XBL price gouging.

[Murgatroyd7]

So, how does everyone feel about the new (higher) price for Xbox Live Gold accounts? Surprisingly, I've been seeing quite a few people supporting this and saying "What's another $10?" but these are probably also kids who don't pay their own hard-earned money. Personally, I find the price raise incredibly unfair, largely because they claim that it is a result of new features, but these are features that we aren't asking for! I don't know about anyone else, but I don't even want half of these features!

Last.FM is a cool feature, but I never use it. I hate the Zune crap and I'm still mad that they forced it upon me, making it more difficult to view my downloaded videos. I really couldn't care less about Twitter and Facebook; I've never even used these web sites and I sure as hell don't need them on my gaming console. And I flat-out don't want ESPN because I hate sports. I might eventually get a Kinect, but the support they're adding shouldn't warrant an extra fee.

With all of these different features, I don't benefit in any way. Sure, I use Netflix, but that's free on PS3 and Wii, so I don't even need it. I really think they need to have Live packages of some sort. There should be a base price and then they can simply charge for each additional feature (like an extra $5/year for ESPN). This would be far more reasonable and it would give Microsoft an excuse to create a bunch of different features, add-ons, and Xbox "apps" that they could provide for a fee. I know there are tons of people who would be drawn in by stuff like this (and more people would be willing to get a basic Live Gold account for maybe $30), so in the end, Microsoft could potentially end up making more money than by hiking up the price. I'm sure Microsoft wouldn't even consider doing this, but it would certainly be nice.

At least Pachter was wrong about the $100 price...but when is he not wrong?

[StatiK TactiK]

Im pretty mad about that. Canadians should be just as mad as me since we too have to pay the price increase and us Canucks dont even GET half the features that they are supposedly raising the price to support.

I agree, I could care less about Facebook, Twitter and Zune. And ESPN, Last.FM and Netflix aren't even available in Canada......So WTF am I paying extra for? Bring ESPN, Last.FM and Netflix to Canada and I'd be more inclined to be ok with it but as of right now, we are paying extra for features that I cant even use. That's beyond bullshit.

But really, if you're going to charge more for something that is already free on the PS3, make dedicated servers! I could give two shits about Facebook and Twitter and even if I had to, ESPN. I would give all that up for consistent lag-free gaming. Im tired of turning consoles into multimedia centers. I turn on my Xbox to game...so why isn't that the priority?

[Murgatroyd7]

I turn on my Xbox to game...so why isn't that the priority?

Exactly! Sony started this whole fad of turning consoles into multimedia centers and I've never bought into it. When I have to own three different consoles, I don't want to pay all of that extra money just so they can play movies and do all kinds fancy things I don't give a damn about. I don't need my console to watch movies, play music, browse the internet, or cook my breakfast...I just want to play games!

Admittedly, I do like some of the videos made available through the dashboard and I love having downloadable arcade games, but they're adding way too much stuff that has nothing to do with gaming. I realize how it easy it is to argue that if we don't like it, we don't have to pay...but people who say this don't seem to realize that we do have to pay if we want the one or two features we actually use. And really, I'm fine with that, but it's unfair to force all of this extra junk upon us and then tell us that we have to pay for it. It's like going in for an oil change and having them tune up your engine without asking.

[Mike]

I don't know, $60 for a full year isn't much for what you are getting. But on the other hand its still $60 for something that on the PC I get for free with most games.

[Murgatroyd7]

I just don't feel like we're getting much of anything. And like you said, most of this stuff is free on the PC.

I could understand if they were trying to offset server costs or even if they were honest enough to actually say that they want more money (I'd still be upset, but still)...but it's bull that they are acting like this is for our benefit. They are only catering to a few specific groups of people. I just wish we had more options besides "pay up or get out". The least they could do is add a Platinum level of XBL that has the fancy shmancy ESPN and other silly additions, while us Gold members retain the accounts we currently have.

[Raymo]

Ditto here, I can't believe they're upping the price because of all the crap they've thrown on there. Zune and last.fm dont interest me, and I already pay a fee for netflix and i use my pc for facebook. This is totally uncalled for and even though its an extra 10 a year, thats still a pain for features I dont even use.

[Murgatroyd7]

I'm thinking of taking advantage of the $39.99 deal and buying a Gold card or two so I won't have to worry about this for a couple of years.

[DeYanKees1]

This is bullsh*t I hate it as well but seeing as I have 2 extra 1 year codes I shouldn't be worrying about this for a while. It just flat out sucks but I will be using that ESPN feature a LOT I love me my sports.

[Murgatroyd7]

Well, at least you get more out of this than I do. Heh. For people who like sports, the ESPN addition is probably worth the extra money. But for guys like me, it's completely pointless. And I know I can just avoid the price gouge by stocking up on cards, but I can't afford to get them yet, and I'm worried that they're going to be hard to get now that people are probably trying to scoop them up.

[DeYanKees1]

Yea the ESPN is justifying it for me but not everyone is like me like you said sucks for people who wont be using or care for that feature. Microsoft is just crazy I guess. Those year cards are crazy on Amazon people are jacking up prices and what not I saw a couple going for $60 and some for $70 like wtf do they know people can just go to the store and get one for $50 before Nov. Newegg has them for $39.99 with 1.99 shipping my friend just bought 2 and told me about it.

[Murgatroyd7]

Yeah, some people are a bit dense. I've been seeing some for $80, which makes absolutely no sense. Even when the price goes up, it will still be $20 cheaper than that. Thanks for the heads-up about Newegg; I completely forgot that they started selling video games awhile back. Target has the cards for $45, but it looks like Newegg has the best deal right now. I was thinking about getting the $55 messenger pack on Amazon so I can get the keypad and game (and it wouldn't hurt to have an extra headset), but I might also have to get one of these cards from Newegg. They're based only two hours south of me, so I usually get stuff from them overnight.