Pachter predicts new Xbox Live 'Platinum' service

Gaming research analyst Michael Pachter has predicted that Microsoft will add a further layer of subscription to its Xbox Live service, saying that he thinks "we're going to go from Gold to Platinum", with the new premium model adding "a lot of cool stuff" to the existing XBL service.

[dangert12]

I will not pay for this the price range your saying is too much
and i don't even watch tv just xbox and dvd's etc

[vhero]

He is predicting this because of Sonys new premium range. MS has seen all the cool new features Sony are coming out with (the rumours of Sonys premium online service) and of course MS want to add them to Xbox Live however they won't give them to gold members they will find some way of charging for them and this platinum service could well be it..

I think this will confuse people and alienate a lot of people in fact people might not realise there is gold anymore think its too expensive and stop paying entirely.. Very risky is MS choose to do it but MS will do anything for extra money to throw at devs for exclusives as its the only way they can keep up with Sony right now..

[NegativeCreepWA]

Keep up with Sony, what world do you live in?

[DelbertGrady]

When was the last time PSN got a new game? Has it had any this year? XBLA is on another level contentwise.

[van-essa]

I would pay $10 - $20 a month for free DLC, XBLA games, TV shows and movies.

[ZombieNinjaPanda]

@Soda, I'm pretty sure there were like 2 new games this week.

[Gothdom]

based on wikipedia, XBLA released 15 games since January, and PSN had 17 in North America. Usually they're both on par.

[avengers1978]

First this is coming from Patcher so I wouldn't put to much stock in to it. At least wait for something more reliable than Patch.
@Soda every week on Thrusday, but in a couple weeks it will be tuesday's( May4th)

[BulletToothtony]

haha i love when facts shut fanboys up

[Gue1]

With the failure-rate of the X360 if I use it for more than just games then I'll be buying Xboxs every week. People say that the failure-rate it's lower now but yesterday a friend of mine had the RRoD and his console is not even 6 months old.

When I bought my PS3 slim I told him not buy that crap but he said that the online of the PS3 was poor now he can't even play off-line.

[Absolut_Turkey]

Wait! I can pay to watch TV on Xbox? That's cool, or I could cut out the middle man and watch TV using my TV! I think I'll use my TV, it doesn't have a fail rate of over 50%.

Edit: Van-essa said, "I would pay $10 - $20 a month for FREE DLC, XBLA games, TV shows and movies."
Of course you would, that's why you bought and so ardently defend the Xbox 360. You seem to have no problem paying for content you yourself defined as "Free". I on the other hand would pay ZERO for something that is "free", but that's just me. BTW Van-essa, when you get the chance could you look up the definition of the word "cognitive dissonance". Thank you.

[President Tretton]

Paying for Xbox Live is a ripoff, but MS gives us no choice. Seriously, they have no justification for the price right now, so why would they even think of raising it? The only reason most people pay is because in certain games the online is half of the experience. IF they don't pay, they can't get the full experience.

[DelbertGrady]

Show me that source pls.

Here are the XBLA exclusive games released thus far since January.

Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment
Death by cube
Serious Sam HD: TFE
Lazy Raiders
The Misadventures of PB Winterbottom
Darwinia+
Chime
Game Room
Perfect Dark
Scrap Metal
Toy Soldiers

[ThanatosDMC]

Wow, you call those exclusives when most of those games are on Steam?

Anyway, besides the NA and EU games. There's also those games released in JP that we have never even heard of...

Back on topic: Damn, this is gonna be expensive.

[Neo604]

if it is then nothing can beat PSN.
bu bu but chatting!!!J/K

[ThanatosDMC]

FF14 wont be free like MAG which is a weird comparison since MAG isnt an MMO. Main reason is it's SquarEnix and not Sony.

Anyway, FF14 is like the successor to FF11 and you have to pay monthly.

SVER FTW!!!

[Neo604]

every month there are tone of house bills to pay, adding another bill is not welcome even it's $5.

[Cevapi88]

give the 360 gamers a browser and they will find everything that this supposed Platinum service will offer

and if it is going to offer so many movies, what is the point of Netflix integration with the 360??

[Gothdom]

usually I don't answer to "special" people like you, but you seem to have an angry fanboy fit. Why can't you accept one is as good as the other.

And now that I pointed out that you lacked some knowledge of what you were talking about, you add some rules over what you stated? I'd hate playing versus you online, because you're most likely that dude that cries everytime you lose.

"Show me your source"... you can't look it up yourself. I mean, you're too special to know what wikipedia is? I know it's not the best source out there, but the fastest list I could find on short notice. I mean 17 vs 15 isn't a big difference. And since you're too lazy to look intelligent:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

I simply counted games released between now and january. And now you want exclusives? ok, but take down Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment from your list.

-Sam and Max : The Devil's Playhouse
-Anarchy Rush Hour
-Blue Toad Murder Files
-Hamsterball
-Wakeboarding HD
-Groovin' Blocks
-Hustle Kings
-Thexder Neo

That's 8 vs your 10, which doesn't change what I was saying at all. And you added Perfect Dark to your list, should I add Psone classics? You know, in the ps3's 17, I didn't even count them.

-Championship Bass
-Hi-Octane
-Extreme Pinball
-Theme Park World
-Populous the beginning
-Dirt Jockey: Heavy Equipement Operator
-Sorcerer's Maze
-Mass Destruction
-Magic Carpet
-Grandia
-One
-XS Junior League Dodgeball.

That's a total of 29 (total products downloadable) versus xbla's 15.

I'd add the minis too, but you'll invent a new rule like "they're for PSP" which, in truth, depends on which minis. I also excluded the 5 or so PSP games that came out.

Checkmate!

I'd advise you to stick to the open zone forever.

[Godmars290]

That Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment is on the PS3 too?

[AAACE5]

If they were to do something like this, they would first need to assure gamers of the 360's reliability! Alot of gamers are worried about just leaving their console on just to play games and watch movies, so leaving it on for extended periods of time might scare some off.

On average, the typical person pays about $40 a month for cable. After taxes, they are paying over $500 a year. If their service could offer you more than that standard cable setup, then I could see people crossing over. But like I said, reliability is an issue... especially for someone like me who sleeps with the tv on!

I still think patcher is full of s...! But in this day and age you never know.

I wonder if the industry uses guys like him to put out this information because they want to do it, but want to see how gamers react to it?

[bjornbear]

yeah XBL games = compensating for lack of exclusives.

[caladbolg777]

Soda, that guy just thoroughly fricken ownd you. Any credibility that you thought you might have here is forfeit. Goth did you a favor by shoving his boot snugly between your fat @sscheeks. Internet lose.

[JonnyBadfinger]

There isnt anything good on cable television anyway, just endless reruns of the simpsons... not only that it has to take into consideration every nations broadcasting laws and ratings classification systems before even thinking about it.

No one in the right mind would pay $500USD for TV, on a console.

This is the first i have ever heard of this patcher guy is he always this retarded?? or was he raised by a herd of buffalo?

Has even been right?...atleast once in his predictions?

And if, it ever happens it means here in Australia we will be paying about $900 a year... so if thats the case i will make the trade to Playstation, without any hesitation whatsoever. Or i will just stop all gaming and just go without. gaming aint worth that much a year.

[Venatus-Deus]

That’s just about the most serious piece of ownage I’ve seen on this site on months and done with style. Bubble+

@ Soda Popinsky

I’d really love to see what you have in response. I'll even throw a bubble in just for effort.

*sitting on edge of sit*

[kasasensei]

Well done guy, that's a pure ownage!
Bubble for you! You deserve it so much^^

[Gothdom]

I just saw my "ignored by" go up by one. I don't think we'll ever see a response from Soda about this topic.

[vhero]

@Gothdom Soda never replys once you prove him wrong just spams your inbox with hate mail he also tried to claim he had a ps3 the fact he didn't know about any PSN games proves otherwise.. What I meant by cacthup in my previous comment is future features not current features as Sony is gonna offer some cool features 360 owners could only dream of. Like free PS1 classics and free BETA trials for most major games for everybody who pays for premium. Soda is a 360 fanboy so just ignore him.

[thehitman]

@ Gothom bubbles that was like the biggest own I ever seen, Soda seemed so sure of himself too lolz. I bet he sitting in a corner like a ball saying "i pay for xbl" over and over again lolz.

[jamesgtaiv]

For one,I dont really trust Pachter. He kind of strikes me as a person who should consider getting a real job.

If, however, this does turn out to be true, I doubt Ill be the only one telling M$ to suck my balls. I sadly was already duped by Microsoft to pay $60 a year for their crappy service and support and I can tell you it wont be happening again. Platinum bullsh*t is what this is.

[darthv72]

This guy Marc at my local gamestop told me he got word from their MS rep that silver members who are child accounts on gold members will be getting online play and access to last fm and facebook/twitter.

I dont know how valid these claims are but it seems only logical. Meaning if you are a gold member and you create a silver profile for another member of the family, they should be able to do all the stuff a gold member does so long as the gold profile resides on the same system.

I really hope that happens as my son wants to play against his friends but I dont want to pay another fee for him. Some will argue about paying all together but I am simply stating that child accounts should be allowed gold privileges when a gold profile exists.

[DarkTower805]

Man you got owned son. It wouldn't have been so bad if you hadn't come off as a fanboy. There are people here that own all consoles currently out and still have their preferences, but when you're just plain ignorant to the facts you make yourself look dumb.

[raztad]

LOOOOOOOL. ROFLMAO. I've never seen such an OWNAGE before. Poor Soda. You are still welcome in the game zone buddy :D

[solidjun5]

Wow...you just got OWNED!!!

I hope that was a humbling experience for you. ^_^

[aaronisbla]

you know thats some serious pwnage when you can't even respond

[KingKionic]

Wow...

"And the reason I say it could be that much more.. what if they offer you television? What if you get internet TV through Xbox Live? What if they say you can watch WKRP in Cincinnati anytime you want on demand through Xbox Live? Because they could do that, and if they offer you every TV show ever made, every movie ever made, you'll pay 500 bucks a year for that. Trust me you will, because you're already paying that on your cable bill and a lot more."

Patcher may have some kind of a point .

[Megaton]

He does and he doesn't. Is Microsoft gonna send out a guy to replace my 360 for free when it breaks like my cable company does if my cable box breaks? Not so much.

[palaeomerus]

So xboxlive is seriously thinking it will compete with cable and cable internet and phone bundles? Because it won't.

I'm not going to pay a subscription fee more than once for largely similar services. I'm going to pick one and most likely the one I pick won't be Xbox Live. My paying a large subscription fee once doesn't mean that I'm willing to pay lots of large subscription fees or even two of them! So this will be a competition, I don't have a live-gold subscription now. I also don't pay any MMO subs. I don't expect that to change any time soon. I'd rather have the cable.

Also I don't want to be in a situation where one person wants to play a game and the other wants to watch a movie and we can't both go off to our own TV and do what we want without getting in the way of the other person.

[labwarrior]

Nice, maybe can tell us some lotto numbers too

[-MD-]

This has been posted already.

[Godmars290]

They're going to start alienating Gold members like they do Silver?

[FordGTGuy]

Your actually believing a word out of this guys mouth?

If he was right Xbox Live would have costed $100 by now, the guy is a idiot I don't know why people keep posting his crap predictions that never come true.

[badkolo]

yeah but ill pay that for what he is saying though, pachter usually talks nonsence but if they offer some new service that gives you so much stuff, then ill pay it.

and while this might be more along the lines of the next xbox and ps4, but if they transform my 360 into a full fledged tv box and i can dump my cable company, then im all in

[Godmars290]

That MS has secured a a deal for an internet TV channel, problem is you not only have to subscribe to a specific cable provider, but still have either a PC or DVR cable box connected to the 360.

Right?

[kaveti6616]

Are you making a statement or asking a question?

[Wrathman]

xbox already has sky tv in the uk.you can either subscribe seperately or if you have sky in your home already it acts like a seperate sky box.

whats the issue here?

[Godmars290]

MS has and is supposedly implementing the option to make the 360 a DVR in the US, the drawbacks however is that you have to subscribe to a specific cable provider, and either still use that provider's DVR enabled box or a PC.

[elpresador]

THis is the same guy who a few months back said that the regualr abox live would be over $100 by now. He basically gets paid to talk out his back end and sounds like an idiot in doing so.

[ZombieNinjaPanda]

500 dollars for tv? No thank you. I pay around 150 for Fios Internet/Tv/Phone. I'm content with that.

[-MD-]

150 a month would be 1800/year. Tv, phone and internet all costs the same where I live so 500/year for one service would be saving money.

[ZombieNinjaPanda]

@Murder

I pay 150 a month for internet, TV, Phone.

It would be 500 a year for tv and xbox live. So how would I access Xbox Live if I didn't have an internet connection?

[-MD-]

It's crazy that you pay 150/month for those things... up until last week I was paying like 90$ for all 3.

[ZombieNinjaPanda]

@Murder

What provider do you have? Fios is pretty fast. Plus I have an extraordinary amount channels to amuse myself with.

[-MD-]

Time Warner digital cable, we get a ton of channels. Also Road Runner.

[electricshadow]

Oh yes, because we all know how right Patcher has been in the past.

[wpggamer]

I'm kind of curious if anyone has stats on his rightness or wrongness. I'm betting it's pretty low.

[palaeomerus]

MS can't call it Xbox-Live Platinum. Platinum (hits) is what they call their discounted line of older games that have sold "x" amount.

[WeirdShroom]

Do people actually still listen to Pachter? This guy is a moron. All he ever does is pull predictions out of his ass that are always wrong. Why does anyone even pay attention to him?

[divideby0]

just give me free online gameplay like I have with PSN thats all that matters to me.
I am a charter Gold Live member and I am just tired of paying to play games online...all the other stuff is useless crap which I can do for free on the PC

[gamingisnotacrime]

my gaming style is mostly RPGs, Action/Adventures and FPS online is an after thought. I enjoy MAG and BC2, but not enough to pay for the little time i spent monthly playing those games
free online is the only fair way, after paying $60 for Halo and having to pay more for online gaming is pathetic

[divideby0]

^ totally agree...the only reason I am playing BC2 on Live is because of party chat...the game is totally gimped with only 4 in a squad and not intersquad chat...party chat on live is the really only time I have used the feature in gameplay..and thats do to the gimped game not live.

[maverick1191]

100 bucks? jeez

for another online service i dont own a 360 but that would put me off even more a subscription costing 100 bucks a year

[gamingisnotacrime]

Silver members- play online for free
Gold members- get all the apps goodies
Plat members- get the extra content

As long as M$ charges for online gaming, LIVE is too expensive. Paying extra for online gaming is an embarrassment and to see M$ to encourage this approach is enough to disgust anyone who believes in getting their money's worth

[captainjy]

First of all, Pachter is an idiot. His "predictions" never come to fruition, second of all, going from $50 to $60, who cares? I just got 2 years of Xbox Live for $60 from Dell.com, which comes out to $2.50 a month. Lastly, the idea of paying $100, $300 or $500 a month for services isn't realistic at all.

[AutoCad]

Define "cool stuff" please..

[AliTheBrit19]

Patcher is so full of sh*t!

Xbox Live Gold already has Sky TV, which I use from time to time to watch on demand stuff

Seriously this guy just needs to STFU and GTFO.

[kissmeimgreek]

I like how everyone thinks this WILL happen.

Guys, its EFFING PACHTER. If he says this im more inclined to believe Gold membersdhip will be cheaper now lol.

[HorriblePanda]

do we really need a new lvl of service? i dont think so i mean hell 50 a year is an okay price for live i have an i gonna keep it after its up probley not as i dont use it a whole lot like i should but rasing the price to 60 a year thats over kill. i would rather buy a new game the use a over priced service. if patch attack is right then all this is gonna be is M$ trying to juice more of its consumers like always.... such a sad sad greedy way to act. then again they are a company....gaming is going down the hell hole and you got fangrrls like murderdolls supporting them and dont forget the fanbois also. and this is not just an attack on M$ lets not forget $0ny either lets offer a pay to play service... tisk tisk.....man what happend to our once great hobbie? things go all digital count me out and i hope you all do the same since all they are gonna try and to is take our choices away from us and tell us what to do

[sak500]

Pacheter predicts xblive platinum. So it means xbl will become free.

[Microsoft_Spokesman]

So they are taking a piece of poo, putting more poo on top of it and charging more for it. Perfect for xbots.

[Wrathman]

no that was the phat ps3 to slim ps3.it was the same sh1t just in a different case.and guess wot..you all went out and either traded in your fat poo or just bought another poo to sit along side the other poo.

perfect for droids

[playstation_clan]

but my fat poo can play ps2/ps1 games and has last years (still working) while my xbox 3shitty is broken in 1 year, talk about a waste of 400 green papers, huh

[Wrathman]

maybe you'll get award for such an outstanding achievement.last i checked my xbox worked fine while my ps3 has freezing issues.so whats your point?

[CernaML]

54.7%? :P

[caffman]

he's as bad as hip hop gamer!

[kissmeimgreek]

pretty much just a white HHG.

[Kev2077]

bullshit i pay €60 a year and dey aint gettin any more off me

[JackBNimble]

Because you have no choice.

[outlawlife]

pachter is out of his melon, how does this guy get work?

he said xbox live price was going up last year and here we are microsoft actually discounting live prices on a regular basis

[BakedGoods]

Surprisingly, for being a video game researcher, Patcher is completely out of touch with the industry. I've read most of his comments over the last year, a majority of them are well known predictions or completely false.

Platinum for $500 a year? Right. He's building headlines to increase his popularity which is unintentionally fanning the fanboy flames.

[Mkai28]

I don't want to have friend names pop up while I am watching t.v. What is the point of having netflix and zune 1080p? Would they not be competing against netflix? Do you know how long you would have the 360 on if you had this feature, switching from networking t.v. to games? It would burn up, I think it is what sony will do that will make microsoft change things up but not to that extent.
Little patcher, you fail.

Ps: What is the best way to stop fanboyism, don't respond to them.
Stopping fanboys one day at a time.

[outlawlife]

you do realize you can shut notifications off?

[CarnageXB]

I love XBL and all and play my 360 more than my ps3 but the day they rise the XBL membership my 360 is going in the closet. Im already paying $50 a year.

[Petebloodyonion]

1) I would loves to have 1000 tv channels on my box but what internet providers that put bandwith cap?
2) Wow Internet on my 360! Ho crap I still need to pay my normal ISP and I have 3 computers, a Iphone and a cell so why would I want that?

Sorry but I don't see MS going that way.

[NeloAnjelo]

I guess E3 will reveal all. Patcher may be on to something here... However, I feel that his price choices are too high.

I may be in the minority here but I would love to see what Sony can offer as as a premium service, providing that I can can still play online for free that is. Then again, how may consumers would move to a premium service if the current form of PSN is free?

I would love access to all their shows, a TV service where I can watch and downnload shows, discount on rentals, movies, games, etc...
It must be competitive. Xbox live has already proved itself. E3 can't get here soon enough!

[IWentBrokeForGaming]

go's against anything I was told about the service on my PS3 since I've had my 60gig...

and a higher pricetag for LIVE? whenever this hits... Im gonna have to say goodbye to some awesome people I've come to be friends with on LIVE!

[FinalomegaS]

oh really...

and the thing that gets me is that he gets paid for this...

[SephireX]

I've xbox live since 2004 and I can tell you this, I ain't paying for no platinum crap. I've PSN which I get for free and I feel bad about paying for the Gold service as it is. The only reason I do is because I care about my gamertag. The main thing I want to do on xbox live is play games online and that's what most gamers want to do. Seen as you can do that with Gold, I doubt many people will want to pay more for Platinum.

[Lightel0s]

im a happy silver xbox 360 member that buy a lots of xbla games, im not interested in gold and never will be in a "platinum service" but honestly i dont think that will happen never.

[Tzuno]

Lately Patcher talk about a lot of bullshit. Patcher predict this Patcher predict that. Well Fook You mister Patcher you just want attention. Wait Wait now i have a vision hold on waaaaaait owwww yes that's it "Hey Patcher your mom is a M.I.L.F"

[Bladeslayer]

Bout time I can't wait for this