In case you don’t own an Xbox, what I’m talking about is Xbox Live, Microsoft’s online gaming/content/social network system for the Xbox 360. The free, or “Silver” version of the service offers a slim set of online capabilities, limited to game demo and add-on downloads, and some downloadable video content. But all the other stuff the Xbox does online – the online gaming, the movie and music streaming, the social networking – requires an Xbox Live Gold subscription, which costs $US50 a year, $US20 every three months or $US8 a month.
In return, Microsoft gives you online gaming, something which has obvious costs for them, and which I can understand paying for. But they’re also effectively selling you access to services that aren’t theirs, services that are free, or services that you’ve already paid for:
• Netflix. If you have access to Netflix instant streaming, you’re already paying at least $US9 a month for the service, and whatever you pay for your broadband connection. You can stream it for no extra charge on all other consoles, and the content is streamed from Netflix’s servers, so why are we paying Microsoft for this?
• Last.fm, Twitter and Facebook. These are recent additions to Xbox Live, and Microsoft obviously spent a fair bit of time and resources devising new interfaces for these services. It would be fair, then, to charge a set number of Xbox Points for these apps, but to charge a recurring Live Membership fee to access these otherwise free services doesn’t make sense.
• Zune. This, of all the services in the Xbox Live Gold ghetto, makes the least sense. In the Zune video marketplace, you pay for movies with Xbox points. In other words, you have to pay for Zune movies or TV shows twice: once with your Live Gold membership, and once with your actual media purchase.
I’m not saying that Microsoft should scrap Live altogether, or that there can’t be a paid tier for the service. I’m just saying that Microsoft needs a Live subscription system that only asks you to pay Microsoft when Microsoft gives you something in return. Charge for online gaming, charge for Netflix Parties, charge for things that cost money.
Just stop charging us for things that we’ve already paid for, or that we don’t – or even can’t – pay for anywhere else.
Munchiemike
Thursday, January 14, 2010 at 6:44 AMThere not making you pay for a thing extra, people pay’d the 50 bones before all the extras, all of those services are free online and since your posting here you have a computer with internet so presto changeo just use them on here,
Ryan
Thursday, January 14, 2010 at 9:49 AMWhat if they want to watch Netflix on a bigger screen? i.e. TV
The excuse was always that you pay for a premium service, but really (aside from online gaming) your just paying for the ability to pay for something. Now that the PS3 has caught up in alot of areas (and passed them in others) I think it is time for them to do a re-think.
francis
Thursday, January 14, 2010 at 10:07 AMOne of the points is that the netflix offers the convenience of watching movies on a medium that’s already connected to the tv. This is the influential factor of using netflix on a console rather than the computer, as most ppl don’t bother connecting their computer to the tv as a display.
For facebook or twitter, it’s not worth the typing hassle to use xbox.