As an gamer who's usually on his Xbox 360...

I feel fucking ripped off.

It's one thing to not offer free games; that's fine, I get it - we can't all have our privacy invaded and put a company through the ringer to guilt them into shelling out big bucks to retain our loyalty - but when your deal of the week is a 5 expansions for games that I haven't played since I was noticeably younger in photographs, and then this:

http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-CA/Promotion/dealoftheweek - Whoa! Holy shit! Look at pack for a game that was released two fuckin' years ago.

All the while I'm watching Playstation Plus members get this:

http://us.playstation.com/psn/playstation-plus/

Why are we swallowing this like a crying kid eating a pile of spoiled cheese curds? Why aren't there picket lines and marching protesters? Where's the fucking potato-gun violence?

I demand Jungler! I mean Justice...I demand justice.

Xbox Live is the main reason I've made my primary console the PS3. Paying for Gold just to play online multiplayer was a drag.

People say that their experience is better with XBL than PSN, though, so this might be why people are willing to continue paying (with the fact that most of their friends are on the 360 and not the PS3). Having experienced both, I can't say I've noticed a difference, but I really only use these online services just to play online or to download games and demos.

I feel fucking ripped off.

It's one thing to not offer free games; that's fine, I get it - we can't all have our privacy invaded and put a company through the ringer to guilt them into shelling out big bucks to retain our loyalty - but when your deal of the week is a 5 expansions for games that I haven't played since I was noticeably younger in photographs, and then this:

http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-CA/Promotion/dealoftheweek - Whoa! Holy shit! Look at pack for a game that was released two fuckin' years ago.

All the while I'm watching Playstation Plus members get this:

http://us.playstation.com/psn/playstation-plus/

Why are we swallowing this like a crying kid eating a pile of spoiled cheese curds? Why aren't there picket lines and marching protesters? Where's the fucking potato-gun violence?

I demand Jungler! I mean Justice...I demand justice.

As an gamer? How did your head literally not fucking explode from writing that?

Also, stop bitching, you grammatically incorrect, bitchy bitch.

You pay for Xbox to... do something... internet connection...

Any way Playstation Plus members are paying for games, and deals, not... uh... voice chat... uh...

As an gamer? How did your head literally not fucking explode from writing that?

Also, stop bitching, you grammatically incorrect, bitchy bitch.

Well, it's obvious why this has played out the way it has. Microsoft started off this generation telling you that you were going to pay for XBL gold, even though the value didn't seem real. Sony didn't have that cash flow from the get go, and in order to get in on that money, had to offer above and beyond to get adopters. Taking away free online would not go over well (at least not in the middle of the generation... maybe PSN+ required to play online next gen? I don't know)

@Napalm said:

As an gamer? How did your head literally not fucking explode from writing that?

Also, stop bitching, you grammatically incorrect, bitchy bitch.

As an grammar teacher, frankly I am offend.

And, I believe, you can't play free games you get if you cancel your PSN+.

@Xevabis said:

And, I believe, you can't play free games you get if you cancel your PSN+.

This. Also, some of Xbox's Deals of the Week are pretty good. Not to mention that PSN can be janky as hell at times.

@Xevabis said:

And, I believe, you can't play free games you get if you cancel your PSN+.

Correct. You do not own these games, you are merely paying for the service that gives you access to the free games. It's like how you cannot continue to watch movies and shows off netflix after you stop paying.

@Xevabis said:

And, I believe, you can't play free games you get if you cancel your PSN+.

Yep. Anything you get for free, you can't access once your sub runs out. But anything you buy with the PS+ discount, you keep forever, even if your sub runs out. So you still save some money.

@Napalm said:

As an gamer? How did your head literally not fucking explode from writing that?

Also, stop bitching, you grammatically incorrect, bitchy bitch.

mhmm! Dis dis!

The grass is always greener on the other side isn't it?

It's called a free market economy; if you feel the deals at Safeway are terrible go shop at Big Jeffrey's Food n Stuff instead.

My subscription to Live finally ran out after 5 years. I didn't even notice. Because it sucks. You know what really pisses me off about it, though? Microsoft slaps that shitty interface onto all their apps. Netflix, Comcast, HBO Go, all have that terrible, slow fucking interface, and it drives me nuts. Especially with that cheap, plasticky controller that seems like it doesn't recognize button presses half the time. I'm just gonna get a Roku box instead.

Okay, I'm done ranting.

Gold = Multiplayer, not free or discounted games, there should be no expectation of that, ever. Until you, and millions of others, stop paying for it I see no reason Microsoft should add anything else to the service.

No one needs to pay for Gold to enjoy Xbox games. I've owned an Xbox 360 since 2007 and I've had a silver account the entire time. I'm very satisfied, so much so that in all these years I've never been able to justify the cost of a PS3 for the handful of exclusives that I would like to play.

It's probably because we've been paying for Xbox gold for 7 years, and Playstation+ has only been around for 2 years, and has only gotten good within the last year.

@Vinny_Says said:

The grass is always greener on the other side isn't it?

It's called a free market economy; if you feel the deals at Safeway are terrible go shop at Big Jeffrey's Food n Stuff instead.

I heard they put alligator on the shelves and sell it as beef at Big Jeffrey's, I wouldn't trust that place.

You know what's even better than PS+? The Steam sales.

why ive moved away from my 360. Last time I turned it on was to play catherine. If I had a ps3 or if it came out on pc then it would have been a much longer time since I turned it on. Most any game they offer is better served in the steam edition. Cheaper, better looking, and I can still use the 360 controller if I want. I dont have to deal with the xbox interface or the subscription charge either.

I don't mind it that much. Sure it doesn't come with free games but $60 a year to be able to get hours and hours of online play with a decent party chat doesn't seem to bad to me. I hear some people will pay that much to watch a few let's play videos on the internet per year so it isn't that shocking.

Doesn't bother me that much (i dont think ive ever paid more than $35 for a 12 month Gold Card), but i know objectively that it's hard to justify. I think MS realizes they don't really need to step up their game for the remainder of this generation. However, next gen might be a different story. Or Playstation could start charging everyone and then MS still won't have to change anything.

I know Sony would love to charge everyone, but how do they do it without pissing everyone off? Conversely if they don't charge still, and MS does, it could be a big selling point for them in terms of getting one-console types (like myself) to jump ship to PS4.

Personally, im so invested in the MS ecosystem (my XBLA purchases, gamerscore, friends) that i'll probably swallow whatever shit they feed me. Sad but true.

@Rolyatkcinmai said:

You know what's even better than PS+? The Steam sales.

yea at first xbox 360 stole the show then ps3 stepped their shit up and i honestly feel bad for people still using a 360.

but just to be an asshole i will say PC is still the best.

It's not even "60" dollars a year for Xbox Live. It's more like 40-45. Sometimes 30 if you know where to look, unless you're a chump and buy your XBL at retail price.

all the 1% seem to be in the threads tonight?...

I bought The Witcher on Steam for $2.49.

That's not some little indie game, that's one massive fucking RPG, and that little fact is one of the biggest reasons I'm saving up for a new PC. Granted, it won't be a powerhouse, it will probably end up with a GTX 460 in it, but that still opens up far more and far cheaper possibilities than my Xbox ever could.

I figured if we were going to bitch about how much Xbox Live is a rip-off, I'd point this one out. I don't think they could ever pull off the sales that Steam does, but don't tell me that MS couldn't do better. And at this point I've had all of the Gears of War that I want. The Halo games, I'm a fan of, but the Metroid series didn't keep me anchored to Nintendo and the Halo series isn't going to keep me anchored to Xbox.

@hawkinson76 said:

Gold = Multiplayer, not free or discounted games, there should be no expectation of that, ever. Until you, and millions of others, stop paying for it I see no reason Microsoft should add anything else to the service.

No one needs to pay for Gold to enjoy Xbox games. I've owned an Xbox 360 since 2007 and I've had a silver account the entire time. I'm very satisfied, so much so that in all these years I've never been able to justify the cost of a PS3 for the handful of exclusives that I would like to play.

This.

I had my Xbox 360 since 2008, I pay for gold probably once or twice every several months to try out multiplayer on a game I just bought but after that I'm pretty satisfied with silver.

@believer258 said:

I bought The Witcher on Steam for $2.49.

That's not some little indie game, that's one massive fucking RPG, and that little fact is one of the biggest reasons I'm saving up for a new PC. Granted, it won't be a powerhouse, it will probably end up with a GTX 460 in it, but that still opens up far more and far cheaper possibilities than my Xbox ever could.

I figured if we were going to bitch about how much Xbox Live is a rip-off, I'd point this one out. I don't think they could ever pull off the sales that Steam does, but don't tell me that MS couldn't do better. And at this point I've had all of the Gears of War that I want. The Halo games, I'm a fan of, but the Metroid series didn't keep me anchored to Nintendo and the Halo series isn't going to keep me anchored to Xbox.

That Witcher deal is pretty excellent seeing as though you are getting a fantastic game.

I feel like there is one of these posts every month

both have thier pros and cons but i think ps+ might be the better deal. But xbox gets all the dlc first so it balances itself out in a eierd way

Man, if anyone thinks Sony won't be charging for multi next gen they are in for a disappointing start to the next generation.

@Ramone said:

@Vinny_Says said:

The grass is always greener on the other side isn't it?

It's called a free market economy; if you feel the deals at Safeway are terrible go shop at Big Jeffrey's Food n Stuff instead.

I heard they put alligator on the shelves and sell it as beef at Big Jeffrey's, I wouldn't trust that place.

Skip to 1:27 into the video :)

@Napalm: My head exploded looking at it. Wow.

Buy a PS3.

@Sackmanjones: Ugh, it burns so bad.