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Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2009 9:36 am
by TheCatt
Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2009 1:13 pm
by WSGrundy
Sold out online but still may be available in stores.
Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 9:07 am
by TheCatt
Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 9:34 am
by Leisher
Didn't I agree to buy one from you for $20?
I need to get you money.
Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 9:34 am
by GORDON
This is that subscription service thingie, right?
Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 10:45 am
by TheCatt
Subscription thingy, yeah.
I think it was $25... but you may have waited too long, I want to keep it now.... sorry.
Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 11:01 am
by GORDON
I heard the idea of "Here, pay for something that up until now you've gotten it for free" was such a flop that they fired the person at Microsoft responsible for it.
Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 11:31 am
by TheCatt
Actually, the make a freaking fortune on it.
Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 11:44 am
by TheCatt
Estimates put the # of Gold subscribers in the US around 9-10 million. Let's say MS grosses $2.50/user/month ($30/year). That's $250-300million/year in revenues. Nintendo and Sony give away their online services, but their online services, comparatively, suck ass. Especially Nintendo's. Since there's no additional revenue, there's little motivation to make it good.
My issue was always the price. But $30 for 13 months ($2.30/month) is almost nothing.
Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 12:50 pm
by Leisher
I think it was $25... but you may have waited too long, I want to keep it now.... sorry.
No big deal, I wouldn't use it now anyway. It'd it until September probably.
I heard the idea of "Here, pay for something that up until now you've gotten it for free" was such a flop that they fired the person at Microsoft responsible for it.
Actually, the make a freaking fortune on it.
You're both right.
MS makes a fortune off of console users.
PC users? Not so much.
Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 12:54 pm
by WSGrundy
GORDON wrote:I heard the idea of "Here, pay for something that up until now you've gotten it for free" was such a flop that they fired the person at Microsoft responsible for it.
I believe you are thinking of the guy involved with the PC side of Live. That was a huge flop because it didn't offer anything more then what others were giving for free.
Like catt says when just looking at the consoles there is an actual value to the Xbox Live service. Compared to the wii where you still have to fucking call people to see if there are online and then want to play a game. PS3 is better but still not as smooth and integrated as Live.
Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 12:57 pm
by TheCatt
Live for the PC is free now, so yeah... that one was a disaster. but at least they fixed it.
Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 1:24 pm
by Leisher
Although, it should also be noted that Sony Home, which is the PS3's Live equivalent is free. Ditto for the Wii's, I believe.
Some say that plans are in place for MS to drop all charges on Live IF they have to due to the competition.
Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 1:27 pm
by TheCatt
I have a feeling that's why we're seeing these $30 offers.
And if the PS3 cuts its price $100, then I think we'll see live.com cut or something too
Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 1:46 pm
by WSGrundy
Leisher wrote:Although, it should also be noted that Sony Home, which is the PS3's Live equivalent is free. Ditto for the Wii's, I believe.
Some say that plans are in place for MS to drop all charges on Live IF they have to due to the competition.
That is why I think the descriptions for the wii should be free but shit, ps3 free and ok, and 360 cost but really good. The wii is so bad that I don't even have any interest in playing online.
From the numbers I have seen the 360 has a 1.5 to 1 or 2 to 1 sales advantage in multiplatform games. If the PS3 base grows and more people buy PS3 games because they can play them online for free I see Live going down in price.
Kotaku had a story awhile back about how when the time came silver members would be able to play games online but those that kept paying for the gold membership would get priority over the silver members when it came to open game slots and other benefits.
Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 2:02 pm
by Leisher
I still think it's complete horseshit that one has to have a Gold account to do something like update rosters in Madden.
That should be free for everyone. End of story.
Posted: Tue Jan 13, 2009 2:16 pm
by WSGrundy
Sold out at buy.com but available again at walmart.
Posted: Thu Jun 11, 2009 2:48 pm
by WSGrundy
$33.99 at buy.com with free shipping.
Finally went ahead and bought one. Not as cheap as the $30 you see sometimes but $4 over the course of the year isn't going to ruin me.
Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2010 12:06 pm
by WSGrundy
Slickdeals has a link to a Gold account for $30.
Edited By WSGrundy on 1263575242
Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2010 1:07 pm
by Leisher
I've got Gold.