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The Problem Of Free: Why Charging For Xbox Live Is Good

"A common complaint about Xbox Live is that Microsoft is charging for something that you get for free on any other platform (PC, PS3, Wii). For many people free is their favorite four-letter word, and it is just a price you cannot beat. The inability to charge for online services of any sort (read: not just gaming) is a major problem though. This isn't just about games, here's why.

1. Money Isn't The Root Of All Evil, It Pays My Mortgage
2. You Don't Get What You Don't Pay For

..."

The article isn't just about Xbox Live or online gaming though. It applies more broadly to Internet services in general and why people don't want to pay.

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peskypescado - contributor
Published: 519 days 9 hours ago | Article | PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360 | Wii

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DaKid - 519 days 11 hours ago

1 -

Another week, another one of these articles. I could set my watch by it.

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ohnoTheRancor - 519 days 11 hours ago

1.1 - so true

and this guy didn't even bother trying to distinguish the two... aside from the link to a Ripten article.

and this Facebook analogy is way out of left field... i guess i missed all the ads on PSN.

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Willio - 519 days 8 hours ago

1.2 -

yet another week with another article that doesnt explain what services XBOXlive has over any other to justify its prices.

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DaKid - 519 days 8 hours ago

1.3 -

my point is we see these articals all the time. They offer no new information, and just start flame wars.

As long as people continue to pay for XBOX live, and microsoft continues to see the subscription base rise, and not fall, they will continue to charge for it. Such is life.

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Lifendz - 519 days 7 hours ago

1.4 - Doesn't bother me

seems the majority of Live subscribers are just fine paying for the service. The features of live being the reason why. Good for them. My whole thing is I'm happy with the PSN's level of service, the pace at which it has grown, and the fact that it's free is major (means I get roughly 60 bucks more a year to spend on games that I otherwise wouldn't have).

So to each their own. As long as people are willing to pay for Live then I don't see MS making the service free. Especially when they're going to be cutting the price of their hardware to a price that will make a 360 the cheapest console of the three.

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jaysquared - 519 days 7 hours ago

1.5 - I dont mind paying

but one thing I would like is for that $50 would give me the ability to have at least 4 other user names for other people to have their own stats and such. They should have a system like how AOL does it with having multiple screen names. It just sucks having to share one name unless you want to pay another $50!

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power of Green - 519 days 7 hours ago

1.6 -

This is actually a post that has little to do with PS3. I'm not understanding why so many PS3 fans are being offended. This notion he's talking about, when it comes to free vs payed is common sense and only disputed by Sony loyalist.

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FreeMonk - 519 days 7 hours ago

1.7 - At the moment....

For £40 a month, Xbox Live is totally worth it...at the moment. It's the most packaged Online service of all the available consoles.

Yes, Sony's and Nintendo's are free, but compared to Xbox Live, they feel very clunky and undeveloped.

This will change though, especially with Sony's introduction of Home, which should bring the whole Sony Online Community together and in a neater package.

That will be the time that Microsoft will have to jusify it's £40 a year fee for Xbox Live.

If Sony can offer the same experience that Xbox Live offers for Free with there Home package, MS will have no choice but to drop the price completly, just like they did with Live for Windows.

Somehow though, I don't think Nintedo will cause much of a threat. As long as they use Friend Codes, the online service will not match MS or Sony at all.

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Raoh - 519 days 10 hours ago

2 - sigh

Price of console

Plus

Price of live (you cant play online competitively without live gold)

equals total price. so the 360 is actually more expensive than they let on.

why is this important? its only a few dollars a month as many have said.

if thats the case. with all the money Microsoft spends on timed exclusivity, contract breaching, research, patents. your telling me they couldnt just pay for their own servers?

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MAiKU - 519 days 8 hours ago

2.1 -

Doesn't Play online, and the sega (phantasy star online) still charge you regardless?

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Willio - 519 days 8 hours ago

2.2 -

If you meant Play Online from Squarenix's FF11, then yes but its charged from the company, not MS. You would have to pay an extra $15 or so per month.

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deadpreacher - 519 days 8 hours ago

2.3 -

Games that charge you, you can play online with a Silver account since you paying the game makers to use there servers since you don't have to be Gold to play online. Yet just to be fair here since almost everyone is Gold anyways. They should make it half price at least for people that are already Gold and the Silvers pay full price.

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MAiKU - 519 days 8 hours ago

2.4 -

Ha, so it costs even more. god i hate M$.

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SaiyanFury - 519 days 7 hours ago

2.5 -

This article talks about why it's 'good' to charge for Xbox Live. Well the simple fact of the matter is that MS is only charging so they can make more money back on the 360. You can't tell me that it's 'good' to charge 100 dollars for the 360 wireless ethernet adapter can you? A 30 dollar piece of technology selling for 100 dollars. The PS3 and even the Wii comes with standard G-band Wi-Fi for crying out loud. Why does Microsoft charge 100 dollars for something that the 250 dollar Wii comes with?? When talking about a company that has a long history of worshiping the almighty dollar, that is Microsoft, you'll never get me to concede that charging for a service is better.

Oh yeah and I'm also wirelessly connected to the internet on my 360. And it didn't cost me 100 dollars; it cost me 35.

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Dareaver1 - 519 days 5 hours ago

2.6 - i'm not defending the price of the 360's wireless receiver, but....

it's a multi-band unit. I have an AG router, and i keep my 360 on the A bandwidth. It's on a 5ghz frequency range which is less cluttered and i don't ever half to worry about slow downs and lag from my end because it has faster speeds then the G bandwidth.

but in essence, the price of the receiver is affected by it's multi-bandwidth capabilities.

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SaiyanFury - 519 days 4 hours ago

2.7 -

Fair enough, Dareaver I can see your point on the a-band, but I still won't pay 100 dollars for the 360 wireless receiver. I simply cannot justify paying 100 dollars for a 30 dollar piece of technology. No matter how you cut it, it's fiscally not worth it. I use a wireless b-band ethernet adapter on my 360. Sure, it may not have the same connectivity speed that you might enjoy, but I don't game online anyways. Nor does it interfere with any other wireless device in my home. I only use it to stay connected with my friends that own 360s and to browse Xbox Live.

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josh14399 - 519 days 10 hours ago

3 -

it is a fuking ripoff fullstop. i hate having to pay my yearly live subscription because i could buy a game with that. im canceling my live subscription till gears2 comes out. if sony can make a three service with dedicated servers (makes lagless online better than my 360) so can msoft. msoft is a richer company (then again charging for everything is why the are richer.

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3.1 xSHROOMZx | 519 days 9 hours ago - User only got 1 bubble - Show

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spunnups - 519 days 8 hours ago

3.2 - PSN gets the job done

on top of that, Sony's first party games have dedicated servers (Resistance and Warhawk come to mind). also, is burnout dedicated or is that PnP? Regardless, Criterion has blessed the PSN with great servers as well. XBL is great and all, with it's bells and whistles, but in the end, there's extra stuff on XBL i could do without. PSN has come a long way since launch, and it's constantly evolving and getting better. HOME is the Ace in the Hole for Sony.

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TOSgamer - 519 days 8 hours ago

3.3 - @3.1

Anyone bothering to read your garbage knows your bias. What the heck does the games on xbla vs psn store have to do with MS charging for Live Gold? Stay on topic if you want to be taken seriously. BTW just because someone doesn't want to pay for something (they think should be free) means that mommy and daddy use to pay for it? I can assume something similar about you. Since mommy and daddy pay for your Live Gold what do you care about an annual fee? Assumption is the mother of all fu*# ups son.

You are correct that there is less talking on PSN. But your excuse that bluetooth headsets are too expensive? You can buy a decent headset for half the price of 1 year of Live Gold. And guess what? Some people like the silence that PSN offers. I get sick of little kids blaming their teammates because they do stupid stuff and die or singing into the mic because they are bored. Quit spreading your preferences like they are gospel.

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Adamalicious - 519 days 7 hours ago

3.4 - @ 3.1

Oh shut up. I've played plenty on XBL and PSN, and yes more people talk on XBL. But so what? PSN stinks because people don't want to talk to you? Don't you have like, friends you can talk to? I have a headset and sometimes I don't feel like using it. I certainly know I never felt like listening to all the racist, idiot, 12 year olds on XBL. I'm more than willing to accept the trade off.

And don't even talk about Eden. Eden is pure gaming Win. XBL has absolutely NOTHING that competes with it. Echochrome, PJM, Warhawk - where are the XBL answers to those?

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RememberThe357 - 519 days 7 hours ago

3.5 - You know? A lot of peopel like the silence on the PSN

I'd much rather take silence over the squeaky high voice of a twelve year old boy who is just now learning how to swear.

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player911 - 519 days 5 hours ago

3.6 - Yea?

Just turn off the voice chat audio. You can switch the voice chat to either play through your TV speakers (headset free), to play through your headset, or none at all.

If you don't like high pitched kids laughing at you cause you suck, then turn if off.

You can't honestly say that the lack of voice chatters on PSN is a benefit. The 360 comes with a wired headset out of the box, so EVERYONE can chat instantly. Plus with the bigger install base, its no wonder why there are more players on XBL (that voice chat).

I'm not knocking PSN, I'm knocking your way of thinking. Thats like saying an Atari is better then a PS3 because Atari doesn't have voice chat.

It all comes down to Live. If Live was free, I'd be cool with it. But it's not. Do you get what you pay for? Yes. Is it worth $50 a year? Yes. Ok.

I'm sure most people would pay for the features XBL has that other console's don't. If Nintendo made a pay service that took down the handicap sticker... I'd prolly get that too.

Price vs Features = worth it.

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RememberThe357 - 518 days 20 hours ago

3.7 - You must be one of those kids...

A lot of words but nothing said.

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TheExecutive - 518 days 13 hours ago

3.8 -

Dude, I enjoy not listening to adolescent sh*theads. The PSN has a more mature crowd in it and its nice. Anyway, as far as downloadable games, PSN blows MS out of the water.

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Chuck Norris - 519 days 9 hours ago

4 -

"The money really goes to pay people (regular ones, just like you and I) that work to create the hands-down easiest, most seamless, integrated, and arguably best online gaming experience available."

What a load of BS. So you're telling me that people should still pay for the development costs of XBL even though it launched, 6 years ago, in 2002? Did it really cost that much that MS is charging people for a service that should have been for free in the first place?

The author shouldn't have brought up the crapload advertisements that you get when you're using a free service. XBL has more spam adverts than the PSN for crying out loud.

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ReBurn - 519 days 8 hours ago

4.1 -

Who pays the cost of maintenance after launch? That's where the money's going.

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Adamalicious - 519 days 7 hours ago

4.2 -

There are what like, 10 million XBL Gold subscribers paying about $50 a year right? Do you really think Microsoft needs, or spends, $500,000,000 dollars annually for "maintenance" - no freaking way.

No, the money is going into propping up Microsoft's gaming division revenue. Even with it the division is still billions of dollars in the hole.

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NowGen - 518 days 13 hours ago

4.3 - stop hating

its not like sony fans have to pay for online. its an xbox thing, so stop sweating it. maybe if sony charged a little something for their online, HOME would be out already. anyway, why do sony fans hate so much on the things that xbox has that sony fans see as inferior? if you feel that way, F it! move on to some thing else.

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The Wood - 519 days 8 hours ago

5 - Why Charging For Xbox Live Is Good.......

by Don Mattrick

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Closing - 519 days 8 hours ago

6 - People will spin anything.

Or maybe they just like wiping their A$$ with money, and want to pay for something they shouldn't have to.

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juuken - 519 days 8 hours ago

7 -

Wow, this article is made of pure fail.

There is NO WAY in hell I would be paying for XBL. My brother doesn't even pay for XBL and he has a 360. Even though he has a good job, I highly doubt he would shell out money to pay for it because he's the type of person who saves his money for other things more important in life, such as paying bills and taking care of his newborn.

There is absolutely *no* reason why someone should have to pay to have the fullest experience for an online game. It's not only ridiculous but a waste of money.

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Ace Killa 08 - 519 days 8 hours ago

7.1 - Wow hes a cheap mofo

honestly i got friends on live who have families and kids to take care and dude i know 50 bucks is a lot for a cheap bastard, but for me its not and im paying for college and my own apartment plus the bills. so really 50 bucks is nothing, instead of buying a remote for that newborn spend a couple more bucks for live and you bro will be good. either that or doesnt even play at all on his 360, he probably just use the free 1 month live and got mad that he had to pay from there on.

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juuken - 519 days 8 hours ago

7.2 -

Ace, this has nothing to do with being a cheap mofo. Do you know how much $50.00 a year adds up to? Try ten years from now or even fifteen. I find it interesting how Sony offers just about the same thing as XBL and yet it's actually free. You have to pay for your internet service provider and on top of that pay for XBL?

So you're telling me that the people who canceled their XBL service are cheap mofos as well?

Please, think about what you're saying first before you come before me with that bullsh*tting argument.

Good for you if you want to get milked like a cow by Microsoft. As for me, I refuse to pay for something I can get free.

And yet these questions can't be answered because the good ol' disagree button is slammed.

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Bzone24 - 519 days 7 hours ago

7.3 -

If you can't pay $4.16 a month then you are a cheap mofo. Sorry junken, your brother is either a cheap mofo or he's poor.

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Ramzadel - 519 days 7 hours ago

7.4 -

Value to the online service not only has to deal with the extra stuff you get like cross online play, or online play in general, but the type of games that you can play online. The 360 does offer games to play online, but you have to think that some of these games that are getting the most play through are multiplat games where they can be played on the PSN for free, not to mention the PC

If this is the case value starts to shift less towards the type of games, because you could play those for free on PSN or PC, and more towards the other goodies like cross game invites

An exception to this is the games that can't be played on PSN or PC like Halo 3 or Gears 2 in the future. See the pattern here its becoming more and more important for the 360 to rely on more first party title console exclusives as this will create more value for Live and the $50 dollars value.

The PSN will probably get the goodies that Live has right now and the discrepancy between PSN and Live will only be the games that provide a unique online experience. "With great power comes great responsibility" this quote is synonymous with Microsoft gaining the $50 a year from all of its gold live users, and they can't just keep porting over the console first party exclusive titles to the PC where online is free or they have to create unique, like LBP, online experience first party console exclusive games to bring value back to the $50 being spent a year, because when that gap does narrow and you have games that are cross platform money becomes a little bit more valued as the same experience can be gained from a more freer medium

Note: Not to sound fanboyish in my statement, but I want to add that any person even if this was happening to PS3 owners have to look at this and wonder about the investment they are getting from their materials, an investment should be paying for itself not the other way around, so I hope the 360 owners do get that value from the 50 bucks a year and Microsoft is using that power to bring that value to its consumers =)

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juuken - 519 days 7 hours ago

7.5 -

Thank you for insulting my older brother Bzone. It's really nice when someone insults the family member of another person.

So someone is cheap for not paying for XBL.

Okay, sure, I gotcha.

In this time and age, especially with a looming economy that's getting worse by the minute, would *you* want to spend extra cash just to enjoy a game online? Wouldn't you want to save up and only buy games for your system?

It's not the matter of being cheap. It's the matter of saving money.

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Bzone24 - 519 days 7 hours ago

7.6 -

junken, if he can afford it but doesn't want to get it because it's $4.16 a month, then he's being cheap. No insult, just fact. If you can't afford the $4.16 a month you probably shouldn't own a game console to begin with.

And I'm not saying that if you don't buy the Live service you are cheap. I know a few people that don't get it because they don't game online. You're just cheap if you want to game online, have the money and $4.16 is too high for you.

Also you can get it for less than $4.16 a month if you look around.

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RememberThe357 - 519 days 7 hours ago

7.7 - Seriously guys

Leave that sh*t in the Open Zone

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Adamalicious - 519 days 6 hours ago

7.8 -

I'm not paying for XBL anymore and I can totally afford it. Why? Because I don't think it's worth paying for at all.

Is someone cheap because they don't like getting ripped off? What you're calling cheap other people might call smart.

Let me put it to you this way: let's say you're thirsty. On a table in front of you there are two glasses of water. One costs $50 a year and the other is free. If you drink the free one instead of the $50 a year one does that make you cheap?

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Bzone24 - 519 days 6 hours ago

7.9 - @adam

No you aren't cheap for drinking the free water. Just as long as you don't want to game online with the free water.

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BrotherNick - 519 days 8 hours ago

8 -

I wonder if they could just change the servers and make it dedicated. That's all I want.

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The Wood - 519 days 8 hours ago

9 - no discounts for long time members

= FAIL for us WIN for MS though

Still no dedicated servers = FAIL

Seamless game invites and true in game music = WIN

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Shadow Man - 519 days 8 hours ago

10 - I won't pay for xbox live until Gears 2 comes out.

If people keep paying for the service it would be stupid for Microsoft to make it free. The thing I hate is that if you don't have a gold service you have to wait a full week so you can download a demo. Thats what I call BS!

Damn you Micro$oft.

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BrotherNick - 519 days 8 hours ago

10.1 -

Doesn't qore do that? Not trying to be a douche but it's the same with the demos from what I heard.

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MAiKU - 519 days 8 hours ago

10.2 -

Qore does do that, but primarily with betas.. not so much with demos or even games.

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BrotherNick - 519 days 8 hours ago

10.3 -

Oh okay, thanks for clarifying. I would say a beta is like a demo though, except you are also helping them finalize their game.

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Ace Killa 08 - 519 days 8 hours ago

10.4 - honestly u dont wanna pay for 3 months

ok i know its summer and really no good game has come out, i am tired of COD4 and so i got Bad Company, but dude cancel your subscription till gears 2 comes out, now your just high. really kid its 3 months till gears and im a go not play live for three month cuz i dont pay for it my mommy and daddy do. Paying the whole 50 bucks pays off, rather than paying the 1 month or the 3 month subscription.

12 months(plus 1 month for free) = $50
3 month of live to go by for one year ($20 each) = $80
1 month of live to go by for one year ($8 each) = $96

ok now this goes for all, if you think buying the month separate is good look at the lil chart i made. really its smart to buy the $50 dollar one, if not you'll be wasting more money. and honestly if you want live for free get a silver and that is free, but u wanna play online dude now you just being greedy be glad we at least have this type of hardware with great features, if not we would be dying for patches if everyone had a PS3

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MAiKU - 519 days 5 hours ago

10.5 - The hell are you on about?

The Ps3 is not the only platform that can do patches, and most cases those are GOOD things.

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Bangadoshish - 519 days 11 hours ago

1 - Free Vs $50?

Free will always win.

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1.1 Bladestar | 519 days 11 hours ago - User only got 1 bubble - Show

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Chuck Norris - 519 days 9 hours ago

1.2 -

@Bladestar

Ask yourself this and try to answer it as honestly as you can: Where does your $50 go to? Voice chats? Is that it?

The least MS could do is put up dedicated servers but they don't even bother doing this. $50 a year isn't much especially if it improves and maintains the service that you are using. However, this isn't the case with the XBL. Whenever I spend my own money, I always make sure that I know exactly where it goes. I don't want to throw my own money, no matter the amount, down the drain. I want to see results in my investments. Coughing up $50 year after year for a service that hardly improves and offers you nothing significant over the competition is absurd.

In case you still haven't figured it out, that $50 you willingly give to MS year in and year out goes to recoup it's losses occured during last gen when the Xbox flopped horribly and for this gen's RROD repairs. It doesn't trickle down to the XBL consumers per se.

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Chuck Norris - 519 days 9 hours ago

1.4 -

@Zerodin

You misunderstood Bangadoshish's statement.

If you were given the choice, would you rather get cancer for free or have to pay in order to get it? Getting raped and then having to pay for it is worse than getting raped randomly.

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AllroundGamer - 519 days 8 hours ago

1.5 -

Bladestars job is surely defending MS at gamewebsites and forums at all cost :D

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juuken - 519 days 8 hours ago

1.6 -

C'mon Gamer, it's in his job description! ^-^

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Jason 360 - 519 days 4 hours ago

1.7 - "free will always win"

Then why is PSN on the losing end?

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KBDuB - 518 days 18 hours ago

1.8 -

True. Maybe the PS3 should become free. Hey, maybe if they did that, then they might actually have had the lead by now.. -.-

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KBDuB - 518 days 18 hours ago

2.1 -

Agreed. xBox Live is a great service, so it doesn't bother me to pay for it.

Now, lets say if I had to pay to play online for the Wii. Uhm, Hell no. I wouldn't do that since the Wii Online is.. well, sht.

As for PSn, it's a good service, and is getting better, but how many people do you think would pay for Sony's PSn, when it's not as good as xBox Live?

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MAiKU - 519 days 8 hours ago

3 - Thats funny

It's almost implying that everything both platforms (wii, ps3) is offering everything for free. ha. shmucks.

And yet i have no problem with my psn experience.

EDIT:

oh wow a disagree, well i guess my pixel junk eden and castlevania purchases were completely free.

You people fail to realize that both opposing companies still fund their workers and still have the resources to provide these services and yet i see no indication in the article about that. Unfounded article is just that.

It's really just an opinion article and nothing more, and not an unbiased analysis.

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MAiKU - 518 days 5 hours ago

3.1 -

plese delete this comment. I didn' mean to reply to post 3.0

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4 Rhezin | 519 days 8 hours ago - User only got 1 bubble - Show

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MAiKU - 519 days 8 hours ago

4.1 -

I used my money to buy a 1080p screen hdtv, instead of paying for a service i get for free on the psn.

guess in reality you didn't really explain anything.

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Evil Rant Monkey - 519 days 7 hours ago

4.2 - ^^^

<What kind of hd display do you get for $50?)

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MAiKU - 519 days 5 hours ago

4.3 - *stares*

I had the extra cash to buy such a tv, instead of devoting myself paying for a service. The extra saved up money paid off very well in my opinion.

I'm surprised i had to explain such a thing to you.

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KBDuB - 518 days 18 hours ago

4.4 - @MAiKU

What kind of HDTV did you buy for $400? Not a very good one.. I have a Samsung 20" LCD TV using as a monitor, and when I got it it was $580. And, HDTVs are more expensive than LCD TV's..

And, if your asking where I got the $400 from, well it's $50 a year for Live, and Live has been out around 8 years. 50x8=400.

So, I call BS on your claim. Try again.

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MAiKU - 518 days 4 hours ago

4.5 -

BS? you fail to comprehend the basic concept of accumulation. IF you want proof i can send you a picture? would that help?

Oh, you would have made a great point if my TV wasn't the same brand idiot. And hell no it didn't cost 400 buck, that thing cost over 2,000 buddy.

It contributed by the year for the TV instead of the service, nothing more and surely nothing bad if not better. Ah see what i did there? it's called LOGIC.

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59fifty8 - 519 days 8 hours ago

5 - i dont care

i like the psn im not going to chat with my friends in game, i fine dat stupid just play it online and chat with me there, or call each other during the phone, now wat would be great is to hav skype on the psn buy credit n i can call my girl while playing the game dat would be great and will save me some cream.

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59fifty8 - 519 days 8 hours ago

6 - oh

plus da psn is free dat too is better

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RAM MAGNUMS - 519 days 8 hours ago

7 - you don't mind paying?!?

$50 dollars each year for voice chat?
no dedicated servers?
if you need a repair, you still pay for not playing for 3 weeks or more?
m$ points are cool?
No games till gears2, yet you don't mind paying till then.
you pay for avatars you don't want?
you pay to rent but never own hd movies. You don't mind?
you basically are renting your xbox360 & have to upgrade
the limited hardrive for alot of money & its capped off at 120gb.
you don't mind?
do you know all of the functions of the competitor? You don't mind?
its like renting satelite direct tv cable when you can have cablevision for free.
renting a zune when you could own a iPod & iTunes is free.
you don't mind? Its like buying bottled water when you live
by the worlds greatest freshwater river.
you don't mind?
xbox live is overated & a fresher more vast online is being created as we speak.
ps3 is growing.
voicechat cross game is not needed. What kind of important conversation are you
having cross games? Its stupid.
xbox360 has loads of extra content. That's a bonus that is expensive & you can't even
fit it all on the storage problem.
personally, I feel xbox live was crushed with the introduction
of the psn video store & intergration with the PSP. I would have payed $10 dollars a
month for that but its another free bonus with ps3. Live has no answer for that.
tons of new features on ps3 but you don't mind because you are ignorant.
its not even about personal preference anymore its about common sense & a ounce
of good judgement.

All fanboyism aside but you xbots need to stop being tools. I think you are retarded and its
obvious microsoft thinks youre retarded too. Just trying to help really. You don't think if you
stop supporting xbox360 that the games won't come to ps3? Gears & halo would be on ps3
if there was no xbox360. Those are the only 2 games I can think of that I know you xbots
will follow to the end of the world for.
Yet there are better variations of those 2 games on ps3. You love halo? You will like resistance2.
you love gears? You will like metal gear online & its RPG leveling.
Love adventure games? Uncharted is here for your gears style skills beware of the enemy a.I. They also
have a ton of animations. Lots of choice on ps3. You xbots just need to chill out & sit down with these
games. If you still aren't amazed, what more can I say?
I had a xbox360. It was fun while it lasted but year after year its all the same. Even if I didnt get rrod twice
I still would have cancelled my account & only mess with the free trials to go online. Dlc on xbox360
would have been out of the question.
Be a leader & your friends will follow.
That's the truth.

Edit:@ bladestar

I'm being for real. I uderstand you like checking on ya friends through thier profile yet what you
mentioned ps3 users can do to.
you say online is disconnected yet I too can go to my friends list at anytime. Even
while in the browser & send a message in detail with a photo of myself or whatever I find
on the Internet browser. That's more personalizing style right there. Also, in my friends list
it tells me what game they are playing too.
there's your $50 dollars right there & it added pics from the Internet free. Not only that but
most ps3 games like ut3, burnout, mgo, bad company etc: have a join friends option. The more devs
do this the more style it will have.
So you are still burning money you could save to get that external or internal massive hardrive for all the downloads you desire. Bladestar, tell your relatives & co-workers how much money you can save them reccomending a ps3.
they will love you for it because you get a bluray player tossed in there for nothing too.

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PoSTedUP - 519 days 8 hours ago

8 -

PSN= free online with dedicated servers. great and innovative PSN titles. HOME is right around the corner and when that comes out PSN will be a all around better experience and they will still improve the PSN till the day it dies. playstation lifestyle is right around the corner. QORE which is a STEAL for betas like i can buy my way into a beta for only 2.99! (cmon, what beats that???). i can buy and KEEP high definition movies, the videostore just came out and has alot of content and IMO ps3 will have the better movies cause sony owns alot of studios. just look at how it greatly improves wile its still free. its wonderful.

for instance... comparing online poker games the PSN poker game KILLS XBL poker game with out a doubt. its just alot better in every way. (one of my favorite games) who doesn't like texas holdem???

"Its like buying bottled water when you live
by the worlds greatest freshwater river."- RAM MAGNUMS

^^^^ XD hahahahahaha that was funny XD.

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KBDuB - 518 days 18 hours ago

8.1 -

Bottled water is better. It has all the minerals an sht.

Even the freshest of water still needs to be purified. =D

Unless, your are saying that the bottled water comes straight from the river, in then which you are correct. =P

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gano - 519 days 7 hours ago

9 - Hmmmm

Although psn if free *yay* if people want to pay for certain things let
them. I wish i was smart enough to steal people money that way or another.

Vote America

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10 Bladestar | 519 days 7 hours ago - User only got 1 bubble - Show

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Veraegic - 519 days 7 hours ago

10.1 -

you already said that last year

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PoSTedUP - 519 days 7 hours ago

10.2 -

everyone has their different reasons on what they prefer.

PSN= didnt really have sh*T when it came out.

XBL= didnt really have sh*t when it came out.

they have both greatly improved since release.
XBL is like 4-5 years older than PSN?? of course its gunna have some more features, to me it doesn't have that much more for being 5 years older and thats a big lead. and the PSN is catching up in less than 2 years.

if i would of went with XBL from day one i would of payed 500$ just to play my games online and they didnt even have all these features from day one and that 500$ will continue to grow as the years go on so XBL isnt as cheap as you people think.

PSN just came out and things take time, PSN was alive for less than 2 years and look at how great it is for NO money.

when HOME drops all these features you people speak of, PSN will have and it will still be free and if thats the case then i am willing to wait.

back in the ps2 days playing socom i couldnt care less about ANY features (not that their was any) but i feel the same way today with ps3, JUST GIVE ME SOCOM AND DONT CHARGE ME FOR IT, and i will be the happiest guy on earth. : )

XBL
PSN

both great. suits anybody's needs. play games.

i prefer PSN and SOCOM over a pot of gold.

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11 PoorDroids | 519 days 6 hours ago - User only got 1 bubble - Show

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ThatCanadianguy420 - 519 days 6 hours ago

11.1 -

LOL! soo..microsoft copies from its competition..and the microsoft fanboys copy from the Sony fanboys..

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pinicle of life ps3 - 518 days 14 hours ago

11.2 - poor xbot

poor xbot

poor xbot, you must be my biggest fan. you have evan devoted your self to speaking like i do. this really shows how inavative your are poor xbot

poor xbot

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AngryTypingGuy - 519 days 5 hours ago

12 -

Even Wii and PS3 owners acknowledge that Live is superior...except on this website, where people are too brainwashed and in love with Sony [to a creepy level, I might add] to admit that anything about the 360 is better, when in fact, MANY things about the 360 are better.

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ThatCanadianguy420 - 519 days 5 hours ago

12.1 -

Whats better?

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AngryTypingGuy - 519 days 3 hours ago

12.2 -

What's better?

My opinion: controller (I like how it feels better and just the way games play in general on 360 over PS3), exclusives (I love Gears of War and Halo), Live service (way more features), better library of games to choose from.

Fact: multiplatforms perform better (most of the time) - better framerate, less jaggies, sometimes better graphics (notice I said MOST of the time, not ALL of the time). The 360's controller is more ergonomically correct

And this doesn't have anything to do with why I like the 360 better, but I like the way MS is more aggressive in throwing its money around to secure 3rd party exclusives, timed or untimed, and the fact that they will invest in more in-house studios.

Things I like better about the PS3: built in WiFi and HDD, Blu Ray, able to upgrade internal HDD without voiding warranty, more in-house studios, MGS4...it's a shame it's supposed to be the last one.

How's that?

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ThatCanadianguy420 - 519 days 3 hours ago

12.3 -

Fair enough.tho i prefer PS3 controller over 360.

And i prefer PS3 exclusives over 360's exclusives
I guess its all a matter of opinion.

Multiplat games being better? well that's a 50/50 call.

And i seriously hate how MS throws money around instead of working hard to make it themselves.Its one of the reasons i like Sony.

"MS invests more in-house studios" Sorry but no.There to busy throwing money around trying to steal PS3 exclusives.
And making us wait a year(s) for PS3 owners to enjoy them.

All so 360 fanboys (who wont even buy those games) can go online and brag about how great MS is.

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12.4 PoorDroids | 519 days ago - User only got 1 bubble - Show

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ThatCanadianguy420 - 519 days ago

12.5 -

Whats wrong noob? no bubbles left on your other accounts?
Its morons like you who give gamers a bad name.

Keep talking sh!t behind your keyboard,you'll be out of bubbles on this one to.

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AngryTypingGuy - 518 days 21 hours ago

12.6 -

CanadianGuy - in MS's defense, they almost have to throw their money around to secure 3rd party exclusives, at least in the present. Sony has many more in-house studios so that they can pump their own games out faster. MS will get there, but it will take a few years, so in the mean time they buy more 3rd party exclusives to make up for it.

If they didn't do that then the number of exclusives would be lopsided in Sony's favor. It's simply smart business on MS's part.

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KBDuB - 518 days 18 hours ago

13 - @59fifty8

Yea, you can say that, but once you use the in-game cross chat, it is awesome. I'd prefer to use the mic then to use a phone to talk to someone over a game.

"That is only $3.46 per month. Pretty reasonable considering most MMOs cost about three times as much." I've been saying that every time one of these stupid article pop up talking about Live and it's cost. I even bet that some of the people hating on the cost for Live, probably play or have played an MMO and payed for it.

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KiNg_TED_PRIZE - 518 days 17 hours ago

14 - yeah bladestar .pp. zerodin and all you guys with xbox subscription!!

so you pay for your internet right ? every month!! and you payed for your console right ? duhh so why is it you payinf money to play online!! and voice chat!! is all p2p connection , you guys can't even have 6 people at once connection! is crazy man!! so you guys think just because you pay for your online means our psn suck cuz is free ? kid xboxlive is horrible campare to the psn.... you should go buy it on play 30 vs 30 !! ted prize loves you !!

edit 30 vs 30 !!! RESISTANCE 2

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t-0_ot- - 518 days 14 hours ago

14.1 -

@KiNg_TED_PRIZE - "so you pay for your internet right ? every month!! and you payed for your console right ? duhh so why is it you payinf money to play online!!"

You bought your home phone, right? Then why you paying to use the phone?
You bought that nice cell, right? Then why do you pay monthly to use it?
You bought that computer, right? Then why do you pay monthly to use the internet?
You bought that car, right? Then why do you pay for gas and maintenance?
You bought that TV, right? Then why do you pay for cable/satellite/ect?

You just got owned, so STFU!

"so you pay for your internet right ? every month!!" Yea, I pay $4 a month. Man, am I broke after spending $4.. damn. What a drag. -.-

Oh, and, bro, please.. please learn how to spell. Thank you.

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59fifty8 - 518 days 11 hours ago

15 - KBDuB

u rite it mite be gud but cuz of dat u rather pay for online because som voice chat bulls*t we are also getting som video chat service cumming to da psn and i am probably never going to use it , really i never even needed dat, if anything ill just leave u a message no biggie, but think about skype it would be great the psp already has it but i want my ps3 to have and even xbox live that would be a great service.

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