Microsoft's Unangst On The PC, Xbox 360 Multiplayer Cost Divide Options

[Xbox-Scene]

Microsoft's Unangst On The PC, Xbox 360 Multiplayer Cost Divide Posted by XanTium | August 6 17:12 EST | News Category: Xbox360

From gamasutra.com: [QUOTE] But despite the similarity, Xbox 360 users still pay subscription fees for the Xbox Live Gold multiplayer matching service, while PC gamers will not. Does Microsoft see a dichotomy here? "What we've got is two different groups who are trying to do what's best and offering value for their customers," Unangst (Microsoft's Games for Windows head) said. "The Games for Windows team and the Games for Windows Live team looked at this and said, 'What do we need to do to make sure this adopted broadly and has value?'" "And that's all those changes -- the UI, the Marketplace, the fact that we're not going to have the same content. On Xbox Live, I think they've done everything to continue to add value to the Gold subscription." With same friends lists, Gamertag and a shared currency in Microsoft Points, Unangst points to what he calls a "common underpinning." On the Xbox 360, however, Unangst says the focus is more largely on "things that make sense for the console." "So those services will evolve in different directions. You'll have different types of content that we offer." [/QUOTE] Full Story: gamasutra.com

[LockmanSal]

shut the f*ck up and make it free like PC , you have ads those pay , you have DLC that pays , im gonna f*cking f*ck you up Microsoft , a holes.

[rooter75]

Seriously are they really sitting around a conference table somewhere sayin yeah i truly believe there is more value to the console gold subscription then the pc version. This is one of those moves they should have been more careful about they are so worried about losing the chance to have PC gamers see live as value that they are giving the console supporters (the core live supporters) a slap in the face!

[spoone]

hehe,
M$'s really fueling the fire of a flame war that was even started by themselves.

i would love to see gold live, but it isn't much money, so it does not hurt.

spoone

[scuba156]

the pressure is being put on them, which will make them re think there plan. we may possibly see a price drop for subscriptions but i doubt they will make it free.

[deeceefar2]

That has to be the worst explanation ever. Even though I don't consider the price for xbox live to be unreasonable I do expect them to have a clear explanation for what makes it better or different. Saying it is different doesn't make it different unless you can back that up. I hope to god he just hadn't done his homework on those questions when he sat down, because even being a supporter of xbox live subscription I have to say after reading that I'm seriously reconsidering the price for it.

Answers that I expected:
1. Xbox live being a market place leader we naturally have more resources devoted to introducing new features. Somewhere we hope to be in the not too distant future with games for windows live.
2. The console side is more of an integrated experience, we have put countless hours into tuning the service to demonstrate the strengths of the Xbox 360, and I think it clearly shows.
3. A large portion of the fee goes towards supporting 3rd party developers in bring to life the xbox live experience, and I think that is why our experience is much more a part of the xbox 360 games.
5. Xbox live is not just a gaming experience but a media experience as well. We have lots of exclusive content and provide users with a great media experience.

I'm sure there are many other reasons people can think of why the xbox service should be better, but the fact that he didn't mention any of them is cause for concern. Seems to me like what they are actually saying is we have a closed market with a captive audience who like to play online. We can charge them for however long we want and there isn't anything they can do about it. On windows however, we have competition that is free so we can't justify a cost for something people already get for free.

Whoever that guy is needs to never talk to the public again; he just fueled the already raging debate over the cost of xbox-live. If M$ has a story to tell about xbox-live being better then windows live they better start talking or people are going to be getting increasingly frustrated with the service. If they can't put a stop to this discussion that fee is done and over with by next summer when the other consoles will have their services in gear.

I'm going to give them 2 weeks to respond and if I don't hear anything special about the xbox-live vs windows-live I'm canceling my subscription. I have no intention of paying them for a service they can't even argue is better then what they offer free elsewhere. Start talking M$ or people are going to start walking.

[8BitBrad]

I am a gold member and really not happy with the service. I'm more upset that they cover my dashboard with ads that MS clearly gets money for. Then on top of that I'm not paying for dedicated servers...I'm paying for p2p..lame. Also, to make it worse is they said the 360 is more for multimedia..Well I don't use my 360 for media. I bought my "gaming console" for...ummm.... GAMES. I have other sources for media (XBMC)

Yes, I know its doesn't cost that much...but when you look at it the service is not that special. When they made GFW free...well that just feels like they slapped us 360 members in the face.

I hope MS comes to their senses.

[rooter75]

Excellent post deeceefar2! I Agree 100%

@8BitBrad there is a whole lota slappin going on in this thread hehehe

This post has been edited by rooter75: Aug 7 2008, 01:11 AM

[Wilhelm_I]

If they let me pay in US$ without banning me because I am from Europe I would already be pretty happy.
I pay 7€ a month which is 11.07$US
For Americans it costs like 5$ a month which is 3.14€.
We pay more than twice.
No wonder everybody is getting a PS3

Stop ripping off the Europeans god dammit!
I dont give a damn about a price cut because it will only be for the U.S anyway like for the consoles, they are not even intending to give us the 60GB version yet.

Personally I dont care about any of the stuff they offer on the market place I can live without this like back in the old xbc/kai days but the main thing which is just simple online play should be free.
Charging people for that is retarded if people would get charged on PC games as well they wouldnt sell anything.

Give us a Bronze account for the people who only want to play the games this causes the least traffic...

Just my 2 cents...

[21cwSpanky]

This is one of those moves they should have been more careful about they are so worried about losing the chance to have PC gamers see live as value that they are giving the console supporters (the core live supporters) a slap in the face!

The problem is the PC already has dozens and doesn't need another computer game matchmaking service. All of which are free and were always free except windows live. In fact the only reason microsoft gets away with charging people for XBL is due to the fact that they hold a monopoly on their own hardware. They get to say who and what gets put on their console. In the end millions of people are suckered into paying $50-100 a year depending on where they live for a service that could be supplied with a website. They don't run any game servers, all they do is provide servers to download content that you must also pay for. So in the end you're paying for a service that allows you to pay for more crap, microsoft really hit the jackpot with that one. The PC community didn't deal with it. I never once found a single person on a PC gold matchmaking.

[dhotull]

They may not want it to be free, they may want to continue milking their captive customers with useless, unneeded fees, but they will need to change this if they really want to do better in this generation than they did the last. The average and casual gamer will not devote themselves to monthly or yearly fees for a system that they don't use everyday and have already shelled out hundreds for and purchased the games and their internet as well. As we see here, there are many dedicated gamers as well that won't cave and pay microsoft's ransom to use our system.

They never really adequately provided a service that requires additional payment, especially without dedicated servers. Their inability to really defend their product decision even now is going to make it even harder for them here on out to try and charge for something that their competitors provide for free, and their competitors number of network users is increasing faster than their own, by a good margin. This can only benefit us as the pressure increases. I, for one, will never pay them for the right to use the system and games that I purchased. And as long as they have the additional fees, I will not purchase any dlc from live.

[synthetamine]

calm your selves everyone, the keyword is UN-angst

[Markus1712]

I don't understant what that guy was talking about... It was some crazy PR-talk...

[rooter75]

calm your selves everyone, the keyword is UN-angst

hmm i'm not sure if your saying that this is all a joke? or you're just being sly with words but you do know that "Unangst" is the name of the man interviewed right?

Microsoft's Games for Windows head Kevin Unangst was the interviewee

This post has been edited by rooter75: Aug 8 2008, 12:40 AM