It's Time For Microsoft To Give Gamers a Break

Teamxbox - One thing came to mind when I saw the new dashboard last week - "Is it time Microsoft gave gamers a break?". Xbox Live is a fantastic service, and as a games journalist and "hardcore" gamer I use it on a daily basis but as the days fall off the calendar I wonder if Microsoft's business model for their online service is stuck in the past. Are the guys in Redmond looking back, rather than forward?

[Boody-Bandit]

Is it open mic night here on N4G?
Oh you're being serious.
SMH

MS is not in the business of giving breaks, they never have been. They are about making money and only making money. They want paid for "everything". That is why they charge for their online services, everything has to pass certification (fees for most) and nearly everything on their console is proprietary (license fees). They want paid.

Edit: Disagree away but tell me why or how you think I'm wrong. I would be very interested to hear your, or anyone's, opinion on this.

[coolbeans]

Capitalism is essentially only about making money.

Edit: Disagree? Feel free to explain what else capitalism is about while you're at it.

[Belasco]

Yes, it is only about making money. What is your point?

[kaveti6616]

On two occasions I've been mistaken as an uber pro-capitalist Ayn Rand fanatic because of my avatar.

Sometimes, a lot of the time, capitalism sucks, but we're conditioned as children to think that capitalism is the best possible system there is. Creative thought it discouraged. It's true that Communism is fundamentally against human nature. But Communism the more noble system.

Microsoft does want to make money, any way it can. They won't buy more studios to make exclusive games because they happen to make more money from third party partnerships.

[coolbeans]

@Belasco

BrutallyHonest's original post ended with "They are about making money and only money.", then I retorted by telling him that's what capitalism is all about.

My point (although I thought it was blatantly obvious) is only to state that ALL big businesses that operate within the realm of capitalism are all about making money, not just Microsoft.

@kaveti6616

The discussion about Communism vs. Capitalism is really for a different discussion. I would like to point out MS has purchased Twisted Pixel and announced plans for...4 (or is it 5?) new in-house studios in 2011 alone.

[darthv72]

sometimes means having to give away your product to get people to notice. PSN is slowly going the same route as Live. Many would like to not believe that but Sony is in the business of making $$$ as well.

sony could just as easily make some exclusive members only online modes for multiplayer. It really makes sense if they did as it would probably entice more to sign up to get all the benefits of the service.

You can only stand outside looking in for so long before you bite the bullet and join.

[Pikajew]

XBL is a way better service than PSN. People pay for XBL so they get better stuff and more features. If everyone had to pay for PSN it can be much better with lots of different features.

I would rather pay for a great service.

And its not that expensive to get XBL

[Hufandpuf]

I don't mind paying for XBL, but I don't want to be paying for "free" services that I don't want. Instead of a GOLD membership I wonder why they don't just give us basic online functions for a lower price.

[Ryo-Hazuki]

party chat is the only thing you're paying $10 a month for. Its funny cause yeah the ps3 has a ram issue when it come to that but as you can see with the VITA (8-player party chat) and all the online features all for free and when the ps4 comes with party chat all for free. The whole time you've been getting ripped off.

My thing is why do you have to pay a monthly fee just to play online games? The servers are 99.9 percent p2p depending on the developers. Everything is the same exact thing when gaming online for ps3. But why do you have to pay the middle man? Its like you have to pay steam to play online on your PC...like WTF

[Optical_Matrix]

You say people are getting better stuff and more features, but half the stuff XBL is adding as a result of this Fall Update, I've been using on PSN for over year for absolutely no fee's. BBC iPlayer, LoveFilm, 4oD. I could go on. Only service XBL has over PSN in my opinion is Sky Player which is a godsend for me as it gives me so much entertainment on demand for free. THAT, I can tip my hat off to MS for.

[darthv72]

The live service was a paid service from the get go. It has evolved into more than the simple online multiplayer service it began as. Yes it has added more features that are generally free to PC users but that is where the convenience comes in.

On the PC you are using the end companies resources. Like facebook for example. You are using their servers and interface. Same with netflix and last.fm and espn. What you are using when they are on the 360 are specifically keyed to the 360 design. You are using MS software and servers to interface with the other servers on the web.

It may surprise some but Sony had the idea of doing the same thing as live. What stopped them was their PSN network wasnt as structured as Live. They had no choice but to make it free at first. You cant compare charging $50 a year for PSN at that time with the way it was laid out to that of Live.

Live has continued to get newer features for the gold members that is all inclusive in their membership. Sony is doing the same thing with PSN but one small catch. New features are only for the PLUS members now. That tells me that Sony is comfortable in their network structure to charge a membership fee that will do more than the discount service it started off as.

PLUS (IMO) was like a costco for their store. Discounts and bargains and free cheese at the end of the isle and you get that for being a member. Non members pay full price for content and no free offers or betas. So yeah, people who pay to be a member of something want that feeling of getting their moneys worth otherwise why be a member.

Sony has been changing the PLUS side more so than the free users. The only thing free users of PSN can really proclaim is they can game for free online. At least.......for now until sony changes things again and makes exclusive online gaming (dedicated servers, large capacity multiplayer games) a members only perk.

They may never do away with the "free" online but they sure can make restrictions to when and how. By then they are hoping there will be more PLUS members. For them, they wont know the difference because they will be paid members to the PLUS service.

MS may reconsider and have a free online multiplayer but for that to happen, live would need to hit bottom like the AOL effect. I dont see that happening anytime soon.

[turnerdc]

@ Ryo-Hazuki

Check your math, 60 divided by 12 does not equal 10. It's 5 dollars a month and Microsoft offers several promotions whether it be directly from them or buying a renewal card from a third party. The past 3 years I've only paid $30 to $38 a year for Xbox Live. As far as why do I pay for it? I think it's an excellent service. I buy all my multiplatform games for Xbox because not only does it have a larger user base but the features are more seamlessly and better implemented compared to PSN.

[kaveti6616]

There are a lot of features XBL has that I can do without.

I don't use 90 percent of the features offered to me on XBL. I usually just use XBL to play online.

But I do love party chat and cross game chat a lot. It's disappointing that Sony can't bring that to their service.

[Christopher]

***It may surprise some but Sony had the idea of doing the same thing as live. ***

When making such statements, it usually helps to link to proof of said statement. Can you provide one?

If this is true, is does offer up a different perspective than the one we've been told the last six years.

[darthv72]

Unfortunately you cant link common sense.

If you really think about it, it only makes sense that the reason they went free was because the service wasnt worth the risk of charging in view of the competition.

I guess i should have stated that it was "rumored" they had a paid service laid out when creating PSN.

But yes if people were to understand that then it changes perspective slightly. Maybe not so much now because PLUS is in some ways a pay to play and will continue to get better.

Back to the original statement from mr Sony himself. he said online play would be free but never expressed if there would be certain restrictions applied down the road.

Im betting they are waiting until they get a certain percentage of paid members before making the online changes to the service.

I have received many disagrees in the past when bringing that up but you just cant deny that there is more $$$ to be made from online memberships to a service that people get addicted to than just continuing to give it away.

[dark-hollow]

They should let things that actually free everywhere, free on their service.
I mean why youtube, facebook etc is gold only???

And hopefully, online gaming.
I mean why people are defending that they want to pay than have it for free!!?
Xbox live service is top notch and everything but if they made it free it will actaully benifit them in the long run as some people are being turned off from buying an xbox because of the xbl fees.

Would people on both sides stop sucking those companies d#cks and start worrying about what a gamers need and not their beloved company

[coolbeans]

To address what you edited in (since I can't edit mine): Everything else you added is allowed in the realm of the capitalist system and is being 'abused' by almost every single other gaming publisher out there. The likes of Sony, EA, Activision, etc. aren't shy in inventing new streams of revenue.

"...charge for their online services..."

It has been deemed worth the price by millions of consumers, and has features you can't find on other console's online services.

[lelo2play]

"MS is not in the business of giving breaks, they never have been. They are about making money and only making money"

I guess Nintendo, Sony and all other companies are in the business for Love... and not to make money !!! How the hell do they pay the bills?

[Jazz4108]

I went to the movies over the wekeend and paid 14.00 t get in and befre my movie there were ads fo coke, new girl, cancer center and another coke add plus all the coming soon attractions. Ads are everywhere and it des not matter if its paid tv or paid xbox live they are going to advertise to help there bottom line.

[Micro_Sony]

If you can not afford $3 a month then you picked up the wrong hobby.

Also if you are crying about Live fees then you always have the option to buy a PS3 which has free PSN and according to N4G users has the same or better experiance than Live.

People have the choice on what to spend their hard earned money on and the fact that they choose to spend it on Live shows that 90% of gamers do not care about paying $3 a month becuase they experiance it provides justifies it.

Edit @ Rezzah: Thats my point - why cry about paying for something when you have the option to choose. MS is not holding a gun to his head and forcing him to pay for LIVE.

By now millions of people should know that PSN is free but they still continue to pay for Live....why is that?

Edit 2 @ Jobesy: Stop being ignorant becuase you what I mean. When you plan on buying something you either have the cash upfront or you budget for it.

Edit 3 $ Rezzah: My bad I meant to say 90% of Xbox gamers - the other 10% are people like the author of this article who owns a 360 but finds it hard to pay for Live.

[rezzah]

Why spend money for what you already have access to?

To play games? Other systems offer the same for free.

Edit:

Where did you get 90% percent of gamers from?

[OC_MurphysLaw]

Just for the record...its not the same service for free. It's similar services but not the same. You don't have access to cross game chat or Party chat on other services do you? Not sure maybe on Steam but I know for sure PSN doesn't have it. And yes, that is a service I find quite valuable when organizing a game with friends that are all playing something different at the moment we try to play say BF3. Invite all to party chat, get them all organized into the same server for BF3 so we are on the same team/side...if not back out, and find a different server. That is FAR easier to do on XBL then on PSN.

[rezzah]

^

So essentially cross-game and a better party chat (PS3 has this but not to that level) is what you are paying $60 for.

[OC_MurphysLaw]

@rezzah, that is part of it. I also like the fact that ALL XBLA titles come with a free trial. I can't tell you have valuable that is for someone like myself that enjoys the downloadable title from time to time. I check out all the XBLA games and then can make an informed purchase.

Cloud storage was another nice addition, and I know that is offered on other services but its not free on those other services either.

[SilentNegotiator]

First off, it's absolutely not "$3 a month". Besides being completely wrong in the breakdown, Microsoft does NOT offer it that way. It gets more expensive as you pay more frequently, or else it's $60 a year (cheapest routes, sans promo deals, sales, etc). You pay an entire game's worth of money PER YEAR to play online and get a bunch of features you may not want.

Not all of us have money to burn. Mortgages, car payments/insurance, university/college, families.....Not having much money doesn't mean you've "picked the wrong 'hobby'". Many of us play games as entertainment, not a hobby, btw.

I want to play online.
I don't want to use Youtube or Bing on my console. I don't want to have chat parties because my friends don't play games anywhere near as often as myself. I don't need MS to overhaul the menu every year or two (in fact, I'm still quite fond of the original). I don't need cross-invites because if my friends aren't playing the same game, then guess what? They don't want to go co-op.

"Thats my point - why cry about paying for something when you have the option to choose"
-
The option to choose to not have half of my game in a generation that is quickly valuing and focusing on multiplayer above single player?
Thanks, Microsoft! /s

@Dlacy13g
And many of us don't need/want those extra features. But we have to pay for them anyway to play online, which is free everywhere else. See the dilemma?

[gamingdroid]

@SilentNegotiator

Sounds like an issue as an "uninformed consumer" of sorts or just wanting stuff for free. I mean, MS is offering you what it has always offered with more features now.

Don't like it? Don't buy it!

If you bought it and felt you only get half the game, perhaps you should have looked across the pond prior to buying the Xbox 360.

It's like going into Coach handbag store, buy it, and then complain it is expensive. You didn't realize that in the store?

It's basically stupid to cry about it, because MS is charging you a fee because they can. They can because they offer something you want more than other free options out there!

The good news, you can always continue to use your free option which you undoubtedly is using.

***Not all of us have money to burn. Mortgages, car payments/insurance, university/college, families.....Not having much money doesn't mean you've "picked the wrong 'hobby'". Many of us play games as entertainment, not a hobby, btw. ***

If you can't afford games or other forms of entertainment that is your issue.

I would love to get lobster and fancy steak for dinner everyday. Maybe that should be free too since I can't afford it?

***And many of us don't need/want those extra features. But we have to pay for them anyway to play online, which is free everywhere else. See the dilemma?***

Yeah, we totally see the dilemma. It's called "NOT BUYING" and "REFUSING AN OFFER"!!!

[OC_MurphysLaw]

@SilentNegotiator... I don't "see the dilema" as you put it. I was answering a question put forward by Rezzah. I was giving back "MY" reasons as to why I and most likely others feel paying for XBL Gold is worth it, just giving a few examples.

You clearly have your own issues and needs/wants for online. Your laundry list of I don't wants/don't needs/no friends complaints clearly shows that XBL Gold and most likely the Xbox 360 isn't a good fit for you. And that is totally ok. It is more than OK to like what another system has to offer and prefer that.. spend your money there. Nobody is holding a gun to your head telling you to spend money on XBL. You always have choices. I suspect you already made that choice a while a go and are using a PS3. I am happy for you if that is the case because I think that would more fit what you need out of your console. If you aren't, please go trade in your 360 and get a PS3, as again it sounds like that would be a better fit for you.

For anyone who says "not all of us have money to burn" as part of their argument I have an option for you. Don't. If you are so tight on money that buying something for $40-$60 a year (you can still get Amazon deals for 12 months of XBL Gold for $39.99 btw) is going to put you in peril or cause you to skip meals... for the love of God don't. Trade in your gaming console and focus on what matters, your home and family. Truly if money is that tight you shouldn't be buying games, or a gaming console... I suspect though, most using that argument are not actually that tight on money they just try to throw that excuse out there. Again...if paying for XBL Gold angers you so much and online is important to you then go get a PS3 or just game on your PC.

Stop bitching about it and do something about it if you are truly that bothered.

And if you are just here to troll the article... well you know what my advice to you would be too.

[Jobesy]

i didn't realize MS had an easy payment plan. Oh wait, they don't! You can take nearly anything and break it down and make it seem affordable. Hell, for .50 per day I can feed a starving child in Africa.

Btw, it's $5/month.

[Game13a13y]

Exactly, I bought my BMW for 35K, so I pay $6000 a year, which makes it $500 a month, which makes it $16.67 a day, and only 69 cents per hour! Why everyone not driving in a BMW is beyond me!

[Biggest]

For $1.04 a minute you can afford a $10,000/mo mortgage. We should all live in mansions while we play on Xbox Live. It's so cheap!

[dark-hollow]

What a bad analogy!!

Its 5 per month because you can pay for each month and not the whole year 60$

While am sure bmw wont let me pay per day for their cars!

[B1663r]

Micro_Sony,

It is also a case of being penny wise pound foolish. With the xbox I was able to completely end my reliance on the cable company for video services. Now the only thing I buy from the cable company is internet, and I get 100% of my video from the xbox, via Zune, Netflix, and Hulu.(All told about $26 a month vs the lowest tier of cable that included Comedy @ ~$45) And it still costs less than the most basic tier of cable video that would get me the shows I want to watch.

@below,

Enlighen me? Between Zune, Netflix, and Hulu, what exactly am I missing? I guess I don't get Fox Noise channel... But with my politics, that is a bit of a feature imo...

[Biggest]

That sounds like an awesome deal, B1663r! All you have to do is not care about every other channel and movie in the world that Hulu/Netflix doesn't cover!

[FragMnTagM]

This^

I did the exact same thing. With all the video and music services (and more to come), I completely cut cable out of the picture. Instead of paying well over a hundred dollars cable, phone, and internet, I now pay for just internet (29.99 a month).

I use my Magic Jack for phone calls at home, and my cell phone on the road.

60 bucks a year versus over a hundred a month is a great deal to me, don't see why everyone whines about it so much.

For cable, phone, and internet, it is roughly 150 bucks a month. 150-29.99 = 120.01 X 12 = 1440.12.

So for the entire year of cable and phone I would pay almost fifteen hundred dollars, but with XBOX Live and my Magic Jack, I can save over 1300 dollars a year.

Cry all you guys want, but it helps me out a lot and that is more money that I can use to spend time with my wife and kids.

[Christopher]

You could do the exact same thing on the PS3, but not pay $50 a year for it. PSN Video Unlimited, Hulu, Netflix, VUDU, and a few other options are available without any additional cost from Sony/PSN.

So, I'm not sure how this is in support of Microsoft keeping the fee.

[FragMnTagM]

@cgoodno, I don't really like Hulu, never used vudu and that leaves only Netflix.

I have a PS3 and it gets used once in a while when I feel like playing a single player game, or watching a blu ray movie, or watching a 3D movie, but other than that, my XBOX gets used daily.

For me, there is a lot more entertainment on the XBOX, than on the PS3. It is also much easier now to access all that content as well.

I say a few words from in the kitchen while getting myself a beer, and by the time I come back, every single app on the 360 that is relevant to what I just searched for comes up.

It is a great service and well worth paying for. The ripoff that is cable will never ever be paid for again in this household.

@Biggest, really?

There is a way more content than just Hulu and Netflix. I think you are thinking about the PS3.

[Christopher]

@FragMnTagM:

Oh, I'm far from criticizing or attempting to debunk the value of XBL Gold's cost. I know if you play online or if you prefer their service, it's more than well worth it. My comment was only aimed at B1663r's comment of how he's lowered his costs by getting rid of cable and using the video/music services provided on his 360.

If you feel the XBL Gold is worth the cost, by all means, pay it and be happy. I see it like how I hate it when people question me on getting certain CEs. It's my money, I like it, I'll get it. End of discussion and no need to be criticized for it.

[gamingdroid]

I could buy a PC for less than a Mac, but people still buy a Mac.

Obviously it's not exactly the same to the consumer since they are willing to pay for it. Might be the same for you though....

[A-Glorious-Dawn]

Never have paid for live and never will.

My best experiences with the xbox are when 8 are linked together to play halo LAN with friends in the same room. Great times.

As for online gaming I go for my pc and ps3. It's not that I can't afford to pay a subscription, its because I can't be bothered when you can get essentially the same experiences for free.

[TyrannoTaurus]

I pay over $100 a month for cable... $100 A MONTH. I still get commercials. LOTS of them. Often times they are totally irrelevant to me. Boner pills, anxiety medications, tampons, the list goes on forever. I pay $60 A YEAR for Xbox Live. Most of the ads are relevant to me and, IMO, not intrusive. Nobody makes you click on the ads. Hell, you can set up your Xbox to boot right into a video game if you want to. Not a big deal as far as I'm concerned.

[OC_MurphysLaw]

I am so tired of all the bitching about the ads on the new blades. Frankly the way they have implemented the ads on the new dash is far superior to the previous dash its not even funny. I get ads on pretty much every service out there, free or not free so I honestly am not too chuffed about this.

It's time to move on folks. Focus on important things like.... games.

[SKUD]

I remember a time when the xbox just use to play games off / online with no BS. Now its mainly a commercial box that plays games with adverts. What happened here?.

[DiRtY]

People pay for stuff they think it is worth it. So XBL is worth it.

I played on every service you can think of. Xbox Live, PSN, Steam, Battle.net, SegaNet and XBL is by far... REALLY FAR the best service on the market. I am a gold member for 8 years now and I never even thought about it not being worth it.

[InTheLab]

Not that I agree or disagree, but..

Why is XBL better than every other service you've encountered?

I'd appreciate a real answer and not just "cuz" like the 1 bubblers.

I find this subject to be fascinating....that's why I ask...

[DiRtY]

This is the first time I could have a normal discussion on N4G, so I am a little bit nervous right now.

The way XBL works is just smooth and it really feels like coming from one source. The way they integrated the Apps is not like on other devices it fits to the dashboard and the overall experience even though the apps are not coming from MS themselves.

The way party-chat / cross game chat works is just brilliant. Windows Live Messenger with Kinect and soon Skype are two messengers that lets you keep in touch with everybody else.

Sure the PC can do it as well, but not as smooth as an overall experience. Some people use TS2, Ventrilo or Skype. All of them are external products and you need to step out of a game to check who is taking right now. Battle.net is a very basic service and works fine for just games. The problem here are hackers. Don't get me wrong, there are hackers on XBL as well, but this is no comparison to Steam or Battle.net! People are cheating in Warcraft 3 (Yeah I still play that...) all the time and it pisses me off. Same for CounterStrike on Steam. It is just a nightmare to play these games on a pub or in tournaments, because you never know if the guy that beat you plays fair.

Another point is that the customer service for Xbox Live is absolutely brilliant. I had one issue 3 or 4 years ago with one movie and they instantly transfered the MS points on my account.

Steam has some very good deals, but no social fact like Xbox Live has IMO. Sure there is a friendslist, but that's about it.

PSN is quite frequently down it seems. Don't get me started with the PSN hack and the way Sony tried to downplay it. The way the apps are integrated is not as good as XBL. The overall experience just does not feel like a complete service. The PSN games do not have demos, which is a big minus to me. The fact that there is no cross game chat gameplay is terrible. The fact that there won't be cross game chat is even worse. It is a mess on PC (TS2, Ventrilo, Skype --> not integrated in the game) but no cross game chat is not an option in 2011.

So there you have a few of the reasons why I prefer XBL overall.

[gypsygib]

Article is spot on, less ads would be nice and I'd prefer they not place game related stuff in tiny boxes off to the side.

[FragMnTagM]

Hmmmm, it is exactly the opposite on mine. Adds are in the tiny boxes and GAME relevant content is in the big boxes.

Don't know where you are getting that from.

Like right now, in the bottom right box on the games tab there is a little box with an ad for the Chevy Volt. In the big box, there is content relevant to GAMES.

[OC_MurphysLaw]

@FragMnTagM you are spot on... the ads are in the little boxes off to the side, not in the middle as many have mistakenly said. The big windows have only shown off informative videos for dashboard 101 stuff, video game related feature shows like a Majors Minute or Inside Xbox and you also see the new map pack/dlc frames letting you know about high profile stuff... all completely relevant to a gamer.

[gypsygib]

Ok Frag and Dlacy, when you insert a game to play, where does it pop-up? In the big box in the middle like before, or the tiny box off to the upper-left.

When you start up the console is it focused on YOUR games and achievements or do you have to scroll over to the right and see what they're trying to sell you first.

Do I need to include a picture?
Could your fanboys eyes even see the truth??

[AceofStaves]

Since people have a choice to pay for Live or not, I don't understand the complaints. If you think it's a waste of money, don't buy it. If you enjoy the service, and find it useful, then subscribe to it.

That's what I like most about this generation of gaming. We can now tailor or gaming experiences to suit our own preferences. Since I don't enjoying multiplayer console games, Live would be a waste of money for me and PSN is sufficient.

[Noticeably_FAT]

Maybe one day Microsoft will team up with Unicef, but last I checked they were business and businesses make money.

[D3mons0ul]

A break from what? All the games that don't exist? That they aren't giving you?

[KMCROC54]

Is this guy complain about 64.20 a year if you don't find a deal online , what comes down to 5.35 a month ,or better yet 0.1783333333333333 a day. wow talk about cheap.yes i have taken in to account that some sale tax are different from that of my state, but still not that much to cry foul like this person.

[KMCROC54]

@spacedelete when has XBL ever cost $200.00 dollars