I am kinda mad about this and I want to know what you guys think. Ok, as lots of you might know, this past week the Games For Windows Live service has been moved from a $50 subscription to free, not only that but people who purchased a subscription and never used it on the 360 get refunded. Why in the hell do the 360 users get shafted like this, Why do 360 users have to pay $50 a year to play games online when PC gamers can already play 99% of games for free with no subscription, I don't understand.

I mean, don't get me wrong, I love PC games and I plan on getting a new PC next year but right now I am more of a console gamer and I just don't get why they make people pay $50 a year to play games online, on a damn Peer to Peer service, not even on dedicated servers...

So pretty much, do you think 360 users are getting shafted by MS($)????

Because online PC gaming was free when it first started, online console gaming is still somewhat new, and since microsoft were really the pioneers of it they must have figured..."well shit we might as well make a buck off of this thing"
Pretty much there was no standard for free online gaming, so why not charge for it if they can.

I think you will find xbox users arent getting shafted, rather PC gamers getting unshafted.

cause PC games WERE ALWAYS free. GFW with a payment wouldve never worked.

and live wont be free until MS has any real competition from sony or nintendo. nintendo's will never happen and PSN is a pathetic joke, SO DEAL WITH IT.

Xbox Live on 360 is far superior to XBL on PC. they don't get movie downloads or anything like that. PC gamers were getting shafted before and now they're not getting shafted. I'm not upset in the slightest.

"I am kinda mad about this and I want to know what you guys think. Ok, as lots of you might know, this past week the Games For Windows Live service has been moved from a $50 subscription to free, not only that but people who purchased a subscription and never used it on the 360 get refunded. Why in the hell do the 360 users get shafted like this, Why do 360 users have to pay $50 a year to play games online when PC gamers can already play 99% of games for free with no subscription, I don't understand.

I mean, don't get me wrong, I love PC games and I plan on getting a new PC next year but right now I am more of a console gamer and I just don't get why they make people pay $50 a year to play games online, on a damn Peer to Peer service, not even on dedicated servers...

So pretty much, do you think 360 users are getting shafted by MS($)????
"

Well, I don't feel as if I'm getting the "shaft" as you put it.  I'm pleased with the service I get for live, hence me paying 50 bucks a year for it.  If I thought the service was inadequate or I was being treated unfairly, I just wouldn't utilize such a service. :D

Because they're trying to make a base with there line of games for windows games, if they charge they wont get the sales they're looking for.

Games for Windows Live sucks. XBOX Live doesn't. I really don't care about paying $50 a YEAR. Its easy to manage and it keeps XBL from becoming the shithole that is PSN and Wii Network.

It's just 50 bucks....not alot of money for the services offered.

It comes with alot of stuff, we could say that we are shaffting microsoft

I'll survive.

I don't feel we're shafted because of this, I feel 360 users are shafted because of another issue.  PC users have ALWAYS had free online, and suggesting anything else on an open platform is silly.  360 currently offers a better online experience than PS3, so you get what you pay for.  I hope one day PS3 catches up and surpasses Xbox Live, because that would force MS to either make their system even better--which they're already doing with the dashboard update--or stop charging for live.

Why I personally feel we're getting shafted is MS not allowing mod support.  I can play an Uno game and be subjected to tits and ass and wangs, I can use the headset and hear people call me all sorts of awful things, but goodness forbid we have a level share feature in N+, because someone might write dirty words in blocks, or draw a penis.  It's bullshit, and Microsoft just want to make sure the only way you can get added content for your game is to buy what they're selling.

Hopefully, if titles like Little Big Planet are a huge success, MS will have no choice but to do the right thing and allow user made content. If not, I think they could be making a big mistake.

I think someone made a topic about this before, and someone who posted in it said something like this:

"For Games For Windows, players can make games on other servers, while for Live, we're all on MS's server".

Something like that.
"

Game for Windows Live all suck, so charging even a penny for them is a ripoff.  Because of the outrageous $50 price tag, nobody played them.  Now that they're free, Microsoft hopes to increase PC gaming.  As for the 360, get a job like most of us, then you can cry me a river, build me a bridge, and get the hell over it.

No we didn't get shafted.
Seriously is 50 dollars a year that much to ask for?

I like live as it is, if 50$ its gonna keep it nice, I'm up for it

"I like live as it is, if 50$ its gonna keep it nice, I'm up for it
"

Also MS is ready and available to help out with games so they meet their online multiplayer needs. Sony, not so much for 3rd parties.

I think it's alright because the fee is so nominal, it's almost like you're paying nothing at all.
That said, I'd imagine at some point it does have to go free, especially considering the fact that the PSN is slowly catching up with a lot of the features... except charging for Qore, which is just absolutely insane.

ya, but I'm a high school student right now and I make very little money working part time, And I don't like paying $50 a year for online service, and I know what most of you might say, "If you don't like it, don't buy it", but I came from a PC gaming background in the late 90's and early 2000's, but I also had a PS2 and some sports games and socom and it was all free, that happened before xbox live, so IMO, MS is in no way pioneering online gaming on the consoles with the xbox or 360, I just think MS is being M$.

Its only $50 and plus online play in games have always been free on PC. The quality of online games on 360 are great and I would much rather pay $50 a year then have to deal with a free service like PSN or Wii 24 connect because online games on PS3 and Wii are missing so many features.

Who cares? Steam is where its at on pc anyway, games for windows live is a waste of time. Hence its free.

yes i think so. pc games that have been out for a couple years still have people playing them. but games on consoles don't.

I'm so sick of people crying over the price of Xbox Live, its a great service and if you can't afford to pay for it, you probably shouldn't own a Xbox 360 in the first place. X_X

its 72.50 here..

$50 isn't so bad. Sure, I'd prefer it if it was free but I'm not going whine about paying for a great service.

They charge because they know people will still buy it. And it is worth it in my opinion.

"Who cares? Steam is where its at on pc anyway, games for windows live is a waste of time. Hence its free.
"

Steam is free too what's your point

"$50 isn't so bad. Sure, I'd prefer it if it was free but I'm not going whine about paying for a great service.
"

There really was no point in charging $50 a year so PC gamers could get the full use out of say 1-5 games a year.