Microsoft will charge $60 a year for many Xbox One features

[Poke]

Price going up just another reason why I will be going PS4 this time around.

http://www.theverge.com/2013/8/7/4599906/microsoft-will-charge-60-a-year-for-many-xbox-one-features

 

[meStevo]

Where in that did you get the price is going up? That's the same it's been for a long time, and the same service that you can routinely pay just $35 or so for if price really is an issue.

This is yet another case of Sony getting the benefit of the doubt by saying nothing, we don't know what else they're putting behind the PSN+ paywall yet. They're not going to sit back and watch MS bring in big money (over $1b) annually on Live while they give away everything like last generation.

 

[Poke]

Where in that did you get the price is going up? That's the same it's been for a long time, and the same service that you can routinely pay just $35 or so for if price really is an issue.

This is yet another case of Sony getting the benefit of the doubt by saying nothing, we don't know what else they're putting behind the PSN+ paywall yet. They're not going to sit back and watch MS bring in big money (over $1b) annually on Live while they give away everything like last generation.

Hmm well maybe $60 was the new price I think I was paying $50 before so my bad... Heck I still like the Xbox but I have not had a PS in awhile so I'm going to give it a try I think they are both really good consoles. I think the PS Plus is at $50 and if I'm correct I don't think you have to pay anything to play most of the titles on the PS online to where with the Xbox I think you have to have a Gold account to play online.

 

[meStevo]

Hmm well maybe $60 was the new price I think I was paying $50 before so my bad... Heck I still like the Xbox but I have not had a PS in awhile so I'm going to give it a try I think they are both really good consoles. I think the PS Plus is at $50 and if I'm correct I don't think you have to pay anything to play most of the titles on the PS online to where with the Xbox I think you have to have a Gold account to play online.

On PS4 PSN+ is required to play online for all titles that aren't free to play (DCUO, Dust, etc)

 

[yourbeliefs]

Not surprising at all. Yeah it'd be good if they included it for free, but the market has shown that people are willing to pay the gold costs for this stuff.

If you all want my advice, stock up on some cheap 12 Month Live Gold cards when they go on sale and use those. I haven't paid more than $40 for Gold in years.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

We buy the gold anyways so not a big deal.

 

[Ramy]

Gold has been $60 for a couple of years now, but you can find deals for $35 or $40 all the time.

Here is one for $45 on amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0029LJIFG/?tag=satell01-20

 

[king3pj]

This is yet another case of Sony getting the benefit of the doubt by saying nothing, we don't know what else they're putting behind the PSN+ paywall yet. They're not going to sit back and watch MS bring in big money (over $1b) annually on Live while they give away everything like last generation.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/07/29/playstation-4-party-chat-will-be-free-to-all

Actually it looks like PS+ is only required for online gaming. They have confirmed that party chat and streaming services like Netflix don't need it.

At the moment, a PlayStation Plus subscription is needed for the online multiplayer of most titles, though services like Netflix, party chat, and free-to-play games like DC Universe Online will be available without it.

This isn't a selling point for me though. I have been a PS+ member for about a year now and I love it. For $50 a year it makes my PS3 and Vita experience much better. Just in the first year I have played hundreds of dollars worth of games and have plenty more downloaded to my systems that I haven't gotten a chance to play yet.

Microsoft's Xbox Live is no doubt a better online gaming service than PSN. Simple things like private party chat that lets me and my friends have our own private channel to talk on without screaming 12-year-olds interrupting us makes a huge difference. I have also used party chat with friends who were playing completely different games from time to time. I like streaming my own music from my computer when playing online multiplayer games like Halo too.

None of these features are available on PS3. I think the claim was that they didn't have enough ram available for background services like voice chat or playing your own music so those features have to be implemented for each game that wants them by the developer. Microsoft was smart to build these kinds of things right into the Xbox operating software so each and every game had these features without the game developers having to build them. It looks like Sony finally has all of this worked out for the PS4 though.

 

[meStevo]

Might not have all of that, apparently MS has a patent on custom game soundtracks, why is probably why it's implemented inconstantly on the Vita.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Zookster]

I totally understand putting features exclusive to the console behind a pay wall, but I just can't grasp the philosophy behind requiring an additional subscription to use services that already require a subscription (Netfilx, Hulu+, etc.), especially when every smart TV, smart blu-ray player, and other media streaming boxes don't charge extra. It will only exclude more casual users of the device.

 

[king3pj]

I totally understand putting features exclusive to the console behind a pay wall, but I just can't grasp the philosophy behind requiring an additional subscription to use services that already require a subscription (Netfilx, Hulu+, etc.), especially when every smart TV, smart blu-ray player, and other media streaming boxes don't charge extra. It will only exclude more casual users of the device.

I'm a little worried that PS+ will go down in quality because just about every PS4 owner will have it. It is one thing to give a bunch of great games away free to minority of us that currently subscribe on PS3. It is a little bit different to give that same quality game list to the vast majority of PS4 owners.

With the current setup a PS3 or Vita owner could be a relatively happy gamer on a budget not playing anything but free PS+ games. That has to affect game sales once every somewhat casual COD gamer suddenly has access to so many free games. Yeah, that type of gamer will still go buy their yearly edition of COD but that plus the PS+ subscription they need to play COD might mean they don't buy any other games all year. I'm not trying to be overly negative towards the Call of Duty fans because I buy them all and play with my old college friends too. That is just the best example of a mainstream game.

I just have a feeling that more PS+ subscribers will mean that it won't stay as good of a product for those who love it. I think it will start to shift to Microsoft's Games with Gold lineup. By that I mean fewer and older games offered. So far Microsoft has offered Fable 3 released in 2010, Defense Grid released in 2008, Assassin's Creed 2 released in 2009, Crackdown released in 2007, and Dead Rising 2 released in 2010 is next. Not a single game released after 2010 while PS Plus is giving us games that were released in late 2012. The difference is that everyone has Xbox Live Gold.

The first PS4 PS+ game announced is Drive Club. I'm not in to racing games but it's cool that every PS+ member will have a free game on day one. The not so cool part is that it isn't the full game. I don't remember PS+ ever offering snippets of a game on PS3 or Vita.

http://www.ign.com/blogs/jamiemad66...users-will-recieve-limited-driveclub-version/

During Sony’s E3 press conference it was announced PlayStation Plus subscribers would receive a unique version of DriveClub, though details were not given on how exactly this version would differentiate from the full game.

“The main difference between them is the amount of content,” Evolution senior designer, Ben Gouldstone has stated.

I can give them a pass on this because no launch game is going to want to be the free PS+ game from day one. Maybe it will take 6 months before the PS4 plus offerings start to resemble the PS3 offerings. I just hope that this isn't a sign of things to come.

 

[Zookster]

I think it's only inevitable that the quality of PS3 games added to the Instant Game Collection will go down in the longterm as fewer games are made for the platform. In the short-term, I look forward to getting games like Tomb Raider, Last of Us, and other popular, critically acclaimed titles of 2012-2013 in the next 12-18 months.

As far as free PS4 game offerings for Plus members, I see a steady dose of indy PSN titles for at least the first 6-12 months. And probably just 1-2 per month rather than the current 3-4 free games. I also see Sony working in more discounts and bonus content exclusive to Plus members, but in a manner that drives sales of DLC and other microtransactions (as we currently see with many Plus titles). I just don't see how Sony can completely turn their back on the current structure they've established for Plus. If anything, I see them raising the price on the service or introducing tiered pricing, but not for a while. Not until they've established market penetration.

 

[Zookster]

BTW, it was confirmed that on the PS4, the record gameplay feature won't require a Plus membership, unlike on the Xbox One. Apparently the PS4 will record the last 15 minutes and the Xbox One records 5 minutes.
http://www.gamezone.com/news/2013/08/08/ps4-doesn-t-require-ps-plus-to-record-and-stream-games

 

[dont24]

I'm still waiting to hear what they'll do with the family plan. Discontinued, but as long as you were a member, it renews.

 

[king3pj]

I'm still waiting to hear what they'll do with the family plan. Discontinued, but as long as you were a member, it renews.

Here you go.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/08/09/xbox-live-gold-family-pack-is-changing-on-august-27

I'd add another year now if you still can because they are converting them all to single accounts. If you have months left over each account will have that many months left but you can no longer renew family accounts.


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