet explorer and netflix on the 360, why are you paying to play the same games that are free online on other platforms?

Chris_Williams

This article is being written now? This has been the case for years. Every point made by McShea has been discussed heavily before in SWBPoole96

Link? I can't find the editorial section in GameSpot's cluttered mess.

This article is being written now? This has been the case for years. Every point made by McShea has been discussed heavily before in SWBPoole96

The reason why Microsoft insists on using this draconian pricing method is clear: They make money from it. TomMcshea

And Tom puts the reason why XBL Gold will not go anywhere anytime soon in his own article. What is there to discuss?

There will be no Bastille Day for anyone on the Xbox platform.

Link? I can't find the editorial section in GameSpot's cluttered mess.

DrTrafalgarLaw

It's the first top-slotted article on the front page of the site, but here ya go :)

I would think that Microsoft could do themselves wonders by finding alternate methods of making money off of XBL and dropping the fee all together. Not that they will.

[QUOTE="DrTrafalgarLaw"]

Link? I can't find the editorial section in GameSpot's cluttered mess.

It's the first top-slotted article on the front page of the site, but here ya go :)

[QUOTE="BPoole96"]This article is being written now? This has been the case for years. Every point made by McShea has been discussed heavily before in SWGunSmith1_basic

[quote="TomMcshea"]The reason why Microsoft insists on using this draconian pricing method is clear: They make money from it. R3FURBISHED

And Tom puts the reason why XBL Gold will not go anywhere anytime soon in his own article. What is there to discuss?

There will be no Bastille Day for anyone on the Xbox platform.

[QUOTE="darkspineslayer"][QUOTE="youpieceopoo"]psn does suck compared to xbox live though youpieceopoo

[QUOTE="BPoole96"]This article is being written now? This has been the case for years. Every point made by McShea has been discussed heavily before in SWPinnacleGamingP

I just have to wonder if Sony will have subscription bases online with the PS4. Seeing how they're really pushing PS+ I can easily see them having some sort of subscription.