Will We See an “Xbox Plus” Service any Time Soon? (MasonicGamer.com)

MasonicGamer.com: As you should know, Sony’s PlayStation Plus Service is coming to PS Vita, bringing discounts, cloud storage and, of course, a library of ever-changing games. The service has taken off rather well on the PS3, and could help sales of the Vita, which hasn’t brought in the figures Sony expected since launch. PlayStation Plus is an interesting idea, and one that the public at large may not be completely aware of, but I wonder if this next generation of consoles will see Microsoft adopting a similar service for their Xbox.

Sony aren’t the first company to release a subscription service that provides a library of games. No, that would be Sega, whose Sega Channel ran from 1994 to 1998, and was broadcast over existing television lines. It’s strange that it took well over a decade for another company to pick up where Sega left off, especially with the adoption rates of high speed internet in the mid-2000s.

[MultiConsoleGamer]

I bet both Microsoft and Nintendo will follow suit with their own similar programs. It's just too good of an idea. It's also an amazing consumer incentive, and that may force the hand of the competition.

Also, Nintendo stream.

[shutUpAndTakeMyMoney]

No doubt this would work on xbox.

[Yi-Long]

... I do know that I won't be renewing my XBL Gold subscription and instead I'll be taking up PSN+, which seems to offer a lot more value for money instead.

Only reason I haven't gotten PSN+ yet, is because I'm emigrating to the other side of the world next month (Hong Kong).

I wish these subscriptions would be worldwide, instead of region-based.

I believe Steam is worldwide, isn't it!? I hope I can access my EU PSN account from Hong Kong, but I fear for the (already) slow downloadspeeds. I already know I won't be able to access my XBL account. Sadly.

[mewhy32]

There's already Xbox Plus service. Gold membership. Hello??? Silver members and then the paid Gold membership...Free psn and paid psn plus. wow.

[DigitalRaptor]

@ mewhy32

Yes but if you'd read the article you'd know it's talking about something to compete with Sony's PS+

A premium service with actual tangible value. I know XBL gold is a premium service with its own merits in terms of cohesiveness and stability, but the value I just can't see. PS+ is on a whole other level and it would be nice to see Microsoft do something similar with XBL Gold.

[DeadlyFire]

XBL - $60 for basic communication between players + Online play
XBL+ - $90?

I don't see it going well if they do that. If they threw it all under the Gold service it could work though.

[rainslacker]

I wouldn't mind if they just went free to play for silver members and offered a plus like service instead for the price of gold.

It doesn't bother me much since I don't own an XBox, but it would be helpful in keeping all these people away that want to argue over which is better.

At least if the services were similar then we could argue games instead of the stupid consoles.

[Knight_Crawler]

Yeah but this not a new business model...I remember getting free games with my Nintendo Power subscription.

I do not see how MS would price XBox Plus and justify already paying $60 per month just to go online.

Question: Would anyone pay $80 a year for free games, monthly Skype credit,access to all of the Wondows Office features and 2 free movies per month from Hulu?

Keep in mind that this would be for the Xbox 720 which I expect it to be 80% PC and 20% console so the office will come in Handy for multi tasking.

[decrypt]

How are the games free if you are paying a sub for them? Also its not like u own the games once u get em. Once the sub is off, u lose the games.

You want to see a true F2P model go check out games like Dota 2, TF2.

Its funny when console companies try to show as if they are giving something for free and watching console fans parrot what they are told lol.

[Rhythmattic]

decrypt

Im guessing most people that complain about the PS+ model are also people that pay to unlock the mp portion of a title on 360.

Sure, games aren't free, but it still works out cheaper than buying and trading by a long shot.

Fact is , its incredible value , and whether you join or not, it doesn't effect a games multiplayer mode bought of the shelf.

Like it, buy it. Hate it , don't.

Edit: DUST 514. F2P.... Free to play. PS+ OR NOT---- yes, Free.

[palaeomerus]

$35 to $40 a YEAR often with a free game or free MS points (or both!) thrown in which gets you weekly sales on some arcade titles or DLC,

versus

$15 a MONTH to essentially rent some old games and indy games with a few thrown in free here and there and sales on some PSN titles and DLC.

Whatever.

[BitbyDeath]

@palaemerus,

Those two sound great and all but you should take a look at PS+

$50 a year for 3 free full games a month + free avatars + free themes + free dynamic themes + free indie games + free 1gb cloud + autodownload feature + access to betas + massive discounts + full game trials... probably other stuff i'm forgetting as well.

That is what you should hope to get.

[nukeitall]

I'm not sure MS or Nintendo will follow suit. Their business model is to basically give you the razor and sell you the blades. A subscription like PSN Plus, means they will collect negligible amount of money in return for offering games that take away additional potential sale.

On top of that, you are probably limited in what good games you can give. If you give too good games you risk them not buying any other game. Then 3rd parties are screwed, you as a platform is screwed and ultimately consumers are screwed.

A F2P model would benefit everyone better.

Then again, Sony doesn't really give you that many high quality titles. They are mostly titles I wouldn't spend a dime on, let alone my precious time so on the surface it seems like a great deal.

[Wolfbiker]

How are LBP2, inFamous 2, Borderlands, Read Dead Redemption (in some areas) not quality titles? That is only a few out of like 12.

[DigitalRaptor]

" Sony doesn't really give you that many high quality titles. They are mostly titles I wouldn't spend a dime on, let alone my precious time so on the surface it seems like a great deal."

Not at all surprising. either trolling or just is completely incapable of doing their research on something before bashing it.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Dead Space 2, inFamous 2, LBP 2, Just Cause 2, Far Cry 2, Borderlands, Darksiders, Red Dead Redemption, Crysis 2, Oddworld: Stranger's wrath, and a ton of acclaimed digital network games. Just scratches the surface.

And just so you know, even if you tried to go out there and RENT all the games on offer with Plus throughout the year, it would cost you many times more than Sony charges. and you'd be renting those titles for a week, a month art best. PS+? as long as you decide.

and many of these games I don't own because I never got round to buying but always meant to, and now, thanks to Plus, am getting the opportunity to play for reduced cost. myself and I'd say millions of others.

Then there's the fact that if you have a Vita, your subscription is valid for both platforms, and then PS4 next gen. Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Gravity Rush, Super Stardust for "free" on Vita starting soon.

Then there's the early access demos, exclusives, betas, cloud storage, auto updates, discounts - all makes it a winning service. Potential next gen features too, including Gaikai.

I'm just laying out the facts that you disregard as "a great deal on the surface". trying to downplay what is nothing but immense value. Like I said, not surprising.

[GraveLord]

No.
Microsoft is too greedy to offer this and people will keep paying for XBL no matter what the competition is doing.

Nintendo is barely getting into online, I doubt they'd give away games either. They don't exactly have a great relationship with 3rd parties and giving away their Mario games is suicide.

[chuckyj1]

Heck, honestly I hardly have enough time to play the games I buy...Free selective arcade games would hardly sway me...

Not that it's bad, but when I get my videogame playing time in I am very selective in the games I play.

But, this is coming from a married guy w/ 2 girls...
To each their own I suppose.

[Ares84HU]

Good thing PSplus gives us full retail games not just arcade games for free right????

[Ares84HU]

You already got it. It's called Xbox Gold.

[brish]

Really? With next weeks update there will be 18 games that playstation plus subscribers can download. What games does xbox gold come with?

http://blog.us.playstation....

[ALLWRONG]

Stop paying for it and see if you get to keep em.

[moegooner88]

@Allwrong, what's your point, if you stop paying for XboxLive you lose the service privileges as well

[lodossrage]

And?

When you resubscribe, you get them ALL back.

Sort of like when you stop paying for live your system is quite literally cut in half UNTIL you resubscribe.

The only difference is with live, you'll lose access to stuff you're probably paying for anyway right along with the "right" to play online. (Netflix, Hulu Plus, etc)

[brish]

"Stop paying for it and see if you get to keep em."
- allwrong

Playstation plus is a subscription service just like xbox live. If your subscription runs out for either the subscription services end.

You didn't answer my question. What games does xbox gold come with?

[cee773]

@all wrong

Stop paying for live and see if you keep your online gaming ,web browser, netflix or hulu plus lol what do you call that it goes both ways you guys call PS+ a game rental service when live 10 time's worse in that regard you have to already pay monthly for many services already and on top of that you need live gold to use them including the web browser what a joke the discounts alone on PS+ pays for itself not to mention early beta access free themes and avatars so in the end who gets the most for its money

[ALLWRONG]

MS gives out free games and content every year for Silver and Gold. If you stop paying for gold, you still get to keep it.

As for paying for Live: Security, and the ability to communicate with anyone across the entire platform (not just text) Something other services can't seem to provide.

[Ares84HU]

Looks like 23 people did not understand the sarcasm.

Oh well.

[lodossrage]

@ALLWRONG

And? you get free games you get to keep on PSN as well. DC Universe, Free Realms, DUST 514, etc.

And if you think you're paying for security with live, you're delusional. Is that why people are constantly getting their live accounts stolen WITH money spent on them? And it's not like these are just normal customers. This happens to industry figure heads live accounts as well.

It even happened to Larry Hyrb (you know him as Microsoft's Xbox spokesman, Major Nelson).

And keep latching on to that "we pay for cross game chat" mantra. The Vita has that FREE. And when the next Playstation system comes out and has that FREE, how will you justify that?

It never ceases to amaze me how microsoft has so many people duped into this "pay to use services you already pay for" ideal. But then again, we live in a country where people were dumb enough to vote for Mitt Romney so (even though he didn't win)...

[trouble_bubble]

@AllWrong

People generally don't collect $60 videogames like comics or cards. You beat it, play online for a bit, the end. Thats why Gamestop and 90% of stores that sell games also do trade ins. People don't play most games 3 months to a year later.

Are we still playing AC2 even though Brotherhood/Revelations/AC3 have come out since then? Of course not. PS Plus saves us a trip to the local game pawner and the facepalm of poor customer service and "wanna insure your scratch resistant bluray against scratches for an extra $5" scripts. I platinumed my free Trine2 from Plus in a couple days. Dont need it for another 2 years.

"MS gives out free games and content every year for Silver and Gold. If you stop paying for gold, you still get to keep it."

Umm, so does Sony, except instead of Doritos Crash Course lol, you keep DC Universe Online.

@chuckj
pretty sure you're not the only gamer with a wife 'n kids. According to the ESA, the average age of a frequent game buyer is 35, the average age overall of peeps who play is 30 http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed... . inFamous2/LBP2 on PSPlus VS HarmsWay/AegisWing on XBL isn't even close in terms of "free" value.

[mcstorm]

@Ares84HU I agree. Live Gold is what Sony PS+ is they just offer different things as PS+ would not be worth paying for if they did no offer games as there online is already free.

I do think MS will offer Another package next gen along with Gold that will offer things like xbox music, Videos, Office 360 ect as Xbox live is going to be on Windows 8, Windows Phone and the next xbox.

[Rhythmattic]

mcstorm

"I agree. Live Gold is what Sony PS+ is"

I have to chime in here and say Live Gold is not what PS+ is at all.

"they just offer different things as PS+ would not be worth paying for if they did no offer games as there online is already free. "

Exactly....If all features that where free on PS3 where on 360 for free (silver), do you believe people would really subscribe to Gold?

[mcstorm]

@Rhythmattic No but it is the same thing as Gold. You stop paying for gold you lose plaing online, Apps IE ect.

You stop paying for PS+ you lose all your PS+ games, Demos, Try before you buy, cloud storage ect.

They are the same thing as in you are paying to rent a serves like xbox music, Netflix ect but PS+ and Live offer different ways of there own services.

[Rhythmattic]

PS+ is an option.

Actually my last paragraph was comparing features that are free without PS+ to Live Silver.

To reiterate, if people could play online and access netflix ect , like all other consoles/PC's, without any other bells and whistles, do you really think everybody would pay for gold?

My view is no, but I guess we will never know, as MS have you hostage for online play, and I dont see that changing this or next gen.

I can afford gold, but due to principle, they aren't getting my money.

If silver allowed free online MP, I definitely would be using my 360 alot more.

[MmaFan-Qc]

some sheeps still try to justify their monthly/yearly subscription only to play online, do you really think MS will give them more when their "sheep" have such low standards?

lmaoausaurus rexx

[Imalwaysright]

I have to agree with you. I could never bring myself to pay to play online. Not even when i had a 360. Imo MS is laughing all the way to the bank by taking advantage of 360 fans that have no choice if they want play online. Call me troll i dont care. That is how i feel about this matter.

[garos82]

Trust ms to monetise something you already pay for.I don't see them implementing a ps plus kind is service. ms forgets what the concept of "free"means

[andibandit]

You're problably right, but i just dont care about free games atm. My back catalogue is so huge i realize there are some games i will never get to play, and therefore I could care less about renting games via PS+.
I do mind paying 60$ a year for online, but i accept it as long as MS keeps marketing games that i enjoy online and keep their service steady.

[knocknock]

That's a very rude statement, I'm no sheep regardless of my choice of game service provider, I've had a ps and xbox since launch and I still find feature on the station lacking, adverts on live are alittle annoying but I've always been happy with the cost of live, I was an advocate of Sony joining the payed online, and doing so has improved the service greatly but it's all alot of tacked on features! I'd rather they get there chat and profiles sorted.

[256bit]

a service on top of another service? a service within a service?

inception......

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[BigStef71]

I wish they would but microsofts greedy so that's probably why it wont happen

[rapidturtle]

But the 360 has Netflix, ESPN and other services that they justify charging you a monthly fee for.
Oh yeah, I forgot, I can get those for free on a BD player, or the other two consoles.

[Wolfbiker]

To be fair ESPN is an Xbox exclusive app. Unfortunately but still requires a cable provider so IMO Nintendo TVii will be the best media service to ever grace a console.

[Jek_Porkins]

Isn't XBL Gold already a plus? Its considered a premium online service, where as PSN+ is just the games that Sony lets you play while you are paying into that service.

I do think we'll see more and more Free To Play games on XBL in the future, but I seriously doubt we'll see Microsoft start putting AAA titles out for free, it is a business after all, and while Sony used that to attract more customers to their online, Microsoft has had a steady online enabled platform and service for ten years now.

[InTheLab]

"Isn't XBL Gold already a plus? Its considered a premium online service, where as PSN+ is just the games that Sony lets you play while you are paying into that service. "

Every 360 game with mp are what MS is letting you play while you pay for the service.

The free online for PSN is the attraction to PSN...not Plus. The games, avatars, movies, AND DAY 1 DIGITAL are where Sony makes it's money online.

The multitude of ads on every tab of the latest Xbox dashboard update and back door deals with other companies like Xfinity is where Xbox makes it's money...on top of the 15m gold subs.

[StrongMan]

@Chunkylover_52

"Isn't XBL Gold already a plus? "

You call paying for free features a plus?

Isn't XBL just MS letting you play online as long as you buy into it? More and more people are questioning why they pay for XBL when they can get those features free everywhere else.

[Vic_Mackey]

Xbox has less security issues and server crashes because people pay for the device, which in turn gets serviced from those fees. I'll keep my credit card security and steady gaming.

[Jek_Porkins]

Well how would you know anything about Xbox Live when you don't use it or even own an Xbox 360? Looking at previous comments, you are clearly a huge fan of Sony, not that there is anything wrong with that, but why bother to comment and troll Xbox 360 based articles?

The second part of your "comment" gets debunked when you consider that Xbox Live Gold continues to grow year to year, so if people were questioning it, it hasn't hurt the sales or number of people who use it. Microsoft releases numbers for their online service, I don't think Sony ever has, so we've never seen what affect PSN+ has had.

To me its apples and oranges, PSN+ didn't really do anything to change the actual PlayStation Network. If they offered a different look than the XMB, voice messaging and maybe some other features that people enjoy on Xbox Live, they might be more comparable.

Just my two cents anyway.

[InTheLab]

@Vic

Less security issues my ass.

How many spammers send you messages on a daily bases? How many hacked lobbies have you accidentally entered? How many tenured accounts are now ruined by the so-called keyloggers? How long will MS blame Fifa and EA?

As for servers...you have no idea what P2P is do you? MS and Sony DO NOT MAINTAIN SERVERS FOR THIRD PARTY TITLES. If BF3 tanks on PS3, it's EA's fault. Black Ops 2 has server issues on PS3...but UC3 never goes down...KZ3 almost never has any lag and never goes down. It's 3Arch that are responsible for the servers WHICH THEY PROVIDE!

How is it that you still pay for online passes if you're only accessing MS's servers, which you already pay $60 for?

Do some research...

@Jek

I know all about Live..and what I do know is...the XMB is lightyears better than the latest XBox dashboard update. It's slow and filled with ads. Games are an after thought now, and the marketplace is a joke.

Lastly, the XMB has nothing to do with PSN, but the console itself, which is why my Blu ray player has an XMB as well as my Bravia tv. It's not unified like the XB dash.

[hennessey86]

Been a rumour of a platinum service already hasn't there.

[medman]

So what you're saying is raping gamers for 50 bucks annually isn't enough for Microsoft? You want us to pay more for the enjoyment of being bombarded with unwanted advertisements? Not only are you making a killing off advertisers, but you're looking for ways to stick it to xbox live gold members even more? I don't have a problem with Sony or Microsoft trying to increase revenue, but not at the expense of me getting less for the dollars I spend. My concern is what services will they decide to exclude from their already costly subscription service to offer to those willing to pay an extra fee? When and if that happens, I'm out. Sorry, I've had enough. I own a PS3 and a 360. I'm not thrilled with paying one subscription, and I absolutely refuse to pay for two. If the PS3 had a pay only online option, I never would have purchased one this gen, and I would have missed out on some great games. But Sony and developers would have missed out on the dollars I've spent on dlc, content, hardware, and games. These folks better realize that. They will lose customers. If both these companies go the pay route next gen, I will only purchase one console. Whatever console innovates and offers better tech will get my dollars.

[knocknock]

It shouldn't surprise people that the company late to the party have a better service, I do hope ms get there act together for the next box but seriously I see so many, mainly Americans , consider it expensive?! 50 dollars a year is like less than 15 cents day!? Is that really that bad? Some ppl feel massively entitled! Games cost to much, wii u cost to much...FFS grow a pair!

[madjedi]

"Is that really that bad?" Considering sony offers it for free, it ain't that good either. Why should i pay twice to access the same content on the 360, that is just greed on ms's part.

Why is a newbie accusing people of being a biased sony gamers, when they themselves are likely just another multi-account troll.

I'll save people the trouble of defending live, it's because ms has 360 gamers by the balls and they need their online gaming fix.

Anytime the two are compared live just looks like a rip off.

"I was an advocate of Sony joining the payed online, and doing so has improved the service greatly but it's all alot of tacked on features! I'd rather they get there chat and profiles sorted." Ps3 has chat - in game, text and video. Profiles? Sony ruled out cross game chat a while ago.

Tacked on features, what the hell do you think ms has been doing every dashboard update to justify live's subscription fee.

For claiming to not be a sheep, you still buy heavily into ms's philosophy.

You would hate pc gaming, it's just like the ps3, it's free. Been that way long before ms convinced xbox gamers, paying for online access was a good thing.

[Vic_Mackey]

Ummm, Xbox has cloud storage, games on demand, Xbox arcade, Netflix, HBO, xfinity, Crackle, last.fm, IE, YouTube, Facebook, twitter, and a bunch of other stuff.

[Minato-Namikaze]

So does playstation, lol. Why can't ms just make playing online free and charge for the extras?

[FunAndGun]

yeah but half of that stuff is totally and completely FREE on Playstation right out of the box with no fee attached!

[StrongMan]

@Vic_Mackey

Yet, they are the only ones in the world who charges for those features. Seriously? You take pride in paying for "IE, YouTube, Facebook, twitter"?

I have a bag of air I want to sell you. But you can breath my air and talk to someone else who is breathing differ air. Come on, it's only $5 a month or 15 cents a day. If you can't afford that then you should stop breathing.

See how ridiculous I sound?

[ItsTrue]

Your analogy wasn't really good, it blows the situation out of proportion. XBL is not a life threatening situation in comparison to 'paying for air'.

You do realise people pay for things because they prefer it over another. Why do people go to cafes rather than make their own? Why do people go out to eat rather than cook themselves? Why do you choose apples over oranges? You get my point?

People are diverse. Everyone has their own preference. One may like Mc Donalds over Burger King and vice versa. Exact same case with PSN and XBL.

[TheUndertaker85]

MS won't adopt a PS+ style plan until idiots paying for stuff you can do for free everywhere else realize that the Gold package isn't really a deal.

Why would they? Why would Microsoft, a company already making money on Gold where they give the illusion that they're giving consumers something for their money, get rid of the illusion and give customers something with an actual value? This way Microsoft can keep making money from those Gold members at a relatively low cost to themselves.

[KMCROC]

Enough with trying to make one out to be better, stop trying to change peoples minds about their choices . it all comes down to preference & if a person has made his choice then so be it . Enough with this BS & please stop trying to be mouth pieces for companies that truly don't give a F... about you personally or what you think. Bunch of . . . . . . . idiots

[MasterCornholio]

Microsoft offering free games.

If they charge you for the multiplayer portion of the game what makes you think that they will even do this at a modest price of 50€ which is what playstation plus costs at the moment.

However in my case i bought plus for 40€.

P.S plus will include the Vita as well so for 50€ a year you can get a catalog of free games for both systems which makes the deal even better.

I dont see Microsoft doing this with the XBOX and the PC.

[ItsTrue]

http://marketplace.xbox.com...

http://marketplace.xbox.com...

http://marketplace.xbox.com...

http://marketplace.xbox.com...

http://marketplace.xbox.com...

[The_Con-Sept]

My problem with this article is the following sentence: "a service that was once free." When was PlayStation plus free? When did we ever have to pay money just to play our games online for PS3? Stupid journalists.