Microsoft justifies Xbox Live costs
- June 25, 2007 15:39 PM PST
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A recent podcast has the Gamerscore crew expounding the virtues of Xbox Live, particularly by defending its $50 a year price tag.
By Eugene Huang
The majority of next-gen gamers already know that Microsoft and Sony both offer some form of online multiplayer service in their respective machines, but one of the most contentious points in the "which console is better" debate is the fact that the PlayStation Network remains a free service while Microsoft charges $50 a year for either Xbox Live or the Windows equivalent, Games for Windows -- Live.
Given that gamers have been argumentative as to this price differential ever since the beginning of this next-gen console war, Microsoft's Gamerscore blog team grouped together in their latest podcast to address the age-old question: "Sony's is free, how come Xbox Live isn't?"
"There are bandwidth costs, there are things that go above and beyond", said Chris Paladino of the Xbox Community Team. "I think it goes back to this unified system. We have to have voice communication, text communication, now we're doing cross-platform. There's Marketplace, there are demos, and all these things don't just mystically hover around that you can pull them out of the ether."
Microsoft PR manager Michael Wolf later appended Paladino's statements by emphasizing that, as a Live customer, "you get what you pay for" with the service's myriad of options. And in Wolf's estimation, the customer satisfaction numbers for Microsoft's Live service have been "through the roof". But, as a means of comparison, Wolf also equated it to other services one might pay for outside the realm of gaming.
"I pay almost $100 a month for cable," Wolf added. "Frankly, I spend more time playing online than I do watching TV nowadays, it feels like. So, you're getting a lot of value for $50 a year, in my opinion."
Adding more to the value of Live is the fact that customers should now be able to connect to other gamers across different platforms -- particularly the PC. Although some gamers have been critical of Microsoft regarding the Games for Windows -- Live service by complaining that other PC gaming outfits offer their services for free, Wolf begs to differ.
"Well, we challenge people to go get a Silver account on Games for Windows, and see what they get for free," Wolf contends. "It's gonna be very similar to what you get for free elsewhere."
