[360] Xbox Live increasing $10 per year

[leaffan]

Anyone remember that shit software that used to come with web cams back in the day, specifically on Logitechs cams. It came with these "games" where you would play volleyball or this wierd pop the ballon or bubble game.

Remember how shitty that stuff worked. Thats exactly what kinect is going to be unless they have some real time motion detection shit going on but judging by how crappy the demo's were at E3 its going to be a pos.

 

[leaffan]

The latest news is that voice functionality won't even work on launch. LMAO.

But back to the topic. The more I think about it the more I think that it isn't really the cost increase but the way they decided to do it. I was listening to the CAGcast earlier and they made a ton of great points. One of the things that Shipwreck said was that we are obviously getting a TON more for $60/year then we ever got for $50/year when Live initially launched. But he also said we shouldn't be paying anyway.
Cheapy D made the best point of all though. He was saying it wasn't really the increase but teh way MS went about it. Instead of saying "We are adding enhanced voive chat, expanding your friends list, etc and also working to improve your service everyday. With the costs of all this we unfortunately have to increase the cost $10." Instead they tell you they are enhancing voice chat a week earlier and then just say the other day "The price is going up. Deal with it." It couldn't have been a worse way to do it from a marketing or consumer standpoint. He evn went on to say, chuckling his ass off mind you, that they really threw Major Nelson under the bus, which I totally agree. I think he's a toolbox anyway but they basically said to him "Ok Larry, we're going to need you to post on your blog that Live is going up $10. You're probably going to get a ton of hateful messages. Good luck!"
At least spin it positively.

They also went on to talk about the "double whammy of fan fuck overs" as they referred to it as. They talked about the controller redesign and how stupid they think it is that they are forcing you to buy a play-n-charge kit with the controller at $65, which is exactly what I said. Shipwreck speculated that they will probably release th standalone controller a month or so later at the usual $50 but why piss off the consumers in the beginning in the first place?

Good christ you need to stop listening to these terrible podcasts. Specifically a Cheap Ass Gamer one were all they do is bitch about money and are the stingiest people ever.

On the plus side I did do some re reading and it looks like us canadians arn't getting a price increase outside of the 1month golf cards. So that dumb fuck canadian you posted who had in his email that he'll never buy xbox shit again or something needs to go jump off a bridge.

Its a good thing you don't live in canada. You surely would of been flipping your lid over the price of games here.

 

[jms493]

I read voice control will work at launch expect some European countries. They dont play video games anyway.

At launch, according to Pitzalis, voice control will be available in the US, UK, Mexico and Japan.

 

[leaffan]

Voice control should be rather easy to implement considering microsoft has had it in windows for the last 5 years and other companies have been doing it forever.

 

[Twigg4075]

Good christ you need to stop listening to these terrible podcasts. Specifically a Cheap Ass Gamer one were all they do is bitch about money and are the stingiest people ever.

Have you ever listened to it? They are some pretty knowledgable dudes. Not to mention CAG is one of the biggest gaming sites/communities on the planet.

 

[Twigg4075]

kinect will have voice capability at launch but only with english, spanish (mexican), and one other language however they plan to have more languages out next quarter

in regards to sign language they took it out as it wasn't cost affective to leave it in but they said in the future it will be a part of the kinect

I hate the people that say kinect is just an eyetoy b/c it is definitely way more and eyetoy is basically just a laptop camera with motion detection Kinect is the future and in a couple of years its amazing to just think of the possibilities of what it will be able to do

I'm guessing you already pre-ordered?

Keep telling yourself this. I think both Kinect and PS Move are going to bomb, hard.

Just check all the major retailers. The pre-orders for these things are abysmal. Once they actually release and people realize what a gimmick they are they will go the way of the dodo.

Personally I'd like to see them both thrive. Innovation is always a great thing, especially in this industry. I just don't think it's going to work here.

 

[stevsta]

I'm guessing you already pre-ordered?

Keep telling yourself this. I think both Kinect and PS Move are going to bomb, hard.

Just check all the major retailers. The pre-orders for these things are abysmal. Once they actually release and people realize what a gimmick they are they will go the way of the dodo.

Personally I'd like to see them both thrive. Innovation is always a great thing, especially in this industry. I just don't think it's going to work here.

I didnt preorder anything I dont think either is worth the money

 

[jms493]

Yeah I think they look cool but they are too expensive IMO. Plus I like using the controller.

 

[Twigg4075]

Yeah I think they look cool but they are too expensive IMO. Plus I like using the controller.

Yeah, that's another thing. Not that Pachter gets everything right but he says that Kinect shouldn't have been more than $99. I agree. Once you get into that $150 mark you're basically at the price of an entire console.

Depending on how you look at it the PS Move is even worse. If you want the whole kit and kaboodle for two players and not be gimped by using dual shocks, you're looking at $210. Insane.

 

[Buzzman]

Honestly with Move you might as well get the Wii. Not only will it cost the same but you have a far wider range of games.

 

[Twigg4075]

Honestly with Move you might as well get the Wii. Not only will it cost the same but you have a far wider range of games.

Exactly. I don't know what Sony is thinking. At least Kinect is a bit cheaper although all the games look lame as shit. Some of the Move games look decent but the price is absurd.

The whole point of both the Move and Kinect is that moth comapnies are trying to go after the Wii's casual audience. Yet they are both pricing themselves out of the market. It makes zero sense.

 

[Twigg4075]

-In regards to Kinect I was just reading OXM from a couple last month and all of the editors were saying that there was a considerable amount of lag in the games that they hope gets fixed before release. Lag in motion games would make them basically unplayable.

Back to the Live discussion though, I was listening to the Giant Bomb (maybe you've heard of them Leaf?) podcast last night. It was eerie how much they were echoing the statements from CAG. How MS could just increase teh price without so much as a "but it's because we're upgrading X, Y and Z features to improve your experience" is baffling to them.

Another thing I got a chuckle about, because it's something that I complain about but the Xbots here say it's a non-issue, was when they started talking about the ads on Live. They were saying how they couldn't believe that MS had the gall to raise the price yet it seems that if anything the ads that litter Live have increased instead of decreasing. They also complained about being forced to the Spotlight (something else I hate) and how the latest Reach ad, with full audio, is one of the most obtrusive and annoying things they've had to deal with regarding Live.

They also threw out the idea of tiered pricing and wondered why MS hasn't went to it instead. Like charging people that play tons of games online $70 a year and others, more like myself, maybe $40, who really only want demos, arcade games, etc.

 

[FedEx227]

So what are your thoughts on raising the price of Xbox Live?

 

[Twigg4075]

Anyone noticed the tab on the spotlight? 12 months of Live for $29.99 + a free Halo avatar item.

Damn good deal but I wonder if they will let you stack?

 

[killgod]

Anyone noticed the tab on the spotlight? 12 months of Live for $29.99 + a free Halo avatar item.

Damn good deal but I wonder if they will let you stack?

Don't you fucking hate ads all up in your gaming shit?

 

[Twigg4075]

Don't you fucking hate ads all up in your gaming shit?

LMAO. Yes I do. But if it's going to be thrown in my face it may as well be something useful.

 

[Twigg4075]

I should've known...of course there is a catch.

In the fine print at the bottom after clicking on the ad it says "One year subscription is $29.99 for the first year with auto-renewal at the then current annual price following year one."

Fuck that. It's hilarious how small the print is too. I can barely read it on my 61" tv. Shady ass fucks.

Just when I was about to praise M$ for doing something good to reward their customers.

 

[SethMode]

Wow...MS must be the first company to every do a special that has auto-renewal at a regular price (and subsequently don't throw that concept out into your face).

Oh wait! Almost EVERY (if not EVERY) subscription service does that. Oh noez!

 

[leaffan]

Wow...MS must be the first company to every do a special that has auto-renewal at a regular price (and subsequently don't throw that concept out into your face).

Oh wait! Almost EVERY (if not EVERY) subscription service does that. Oh noez!

Anyone and every company that accepts credit cards for services that can be renewed do this but like you said its evil MS they must be doing this on purpose...


They've been doing this for years btw twigg.

 

[ryne candy]

Don't think they can enforce this. Once they charge you for your year at discount price, you can take your cc off their system. People have also said it says it will be auto renewed if not taking off in their receipt; therefore, sounding like it can be undone. I think they hope to catch some people not paying attention and leave their cc information on their for the whole year. They can charge them and tell them it was stated in the agreement. Since they didn't take it off or undo auto renewal, they have the right to charge them regular price for the following yar.