How long can Microsoft keep charging for Xbox Live

Guardian.UK Writes: "The news that Games for Windows Live - essentially a PC version of Xbox Live - will now be available for free makes it increasingly difficult for Microsoft to justify charging a subscription to Xbox Live.

I'm a big fan of Xbox Live. Friend lists, achievements, ease of use - Live still towers above the Playstation and Wii online services. But then it should. Live costs around 40 quid a year, Sony and Nintendo's offerings are free. Sure the service is good but how long can Microsoft get away with charging?"

[Wildarmsjecht]

As long as people keep paying for it.

[CaptainHowdy]

cease and desist. But eventually it needs to be free. and compensate the current subscribers with microsoft points

[JBaby343]

Wildarms is right. As long as people pay for it they will charge for it simple as that.

[Ace Killa 08]

it be great to have it free, but why should we have it for free? we bought the console and games and now we being greedy into wanting it for free. member this free stuff are usually the bad quality so free would be great, if i get the same service, if not i would pay to keep the service i get with xbox live

[FantasyStar]

I agree with you there when concerning the 'greedy consumer'. However I disagree about Microsoft charging for Live is because Online Gaming was always free. Even though it's just $5 a month, being charged to play online is wrong. That's the principle.

[uie4rhig]

meh you're right, MS will only make it free ones no1 or not many people pay for it, pretty much like GFW Live

[wallace1000]

Forever, because it is a fantastic service and until another service comes along that is better in some shape or form and i can rock Halo 3 on it, i am going to pay the $50 a year. Considering lots of the other trash i have to pay good money for, xbox live is a fantastic deal.

[kwicksandz]

When the competition matches LIVES features for free.

So they will probably keep charging forever =)

[Silver360]

the severs that tie everything together? Market place downloads match making ignoring people yearly improvements a equal experience over all games?

[solidt12]

Why not just play games on the PC with a 360 controller and get LIVE for free? Mass Effect, Gears, Lost Planet ect. allhave gone on PC, and so will Gears 2

[Tomdc]

xbox live is better than PSN but there aint as much in it as there used to be...

[Omega4]

The guy answered his own question "Live still towers above the Playstation and Wii online services" people are willing to pay for quality

Once the competition's services come close to live then MS (like the PC) will most likely make it free or at least reduce the price, not that anyone cant pay a small £40 a year

[Party Boy]

What features does Live have over PSN that make it worth $50.00 a year? In-game messaging? A video service? Dedicated servers? Achievements? In-game music? Lag-free servers?

[SL1M DADDY]

It's all a matter of opinion and the author here thinks that the Live experience is better than PSN or Nintendo. I on the other hand find that the value of the PSN is awesome and though it is free, I can still play online. As long as I can play online I am happy and the PSN does that for free. All the bells and whistles are nice but they are not what playing online is all about. Maybe MS could charge for all the extras and allow the online gaming to be free...

[KRUSSIDULL]

Xbox Live is already free but you have to pay a small fee if you want to play Online and use some extra features.

[TheColbertinator]

@Party Boy You are incorrect in your post right there.PSN does have dedicated servers for games like rsistance and warhawk.The "lag-free" comment was incorrect.Games like Gears,Halo 3,and Call of Duty 4 are known for having lag problems.Achievements are offline,you never had to pay for that in the first place.The video service of PSN and Live are comparable.The netflix will be a turning point but only if you have a netflix subscription.

Other than that,the Live service is just fine.

[killax3563]

With Netflix you can only stream 10,000 movies. That may seem like a lot but Netflix has 100,000 movies in its catalog.

Thus you can only stream 10% of available movies. and the 10% aint going to change much b/c movie studio get such a meager cut.

beleive me, streaming netflix aint going to get much more than 10% of the catalog b/c movie studios control lincecing. if movie studios don't let netflix stream the other 90% of movies, aint going to happen.

[TheColbertinator]

@killax I did not realize the Netflix deal was short.Bubbles for your factfinding

[metalhead]

is still dont like having to pay yearly to buy downloadable content and play online. I can do that for free everywhere else and I like that. Live is good but not $50 a year good

[Poor Xbots]

Poor Xbots

Poor Xbots, SONY is catching up, and there will be no reason to pay to play online for XBL, while it is free on PSN. Poor Xbots, why do you even support M$ that bribes content, exclusives, and to steal exclusives?

Poor Xbots

[Arsenic13]

Poor Angelitos.
Making another account to spread more of retardation?

[Pain]

well since Xboxer's are Brain dead crack babies forever i guess...

[Arsenic13]

You kind of fanboys just reinforce the stereotype that PS3 fanboys are pathetic.
I say "Fanboy" because a normal person with PS3 wont spend all day talking sh*t about an Xbox, they just wont buy one.

[Jack Bauer]

people will pay money for good service....but MS will prolly have to give more perks to gold members...and when i mean more, i dont mean taking away stuff from silver members... imo it is well worth paying 4 bucks a month for...wii online is a joke... PS3 has better servers (games like resistance and warhawk 30+ no lag), but it is not quite as easy to use, not quite as fast, and not to mention nobody uses a headset.

for me anyway, all my friends have live so that is worth it alone, none have PS3s.

[ReBurn]

And that's really the heart of the matter, isn't it? You go where you have the most fun. There are more games in the 360 catalog and more people playing online, so for some people it is just worth it to be where their friends are.

[The Wood]

mine are on psn and i wouldnt pay for live even if i had an xbox. So the conversion from live to psn is easier than psn to live (gold)

[solidt12]

Your logic is that there are more games on 360 Live so users should pay. I don't agree. Then Why is Live Free on the PC. There are way more game available on the PC vs the 360.

[Hellsvacancy]

thats how Ms gets there money back from the suckers that buy a 360 - Xbox Live or soon 2 b Xbox Dead

[Leathersoup]

Actually I think that's the reason that the PS3 is so expensive ;) If I don't use live I don't have to pay for it, but Sony people have to pay for it upfront whether they want to use online or not.

[Mr_Potato_]

To 2.1 : actually, considering all the features PS3 has and Xbox 360 doesn't have (blueray, HDMI, standard Wifi, Bluetooth, a bigger standard HD you can replace without buying overpriced MS crap, wireless pads, and so on), you absolutely don't pay the online with the PS3. You pay less for more.

The joke is on 360 buyers, actually.

[Leathersoup]

I was simply looking at the same argument from the other side.

If you're going to use every single option available on the PS3 every time you use it then yes it is the better deal. Admitted fully.

[Snukadaman]

hows those MGO sessions going?

[xhairs9]

MGO sessions are good, are you wondering because you don't have the game?

[syanara]

yes but it is deffinitly good to have those features on the ps3 right away even though you may not use them its very useful to have them for instance say you go on a trip and u bring ur playstation well the hotel has wireless internet only and the ps3 has wi-fi built in so your all good but if u don't have the wireless adapter for XBL then you need to go out and buy it and its worse if there isnt a store around that has it.

another thing that is similar too is netflix on xbl if u don't want to waatch movies that often but ever once in a while you do on xbl u need to subscribe to the service and your paying money for times u arent using it where as on PSN movie service u can pick and choose when u want to get a movie. each service has their ups and downs but bascially thats what it comes down to.

[xhairs9]

great post syanara!! boobies (bubbles)

[Mr PS3]

Are Stupid enough to keep buying into that Sh!t

[Jandre02]

Bots are so in to this console war and hating on Sony/trying to justify their purchase they're not even seeing that they paying money for things that many offer for free.

iTunes, PSN, AIM, etc.

All you are doing is paying Microsoft to be able to download their movies(which they make money off of) and use features that come with the game(that you pay them for.)

Lets say you are a more casual gamer and play only Halo once a week. That means you are paying around $1.15 for every day you play Halo with your friends. Why is that necessary? There are no dedicated servers, and they aren't delivering the game to your house. Thats ridiculous.

[KLEPTOMANIAC]

i love it how the open zone is always full of negative fanboys who dont have anything intelligent to say. hmm i guess someone that has 2 bubbles is a bit of a give away of their intelligence or lack thereof.

my answer is, if millions are willing to pay then i guess they are more than willing to charge

[Isaac]

"i love it how the open zone is always full of negative fanboys who dont have anything intelligent to say. hmm i guess someone that has 2 bubbles is a bit of a give away of their intelligence or lack thereof."

Someone that measures intelligence in terms of bubbles can hardly be called smart either.

[Microsoft_Spokesman]

KLEPTO is a homo.

[fafoon]

Your a BOT
That means your devoid of all intelligence
Plus you have absolutely no sense of humor
Why would you
you own a Xbox
you pay for somthing that down the road you get for free
that aint intelligent
now if your oh so intelligent self wants a good intelligent dicussion i suggest the
Gamer zone
That way

<------

You will find all the intelligent Xbox owners in there that cant handle the truth
just like yourself

Bye Dumbass

[fafoon]

The Agree's
And Disagree's
say it all

[-Maverick-]

Nasim is trolling everywhere right now...thats the only reasons the agree's and disagree
s look like that.

Xbox Live is awesome. PSN SUCKS. Get over it.

PS3 is 6 million consoles behind the 3-year-old PS3 and there are tons more features going into XBL this fall...you can even watch movies online with 7 other friends now....Live game shows hosted by real people...PSN SUCKS and you can't even hardly hear people with the crappy Blutooth mics.

Sorry Nasim. You aren't doing anything to help anyone. Xbox Live is AWESOME.

[KLEPTOMANIAC]

keep it coming guys, u are entertaining me. i think reading and understanding my comments properly is required before trying to act all tough and defensive. to Isaac, i do not measure intelligence in the form of bubbles? its just an indicator seeing people with no bubbles have had them removed by writing comments of bad quality have they not? just a clue not proof but then again your 3 bubbles works with the theory so i dunno? hahaha just messin with ya
oh and by the way fafoon u buffoon i only own a ps3 and a wii so i dont know what u are talking about? ur views on xbox are quite fangirlish so i didnt expect anything constructive from you.
ahh what a fun day!

[syanara]

let me get this right kleptomaniac u like to watch fanboys from both consoles have console wars with nothing intellegent to say? so basically your insulting the intellegence of many of the people here? well sure some might have a few screws loose but I don't go and insult them like that? I don't like to start flame wars either.

[Bigbangbing]

"How long can Microsoft keep charging for Xbox Live"

For Ever.

[sretlaw]

Yea, MS won't give anything free, everyone knows that. I would never pay for it, sorry...You don't see me paying a monthly charge for Steam, and I think their service rocks. Games I've bought many years ago are still connected to my steam account, always and with no charge. You've already payed for an overpriced console, why the F would you pay more for a service that could easily be done for free?

[pornflakes]

damn.. like always it took 10 minutes for me to enter a game@ PSN.. i prefer to pay some euros to get a better service.

You have a trophy system which needs NO req. of implementation to games. So a 50% working sh!t which will get forgotten after a year.

HOME, which you wait since launch for.. but ok.. you need some second life for the crap games/ ports you get. And you also need a second life for every exklusiv you lost and which looks better on 360, haha.

And we ALL dont care what you fa*gots say.. fact is, that you have the best hardware (lol) on the world which cant show ANYTHING after years. poor POS3tards

[Thoas]

Stop frontin like you have a PS3. Your name should be PoserFlakes instead.

[Microsoft_Spokesman]

10 minutes to get into a game?

PSN is faster and has less lag than the P2P xbox live.

EDIT: @giantenemyturd: No I didn't hit a nerve cause we are on the internet, there are alot of retards everywhere online. Have you ever played CoD4 on live? It takes like 5 minutes or more just to find a game, while on PSN it is like 30 seconds. What does that tell you about live?

[GiantEnemyCrab]

haha I think you hit a nerve. Microsoft Spokesman you do know that more games on PSN are P2P than dedicated servers? You have like 3 or 4 dedicated games and the rest are using P2P. XBL also has some dedicated servers in games like Frontlines Fuel of War.

[juuken]

"damn.. like always it took 10 minutes for me to enter a game@ PSN.. i prefer to pay some euros to get a better service."

And either something is wrong with your bloody connection or it's just plain slow. I've heard people say that they have little to no problems playing online.

"You have a trophy system which needs NO req. of implementation to games. So a 50% working sh!t which will get forgotten after a year."

You don't know sh*t. Sony left it up to developers to implement the trophy system ya jackass.

"HOME, which you wait since launch for.. but ok.. you need some second life for the crap games/ ports you get. And you also need a second life for every exklusiv you lost and which looks better on 360, haha."

Ah yes, Home. The area in which 360 fanatics bash the PS3 for. Did you know that 1st party exclusives are more important than 3rd party exclusives these days? I guess not because you're an idiot...tee-hee.

Also, multi-platform games are starting to look better on the PS3. The reason why there's a hard time porting games over to the PS3 is because of the fact that it's a hard system to develop for. 1st party exclusives always look better on the PS3. If that's all you're going to brag about-3rd party games...then I feel very sorry for you. Can you tell me any 360 exclusive that looks good besides Gears of War? I'm not talking about 3rd party either.

"And we ALL dont care what you fa*gots say.. fact is, that you have the best hardware (lol) on the world which cant show ANYTHING after years. poor POS3tards"

Pathetic words from a pathetic xbot.

Have fun in 3rd place!

[cr33ping_death]

you tell em juuken

another xbot who knows he would rather have live for free but is forced to pay for it so he defends it to death

[-Maverick-]

HAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHA

PSN IS FASTER THAN Xbox Live??????????/ LIEING NASIM????

HAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

Nasim, you're such a PATHETIC exitence.

PSN SUCKSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS S

HAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHA

Get over it Nasim. PSN is going to continue to be wayyyyyyyyyyy behind XBox Live, everyone KNOWS how much better Xbox LiVE is and there are already 12 million people on Xbox Live.

PSN sucks, is slow with crappy features

[-Maverick-]

You guys are SO GAYYYYYYYY. PS3 SUCKS and you guys are desperate.

You pay for Xbox Live for a REASON... just becuase Sony goes and adds a crappy, slow trophy system that ONLY WORKS WITH ONE GAME(Yea its THAT sh1tty)Microsft should charge for their online service that is wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy better, more integrated and has more than PSN.

You guys are LAME.

PS3 Sucks.

It's never going to bever better than the XBox 360 and its always going to have way less games than the 360. Stop whining and play your overhyped PS3 and stop pretending services that are CLEARLY superior and more fun to play on shouldn't cost money because in your fairy tale world....you believe PSN is cathcing up when Voichechat doesn't even work on PSN. LOL PSN SUCKSSSSSSSS

[madjedi]

Maverick when we want a 12 yr old bots opinion, we will ask you, fine you think the ps3 will always be inferior to the 360 your a bot for life ect.

At least the other 360 owners posting, don't act like a little child bragging he is now potty trained, caps are not meant to be used in internet shouting matches, its not intelligent just annoying.

Its fine to be a fanboy of one console over another, but atleast post like your a semi intelligent adult, seeing your back to back post of yours makes me embarrassed to call myself a gamer. Next time try actually playing on a ps3 were people are talking instead of making bs up.

[na2ru1]

and let me tell the world...YOU ARE SO WRONG.

Both Gears and Halo3 take average 3-7 mins to join. Best being 20 seconds which is a quite frequent. But at least half the time, both take ages.

Halo is the most irritating when players match found, loads, then starts ALL over again. Team doubles is the only consistent one - 4 players total.

PS3 resistance speaks for itself with dedicated servers. UT3, MGO, Team fortress, Bad Company all consistently work without hardly anyone getting disconnected.

COD4 for both systems works very good though

[dro]

m$ has billions of £/$ in the bank...they can let live be free if they want but for some reason the choose to charge for it when they make it free is when sony offers them actually what live offers. yes sony psn has seen a great improvement to date but live is still better and some people just dont want to admit that. ms has been in the internet game for so long so they will obviously have a edge over sony in that department but sony has been in the gaming business longer and that is why the ps3 is a superior console even tho the 360 is still a solid console. but the sales do not reflect that!

[Terry Tate]

You dont get billions of dollars in the bank by giving stuff away. ;) They will drag it out as long as possible, then find another way to charge.
The price is at an interesting point. Its $50.00 for a year (here in the states). Its like someone there at Microsoft came up with a price that people may complain a little about but wouldn't prevent them from spending. I bet they researched it and found the $60.00 was too much.
Ultimately, when you do the math though, $50.00 a year comes out to something like $4.16 a month. As long as the service continues to be good, and better than the competitors services, I will contine to assist in filling their already bulging pockets.

[Thoas]

Well Xbots aren't none for there smarts. LMAOOO you have to really be dumb to go threw 4 RROD and still be a fanboy.

[Microsoft_Spokesman]

Well, what can you do when their mommy's bought them the wrong console for christmas.

[Mr_Potato_]

ah ah you're so right. If MS would make these baboons pay for their own s**t, they would still say that's well worth it. They deserve to loose like they do.

[gano]

But u gotta give it to microsoft tho, If i can vic u for $50 a yr from a million people too, Shyt. Why not.

Vote America.

[slave2Dcontroller]

It begins with "4" and ends with "ever!!!"

[shikwan]

They made the PC free probably cause it's less user base. And it has more free alternatives that actually compare to it...rather than PSN which can't hold a candle to it.

[Party Boy]

Yet. Soon PSN will rival and surpass Live. You'll probably still be trying to justify your subscription.

[vickers500]

That doesn't change the fact that you're still paying for something that's been free on every other console besides microsofts. Those voice chat, invites and the features you mentioned aren't live features, they are system features.

Who cares if you add tons of features no one is going to use (nextflix, avatars) you still have to pay for something that is free, and should have been from the very beginning. And since you threw in a fanboyism at the end, I will too: you always have the RRoD to worry about.

[vickers500]

Ace Killa 08

Learn how to spell before you call people dumbasses. It makes you, ya know, hypocritical. And just makes you look like an even bigger idiot, although I shouldn't even be replying to your comment, since it would be pointless talking to a "genius" such as yourself.

[kinggeoff]

and that would be because of....home?

There isn't much on the horizon that we've heard from Sony that will specifically boost the online experience. The Videos have been INSANELY slow to get off the ground, many downloads seem miscategorized or misplaced...it's still very rough around the edges, and while the PSN strives forward, so does LIVE. It's not like MS will just sit there and not commit to any further upgrades

[mistertwoturbo]

"It's not like MS will just sit there and not commit to any further upgrades "

Serious question, no fanboyism here.

But what sort of features have MS implemented that has changed since launch?

I have a 360, but I do not have XBL. I use the $50 to buy a game instead =)

[juuken]

As long as people are stupid enough to pay for it instead of making a stand for it to be free.

EDIT: Ah, you are correct Microsoft Spokesperson, correct indeed.

[Microsoft_Spokesman]

You mean rights, correct?

Xbots don't even know what rights are. So how can they stand for it to be free.

[Snukadaman]

Really..your stupid enough to buy a ps3 and enjoy it..and most people think its a waste of money.....so calling other people stupid for a service they play games on and enjoy is quite hypocritical.....well in your case its a hippo BEING critical.

[juuken]

"Really..your stupid enough to buy a ps3 and enjoy it..and most people think its a waste of money.....so calling other people stupid for a service they play games on and enjoy is quite hypocritical.....well in your case its a hippo BEING critical."

That's supposed to make sense?

XBL should be free-that's my point. It could be free and YET be enjoyable at the same time. Why does everything for the 360 have to come with a price?

I said people are stupid enough to pay for it when they should be standing up for themselves to make it free.

Try reading again because you're really stupid.

[Snukadaman]

and surprisingly enough I do agree with it...but my point was clear and precise yet again and you still didn't get it..

and what the hell happened to -mavrick-..someone hack his account...he was a staunch droid...or did his blu-ray drive shat the bed like it has been for people?

[gano]

Like the name by the way. With a statement like that from 7.2, u had nothing to say, he treated his/herself.

[joebahrjoebahr]

this is similar to socailized healthcare.

alot for free
or a few for quality

id rather pay for quality plus it keeps little kids off of it.

[Microsoft_Spokesman]

"alot for free
or a few for quality"

True, get alot for free. AKA PSN.

[MpV35]

It keeps little kids off of it? Apparently you've never played on live...

You can't enjoy a single game without some kid talking about how gay you are and that he just raped you 7 ways to sunday and that your a disgrace to gaming and you should just hang yourself.

I'm sure you know what your talking about though. I must be the only person that this has happened to...

[Common Sense]

Live is notorious for pre-pubescent boys yelling the N-word over and over again, you know like Noobzthegrey or whatever his name is .

[CrazyOrange]

buy to get the best

[Microsoft_Spokesman]

The best?

Hahah, nice joke.

[MpV35]

They have people who are willingly buying their hardware after they gave up on their first console. People are still staying true after having 1-7 360s break down on them (some returned broken still).

So how can they keep charging? Cause they know their customers have the mindset "they've already raped me out the a$$ a few times, so what's adding one more to the list?"

PSN doesn't rape us, it just denies us all the things we want.
And wii just blows. Period.

[PoSTedUP]

i think the PS is delivering pretty good after only one and a half years. and even less in EU. ya know.

[GiantEnemyCrab]

Or maybe you don't have any problems like myself so there is no "MS raped me" mentality. I've never had my consoles die, still running a launch unit even. I have no problem paying a few bucks for Live and when I look at the lacking PSN I would rather pay for a better experience.

[juuken]

Good for you Crab. In a bad economy like this, you would like to throw your money down the f*cking drain. As for me, I would rather have free service than be forced to pay for something that's unnecessary to pay for when I have to pay my internet service provider.

Use your f*cking brain.

Also, I would rather save that money to buy games instead.

[TheColbertinator]

@Crab You are right that Live is a good service.But remember that RROD was brought to millions of gamers.There were a few lucky people but I had an RROD even when I had a 360 with an intercooler.

As for Live,its just preference.You would be surprised how much money you can save from not having to pay gamer pictures and themes for your system.

[PoSTedUP]

its different for everyone.

i personally would just like to play my games online for free. thats an awesome experience right there.

if i would of went with xbox from day one, i would have payed like 450-500$ just to play my games online and it does add up over the years and it will continue to grow. and they didnt even have all the features they do now from day one. sony doesn't charge you to play online and they working hard to get up to par with XBL and they still wont charge you ya know. i personally think when home drops it will be a better experience.

[bee2427]

Id say as long as there are 10 year olds whose parents will pay for it

[arcadegoal]

You just dont get lag on the dedicated servers on ps3 so why should you have to pay for a lagy online service on 360, if you ms fans havent got it but now the switch to ps3 will make you smile and yes we got games to many comming out infact . dont settle for second best on lagy live. and pay for it aswell.

[Close_Second]

...that both PSN and XBL lag. This is especially true for a game like Battlefield: Bad Company as EA has yet to release servers for hosting games in this part of the world...nor are they likely to either.

I get sick of people saying that there is no lag on PSN cause there is depending on where you live in the world.

[SOLDADO206]

because the money from xbox live will add to developing better features and interface,it does cost money to do this.

[Guardian0fPeace]

Which I don't expect ever to come to an end!

"You just dont get lag on the dedicated servers on ps3 so why should you have to pay for a lagy online service on 360"

Mhmm, right, did the thought that some people have bad connections ever occur to you? Didn't thikso, that's where your lag is coming from, but then again, I doubt you've ever even touched LIVE. some lag in completely unavoidable, no matter where you go, cus all connections get interference, and that's INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDER ERROR! Has nothing to do with LIVE, PSN, or any service for taht matter 99% of the time. Get over your fanboyism and enjoy what you got rather than trying to bash the console you don't own and have little to no experience with.

[AlienGeorge]

While all the new features are good i think that they will be available with the free silver account and may not even be available in Australia at all (netflix and primetime?)... so what we are paying for is only to play online multiplayer. This thought is old and outdated. Xbox live needs to be free to compete with Sony and Nintendo. If MS want to attract the casual gamer they will not go with a console where you need to pay extra to play online.... hell, they even may think it's a cost saving for the soccer mum.

[DOOMZ]

Then we would have the crap service that is PSN!

[FPS nut]

As long as 12+ million and rising keep paying for it. It's a fantastic service, one day I hope the PS3 will adopt it.

[DJ]

bolster their range of titles with Trophy Support and match a few more Xbox Live features before PSN achieves the same value. Both services work almost identically though, so I doubt either company would adopt each other's server structure.

I wonder what kind of hardware Sony is using for their PSN servers though.

[DJ]

The only thing that'll change this is if the majority of Xbox Live Gold subscribers cancel their subscriptions and move over to PSN instead. Not hard to fathom considering the 360 has very few compelling exclusives for this calendar year that have strong online components.

[Qdog]

Though it's not official, I'm relatively certain that they use one of two types of OS based servers, either Mac PPC based, or Cell SDK based, either way, they did NOT skimp, when it comes to server quality. I have Never had an online game lag, and I use roadrunner broadband(4mb/s DS, 2.5mb/s US),as I have for a long time, but even when I had Sprint DSL, I NEVER had a problem playing online...You know it's funny, I never see a lack of quality, ingenuity, or programming prowess, when it comes to SONY's in-house Developers. I only experience that from third parties (except Konami).. I have always been very happy with the PS3's Java based, XMB, as well as it's features, that I will continue to enjoy, as a media center, a gaming beast, a social networking tool, as well as a Hi-def Blu-Ray player...Keep downloading those Microsoft formatted movies from live(H264 uses a max bit rate of 4mb/s video and audio), so the clarity that you get from Blu-ray's max of 30mb/s will never be experienced. I never had to pay for it's future-proofing and garanteed quality hardware, that was free.

[DJ]

But that's due to it being P2P (some games run perfect, and some have people that are probably on 128 kbps connections). All my other online titles work perfectly fine, and I suspect it's because they use Sony's internal server structure.

[Highwayman]

They'll always charge for it. I don't mind though, we're talkign $50 a year, if you can't afford that then you shouldn't be gaming.

[PBone]

thats not the issue of who can afford the 50 dollars a year.

The issue is we already pay to have the interent from dsl to cable.
My internet cable bill is 45 dollars before tax a month. soo Im paying 50 dollars a month just to have the internet. and top of that pay extra 50 dollars soo live can use my cable interent when i go on there and have people on halo cheat and lag so my team cant kill them?

and reporting those guys doesnt even work because they get right back on.

Online gaming should be free. Since you already pay for cable interent or dsl or whatever you pay for.

[Qdog]

I dont necesarrily care for Live, why should you pay(subscribe) to buy from it? It's not like you get any free points from your membership, to purchase with, so essentially, you are paying for the right to pay for downloads. Online gaming should be free, as long as we are covering cost and developement up front with these freaking $60.00+ games...but that's fine, as long as people want to keep choosing to pay extra, Microsoft will keep charging said extra. The addition of Netflix, while a positive aspect, only further solidifies, the fact that you are paying extra, just to pay for content.

[Highwayman]

I pay $140 for my internet and cable..I pay $50 a year to MS. I download some movies and things like that but not often, I just play online quite a bit. It bothers me none. But I have the money, I have a good job. So personally I don't care about the $50 a year. The sole purpose here is the $50 not the cable bill or the downloads.
I can download anything I want off of LIVE with a Siver account. Which is free.
Besides MS will always charge even if some gamers stopped playing LIVE and did something stupid like protest.

So yeah I stand by my comment fully. If you can't afford $50 a year, should you really be gaming in the first place?

It's like asking someone why would you pay for the internet or cable.
You don't get anything free out of it, really. Your subscribing to type on your keyboard,I mean you payed however much for your computer, I payed $2,200 for mine. Shouldn't that be enough?

It's life, Sh!t cost money.

[KratosKilla]

Just because I can't afford digital tv doesn't mean i'm not a tv watcher. It's not a matter of affording it or not. I pay for it but would i rather not, sure. Why should I not want something for free. Why defend Microsoft for taking your money. Smart consumers would seek better deals. Uninformed consumers buy the first car in the lot. Why not question it?

[KratosKilla]

Find me somewhere where INTERNET and CABLE are free of charge.....Nowhere. those are both base products. Live is an add on to your internet experience. But the difference is they have competition that don't charge for it. I'm sorry but i just hate when people pull the "if you can't afford something that costs $200 more in the systems life span your strange." Everyone is in a different situation and it makes you no less of a gamer.

[andyboy13]

I am an avid pc gamer who refused to pay for live a day in my life. I decided for myself that I would avoid any game that used the live service. There are two reasons live failed in the PC market:

1. We didn't start out paying for this service with games, they just decided to throw it in. If the Live service was around when PC gaming started up and continued on from then, we wouldn't be having this discussion. The fact is people don't like paying for something they didn't use to. That would be like your cable company adding $5 a month to watch certain channels that you pay for regardless of you paying that $5 or not. The reason the service worked on the Xbox platform is that it was there from the beginning.

As an Xbox gamer, imagine what it would be like if Microsoft told you that you could no longer play any game online if you don't start forking over $5 a month. Imagine if they told you this after 10 years of gaming without a monthly fee. I am pretty sure the Microsoft building would be nothing more than a pile of ashes right now. The only reason they managed to get you guys to pay is that they forced your hand from the start.

2. My second reason is that as a PC gamer, the services offered to us are nothing new. We have everything and more than what the Live service offered to us. Just look at steam, we have community pages, friends lists, join our friends games with only a couple of clicks and voice chat. If we didn't have things like the Steam service or Vent or ts or Xfire or etc. etc... than I am sure this announcement would never have been made. Microsoft's real defeat was the lack of a monopoly on the PC. We just have too many free options that often are better.

Well, sorry for the long read, but I just had the state my opinion. I also think that it is ridiculous for Microsoft the charge for this service on the Xbox when EVERY OTHER PLATFORM has similar services for free. That is coming from a console hater. Xbox users, it's time to take a stand. Do something about it. Flood the Xbox forums until they give in, or whatever. If you guys do something though, do something big.

[Ace Killa 08]

i get alot of features for being gold and its worth it, now comparing to PSN, it recently got trophies which is wow 360 had it when it came out, in game messages, even more shocking since 360 had it when it came out. so 360 got everything ps3 wants and ps3 should of had that since it had 1 more year in development. now paying 50 bucks is worth it, i do get laggy games every now and then, but i still get great games i play with no lag. so ps3 got dedicated servers, big whoop u got no games to play on them or atleast fun games. gears is still popular today and i dont get any lag, same for COD and ORANGE BOX.

so payin to me its worth it and i still dont see how PSN is better than live if the features are not in the same PSN is better than the other. So honestly i think its a cat against a tiger and MS being the tiger. wait till that cat gets some balls then we can start betting on who is going to win

[Adamalicious]

No games? Honestly between CoD4, MGO. Warhawk, and GTA4 I don't have enough time to play everything online that I'd like to. There are plenty of games.

[Qdog]

Sony, I think has a very masterful strategy, and alot of very intelligent people pooled in the collective, before the PS3 ever came out. Sony is synonymous with ingenuity, and it shows, with their radically new hardware choices, as well as their online strategy...As with anything, a solid investment takes time to mature, and return. You dont go buy stocks in a company then expect to turn around the next day, sell said stocks and make a great return. No I'm sure as the console matures, the one that's more prepared for the future( and took the longest to come to grips with, and add features to) will come out undistputedly on top, with features, other consoles couldnt dream of being capable of. There are a number of surprises yet to come to fruition through the PS3, the TSCC (Toshiba Super Companion Chip) isnt even being used yet, but it will soon(a chip within the PS3 that is a monster at audio/video decompression), as well as other hardware yet to be implemented) aces up the sleeve. Thats okay though if it's hard to see the success of the PS3, as the nature of strategy, is to keep even the most intelligent competitor guessing.

[DJ]

I still have yet to beat GTA IV or DMC.

[djtek184]

the baboons will never learn.

[power of Green]

Actually I think the monkeys understand pretty well.

1)Get something thats free but inferior...

2)Pay for something light years ahead and ever changing for the better...

If having a Free service means you also get a free list of what games work with the ingame XMB and trophies I'll pass.

[Common Sense]

with 32, 40, 60, 256 players in a game and dedicated lag-free servers.

Oh wait.

[Fan Tastic]

as long as people are willing to be milked by M$. Blind loyalty isn't cheap ;)

[englandsbest316]

look, the reason why xbox live costs money is simple.... it doesn't matter if the game is AAA (Gears of war) AA (crackdown) A (Prey) or even B (Shadowrun) they all still have online multiplayer.... the bottom line is that the 360 has soooooooooo many more games that have online multiplayer compared to its competitors....... also, just about EVERY XBLA game that could have multiplayer (aside from soul calibur) does have multiplayer, i like Doom multiplayer sessions or teaming up with someone to kick Mr x's thugs ass on Streets of rage 2 ect ect, also,wheres the online multiplayer for Virtua fighter 5, Virtua tennis 3 and Tony hawks project 8 but to name a few on ps3? (the 360 versions of the above games ALL have online multiplayer)....... it seems to me that only a select few games have online multiplayer on ps3 compared to 360 and the wii literally has NO online multiplayer games...... so for me thats why we pay for xbox live, QUALITY AND QUANTITY

[PBone]

How can you say sony doesnt have as much online play as xbox?

does anyone play online for crackdown and thats not a game. that game is trash. we all know it. shadowrun? no one plays that game online maybe like 4 if that.

What you dont understand is you think xbox makes those games go live. NO. its up to the devs. does dmc4 have live to it? no, does ninja g 2 have live on it NO. sooo xbox doesnt have soooooooooooooooooo many more games that go on live then sony.
your only saying that because you only own a xbox.

I own all three systems soo i know what games go on online and have muti-player.

all the systems have equal amount of games that play online. and if its anything xbox might have a extra few games because its been out a year longer then any system our right now. soo if anything xbox might have maybe 10 or 15 more games that play online then wii or ps3.

[Common Sense]

32 players like Warhawk, Socom and Killzone 2.
Games with 40 player like Resistance.
Games with 60 player like Resistance 2.
Games with a Whopping, mind-warping 256 players like MAG.

[ReBurn]

I think that Microsoft should continue to charge for Gold, just take online play out of the package and offer that for free. I have no problem with them having exclusive perks for people who are willing to pay $50 per year for it, like access do demos and DLC before non-paying members like they have now, or free content that only paying members can get.

[lagoonalight]

I agree

[LFC1EE]

That's why i give up playing on xblive it's way to expensive, though i think it is worth it, but so is the ps3 and that's free.

[t-0_ot-]

Too expensive?? Seriously? $4 a month is too expensive? WOW.

[Ace Killa 08]

man go to amazon they usually got specials for xbox live 12 months u seriously are cheap, must be hard for a girl to go out with u

[n00bzRtehgey]

as long as it keeps owning psn

[Tmac]

Lol, have fun with laggy p2p, can't even afford dedicated servers to keep it laggy free, what are you paying for again?

[t-0_ot-]

@TMac - Not lagging for me. Sorry. Try again.

Aye, TwoChin.. I've missed you. =P
"Live won't be worth it once PSN surpasses it." The key word there is.. "once." And, that won't happen anytime soon.

[juuken]

Believe me, Live won't be worth it once PSN surpasses it.

[n00bzRtehgey]

Jewkin, u can keep waiting b2.5yond for that to happen. meanwhile ill keep enjoying live.

[juuken]

Please do enjoy Live n00b, while Microshaft rapes you from all sides with their outrageous prices.

[caffman]

yet when my daughters boyfriend comes with his PS3, it takes ages to get on anything

[Adamalicious]

The cost to play online on the 360 means that I buy mult-plat games that have online play for my PS3 - period. If Microsoft is OK with that then they should keep charging. Yes, Live doesn't cost very much - but if a restaurant started charging you 50 cents for tap water you know you'd think "WTF?". It's the principle of the thing - nothing that Live does isn't done just as well for free somewhere else - and that's my problem with it, that's why I won't pay for it anymore.

[snoop_dizzle]

PSN has some way to go, though with HOME it could be solved, the question is when that is coming however.

But for me its mainly games not being fully integrated(including features) into psn like 360 games with xbl.

The ingame messaging though has helped ALOT on psn though. :)

The next thing they should do though is fix the chat room stuff with NAT settings and everything. No matter what i do there are a few people(i can usually chat with anyone on my list) that i cannot chat with at all.

Now is xbl worth paying? Well it depends really. I dont mind paying for it since the layout, integration, and features help out alot and are useful.

Thoguh the problem for me soon is since im moving if im gonig to have any high speed online access at all. If not well then its not really an issue for me then, it will jsut suck :(

What would be cool on psn is like a gold and silver-like account for psn, except the free version would allow online paly and some basic features then a subscription based account like gold that has all of the features.

[NowGen]

if sony charged for PSN, Home would be out already as well as a bunch more features. stuff like that cost $ to develope and construct. as well as a ton of people to work on it. being that its free they probably only have 2 guys working overtime to get it done. at this rate i'll be playing Home around 2010.

[t-0_ot-]

WhoopDeeDoo.. It's $50 a fckin year. -.- That's like what.. $4 a month? If you can't pay $4 a month.. then you need to stop gaming, and get a job. Seriously.

My nephew pays for his xBox Live subscription, and he is only 15.. He's not even old enough to legally get a job. He has to make it by mowing lawns, and such..

[englandsbest316]

i never said crackdown or shadowrun were great online games, but the fact of the matter is that they DO have online multiplayer, of course more people are gonna play gears of war online or halo 3 online, but with games like Quake 4, Prey and frontlines: fuel of war all having online multiplayer aswell at least i have CHOICE..... i enjoy Quake 4 and Prey online and why do people always choose to ignore the point i made in the above post?...... WHY is there no online multiplayer for Virtua tennis 3, Virtua fighter 5 and Tony hawks project 8 on ps3 but there is multiplayer for those games on 360..... and PBone... you say the 360 only has around 10 or 15 games more than ps3 that have online multiplayer? ha ha ha more like 100 or 150 more.... and what about metal gear olnine? look how messed up that is because konami are running the show, look at the orange box on ps3 (theres an online petition going round its that bad).... face it, xbox live will remain console king for many years to come...... after warhawk and resistance, what other EXCLUSIVE ps3 games have multiplayer? (i excluded metal gear online because come on, its a pain in the ass)

[PBone]

again xbox has been out for 3 years. and wii and ps3 have been out 2.

soo if your facts are any true. having 55% games that play online for free and having 80% of games on live that cost money to play.

id rather play the free online service since i already pay for having internent on my house.

Its not sony that says hey put online features into the games like tony hawk or tennis. ITS THE COMPANY THAT DEVS THE SOFTWARE COMPANY THAT MAKES THE GAME.

xbox has no say in what third party games should do on there system. do you think xbox will tell s.e. hey if you dont put live on ff13 that we dont want it on our system? nooo. soo its not up to xbox or sony its up to the devs that make the game.

I dont even think you have a ps3. your just a hardcore xbox fanboy. Its cool dude. enjoy your one system and i'll enjoy all three of mine and I'll enjoy having FREE ONLINE SYSTEM ALSO.

[Qdog]

M.A.G is a big plus that you just wont see on 360, because of streaming implementation problems, floating point performance (yeah, for all that said the floating point performance would never be applied to real-time performance), and non-standard HDD(but I'm sure Msoft is working on that one) etc. Also it IS a solid bet that future games from Sony( now that SDK 2.4 is out) will indeed include multiplayer, not to mention when Home finally comes out, many already released games will implement online modes(Uncharted:Drake's Fortune and R:FOM), Little Big Planet is going to be a heavy hitter, even though the nature of the game is light-hearted. As well, The Orange Box, port is shoddy at best, and that burden does NOT fall on Sony, but rather developers(EA to be precise), and I would very much appreciate it if you wouldnt use ill-informed opinions to base your argument for Sony's online strategy. I have had six Xbox 360s, and yes all RRoD. Alot of my best friends here in the army are making the switch to PS3, as well, as the Falcon motherboard, hasnt fixed anything RRoD related. I have had two PS3s first was a launch 60gb(faulty power source) then the replacement system(not refurbished) got stolen when I was on convalecent leave. So six months later I got back on the Sony wagon, with an 80gb, and have had nothing but fun ever since.

[NowGen]

M.A.G.? sony fans always do this. sony will give you a small tidbit of info and you all run with it. then when problems occur or the original concept begins to scale back for limitations and other such reasons you all end up eating your words. before mentioning games that haven't been fully realized(KZ2,LBP,m.a.g. not to mention HOME)and banking heavy on them. let some finished products come out then talk $#it.remember lair,heavenly sword....? most games aren't a sure thing like metal gear solid. so stop acting like all those ps3 games will end up AAA games. at this point anything can happen. it may be better to play it safe rather than be made to look dumb. again! i want these games to work out too. otherwise my ps3 is going to be doing a whole lot more movie viewing only!

[BigKev45]

Not for long, folks.

[power of Green]

He basically just said XBL is superior to the competition but how long can MSFT keep charging lol, they will keep charging as long as the money keeps XBL superior lol. He anwsered his own question lol.

Like I said months ago XBL will never be free they'll just keep offering more content for the money.
This is why MSFT can do things the others can't. If MSFT made XBL free I wouldn't be interested in XBL knowing they can not do anything worth while for free.
I wouldn't be excited about the service as an ever evolving product always having something to look forward to.).

[1stKnighT]

As long as Xbox Live doesn't have any disasters like MGO. Keep it smooth sailing and it's well worth it.

[Figboy]

are related to Sony and the PSN. rolls eyes.

that's all Konami's fault. THEY are the ones that have been dropping the ball with MGO.

Warhawk and Resistance run virtually flawless on the PSN.

get some new material First. and why do you have so many bubbles? working overtime with all your accounts, eh?

[1stKnighT]

Once again your missing the big picture my friend. All multiplayer games have to go thru Xbox Live. That's why all multiplayer games work flawlessly. The ps3 on the hand gives you the option to go outside psn and that is where the problem lies. MGO is a perfect example on how multiplayer does not work. Warhawk was another disaster when it first came out. Took about a month to get all the problems fixed. Their are no problems like that on Xbox Live.

[Figboy]

being down from December through to damn near APRIL "running flawlessly?"

when that happens, that IS Microsoft's fault, seeing as how "All multiplayer games have to go thru Xbox Live."

on the PS3, developers generally run their own show, though i believe, if necessary, they can use Sony's help.

Konami is, foolishly in my book, striking out on their own here.

games like Warhawk and Resistance have dedicated servers, with the guys at Incognito literally using stacks of Playstation 3's to act as servers for the game.

the experience is, so far for me, lagless.

i agree that MGO is an example of a poorly executed online network, but that isn't on Sony or the Playstation 3's hands, especially when other titles are proving the stability and enjoyability of the Playstation network.

oh yeah, and i was in the Warhawk BETA, and i didn't experience many server related problems outside of a few server crashes, which i expected in a BETA. i also bought the game day one when it launched, and don't recall any problems either.

considering that i actually, you know, OWN and play the Playstation 3, i think i'm a little more qualified and experienced to talk about the Playstation 3 than you are, Mr, "pwning sony fanboys is so easy."

[snoop_dizzle]

xbl does have issues and isnt flawless, but its got alot of value.

but one thing you said made me think:

"I agree that MGO is an example of a poorly executed online network, but that isn't on Sony or the Playstation 3's hands, especially when other titles are proving the stability and enjoyability of the Playstation network."

I think thats the problem. Sony isnt controlling it. And it seems a reason why the trophy support is limited. Sony should demand from each dev, or at least each dev making an online mode or game to 1 have trophy support and two integrate it to the psn network. That way you have one universal and integrated friendslist that gives detail on not only what game he/she is playing but what mode they are in, are they in a lobby etc.This would especially be good for many online games(even great games like warhawk), and would set a standard instead of being all over the place.

I would much rather pop up my xmb and join friends games from there instead of looking at the warhawk friends list(the server list i dont mind too much though). Though with HOME that might change

Because of all of this i find live worth paying for. From my experience i haven't suffered too much lag but when I've been on live i usually play with friends with good connections. The only thing that sucks is i haven't had much live or psn time for that matter since I've been really busy :(

As i said in another reply though i might not even have high speed internet where im going so it wont even matter then lol.

Dont get me wrong I like PSN, and ingame messaging has helped alot, but its still got some issues, but so does xbl.

A two pay system for PSN though(like xbl but the free one would allow online play and certian features) doesnt seem such a bad idea to me.

[Says you]

They lag even though XBox 360 never has exclusives and its kind of weird that the XBox 360 exclusives never have dedicated servers except for one multiplatform game Frontline fuels of war.

[Bladestar]

Microsoft announced that Game for windows Gold is now free... it's only a matter of time that the same will happen with the xbox 360... once it does... what are you Sony leg humpers going to do? The only thing that keeps PSN from being considered a piece of $h!t is the only argument sony leg humpers have, "it's free"... if microsoft made xbox live gold free... do you know how this would impact PSN negatively? Careful what you pushing here? Sony leg humpers b!tching about xbox live gold not being free may cause microsoft to actually make it free.. and there it goes PSN...

[funkysolo]

Every other feature mention on xboxlive is not free and does not come with a gold subscription. All I want to do is play online with friends and that's it...So what are the advantages of xbox live? none. You 360 fans need you get your heads of M$ ass and see that PSN for multiplayer is just as good or better on 1st party multiplayer..there is still no game on 360 that can touch multiplayer like socom...why? p2p? 360 in every game there has to be a host and what happens when the host leaves the game ends. What happens on socom when someone leaves nothing the game continues on. Live doens't have rooms so you your party never knows what game you are going to be playing like halo. Live sucks because of the price..I want to play online with friends and PSN does that better

[1stKnighT]

MGO says hi.

[KratosKilla]

My service for Live Being down from christmas to late february. And then being reimbursed with a special giift and not my money. Undertow which i haven't even played.

[Figboy]

LET them.

personally, i don't care. i've been enjoying free online on my PS3 since February 2007 when i bought the console.

considering that i'm not a huge online gamer at the moment, the free PSN has served my needs nicely.

if people are happily paying for Xbox LIVE, let them. it's not costing ME any money to play, and some of the worthwhile to play online games like COD4 are available to play on the PS3 for FREE, with just as, or absolutely equal performance.

i play Warhawk, and MGO online, but mostly Warhawk. i don't use my 360 to play online. i stick with single player games. if they made the service free, i MIGHT play online if an online enabled game for the console interested me. for now though, i'm sticking to Fable 2, Too Human, Mass Effect, etc; single player experiences. i prefer them to the whiny, testosterone fueled tirades of online gaming anyway.

[Qdog]

Except that intelligent people, will see LIVE for what it is, a way for Microsoft to break the ice for future pay to play implementations of the service(as Microsoft slowly moves more and more towards digital distribution)(remember thats the future, just like vista was). Essentially, put a frog in boiling water and it will jump right out, but put a frog in warm water and increase the tempurature over time, and the frog wont struggle, only boil to death, I hate seeing gamers(especially my 360 brothers) getting the shaft, but you cant make them wake up and avoid the shaft....

[Figboy]

they've given Microsoft cart blanche to charge for their online, and there's no real point in complaining about it now.

however, i see one of two things happening:

1) The PSN's free service reaches parity with LIVE, and people start jumping ship, forcing LIVE to go free in order for MS to compete.

or

2) The PSN's free service reaches parity with LIVE, and SONY decides that now would be the perfect time to start a pay service for the PSN.

truthfully, i think number one is the more likely event. unless MS stubbornly wants to stick with a pay service, and risk losing consumers to the Playstation 3.

[CNIVEK]

MS has been charging $49.99/yr. since it launched in 2002...and the service just keeps getting better and better. By comparison, Sony's service has always been "free"...and the service provided reflected that. Fact is, such articles have ALWAYS been written, from way back in the early days of Sony VS MS...and yet MS has persevered, and won. XBOX Live has been the premiere online gaming service and community since it launched, and it still is today, 6 years later. Most people are more than happy to pay the $50/yr, in comparison to their alternatives.

[Ps3Fanboy777]

As long as there are these ignorant people who will pay they will charge. I canceled mine, it ends sometime in December. The only way ill play online is if I get those free weekends and what not. Its just not worth it.

People can try and justify it but I play on my PC free just fine, I play free on my Ps3 just fine.

Funny people defend paying $50/year. Anyone with a launch console has now paid more than the cost of the Ps3 at launch!

[Qdog]

Another sore spot was the buying price for 360 over PS3. With 3 years of Live service, tell me how much it ended up costing, and if your like me( I bought a launch 20gb 360 in Afghanistan) how much did the bigger hard drive end up costing you? So add it up and get back to me, we'll compare numbers....it should come to around $650.00. Same gradually increase the heat strategy, so the consumer has no idea that it ends up costing more than the launch PS3, and I didnt even include the peripherals, that were included with PS3 as standard for free(wifi, charger, Linux(if you know how to google), etc.It's been a while for me, but how is that whole surfing the web from your 360 without a PC working out for you? Three years huh?

[power of Green]

I think XBL will not be going down the same path as the PC version. To compare it now and in the future is ridiculous.

[Bombomb]

and its getting better.

if you pay then you must like it...if you don't then you would stop

Well it's that good.

[flankhim]

If anyone played ps2 and psp games online they are flooded with cheaters. Its only a matter of time for it to be the norm on ps3 because its free.

[EnforcerOfTheTruth]

lol

[Common Sense]

They justify paying $50 a year for a service that should be free. Next thing you know, they'll be justifying a 33 % failure rate. Oh wait.

I'm not here to bash the 360, fanboys or anything but just to tell the truth and if you can't handle it, deal with it and grow up.

I'm sure if MS comes to your houses and slaps the sh1t out of you guys, you still justify it.

When Sony messes up, I criticize them but when MS screws up, all of you 360 fanboys will just keep on justifying their actions. This is just really sad pathetic devotion only seen in suicide bombers.

[Guardian0fPeace]

I've seen things like this happen on both sides of this, on this very site, so don't go trying to deny that sony fanboys ever defend what sony screws up on either, cus time and again, they have, just as xbox fanboys do. Now before you try to call me a hypocrite, lemme just make one thing clear, I give all consoles a fair shot, and none of them fail to make me happy. I have had great experiences on each console-primarily on 360 and ps3, wii is cool, but has a terrible lack of hardcore games as we all know. My online experiences, though great on both 360 and PSN have been great, both services offer great things, but the fact of the matter is, right now, LIVE has a lot more to offer. Should PSN one day match it, I would have to object to paying for LIVE, but until then, I'm willing to pay for the higher end service. But as I said, that's for now, doesn't mean forever.

Back to the point bout what you said, ps3 fanyboys will justify anything just as much as 360 fanboys, you yourself may not be one of them to do that, but the population of fanboys on either side are pretty darn close to even on this site, there's very few if any "perfect little angels" on either side.

[t-0_ot-]

If they do stop charging, I'd expect it to be when the update happens..

[gumgum99]

They have good reason to considering all the great things the 360 has to offer( I find it tempting at times)

Again, once PSN finally equals the XBL's performance overall, it would be rediculous to even try to justify the $50.00 price tag.

It would be as if someone offered you a tasty ice cream cone on a hot day, but refused it because it was crafted so well.

[Guardian0fPeace]

just what is all the fuss about?!

[gersh]

I dont know why 360 fans would pay for online service.
Microsoft is fooling everyone. Soon they'll start charging monthly for games and guess what, the 360 fans will fall for it.
Those are just my thoughts.

[Dzpool]

are not free on pc but nobody says anthing about this hell i know alot of people who pay 15-30 dollars a month to play 1 game servers are not free Microsoft and Sony are both losing money on the Hardware they make there profits from software and add ons like online service sony isn't going to keep PSN free forever eventually there stockholders are going to expect a profit and losing money constantly on servor costs isn't going to help them make profits 96 cents a week hell i spend more than 96 cents a day on coffee everybody complaining that they already pay for internet says i should be able to play online for free well with that thinking you must think that you pay for cable tv so you should get the pay-per-view channel for free to

[Hellraizer]

I finally got a PS3. While the interface is really nice, the features and comfort from Live is missing right now. So as long as PSN is not on par with Live they will keep charging. But they are definitely on their way...

People have no problem paying, and to be honest neither do I as long as the service is good.

[tobin_blade]

Its not going to be free, why would it be?

IF they made it free you would have limited content and probably all you could do was play games online rather than download content etc...

Also if they made it free i doubt the servers could handle it with the massive influx of users.

[felidae]

after playing Skate and PES online on the PS3 i know why i pay for xbox live ;-)

[Fatmanp]

They can keep charging it until their competitors supply a superior service which is not copied from live. Sony dont have the ability to do it for a nother five years just look at the FW2.40 flop. You would have thought that after four years they would have still got the basics correct like cross game messages and so on. PSN does not even rival the original XBL at this stage.

[zonetrooper5]

How come you Sony fanboys are not playing your PS3?

OH WAIT TIRED OF MGS4 AND THE CRAPPY MGO HAHAH

NO GAEMS FOR THE POS3 LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLLOLOL.

[Mr_Potato_]

Gems like Banjo, Pinata and Too Human (congrats on having the 2nd worst game this gen according to the websites) ? You can keep them.

We have many many gems coming on PS3 (fall 2008 to 2009) : Little Big Planet, Resistance 2, Killzone 2, God of war 3, Final Fantasy vs XIII, Socom Confrontation, Motorstorm 2, and tons of others.

Only on PS3, sorry kid.

[Ace Killa 08]

u guys got alot of exclusives and more in the past, how ever all these exclusives sucked, lair haze u get like 1 out 5 exclusives that are great, and really motostorm aint that great so i dont even wanna see motorstorm 2

[otherZinc]

People should work for free. BS! If its free, it will suck like PSN & Wii whatever.

I've never seen people b!tch about paying the equivalent of a happy meal a month to have the best network.

You get what you pay for and you pay extra for the best products.

[sargas3]

to be honest most of my friends are dropping off live. Atleast till another good FPS comes out. Halo and COD4 kept them going but most of them are playing single player games right now. And its because of cost. I love the service live gives i hope sonys will get there. One thing I have always hated is that you buy the system and the service and you get only once account. Well there are other people in my house. I bought 4 controllers but my wife can get online under her account unless I want to pay more. IMO there should be 2 to 4 account per subscription and the price to stay on top should drop in half. Because it wont be long before sony has its bugs worked out.

[zonetrooper5]

I own a PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii so lol. I GET ALL THE GAEMS HOW DOES THAT FEEL?

[Zancruz]

I like PSN better.... Playing games on Live is to damn laggie, Hell Gears of War only had 8 players in a room and it's one of the laggiest online games I ever played.

(Don't believe me google Gear of War & Lag and just see how many site and videos pop up.)

Has of now the ONLY thing Live has over the PSN is features, and every few months Sony closes the gap on that and it's still free. On top of that Live should be free, with all the damn non-Video game product advertising on it.

And before anyone says anything, I own both a 360 and PS3 and use 12 meg cable internet.

[Postman17]

I am an older gamer. I started off playing games way back. As time went on, I went through various systems and had fun with them. Some systems I grew out of. Now I am on the xbox system and could careless about paying 50$ a year. I spend 50$ a day or in two days. So paying 50$ a year means squat to me. Since I do not like any games on the PS3, I will pay MS price. I think the service is great. I do experience lag but not as many of you seem to exaggerate about it. Actually for me, I would say it is very minimal. I mean if you can't save a dollar a day for year then some of you must be in some serious situations. MS, is not forcing me to pay this money, I choose too. I also have a son and a daughter and they both have there own accts also and they love the service. I also have a PS3 because my daughter grew up playing the ps2. You know what the PS3 is now collecting dust because she likes the xbox better. She is 12 by the way and my son is 7.

All in all, I pay 150 a year and I can spend 150 in a week very easily if not more. 50 a year is very cheap. If you don't like it don't pay for it. You can't knock them for charging because it is working and some ppl are ejnoying it and are satisfied with it. If there was some thing on the PS3 and they charged for it I would pay. It is there business to charge. It is your business to say whether you will pay or not pay. I have nevr been a PC gamer so I could careless.

[Tyrael]

Monthly subscriptions are the reason why i stray away from MMO's. I can understand that paying for play helps with servers and stuff, but Microsoft is lucky I'm so in love with Gears and all...

[JUSTICEFORALL]

yeah, i shell out 50 bucks a year for it, the online cost less then your games 60 dollars for a game? bogus

[Uncommon Calibur]

people pay $15 a month for Wow, you can cough up $5 to play every online capable game in the 360 library. Get over yourselves and get a job!

[solidworm]

For me the over-riding advantage of the psn over live isnt the dedicated servers or the fact that its free. Its quite simply the fact that you dont get an ounce of the racism,bigotry,griefing, and cheating you get on live. When you see people getting rid of games like COD4 because of the aforementioned troubles it tells you in no uncertain terms just where live is headed.

[wicked]

I think it's more to do with the fact everybody on live has a headset, and a lot more people are playing on live.

[ninja_united]

losers, u pay for something we get free lol

[caffman]

you ever been to a home game? You would pay more for that than being on live for a year!

[SuperSharpShooter]

Ive all 3 systems,

How can anyone diss the PSN when its free??..its like someone giving you a free car and then dissing them later because you didnt get aircon!?wtf?Dont diss if its FREE!

Ive stopped my xboxlive service months ago,follow suite people and that`ll be free too(lets all make the movement now!)
p.s Why do people wanna pay and defend the cost is beyond me,(dont say to maintain the service cuz MS is LOADED!

[caffman]

Because I like it as it is, I don't get lag and I'm not a pauper or tight as an ants arse

[59fifty8]

look it's pointless to argue really, all live is 50$ a year not to expensive, if u could buy a console then u'll have enough rite ps3 cost 400$, 360 cost 300$ plus 50 a year for the frist year is 350$, 50 bucks less then ps3, but what gets me is they dont have blu ray, hdmi, standard wifi, wireless or wired, rechargeble remotes, and new home when it comes out, all the 360 has is nothing, really i own a ps3 and use to have an xbox, i use all these features really, and its great count how much the xbox would cost u if u were to buy all these features,
yeah my point exactly

[snakebite36]

they have to fund their world domination somehow.

[Morgue]

I read an article just like this one yesterday and I thought about canceling LIVE considering I just got rid of all my games for the 360 over the few months and traded my last one in yesterday, now I only have 2 games and neither are online.

[Postman17]

I repeat there is nothing on the PSN that I like. So that leads me to MS. If I have to pay so be it. My kids really enjoy it. they are always downloading and asking me if they can buy things. They love it and that is all that counts. So I guess I have to pay. Sorry this was not meant for #16. Just speaking in general. I wish it was free but it is not so I will pay. I have no problem with that. 50$ a yaer is cheap.

[brothersimon]

I dont mind.

Whats £25 a month?
People who complain are just bums. Get a job.

[Gun_Senshi]

But after playing online for FREE with way superior services like STEAM and Xfire I refuse to pay XBL which should be free.

Don't tell me I need to get a job to pay 4$. I have and can afford a gaming PC with 2 Geforce GTX 280 8 GB DDR3 RAM etc.

But some of you people can't do so and buy a cheapman's PC called X360, which nearly all its 'exclusives' play way better on PC and way cheaper and free WAY BETTER online service

Why should I pay for a very bad service (Yes its bad compared to what PC Offers and FREE) when I have way better service FREE?

[TunakTunakTun]

Afrika
Aqua
Buzz! Quiz TV
Calling All Cars!
Crash Commando
Dark Cloud 3
Dark Mist
DC Universe
Disgaea 3
Echocrome
Elefunk
Everyday Shooter
EyeDentify
Fat Princess
Final Fantasy Versus XIII
flOw
flOwer
Folklore
Formula One Championship Edition
Free Realms
God of War 3
Grand Theft Auto V
Gran Turismo 5
Heavenly Sword
Heavy Rain
High Velocity Bowling
Hot Shots Golf 5
inFAMOUS
Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier
Killzone 2
Kingdom Hearts 3
L.A. Noire
Lemmings
Linger in Shadows
LittleBigPlanet
LocoRoco Cocoreccho
Massive Action Game
Mesmerize
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
Metro 2033: The Last Refuge
MLB 07: The Show
MLB 08: The Show
Motorstorm
Motorstorm: Pacific Rift
Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm
NCsoft MMORPGs
Ni-Oh
Ninja Gaiden Sigma
Novastrike
Nucleus
One Goal Spirit
Pain
Pixeljunk Eden
Pixeljunk Monsters
Piyotama
Ragdoll Kung Fu
Rat Race
Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty
Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction
Red Dead Revolver 2
Redwood Falls
Resistance: Fall of Man
Resistance 2: United We Stand
Ridge Racer 7
Rockstar Unannounced Exclusive
Rouge Galaxy 2
Secret Mindblowing Game
Singstar
Siren: Blood Curse
Snakeball
SOCOM Confrontation
Soldner-X: Himmelssturmer
Super Rub-a-Dub
Super Stardust
Syphon Philter
Team Ico Unannounced Exclusive
Team Ico Unannounced Exclusive 2
Tears of Blood
Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection Online
Tekken 6
The Agency
The Eye of Judgement
The Protector
Timesplitters 4
Twisted Metal
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
Uncharted 2
Valkyrie of the Battlefield
Wardevil
Warhawk
White Knight Chronicles
Wipeout HD
Yakuza 3
Zone of the Enders 3

Amazing PSN Games
BD Live
Blu-Ray
Built In Wi-Fi
Cell
Cheap PS Store Content
Create Themes
Dedicated Servers
Easy to Use XMB
Firmware Updates
Folding@Home
Free Online Play
Great Sales
GT TV
Harddrive in all Consoles
HOME
Innovation
IPTV
Lagfree Online Play
Mature People On PSN
Playstation Eye
Playstation Store
Rechargable Sixaxis Controllers with Gyro
Reliable System That Does Not Break
Remote Connection With PSP
Trophies
User Generated Content
Video Store
Webb Browser

ONLY ON PLAYSTATION 3

THIS IS LIVING

P L A Y B 3 Y O N D

VS

Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation
Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts
Blue Dragon
Call of Duty 2
Crackdown
Dead or Alive 4
Dead Rising
Fable 2
Forza Motorsport 2
Forza Motorsport 3
Gears of War
Gears of War 2
Halo 3
Infinite Undiscovery
Lost Odyssey
Ninja Gaiden 2
Tales of Vesperia
Viva Piñata
Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise

Already Maxed Out Hardware
Burns Down Houses
Copies Everything
Crappy Costumer Service
Expensive Online Play and Online Content
Laggy Online
Last-Gen DVD
Loud Console
Microsoft Lies and Cheats and Bribes
No Solid Future
No Good Exclusive Games
P2P Online Servers
PC Port Exclusives
Poor Sales
Red Rings of Death
Scratches Discs
Short Lifespan
Stupid Core Without Harddrive
Useless HD-DVD Player Add-on
Weak Hardware

ONLY ON RROD 3FIXME

JUMP OUT

[Ace Killa 08]

really nice only half those games are out, and only half of the ones are out are good on the PS3

[Ace Killa 08]

yes i will pay for live, with great service!!! i dont see no problems when i sign in, i played gears the other day with no lag, orange box the same, and even some live arcade games with no lag. so honestly who ever says 360 is laggy cuz no dedicated servers, shut up. u think if u dont have it automatically u got lag no!!! honestly if PS3 had the 2.5 update along time ago it MIGHT be a competitor, but its not and so while u guys wait for the next update, im a go right now invite a friend to play some Gears, and private chat with a family member and also download the 1942 arcade game. so really im enjoying my payed service

[tobin_blade]

When you think about it - if you play everyday online and pay your £45 or whatever for the year, its not that much over 12 months. That is only £3.75 per month.....come on guys..