XBLive..... will suck?

Like a lot of XB fans, I heard 'everything included' and pretty much ignored everything else about XBL except the games. Yes, MS reps mentioned it would be like cable, and there might be additional fees for things like fantasy sports leagues and premium 'channels', but I ignored it, and assumed it would be in the minority. After the PSO thing, I still ignored it. I reasoned maybe MS was returning the favor to Sega for the great games... But in this months OXM, there's a huge feature about XBL, and guess what? Seems MS has much bigger plans for letting companies gouge us. I suggest you rip open the new OXM at the store and read it (don't buy it). The gist of what has pissed me off is that basically, they plan to sell pre-paid cards for buying 'premium' content on XBL. What does that mean? Simple things like extra costums, characters, maps etc might not be covered under your regular subscription. It means, every company that wants to, can hit you up for extras just like on PS2s network. That's ignoring the fact that every company can make a extra premium 'channel' for their games to make more money. This is really fucked, bucause after the initial 'one fee' batch of games comes out, I have to worry, like with PS2, that every company will hop on a money grabbing band wagon and charge extra.

Errr.. that's just some pissed off random thoughts on the subject from me... what do you XBL supporters think? Is it still the best online pl;an? I can only say 'I guess' because it's BB only, but I'm not sure I care to get XBL anytime soon...

too good to be true...so of course it boils down to this.

I guess Johnpv the pro-gouger will be happy at least... :p

Shit. Well, that ruins my day.

It depends on how largely these 'premium' services factor into things. I'm not panicking yet, but it is unnerving.

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Originally posted by Mode7
It depends on how largely these 'premium' services factor into things. I'm not panicking yet, but it is unnerving.

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Yes, I am hoping it's small, but I have a bad bad feeling... in my bones... or... something...

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Originally posted by EThugg
I guess Johnpv the pro-gouger will be happy at least... :p

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im not happy about it

ill be owning an Xbox come this falls it effects me too

i just always felt from the start that this whole pay MS one fee and it covers thing wasnt going to work

honestly theres only 2 thing sim looking to play online really Fighting games and Racing games and so far Automodellista MAY be online but no official word and Marvel Vs Capcom 2 on the PS2 MAY be online but no official word again and i keep emailing capcom and they just give me the run around


and for once i agree with Ethugg if companies can find a way to charge then its going to become common place

i think ethuggs right when he says your going to see a premium channel for everything

kinda like well the regular channel lets you race against 1 other person BUT the PREMIUM channel lets you race against 16 people at once

*shrug*

For the consumer, it definitely makes the PS2 online offering sound more appealing. As for businesses though, XBox Live is probably the best setup for online gaming.

Currenly what it seems Sony is doing is following the same models that most .coms followed for the internet, and we see where that has left many of them.

Microsoft's plan is simple. Train people to pay so the situation of suddenly charging for things they onced offered for free will be less likely to happen.

If you look at sites and articles on the web, slowly but surely it seems many professional sites are either dying or comming up with a pay plan.

Cost won't be a big thing at first, but if internet gaming does take off and cost get to the point where it's not profitable to offer online features free, then what do you do? Start charging and hope everyone jumps on.

Microsoft's model avoids all that by planning ahead. Where will it leave us as consumers in the end? I have no idea, but for me I think I'll still with playing online with my PC till I see how some of these console plans iron out.

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Originally posted by Brotherman
For the consumer, it definitely makes the PS2 online offering sound more appealing. As for businesses though, XBox Live is probably the best setup for online gaming.

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Except for that small fact that Sony has a user base ten times as large as Microsoft's...

XBLive is still the best online plan to me. This plan sounds like it could be bad, but if you think about it, it may also be good, if done right. Say for instance there's a game that will be coming to PS2, GC, and XB, all online. Well for the XB version, considering this, maybe something will pan out giving us extra FEATURES in the game, weapons/maps/skills/etc, as opposed to just doing the FilePlanet route of giving you what you already had, but faster. Anyway, it's something to keep an eye on regardless, I hope it plays out for the better though.