Why Xbox Live is Worth the Price
You Get What You Pay For
Unfortunately for gamers, Microsoft decided to make Xbox Live $50 a year for a gold membership (which is needed to play online as well as use many other premium features). When Sony decided to provide online for PlayStation 3 gamers for free, their service was so inferior anyone used to Xbox Live could hardly consider it. Nowadays Sony's PlayStation Network has made great strides in catching up to Xbox Live, and so gamers must ask themselves: Is Xbox Live worth the money?
One important feature that Xbox Live has over Sony's PlayStation Network is the ability for gamers to be in a chat with up to eight friends no matter what game their friends are playing. The PlayStation Network doesn't even offer multiple person private chats or chatting with friends playing a different game. If you want to talk to a group of friends you have to all join the same multiplayer game, all be on the same team, and all own microphones (which is another issue).
Another cool feature Xbox Live has that PlayStation Network doesn't have is Netflix. Basically if you have any Netflix subscription plan and Xbox Live Gold, you can stream movies directly to the Xbox through the Netflix website. While the selection can be a little on the old side, this is a great feature unrivaled on Sony's Playstation Network. Xbox Live also allows you to watch movies from Netflix with your party.
One little known benefit of having gamers pay for Xbox Live is that the developers don't need to. On the Playstation Network, developers have to pay for their game's online features while on Xbox Live the subscription fees pay for that. This allows small developers to include online portions to their games without making huge risks.
Xbox Live also frequently gets demos earlier than the PlayStation Network, and has gotten exclusive downloadable content in the past (GTA4's The Lost and The Damned). I have also heard that PlayStation Network frequently has large amounts of lag and disconnections when compared to Xbox Live.
Finally, since gamers have to pay for Xbox Live, when cheaters and hackers are banned they are actually monetarily penalized. On the PlayStation Network hackers and cheaters just have to create a new account and they can continue cheating to their heart's content.
In conclusion, I believe that you do get what you pay for with Xbox Live. You get a stable, easy to use, online gaming environment, that has more features than the Playstation Network all for the low cost of thirteen cents a day (if you buy Xbox Live for full price, you can easily find it for cheaper).
Sources:
www.xbox.com
www.us.playstation.com
Published by Aaron Doll
I am 26 years old and I enjoy paintballing, soccer, computers and technology in general. View profile
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64 Comments
Post a CommentLost Planet 2 demo is online co-op so ofc you need gold to play that demo. For other single player demos u only need silver..Read the name of the demo before thinking u need gold. It says Lost Planet 2 Online Co-op Demo
"Finally, since gamers have to pay for Xbox Live, when cheaters and hackers are banned they are actually monetarily penalized. On the PlayStation Network hackers and cheaters just have to create a new account and they can continue cheating to their heart's content."
I stopped paying for XBox Live because it was overrun with cheaters and griefers. In almost every game I've played over it, someone exploited a bug in a game to gain an advantage or to make other players miserable. Look at what happened to the multiplayer in Gears of War 2, if you need an example.
As for the value Microsoft provides, all they do is matchmaking. When you play most games on XBox Live, someone else's XBox acts as the server. Although, a few game's developers pay out of their pocket to run servers for their own games. You are not paying Microsoft to run servers, beyond what is needed to tell your XBox where in the world other XBoxes are (and of course, everything you can already get with just a silver mem
Thanks for all the love.....
"I have also heard that PlayStation Network frequently has large amounts of lag and disconnections when compared to Xbox Live"
You have heard wrong, my 360 is right beside my router (second floor), my ps3 is in the basement (wireless) and only my 360 get lag, disconnection, oh and RROD.
You should reconsider giving Netflix to be a reason why it worth the price as it only available to the USA.
ive got both consoles and both have their pros and cons. xbox live is pretty flawless%2C i never tend to have problems. PSN is not far behind and ive noticed its better on some games than it is on others.%0D%0Aalthough most games that are on both consoles%2C in my opinion are better on the xbox online%2C the graphics etc may be better on the ps3. but xbox live is a good service and it cant be knocked.%0D%0Aps3 is almost there.%0D%0Aalso xbox live is supposed to have some advert%27s coming in%2C so why are we still gonna be paying for it.%0D%0Acheaters do not get banned as often as they should%21 check out the GTA mods which people have ported from the pc version.%0D%0Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com
Is the author (Aaron Doll) is truly out of his mind?
The majority of benefits he lists are flimsy plain and simple.
Chat: a nice to have feature. Not worth $50/year. it will eventually be on PSN.
Netflix: same thing.
Developers are free to add content: Valid point. PSN should work on that.
Demos and Exclusive content: Valid point. But gold members are paying too much for it. last i checked the GTA IV DLC cost IN ADDITION to the gold membership. So you PAID TWICE for it!
Cheaters get banned: Are you kidding? You must be reaching for anything now. How is it a benefit to me that cheaters loose their gold membership. i do not care. Really - Tell me how that translates into something that benefits me to any degree!
Mr. Aaron Doll - Your article is an EPIC FAIL.
http://www.themediamall.com/playon
Looks like PS3 has netflix, youtube, hulu, cbs, cnn, espn and more for just one fee of $40
and to make M$ and XBL more pathetic.
i checked out the lost planet 2 demo last week and found.
WTF YOU HAVE TO BE A GOLD SUBSCRIBER!!!!!!!!!
so now M$ are making me pay for demos to?
no thanks im out.
if you get what pay for,
1 why have i been unable to sign into XBL a paid service since last tuesday where PSN a FREE! service works fine?
2 my favorite, XBL USES A P2P NETWORK!
so if the host is using a slow net connection the games going to be LAGGY!.
im paying over 50 bucks a year for internet access i ALREADY paid for, and its the one that drops out.
PSN free works no problems, XBL im paying over 50 bucks per year for the last week and a bit i havent been able to check what demos are out.
lag, LAG?
ive spent over 150 hours playing killzone 2 online using wireless, and have NEVER! experienced lag. and im on a fairly basic internet connection.
may be its time to upgrade your ISP and stop blaming it on sony.
i love it how its never your fault its always some one elses.
BRILLIANT!
im through, im getting rid of my 360 im sick of M$ treating me like a bank account.
money does not grow on trees, for them it does but not me.
i found the perfect slogan for M$ today.
"moneysof
My post was too long so it got cut off. Anyways, to continue off what I was saying: You can have just an equal experience on both PS3 and PC, there is NO reason to pay playing online. And this article is siding with corporations rather than the consumer. How is it an advantage for the consumer that they are paying costs for the developer? That's some kind of a sick joke! The industry is supposed to work FOR the consumer, not the other way around! That's why "the costumer is always right".
This article is disgusting. Next time you write something, first off, get your facts straight. And secondly, know who you're writing for. If you're writing for the consumer, tailor your article for them and not the corporations.
If we let corporations charge us for the little things, they they will only continue to try to get away with charging us more and more!