Xbox 360 Fanboy

i agree 100%

the only way for MS to make Xbox Live free is if SONY and NINTENDO have comparable and free service.

maybe if they had done this back when shadowrun launched, the game wouldn't have died such a horrible death

The thing is that XBL is a very, very good service, as opposed to the service that the Wii offers (nonexistant) or what the PS3 offers (not integrated enough) and I'm very willing to support Microsoft if they continue to keep XBL going and improving upon its already great features.

Tim: James definately has a point. The 360 has the best service, and Microsoft is seemingly a lot more dedicated to their console than either Wii or PS3. And seriously, its only $0.14 a day. Who wouldn't gladly pay that for an awesome service?

I agree with Mr U2. I got a 13+1 month card from Buy.com for 38.99 a bit ago and that works out to $3 a month. That's a great price for the friends list, game support, and the time I've spent gaming online with friends local or not.

Have you ever spent a couple hours gaming with friends on CoD4? Then turned around and tried to game with friends on Mario Kart? Which one did you think was worth $3 a month (or $0.004 cents an hour if you use a 30 day month).

It probably cost's more to have the system powered on and running a game that to subscribe to live.

Now broadband internet, that should be either free or less than what the cable company charges for it. How come everyone comes down on $50 a year (or 13 months actually) for Live when broadband is $50 a month?

I really don't want to question anybody's economic status, but Live is like $4 bucks and some change a month. Come on kid it's well worth the price.

"what the PS3 offers (not integrated enough) "

Back on the Xbox, XBL wasn't integrated in to everything and it still cost the same. So, the value went up, but PS3 is launching what Xbox 1 had at a cheaper price than it had it.

I know that $50 / year to play online isn't a big deal, but I guess the question comes up if we have to pay for it anymore. With XBLA, DLC and video marketplace making so much money, do we need to pay this fee to play online? I think the infrastructure and development costs are being covered by the money made on those other things.

Yeah, I know the PS3 was offering what the Xbox 1 had for free, but you should reread what you just wrote.

First off XBL on the original Xbox was a new service. Of course it wasn't integrated well, Microsoft had much to learn and eventually did learn after years of the service on the Xbox. They took feedback and turned it into what became XBL on the 360.

Secondly, the fact that the PS3 is offering what the original Xbox had for an online service is nice, but the PS3 should have improved (and I will admit, its getting better) much, much more than what it arrived with. It was a much better service than the PS2, but why are you trying to prove a point by comparing a current-gen service to a service from last gen?

XBL on the 360 is worth it and I don't see any other service quite reaching the quality of it right now. That justifies the price for me.

Please inform me on how I can get Live for $28 a year.

Dont you mean $50 per year (or $50 for 13 months, depending on whether you bought a 12mth+1 card)?

If you frequent slickdeals, cheapassgamer or the internet you should be able to find out where. The easiest way is to use google checkout with one of the many online retailers that sell the 13 month card for 38-39 dollars.

Also if you don't like shopping online you can keep an eye on the limited video game 13 month cards which occasionally go on sale at Target for 30-40 bucks depending on how well they are selling.

I bought a couple from buy.com when they still had their 38 dollar 13 month card deal, which you combined with the 10 dollar new user google checkout deal to drop it to 28. Just need more than one bank account or payment method and you could get a few of them for 28. I stocked up a while ago when they were on sale at a different site for less than 30 dollar shipped.