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Xbox Live Gold price to rise

Mr. Gayle

By Mr. Gayle
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Mr. Gayle Newbie

Mr. Gayle

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Microsoft is increasing the monthly charge for using the Xbox Live Gold service. Starting from November 1, the price will rise from £4.99 to £5.99 a month. Similar increases are being applied in the US and Canada. According to MCV, UK gamers who pay annually for the service will not be affected by the price increase, and users are being offered the chance to extend their subscriptions at the current price level.

Although access to the basic Xbox Live service is free, the Gold service is required to play online multiplayer games. Currently, rival services offered on the PlayStation 2 and Wii consoles are free, although Sony has just introduced PlayStation Plus, a premium version of its online offering, which provides early access to demos, free downloadable games, and automatic firmware updates. The price is £39.99 for a 12 month subscription.

"Since launching Xbox LIVE in 2002 we have continually added more content and entertainment experiences for our members, while keeping the price the same," wrote official Xbox blogger, Major Nelson when announcing the price changes. "We're confident that when the new pricing takes effect, an Xbox LIVE Gold membership will continue to offer the best value in the industry."

Across the board, console manufacturers and games publishers are adding more functionality to their online services, with downloadable content, social networking support and seamless chat functionality becoming the norm. The extra costs of implementing and maintaining these services has led many industry giants to consider subscription charges. Electronic Arts has already implemented Online Pass, which charges purchasers of pre-owned EA Sports games for downloadable content packs. Activision, meanwhile, is thought to be considering subscription fees for online multiplayer gaming on titles like Call of Duty – although the company has denied this. Microsoft will also have the extra burden of Kinect, its forthcoming motion controller system, which offers a range of connectivity features.

Critics, however, point out that some of the key additions to the Microsoft Xbox Live infrastructure, specifically including movie downloads, are paid-for services which should therefore not affect the base subscription rate. Others are suspicious of the timing. This winter will see the release of Halo: Reach, one of the most hotly anticipated titles of the year, and one heavily focused on multiplayer gaming.

What do you think? Is this the inevitable cost of maintaining a vast online content system in an era of endless digital downloads and social connectivity? Or is it a sneaky way of boosting the coffers with Halo gold?

Keith Stuart Posted by Keith Stuart Tuesday 31 August 2010 09.23 BST guardian.co.uk

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revs Newbie

revs

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Reminds me.

I paid for LIVE once on my card and I aint yet cancelled the direct cebit. Been paying £5 a month for like the last 4 months getting bumped.

lol it happened to me too but i paid for one month using my card. Ended up paying for his Live for year without realising. I asked him why didn't he think it was weird it never ran out - he just thought he slipped through the system. ^_)

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O.Man Newbie

O.Man

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Reminds me.

I paid for LIVE once on my card and I aint yet cancelled the direct cebit. Been paying £5 a month for like the last 4 months getting bumped.

lol it happened to me too but i paid for one month using my card. Ended up paying for his Live for year without realising. I asked him why didn't he think it was weird it never ran out - he just thought he slipped through the system. ^_)

you asked who, yourself?

going skitz fam lay off the grade

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revs Newbie

revs

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Reminds me.

I paid for LIVE once on my card and I aint yet cancelled the direct cebit. Been paying £5 a month for like the last 4 months getting bumped.

lol it happened to me too but i paid for one month using my card. Ended up paying for his Live for year without realising. I asked him why didn't he think it was weird it never ran out - he just thought he slipped through the system. ^_)

you asked who, yourself?

going skitz fam lay off the grade

lol thats what you get for replying and do your work at the same time. lol :lol:

i meant i paid for my mate

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djbmc Newbie

djbmc

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<br />
<br />
<br />lol @ PS+ havin "automatic firmware updates" as a selling point<br />
<br /><br /><br />It's a push service.. 'course it's a selling point.<br />
<br /><br />You what?<br />
<br /><br /><br />

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Push_technology?wasRedirected=true

lolol wtf is this?

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Mr. Gayle Newbie

Mr. Gayle

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<br />
<br />
<br />lol @ PS+ havin "automatic firmware updates" as a selling point<br />
<br /><br /><br />It's a push service.. 'course it's a selling point.<br />
<br /><br />You what?<br />
<br /><br /><br />

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Push_technology?wasRedirected=true

lolol wtf is this?

<br /><br /><br />

TTKK

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Skola Newbie

Skola

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<br />
<br />
<br />lol @ PS+ havin "automatic firmware updates" as a selling point<br />
<br /><br /><br />It's a push service.. 'course it's a selling point.<br />
<br /><br />You what?<br />
<br /><br /><br />

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Push_technology?wasRedirected=true

lolol wtf is this?

<br /><br /><br />

TTKK

Dun no the myspace dot com forward slash' date=' R N B <br /> 1 [/quote']
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Natty Newbie

Natty

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Posted

<br />
<br />
<br />lol @ PS+ havin "automatic firmware updates" as a selling point<br />
<br /><br /><br />It's a push service.. 'course it's a selling point.<br />
<br /><br />You what?<br />
<br /><br /><br />

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Push_technology?wasRedirected=true

:lol: @ that being a selling point

even the wii has that ffs

can't believe what i'm reading

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Natty Newbie

Natty

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Nah man. It means your PS3 turns itself on & off downloading the latest demos/games you get from PSN+ including patches and firmware updates. People pay for this type of conveniance with Blackberry services and stuff, so it's a selling point for PSN+.

Fair enough turning itself on is pretty nice tbh

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Dubby Newbie

Dubby

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Nah man. It means your PS3 turns itself on & off downloading the latest demos/games you get from PSN+ including patches and firmware updates. People pay for this type of conveniance with Blackberry services and stuff, so it's a selling point for PSN+.

Fair enough turning itself on is pretty nice tbh

Seriously? Are updates that special that you need to have them ASAP?

And lol @ this being "push technology"

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Faisal Newbie

Faisal

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Nah man. It means your PS3 turns itself on & off downloading the latest demos/games you get from PSN+ including patches and firmware updates. People pay for this type of conveniance with Blackberry services and stuff, so it's a selling point for PSN+.

Fair enough turning itself on is pretty nice tbh

Seriously? Are updates that special that you need to have them ASAP?

And lol @ this being "push technology"

Uh, everyone dislikes having to download a firmware update when turning on their PS3's among other things. Fair enough if it's not useful to you.

/

How is it not? The only thing it doesn't really push are probably demo's and games as it comes out every week repetitively so for those it's prolly time based.

Firmwares and patches are deffo pushed though since you can't just time those. And even then certain demo's and games get delayed so you can't expect timed wake-ups to always work.

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