Xbox live price going up !

[Arwin]

The only thing I don't want is for someone like Arwin to believe they are an authoritative source on something they clearly don't use just because they have it.

I don't believe I am an authoritative source on anything (well maybe Motion controls a little by now, but even there I can be wrong on anything). I'm talking from what I know about Live and PSN and I am ready to be proven wrong by anyone. The other day I learnt that my 360 actually has USB connectors on the front. I just never noticed them (they are hidden after all). That seems stupid, but is just a good example of why I even if you do think you know a lot, you never know everything and should never presume to know everything.

All we can ever do here is list arguments and give personal opinions, and use those of others to improve our knowledge.

And yes, everyone who thinks $50 is worth it, will very likely also pay $60. Some of us, me included, have always paid this by the way - Live has always been 59,99 euro over here in The Netherlands. It's no surprise then perhaps that we are not getting a price increase. In fact, this year I paid less than that for the first time since I think Xbox1 days by using an online offer of something like 38 euros.

 

[NavNucST3]

I don't believe I am an authoritative source on anything (well maybe Motion controls a little by now, but even there I can be wrong on anything). I'm talking from what I know about Live and PSN and I am ready to be proven wrong by anyone. The other day I learnt that my 360 actually has USB connectors on the front. I just never noticed them (they are hidden after all). That seems stupid, but is just a good example of why I even if you do think you know a lot, you never know everything and should never presume to know everything.

All we can ever do here is list arguments and give personal opinions, and use those of others to improve our knowledge.

And yes, everyone who thinks $50 is worth it, will very likely also pay $60. Some of us, me included, have always paid this by the way - Live has always been 59,99 euro over here in The Netherlands. It's no surprise then perhaps that we are not getting a price increase. In fact, this year I paid less than that for the first time since I think Xbox1 days by using an online offer of something like 38 euros.

You were the easiest target don't take it too personally (maybe a little...but not too much). For motion controls on the PS3 I will listen that and analog buttons...who can forget the analog buttons! But we only need to take a look at the vs thread for media functionality to see how many changes have occurred over the years from the first post to the last to know that to keep up with all of it takes serious effort.

 

[patsu]

I pay for myself and my son, the online gaming is, at a minimum, a tertiary concern. Since Gold is required for Netflix and Zune, I have Gold since I don't have cable tv. My viewing habits don't match the changes that happened months ago at Hulu so the AzBat method doesn't work for me even though I own PlayOn premium. The fact that I can store the HD and SD versions of my tv shows and movies on my usb drive is just an added benefit and yet none of this should matter to anyone else.

Exactly. The payment should be justifiable simply by looking at your own usage pattern.

Don't be personally offended if I didn't like my PS3 enough to keep it. I don't care if you don't use your Wii or 360 or PS3. The only thing I don't want is for someone like Arwin to believe they are an authoritative source on something they clearly don't use just because they have it.

Even if we use a product heavily, it may not mean that we are the authoritative source for said product. Using a product and giving information are often 2 different things.

I think Arwin simply gave his view on the services without judging them. If there's any inaccuracy, all we need to do is to correct the facts. He should be free to express his own views, like many others.

 

[Billy Idol]

The takeaway from this thread so far, which I think was essentially covered on page 1, is that those of us who have Gold and actually use it, while we don't LIKE having price increases, will continue to pay for Gold (for myself/family we will be on the family pack). For those dual-console 360/PS3 owners who prefer to play on the PS3 and rarely use their 360 will eventually revert to Silver.

good summary

Don't be personally offended if I didn't like my PS3 enough to keep it.

I don't think that someone can be offended by this?! (Maybe some SONY bosses, I don't know).

However, in my case - the thing I feel, is...sorry, sorry for you...because IMO you miss some of the best games available.

And this is something that I learned from this thread: I use Xbox360+PS3 only for gaming, heck I watched like 2 Blue Ray movies on my PS3 (I think both were for free or so) and I am not interested in anything else - just gaming. That is why I am mostly interested in the available games of each platform, nothing more, nothing less...being a mono-console guy is not an option for me.
I don't gonna miss Gears 3 and I don't gonna miss KZ3

Reading posts of you guys is enlightning to me, because you guys are not only interested in gaming, but all the other multi media stuff. So what did surprises me brutally, that someone sells his PS3 and thus missing out all the good games (the same goes if someone would selll his Box and keep the PS only) is something I understand better now -> for you guys, it is not all about gaming/games only.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

However, in my case - the thing I feel, is...sorry, sorry for you...because IMO you miss some of the best games available.

there's no need to feel sorry for that, as if NavNucST3 had cared for those games, he'd have kept his PS3. Just as I miss out on the best Wii and 360 titles for not owning either, but I don't care because they don't appeal to me, save a couple here and there.

 

[corduroygt]

I'm not offended or embarassed to say that I'm cheap. I just don't like paying for things that are sold at obscene markups when I can avoid it, and XBL is one of these things that can be avoided.

 

[BRiT]

I'm not offended or embarassed to say that I'm cheap. I just don't like paying for things that are sold at obscene markups when I can avoid it, and XBL is one of these things that can be avoided.

Do you not do any gaming with friends?

 

[patsu]

You can game with friends on PSN. I have 98 on my friends list. If you want you can also game with strangers or unlisted friends in Home. It's just that you use different UI to do so, some work better than others. There is no guarantee in the quality of experience.

 

[corduroygt]

Do you not do any gaming with friends?

I do, playing UC2 with my friends is a blast.
For other games, I just call them up on the phone.

 

[Richard]

Am I right that your answer applies also to this question:

"Why are the Xbox Live costs increased?"

Sure, that's why they only increased it in the markets XBOX is ahead of PS3. MS's argument that the price increase is tied to the extra features (ESPN, etc. etc.) is just an excuse: the UK got a price increase and it's missing most of the extras they mention.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Another PSN rant - just logged into the web portal for PSN to see if my friend is online for some Alien Breed, and it doesn't update. A good 50% of the time you just can't get it to work and view what's going on with your friends. Ah, several refreshes later and it finally get's through. Another wonderfully smooth PSN experience!

 

[patsu]

What is the EU URL for web friends list ?

What happens if you try: http://us.playstation.com/myfriends/ ? It should complete update in 15 seconds or so.

 

[Arwin]

What is the EU URL for web friends list ?

What happens if you try: http://us.playstation.com/myfriends/ ? It should complete update in 15 seconds or so.

Did you see the Qriocity on the login page for this site? This isn't on the EU site, or not last time I checked anyway. Is that new or has it been there a while?

EDIT: and yeah, the EU site seems slow right now. They are in the process of changing stuff, because the iTrophy application on iPhone also mentions some changes happening. Yep, I checked against the PS3 itself and the US site is fast and up-to-date, where the EU site is currently lagging. EU PSN is also a slow right now with updating the friends list on the PS3 itself.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

What is the EU URL for web friends list ?

What happens if you try: http://us.playstation.com/myfriends/ ? It should complete update in 15 seconds or so.

it's this one:
https://secure.eu.playstation.com/sign-in/

You know, the European one, because it makes no sense to have a common portal to an international network.

EDIT: and yeah, the EU site seems slow right now.

Sometimes it's pretty nippy, other times it dawdles, and other times I can't get it to update at all. It's been like this since I started using it some months back.

 

[NavNucST3]

there's no need to feel sorry for that, as if NavNucST3 had cared for those games, he'd have kept his PS3. Just as I miss out on the best Wii and 360 titles for not owning either, but I don't care because they don't appeal to me, save a couple here and there.

Well, I consider myself having played many games on the system. There are some games I loved (Super StardustHD, flow, flower, inFamous, Uncharted1), some games I liked (wipEoutHD, Uncharted2, LBP) and some big name games that I simply did not care for...this is all ok and just as I will survive not playing GT HD or Killzone 3 (I did not like 2 enough to finish it), as I'm sure millions upon millions of people who do own the PS3 won't play, they will survive.

Richard, I thought the UK only got a price increase for the monthly price not the yearly price. EDIT: I checked, the yearly price in the UK is NOT being increased.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Just a thought regards the Live! price hike (apparently that's the topic of conversation here. who'd'a thunk it!) - could this be as simple as a marketing ploy to help push discount prices? If MS are offering lots of special deals, then the actual price to buyers won't change, but the perceived value will. "Aha! It's supposed to be $60 for Live! but I wrangled a discount and got it for only $40!" versus "Oh, $40 for Live!" So far what little I can hear about the price increase amongst all the other arguing here is that few are actually paying that increase at the moment.

 

[BRiT]

I do, playing UC2 with my friends is a blast.
For other games, I just call them up on the phone.

Oh, my mistake. I was thinking you had an XBox but didn't opt for Live Gold.

 

[patsu]

Did you see the Qriocity on the login page for this site? This isn't on the EU site, or not last time I checked anyway. Is that new or has it been there a while?

EDIT: and yeah, the EU site seems slow right now. They are in the process of changing stuff, because the iTrophy application on iPhone also mentions some changes happening. Yep, I checked against the PS3 itself and the US site is fast and up-to-date, where the EU site is currently lagging. EU PSN is also a slow right now with updating the friends list on the PS3 itself.

The Qriocity logo has been there since around March I think. The ToA was updated to include Qriocity user policy also. It's been delayed but Sony is pretty clear they are heading that way.

That myfriends link is probably the more reliable way to get friends info. The trophy stuff will load quickly but the online status usually takes a while.

The iPhone PSN apps are less reliable in my experience. I use myPSN. It works well but a lot slower, partly because of ATT's 3G network.

EDIT: Yeah Shifty, it's wasteful to have 2 separate facilities. Not sure how they intend to move forward in the new combined structure.

While we are here, you can try the US PSN service whenever the EU one is busy (peak hours or under maintenance ?)

 

[BRiT]

could this be as simple as a marketing ploy to help push discount prices? If MS are offering lots of special deals, then the actual price to buyers won't change, but the perceived value will. "Aha! It's supposed to be $60 for Live! but I wrangled a discount and got it for only $40!" versus "Oh, $40 for Live!" So far what little I can hear about the price increase amongst all the other arguing here is that few are actually paying that increase at the moment.

That very easily could be the case.

I know I haven't paid retail MSRP for a long time for Live. Here's my current price breakdown:

$2.31 a month from 2007 Jan - 2012 May, 65 Months [5 cards * (12+1) month] at $30 a piece
$1.00 a month from 2012 June - 2012 June, 1 month for $1 MS special
$3.33 a month from 2012 July - 2013 June, 12 month renewal for $40 MS special

 

[NavNucST3]

Just a thought regards the Live! price hike (apparently that's the topic of conversation here. who'd'a thunk it!) - could this be as simple as a marketing ploy to help push discount prices? If MS are offering lots of special deals, then the actual price to buyers won't change, but the perceived value will. "Aha! It's supposed to be $60 for Live! but I wrangled a discount and got it for only $40!" versus "Oh, $40 for Live!" So far what little I can hear about the price increase amongst all the other arguing here is that few are actually paying that increase at the moment.

To be honest, given my personal feelings about what is going on in Entertainment for MSFT, I believe you are giving them too much credit :smile: As an outlier, I have always paid full retail for Live from my console for mine and my sons, and when I was covering my step-dad. I'm not sure I would have paid $120 for the family pack but $100 is ok with me since now my wife will be Gold as well, so you could be correct.