The new pricing for Xbox Live Gold membership hit the internet yesterday, and immediately a wall of grumbling went up from Camp Green. In the US, the new pricing shows an across the board increase; up $10 on the annual option.
Before you join the grousing too heartily, consider a few things.
Online multiplayer is back for 11 more games thanks to Insignia's XBL 1.0 replacement service running on Original Xbox consoles and the Xemu emulator on PC. Multiplayer, voice chat, leaderboards, etc. have been a monthly addition for many games from Xbox's past library thank to the team at Insignia.live! The 11 new games are now playable online once again after 13+ years.
Booo!! I was hoping that was Rainbow Six: Black Arrow...Boo!! again. I thought this coming to Xbox. I don't even read it I was so excited.
Has everyone completely forgotten Blinx?
Microsoft never could maintain a longrunning decent 3D platformers series of their own
Not sure if it was Xbox only back in the day but I'd love a current gen jet set radio!
Without a doubt, one of our highlights from EGX Rezzed 2016 was Table Top Racing. It was almost a classic love tale…”As soon as we locked eyes… (enter mushy crap here…)” – We think you get the picture. It just reminded us of a time where gaming was much less complicated and way more colourful, however at the time the game was only due to be released on the PS4… That’s not a bad thing. It just mean’t that being my primary console of choice is Xbox One, we wouldn’t get to play this any time soon as the majority of my games and friends reside in the Microsoft ecosystem – so when we got word this was getting a release on Xbox One, we immediately put our hands up and said “Yes, Please!”.
"This is good business."
You know what else was good business? The following:
1. Releasing crappy hardware a year early.
2. Charging 149.99 for hard drives
3. Removing the rubber bumper from around the lens to save 25 cents per console at the expense of having your games scratched.
4. Holding a portion of your $60 games for ransom, that can only be fully utilized by paying Microsoft's now $60 a year subscription.
5. Telling gamers that the Elite model has better hardware, but it still RRODed on us all.
Do I need to continue with the GOOD BUSINESS decisions at the gamer's expense?
The only thing we need to think about is our allowance or disposable income, dont factor M$ into this equation, they make Billions a Quarter so no sympathy for them, where as most of us here most likely dont crack $40k a year and have to pay rent/mortgage, car loan, and school loans out of that. People are on a very tight budget now a days.
Screw M$, $10 price hike is too much, and it surely is not worth it, not while the competition offers nearly the same thing it for free.
1. Free internet browser, with facebook, twitter, youtube layouts specifically for PS3 as well as on-demand TV services such as iPlayer and Crackle.
2. Free online multiplayer, with free content being offered for games in some cases.
3. Video store, game store, classic PS1 store,comic store, and better gaming services such as Qore and FirstPlay.
4. Additional services coming such as : Steamworks, Square's OnlinePlay and more. I.e. you can't play MMO's with the PAID service of XBLA unless you want to play VERY old and uninventive ones.
This is 4 reasons, I think with a little help we could expand this to at least 10... :O
Just stop talking to us like we are blind and loyal subjects who need to donate more money because you are 'giving us so much.' That may work on some of us, but not all of us. This is nickle and diming and charging for something that is FREE elsewhere... period. Your 'better value' argument is a joke at best.
Now, kindly stop insulting our intelligence. "Core gamers will love Kinect", "We are increasing the price of Live because we are giving you the best value."... Just ugh. Microsoft is really making me sick here of late.