350°

Bye-bye Xbox Live Gold

By Hadlee Simons

For the first time in almost four years, I've let my Xbox Live Gold membership lapse.

As a hardcore gamer, this premium service is essential for online multiplayer games and for using most applications on the console.

Now, I don't play online very often but I've had loads of fun with Call of Duty, Battlefield 3 and the Halo series. And with well over 40 million active Xbox Live users since its 2002 inception, it's clear that other people love online gaming on their Microsoft box too.

So why would I let my membership expire then? Simply put, it's due to Sony's PlayStation proposition.

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technology.iafrica.com
abzdine4027d ago (Edited 4027d ago )

PS+ ftw and by far..

pay 50$ to get so many free games or pay 50$ to have the right to play online a game i bought full price already i'm sorry but there no room for hesitation

amiga-man4027d ago (Edited 4027d ago )

It has always amazed me that M$ get away with charging for a service they don't even own, people pay their internet provider for internet access and online but on the xbox M$ block it and demand money to get it back, such an obvious scam and why so many people accept it I have no idea.

M$ dont own the internet so people shouldn't put up with them restricting access.

Oh PS+ really is amazing value all with free online as it should be

NewsForSnowflakes4027d ago

But with Xbox Live you get the pleasure of being called a 'f4g n0ob' by 12 year olds. Is that not worth $50?

Wikkid6664027d ago

@amiga-man

You obviously don't have a clue what Xbox Live is.

bohemian 234027d ago

Don't you lose your "free" games if you cancel your ps+? I still like that they offer it but its kind of an illusion, if you lose the games when you cancel your sub. I 100% agree that xbl is a rip off though. Reminds of paying for tabs every year on a car. Just another "fee" to trick people into paying.

abzdine4027d ago (Edited 4027d ago )

@bohemian 23: ...and don't you lose the right to "play" online if you cancel your xbox live? On PSN no matter what online gaming is for free.

EVILDEAD3604027d ago

I own both consoles. Why would I give up my Live just to rent some older games on my PS3? They literally have nothing to do with each other.

PSN+ is a cool deal for people who don't buy a lot of games for their PS3, but it has absolutely nothing to do with my giving up my Xbox Live account.

There honestly hasn't been a really game on PSN+ offered that I didn't own on my 360 or my PS3 when those games launched. Plus some of the better ones aren't offered anymore.

Like millions of core 360 gamers, I'll keep my Live for my 360, and I will still play PSN for free as I've always done. I'd rather get the game used or catch a god deal if it's something that I hadn't got around to it.

What I really think is cool about PSN+ is they offer Vita games, which are all fairly new. That's a really good deal for a handheld.

Evil

ShinMaster4027d ago (Edited 4027d ago )

Still spouting bullcrap as always.
PS Plus offers a lot fairly new games as well and some awesome discounts which add up to the thousands in a year. You could pretend to own every single good game, but that is still far from a good objective argument.

No matter how you spin it. You're still paying to play online. You can talk up the other feature all you want, but that is THE main reason people pay for XBL Gold, to play the other half of the game they already paid in full. Far from a better deal than PS Plus. Not to mention it's optional.

SilentNegotiator4027d ago

I cancelled ~3 years ago. No regrets. No reason to spend the money when it could go towards a game or tuition. I don't care if you're rich or poor, get it on sale, etc...it's a waste of money.

MysticStrummer4026d ago

One lets you play full games for your subscription fee, and the other lets you rent the online part of a game you already bought. No contest there.

wiz71914026d ago

I don't care about paying $60 a year for more reliable and better experience.. I pay for cable, pay my cell phone bill, and my internet bill when there are free options out there. You get what you pay for just because its free doesn't make it a better option. Xbox Live is the better option then PSN. With PS+ you get discounts and free stuff dont be worth it half the time then once my membership expires I lose all my free games and discounts.

EVILDEAD3604026d ago (Edited 4026d ago )

@ Spinmaster

'Still spouting bullcrap as always. PS Plus offers a lot fairly new games as well and some awesome discounts which add up to the thousands in a year.'

GTFOH. Take off the Fan helmet and goggles and read again.

PSN+ is a GOOD DEAL. Period. We all know what it does and is.

But, again I own both consoles and absolutely nothing PSN+ does comes close to making me want to drop Live.

Why? Because it has absolutely nothing to do with my 360. I own well over a 100 games for my 360 alone. I'm on Live daily, for everything from gaming, movies, and music.

I'm not the fan blogger in the article. I'm not giving up gold because if I pay 50 dollars I can get the choice between Catherine (which I own on the 360) and Hitman.

That is his opinion as to why he gave up Live, not mine.

I don't own every game in the world, but I support and buy the biggest exclusive that I choose to buy on my PS3.

I'm like any PS3 owner whose looked into PSN+ to see what it offered, and so far there is nothing personally for me that made me want to drop the cash yet. The best games I already own, most year and a half to two years ago.

I'd rather pick up my preorder of God of War: Ascension and play multi for free than purchase PSN+ to choose between games I didn't necessarily want.

But that's ME personally and I'm not the only one of the 70+ million PS3 owners that didn't find the need to purchase PSN+ either.

Again, it doesn't mean it's not an excellent deal for gamers.

So please if you want to claim that people really are going to spend 'thousands of dollars' just to save 'thousands of dollars' in discounts in a year because of their PSN+ subscription then keeping 'spouting the crap' you claim others do.

Evil

ShinMaster4026d ago (Edited 4026d ago )

Stop calling it PSN+ when it's PS Plus.

Games you don't want? And how exactly would you know that when Plus is updated all the time? It's not just free games, but also discounts and bundles that would cost more in stores. And even if you did have every game offered, there is still free and discounted add-ons and other content that could add to your current game library.

But I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. If you really are paying for all those games and add-ons yourself, then I guess you don't need Plus.

EVILDEAD3604026d ago (Edited 4026d ago )

'Games you don't want? And how exactly would you know that when Plus is updated all the time? It's not just free games, but also discounts and bundles that would cost more in stores. And even if you did have every game offered, there is still free and discounted add-ons and other content that could add to your current game library.'

Once again I don't own every game. But even on the annual list in that N4G article that just went up, I own at least 17 of the best games and the remaining couple I didn't own that I would play just aren't enough for me to want to purchase the service.

With that said though, I live in the US and EU definitely gets the best of PS+ games list by far.

They do update it and if you go to gaming forums or see articles where people list the updates you can easily see what's offered and what's been removed.

You keep adding discounts and bundles like you have never been on the store. There have always been bundles and discounts from the store. But, yeah it's easy to see the big plus sign that shows the additional PS Plus discounts.

But, getting some discounts wouldn't be enough of a Reason to get PS+ for me at the moment.

Again, I'm not knocking the PS+ one bit, it's a great service for PS3 and Vita gamers period and a no-brainer for newbies.

Evil

Sitdown4026d ago

Who pays $50 for live? I have never gone above $35. Now with that said, I do purchase multi- plat games on the ps3 because of free online play, and the security of blurays durability.

loulou4026d ago

lol it's laughable that this sort of stuff always ends up at the top of the page.

How is this news? simply put it's not. just a hit leech for some fanboys blog-site.

just another day on blogs4fanboys

dantesparda4026d ago

Isnt it funny how Plus is not worth it to Evildead, cuz he doesnt care for the games it offers but yet he gladly pays to play online on the 360, with should be free. Gotta love fanboys and their stupidity

bohemian 234025d ago

@abdzine You didn't address the point I made, you side stepped. A common move among politicians. How do I get that many disagrees for stating a 100% true fact? Fanboys are a sad bunch, no matter what they support. If you get to keep playing those games after you cancel ps+ than I am sorry and I was incorrect. I wasn't saying its a bad thing, just stating that you don't get "free" games.

+ Show (14) more repliesLast reply 4025d ago
Yi-Long4027d ago

...mine expired last month. It's just not worth it anymore for me, compared to the much better deal psn+ offers.

chrismichaels044027d ago

I agree. I let my XBL subscription go after Sony released PSplus and i haven't looked back since. No regrets. I can no longer justify paying for features and services that I can get for free everywhere else. It's just not worth it in my opinion.

TheTwelve4027d ago

As long as people waste money on Xbox Live, our economy isn't that bad.

Ragthorn4027d ago

I was on Xbox Live for 5 years, and I regret paying for it except for the fun I had with my friends who "swindled" me to keep on using the Live. Until I came to common sense and went back to Playstation, since PS1, Sony has never let me down, so I used PS Plus, and every penny was worth for what I got back.

Sitdown4026d ago

Sony has never let you down? Wow, at times even Sony has let themselves down.... can you explain your secret.

MYSTERIO3604027d ago

Sooner or later gamer will have to wise up and choose between paying for a rental app service or a rental games service personally i prefer the latter.

DA_SHREDDER4026d ago

anyone that pays internet plus another fee on top of that just to play games that everyone else plays for free needs to get their head out of their you know what?

+ Show (5) more repliesLast reply 4025d ago
Yomaster4027d ago

Even as an Xbox Live subscriber with a 10-year tenure, I'm gonna have to agree with this one.

Xbox Live is arguably the most populated and stable online gaming service, but PlayStation Plus' extras and benefits are pretty damn awesome. Xbox Live is getting put to shame with those features.

Microsoft definitely needs an overhaul of the Xbox Live subscription. Access to multiplayer gaming, apps, and demos just doesn't suffice for $60 a year.

jimbobwahey4027d ago

I think the worst part of the Xbox Live subscription fee is that the only feature it offers over the PSN is cross-game chat. The problem however, is that the PSN on Vita offers this feature for free as part of its online infrastructure, with the only reason that the PS3 lacks it being that they simply don't have enough memory available in the OS to add it.

Once the PS4 rolls around however, they will be able to integrate cross-game voice chat and party system that the Vita and Xbox 360 have, presumably for free. Once this happens, there will truly be nothing that Xbox Live Gold does that the PSN does not for free, so what can Microsoft do to justify the price when Sony rolls out the exact same service for free?

Will Microsoft announce new features/incentives for Xbox Live Gold on the next Xbox to justify the price?

Will Sony then integrate these features into the PSN during the months leading up to the launch of the PS4?

Microsoft is in a very difficult position in regards to maintaining their subscriber base going into the next console generation, and I'm fascinated to see how they will attempt to keep customers.

Yomaster4027d ago

Good points! I agree. Hopefully some stiff competition from Sony sparks Microsoft into improving their Xbox Live service features.

I'll be happy if both companies competitively develop badass online gaming services. That way, we all win!

dale_denton4027d ago

Great points here. i'm sure Microsoft will probably use new CoD DLC content on their next gen software to lure back these kids with xbox live subscribers like they have been doing.. SMH

sl0w-m04027d ago

I'm going to let mine expire soon too. The most instantaneous buyers remorse is when you renew gold and then you realize you don't have time to go online anymore. It's a lose-lose for people who enjoy their games with friends every once in a while, simply not worth it at face value

Lazarus694027d ago (Edited 4027d ago )

I have to agree i renewed mine in February and have yet to play online although that'll change when GRID2 comes out.So atleast i'll get some use out of it but it's not really worth it for one game

angelsx4027d ago

never again pay for live.that's it

T24027d ago

My problem is I wanted to remove my credit card and it wouldnt let me sign in without cc on file even tho im prepayed until November !! Anyone else know how to fix this ?

T24027d ago

Ok for the people who disagreed to the FACT which I just posted please explain how to remove my cc from xbl

Ninja_G_Aidan4027d ago (Edited 4027d ago )

Go to bank and cancel, ring up Microsoft and explain the situation, if you can't remove card, add another card which you don't use and then hopefully you can delete your proper card details off system. Or just click "Off" on auto-renew, but you can't login soo I guess try ringing.
Sorry about that mate just a few guesses, hope one of them helps.

wiz71914026d ago

Just go to their website

JBallerX4026d ago

I had to call them directly to do this. My account was hacked and my cc used on my account. Everything was refunded to me, and Microsoft gave me a bunch of free Microsoft points, but I told them I wanted my cc off of the account. I will NEVER have my cc on a console again. Just in case...

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 4026d ago
AngelicIceDiamond4027d ago (Edited 4027d ago )

Lol why do you think MS colors are "green".

EDIT: Nobody else will defend MS on this site. I don't need to defend Sony. I have 100's already doing that for me.

So I defend them. False accusations, misconceptions "Why MS will fail" articles will continue to plague MS on the daily basis.

people don't like it that I defend MS and I get tons of disagrees and I'm constantly out numbered but, whatever.

I just thought it was funny. A long time Xbox Live user makes a switch to PSN. Cool, it does hurt me anyone else. It's his life.

Lol but think about it, MS colors are white and green. White for blank check and green after the tran$action.

Donnieboi4027d ago

Man, u used to defend M$ like it was your first born baby. Now even YOUR cracking jokes at them? This can't be good for MS.

Hopefully the 720 isn't as bad as the rumors say, because if it is, then there's no way in hell i'm giving MS another penny. PS4 is already a given for me anyway.

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110°

7 Deserving Games That Never Got Backward Compatibility

Backward compatibility works for many games on newer consoles, but titles such as The Simpsons: Hit and Run have been left out.

90°

20 Best Survival Games of All Time

From base building to swinging willies, here are the best survival games around, which include a couple of less than obvious picks.

Read Full Story >>
culturedvultures.com
Vader8210h ago

No 7 days to die is criminal

210°

Microsoft once tried to nab LittleBigPlanet from Sony after a few drinks

It turns out that many moons ago, Microsoft once had its eye on the Sony published LittleBigPlanet series.

Read Full Story >>
eurogamer.net
XiNatsuDragnel3d ago

Microsoft had a good idea but fumbled it again.

Cacabunga2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

Project Spark idea was decent but they quickly gave up ..
LBP was wonderful

ApocalypseShadow2d ago

Microsoft in a nutshell. Always tried to poach Sony employees, games, 3rd party games and devices like the depth camera that was turned into Kinect but was running on PS2 before Xbox 360. Wouldn't be surprised they wanted LBP. Just like they worked behind the scenes pushing the MLB to bring Sony's baseball game to Xbox instead of making their own.
https://www.playstationlife...

They didn't spend years trying to develop their own baseball game. They wanted Sony's game.

They're scum.

Zachmo1821d 23h ago

Microsoft didn't force MLB on Xbox. MLB gave Sony 2 options either go multiplat or risk losing the license.

Rynxie1d 13h ago

And why do you think MLB said that? I believe Ms approached MLB.

ApocalypseShadow1d 12h ago (Edited 1d 12h ago )

Totally ridiculous comment.

The only exclusivity Sony had was to their own creation of The Show. Microsoft could have paid the MLB for the license just like Sony did and made their own baseball game.

Microsoft instead, groomed MLB for years in trying to poach Sony's game and bring it to Xbox. They're worth 3 TRILLION dollars. You think that's not enough money to make their own baseball game? Don't be delusional.

Microsoft spun it like they always do and told the media that they had to trust Sony with their hardware. After they put Sony in that position of not having a choice. Either go multiplatform or stop making one of their successful games. That's a no win scenario.

And what did Microsoft do? They didn't try to sell the game to the Xbox community. They put it on game pass to hurt Sony. Pushing the idea of why buy games that are $70 when you can play them in their cheap service for $10. It was a dirty tactic.

You fell for the Kool aid drink Microsoft served you instead of spitting it out. Hope it tasted good because you were fooled by Phil and the gang.

1d 8h ago
Hereandthere1d 4h ago

Xbox executive Sara Bond has told Axios that Microsoft spent a number of years trying to get MLB The Show onto Xbox consoles. And when it finally succeeded in breaking off PlayStation’s long-held exclusivity, the company had to “trust” Sony with pre-release Xbox Series X/S consoles.

Bond revealed that MLB The Show “always came up” in conversations between Microsoft and the Major League Baseball organization. “We always said, ‘We love this game. It would be a huge opportunity to bring it to Xbox.'” she recalled. However, when Microsoft’s efforts materialized, it put the company in an awkward situation where it had to send in pre-release consoles to a rival company.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 1d 4h ago
Notellin1d 10h ago

"Microsoft instead, groomed MLB for years in trying to poach Sony's game and bring it to Xbox."

Take a nap, conspiracies are rotting your brain.

1d 8h ago
Hereandthere1d 4h ago

Xbox executive Sara Bond has told Axios that Microsoft spent a number of years trying to get MLB The Show onto Xbox consoles. And when it finally succeeded in breaking off PlayStation’s long-held exclusivity, the company had to “trust” Sony with pre-release Xbox Series X/S consoles.

ApocalypseShadow14h ago

Lying to yourself is unbecoming.

Article link tells you all you need to know in Sarah Bond's own words.

Hereandthere1d 4h ago

They were too cheap/inept/lazy to develop their own mlb game, so they port begged for years and bribed the mlb to make the show multiplatform. Like i said many times, xbox brought nothing to the table their 24 years, ZERO.

ApocalypseShadow14h ago

At least you and others get it. Note drank the Kool aid and asked for seconds thinking it was refreshing.

Most don't even know how it all played out but it's there in black and white for all to see. Microsoft brought it up for years until the MLB forced Sony's hand. It was a win win for Microsoft. Kill one reason to buy a PlayStation or kill the game by dropping it in a cheap service to kill Sony's sales numbers on PlayStation.

OtterX2d ago

"However, Healey said Media Molecule wouldn't have felt right doing that, adding it would have been "morally corrupt"."

Major kudos to Media Molecule for being an upright studio with principles.

Cockney9h ago

They chose well, Sony gave them the backing to pursue their dreams with no restrictions even tho their games especially dreams have very niche appeal. Media molecule and Sony deserve respect for this in an age of risk averse publishing.

RNTody2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

Great, more stories like this please. Show the last of the zombies holding the line what we've been saying for years: Microsoft is anti competition, anti industry and has no interest in making games at all.

But hey, at least there's an Xbox Games Showcase to look forward to, right?

Inverno2d ago

Well considering SONY just killed the series, LBP would've been dead by now either way. Though MM probably wouldn't exist by now either, so I'm glad they stayed with SONY, hopefully they don't get shut down any time soon or ever honestly.

Sheppard7t31d 23h ago

How did Sony kill the series?

Inverno1d 23h ago

They shut down the servers, that's millions of user created levels gone. That and dead are pretty much the same, it's also been years since 3 and they cancelled HUB soooo.

1d 8h ago
fsfsxii1d 9h ago

They shutdown the servers because no one was playing, no one in the community cared about the user created levels so why keep them up? Wtf you guys would never succeed in running a business.

Inverno1d 8h ago

Yea dood no one was playing so they shut off the servers. Cause people with enough common sense can't just Google why they were actually shut of, right?

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