Microsoft explains Xbox Live Gold price increase

#Tgard - I see your point of view and yes you are right, MP is much fun
If the budget is $500 then with that money you would get a ~good computer (mine for example), a monitor (BenQ 21.5" LED) and mouse and keyboard. Then again if you would buy 2nd hand parts it would be much cheaper and almost as good depending on what you buy ofc...

So if you pay as much for a (complete) computer package as you pay for a xbox and then start to compare prices of the games and what it costs to play online then the pc is cheaper (but not easier). And one other thing too that's good with the pc, you can do so much more with it than you can do with a xbox! -if you study and you need o computer for that then why don't not just buy a slightly better computer that you can do everything with stead of first buying a computer and then a xbox, that would just be stupid!

noobie _*lol* i tinkered with computers probably before you where born ..

but its quite possibly so that your pices in america is better then where i live .. but you can get a half decent office computer for $500 here in Sweden

Only the graphics card would cost $350 - 450

Yeah! More features! Like... um... HD DVD player! WHOO!!! Oh and of course the graphics are worlds better. It's like, 7 steps up in resolution! I really wish I could spend 50 quid a year for that. And lovefilm is coming to the PS3 (obv UK only though) but I really wish I could spend all that extra money. And have it RROD on me. That would be soo much better.

so you dont need a harddrive then? No PSU to drive your new shiny hardware .. no cooling? old case quite often cant drive new hardware with their included PSU

Forgot to add that anyone saying xbox has better graphics just has to look at GoW3, KZ2/3 and Uncharted 2.

On the contrary, the bigger the screen the easier it is to see the shortcomings of the pc is probably what you mean.


I said that. Its exactly what I meant. With "dumb down," being said its also true that after this is done it's pretty equal to a console's fps, maybe more in some spots if you like to stay still and take screen shots and probably just as much while moving.


No one here can put together a compelling enough of an argument to prove that a 500 dollar usd machine you build can still give you more than a constant fps above 30 on a 1080p lcd monitor/tv. If you can please show me the os you're using that didnt cost 20% of your budget price.


I honestly think it could be argued both ways, but I decided to go console for a reason of personal interest. I've built a lot of pcs for people, but this off topic in this thread is a huge reason why I stop building budget "gaming," machines. I just don't think they exist. Well they do, until people get the machine home and decide to upgrade the only thing they're not afraid to touch, " the monitor." Every pc gamer loves "the eye candy," So there's always experimentation with that. Now remember I'm debating at a 500 usd price point or 500ish I should say.

I'll also add that there's no way you're going to get a 500 usd pc to last in gaming for 5 years and be "happy," about it. My dad's com 64 still works but no one will touch it to check email. Hmm guess why. You think so? I have a pc that's exactly 4 years old right now. One of the first quad cores. Top end asus boards the worx. Its depressing to think about, well kind of not really. You want to stand behind a 4-5 year old 500 dollar pc and be a martyr for the sake of pc then go ahead, if not go look up "the general," in our pci section here. He became a martyr of a 5 year old pc.

#JudaZ - Varifrån tar du dina delar om allt är så dyrt..? -kanske det skulle löna sig att beställa från finland?

I payed 355€ for my rig but then again I reused a old PSU, CD drive and case...and then again if you want a cheap ~decent computer you can get a case and cd drive for free if you just ask around a bit...anyway I can play for ex. Mafia II and Fallout New Vegas @ 1920x1080 and have all the settings at high and still have 38-56fps and for me that's good enough...(even if I'm soon going to buy more ram and a slightly better gpu)

My PC was £400 (£500 with OS vista,) Got it 2 years ago, it can still play latest releases with max settings and games are £20-30 cheaper. DLC for games like Left for dead are free. unlike on Xbox. I own all consoles as well.

What I see is that console gaming has gotten more expensive than pc gaming no to mention that a gaming pc will do everything (that someone can do on a computer!) while consoles are restricted to gaming.

im with you on this, but as much as love the PS3 over 360, you cant deny the ease of use with xbox live when it comes to getting a few buddies in a party, and joinig ta game together. party chat, send voice/text messages; its just simply better and more user freindly than PS3's free Playstation Network

So is the thinking, "We have more users, lets charge more money to shed users."

Because I'm not going to renew out of protest. I don't want all the extra services. I'm only asking for multi-player. Anything above that is just fluff that I'm not using.

Why buy Blu-ray films if you can watch them in full HD on Xbox Live...

This is ridiculous! Users paid 50$ for the continuous support and development - this is not a valid reason to raise price because of the new content available! Just take for example WoW players pay a certain amount of money every month (~15$) BECAUSE of the new features and content currently in development, otherwise their would not be any fees there...

Also, gears and halo are exclusive yes... what's the point with XboxLive ? PS3 has also exclusivities like resistance and PSN isn't billable anyway....

Microsoft really suck on this. Making every users to pay more and more where the competitors give all away for free.

Good thing I got a 1 year for $36 on newegg back in May!

But seriously, shouldn't more users make the price of membership go DOWN, not up? Besides, all this extra "content" in my book is just crap we don't need. I bought an Xbox to game and would use Netflix if my internet connection was faster. That's it. Sure I was pumped when they brought on streaming music and Facebook, but they were stripped down apps that you couldn't fun at the same time as a game. And the Facebook application also lacks chat. And don't get me started on Avatars...

But I do in a way feel that I am getting ripped off still paying for stuff I don't want OR need. I don't know if it's enough to make me stop renewing my subscription though...

Uhh, how many WoW expansions would you like me to name that cost money?

The console-philes are forgetting that at the end of the day I can do a lot more with my PC than just play games. So when you factor in the comparable cost re: gaming, and then factor in all the other things you can do with your PC, its a no brainer. At the end of the day if I *just* wanted to game I would have invested in consoles.

I have no problems paying $60 for the service. It's well worth it. The online multiplayer is second to none.

online games, netflix, espn3, etc, etc, they have got america by the balls - they can charge how ever much they want without suffering from decrease in number of users. they can do this at will because there is no easy (cheap) alternatives. who is not happy about a $10 (~$0.80 / month) bump in price and is willing to give up all the xbox games and turn around and buy a PS3? they will probably buy PS3 but definitely not selling xbox because of this bump. MS's doing evil it's like drug lord raise price on drugs - no one is gonna complaint and boycott it (sry just finished watching The Wire)...