Why does the 360 charge for online?

Who cares why they charge? Its pretty simple, if you want it, pay for it, if not, you don't have to. Enjoy your free psn and free pc online. I prefer xbox live to the other two, so I will pay.

Because its called a buisness, and because they can, and because it worth it?

[QUOTE="TheElfChild"][QUOTE="navyguy21"]Live costs money because maintaining an online service costs money. and what devs pay for with PSN, that cost is passed on to the consumer with LIVE. What this means is devs can choose what they WANT to do, not what they can AFFORD to do. This also allows MS to focus finances elsewhere since they dont have to make room in budgets for LIVE. Im not saying i agree with the price, but 50 bucks a YEAR is nothing really, if you cant afford that, then you really shouldnt be gaming :PSUD123456

You are correct. But you have to weigh that one game against MP for all the games you own.

Alsoit is also an opportunity cost for the manufacturer as well. One of the reasons that the 360 is as cheap as it is now is because MS has a healthy revenue stream from XBL. Thus, it could lower the 360 price and still remain profitable. XBL Gold members are effectively subsidizing the sales rate of the 360 for new owners. Similarly, XBL Gold members are providing the cash with which MS acquires new games. Arguably, XBL are paying a relatively modest amount to have a better game library. Whether you think it is worth it is your own personal decision. Apparently quite a few millions are willing to part with their money no matter how they justify it...or whether they even attempt to justify it.

Similarly, the PS3 is as costly as it is in part because Sony doesn't have a large enough online revenue stream. Thus, PS3 console purchasers are subsidizing PSN whether they want or care about PSN at all. Just like I paid extra for Wifi when I neither needed or wanted Wifi for my PS3. Just like Sony closed down some development teams and cancelled some games...using those resources to build Home. All PS3 owners are paying for PSN, just indirectly.

In the end, nothing is free. It is just who pays and how they pay that differs.

[QUOTE="TheGreatOutdoor"]

[QUOTE="SUD123456"]

No. You are just a poor reader. I suggest you go back and read that line and the one after it together. Then come back and ask a legit question if you still don't understand.

SUD123456

You owned a PS3. You bought a PS3. The 'cost' of PSN was included in your purchase price. It was also included in what game library was actually available to you. Just like you paid for Wifi, even if you think it was free. Just because you don't pay directly and separately for something doesn't mean it is free.

Typically in N America manyrestaurants will give you buns, or chips and salsa, or whatever for 'free'. It isn't free. The costs are buried in the costs of all meals. This is an indirect cost and unavoidable.

Typically in Europe restaurants will charge you for the same buns etc. This is a direct cost but is avoidable.

Often Americans will go to Europe, accept the bread/buns at a restaurant and then feel ripped off. OMG, they charged me extra for the buns!!!! The horror. In reality there was no difference in cost because they were paying for them in the US too...but the cost was buried in the cost of the meal.

It is simply two different ways to price. The only difference is that one is avoidable and clear, while the other is unavoidable and hidden.

The concept is not difficult.

[QUOTE="Englandfc1966"]Because it uses dedicated servers on 1st party games. Oh nvm was thinking of the free PSN! Silly me.halo_wars86

nice 1 beat me to it. paying for 360 feels very unfair since i find the psn just as good if not better since its FREEEEEEEEEEEEEE

[QUOTE="SUD123456"]

[QUOTE="TheGreatOutdoor"]I never asked a question, so what are you talking about. And again, my multiplayer PC gaming and PSN are free. I don't pay a dime....err nickel for any of it. I pay for Internet, but that isn't so I can game. Gaming is just a added perk. I have Internet to keep in touch with family and friends, surf the net, and other things like free games (America's Army for example), school, music, movies, ect.. Somehow I don't feel like the poor reader here (after all, you thought I asked something....no ? after huh from where I stand ;) ).

dthach614

You owned a PS3. You bought a PS3. The 'cost' of PSN was included in your purchase price. It was also included in what game library was actually available to you. Just like you paid for Wifi, even if you think it was free. Just because you don't pay directly and separately for something doesn't mean it is free.

Typically in N America manyrestaurants will give you buns, or chips and salsa, or whatever for 'free'. It isn't free. The costs are buried in the costs of all meals. This is an indirect cost and unavoidable.

Typically in Europe restaurants will charge you for the same buns etc. This is a direct cost but is avoidable.

Often Americans will go to Europe, accept the bread/buns at a restaurant and then feel ripped off. OMG, they charged me extra for the buns!!!! The horror. In reality there was no difference in cost because they were paying for them in the US too...but the cost was buried in the cost of the meal.

It is simply two different ways to price. The only difference is that one is avoidable and clear, while the other is unavoidable and hidden.

The concept is not difficult.

It's free money ... Do you not like money?

Better question would be, why do Sony NOT charge for it? 'Cause it's not upto XBOX Live standards ... yet.

I am getting so sick of these threads. Why don't you email MS and ask them why they charge for it, instead of making all of us sick with all of these threads.

SW really is getting slow. All cows want to do is post the same damn thread 10 times per day.

[QUOTE="Englandfc1966"]Because it uses dedicated servers on 1st party games. Oh nvm was thinking of the free PSN! Silly me.halo_wars86

nice 1 beat me to it. paying for 360 feels very unfair since i find the psn just as good if not better since its FREEEEEEEEEEEEEE

[QUOTE="halo_wars86"]

[QUOTE="Englandfc1966"]Because it uses dedicated servers on 1st party games. Oh nvm was thinking of the free PSN! Silly me.MortalDecay

nice 1 beat me to it. paying for 360 feels very unfair since i find the psn just as good if not better since its FREEEEEEEEEEEEEE

[QUOTE="SUD123456"]Go back and read your initial post over and it should become clear. While in reality, the only way to play your 360against others is through XBL Gold.

Thus, XBL is inseparable from the 360 itself for those who want to play MP. This is the genius of MS' approach to pricing. As long as the 360 itself sells, so too will a portion of owners pay for XBL. This also explains why Silver is 'free'. Silver isn't free. All the advantages of Silver are in fact paid for by the Gold members. Thus the Gold members subsidize the Silver members. Which draws more flies to the honey.

But it would be wrong to call the majority of 360 XBL buyers gullible. They pay because they have too. Because that decision is not a standalone decision, but was made at the time of the 360 purchase...consciously or not.

In any case, the actual pricing of any product or service is never justified by its costs. Why should premium beers cost more? Why should designer jeans cost more? There is never a justifaction for any price...other than people are willing to pay it.

And this is the genius of MS' approach to XBL and their pricing strategy vis-a-vis Gold vs Silver. If Sony had someone with a clue on pricing they wouldn't be in the mess they are in now :)

foxhound_fox

[QUOTE="MortalDecay"][QUOTE="halo_wars86"]

nice 1 beat me to it. paying for 360 feels very unfair since i find the psn just as good if not better since its FREEEEEEEEEEEEEE

TheElfChild

Why? Because people will continue to pay for it since many have no other alternative and MS will continue to charge.

Nothing in life is free. I don't care what any one wants to think, nothin is free at all. PC people who play on any server should know that it isn't technically free. Some one is paying for it. Might not be you but some one some where is either paying for the server space or trying to host it from their computer. Just pay attention to the scrolling messages before during or after the game or while the map is loading. They all are either hosted by a clan (who pay dues) or asking for donations to keep the servers running. I should know because every time I turn around on BF servers and other Multi player games that message pops up. I don't know about PSN but again some one is paying for the servers, if not you then sony or the game publishers. Yeah 360 makes you pay but that means you can always play any of the games all the time. Even now you could play halo 2, mech assault, even crimson skies still. I know, thought I try it out while waiting out Hurricane Ike and for the power to kick back on (xbox doesn't over work my generator). So the question is do you want to pay with the garruntee that you can play or run the risk of just droping out with out notice like some of my favorite servers.

[QUOTE="foxhound_fox"]

[QUOTE="SUD123456"]Go back and read your initial post over and it should become clear. While in reality, the only way to play your 360against others is through XBL Gold.

Thus, XBL is inseparable from the 360 itself for those who want to play MP. This is the genius of MS' approach to pricing. As long as the 360 itself sells, so too will a portion of owners pay for XBL. This also explains why Silver is 'free'. Silver isn't free. All the advantages of Silver are in fact paid for by the Gold members. Thus the Gold members subsidize the Silver members. Which draws more flies to the honey.

But it would be wrong to call the majority of 360 XBL buyers gullible. They pay because they have too. Because that decision is not a standalone decision, but was made at the time of the 360 purchase...consciously or not.

In any case, the actual pricing of any product or service is never justified by its costs. Why should premium beers cost more? Why should designer jeans cost more? There is never a justifaction for any price...other than people are willing to pay it.

And this is the genius of MS' approach to XBL and their pricing strategy vis-a-vis Gold vs Silver. If Sony had someone with a clue on pricing they wouldn't be in the mess they are in now :)

MortalDecay

Is there some kind of hidden cost associated with Steam I'm not aware of? I pay for games cheaper than they are in store, Steam's servers (some hosted by my ISP so it downloads extra fast) let me download the games free of charge and with no limits, and then I can play these games online (or in offline mode if I so please) for free - and I don't have to pay for the multitude of dedicated servers that are available to me.

Am I living in nirvana or something?

So developers don't have to pay to put their content online. http://ve3d.ign.com/articles/news/45640/Sony-Charging-Publishers-For-PSN-Bandwidth

Overall: to pay for bandwidth.

[QUOTE="dthach614"][QUOTE="JigglyWiggly_"]They have to host their content, like when you download something from xbox live you download from Microsoft's servers, not a third parties. This makes sense because it will be faster and there won't be any 404/403 errors. However this costs a lot of money, and Microsoft also saw this as a way to make money at the same time. So Basically they could slash the price, but they have no reason to do that. JigglyWiggly_

[QUOTE="JigglyWiggly_"][QUOTE="dthach614"] silver user can download content for free. and your gold subscription doesn't cover all DLC. you still have to pay. dont post again.Deiuos

BTW PSP has so much to offer, not just the games. With "custom" stuff, you can run other consoles and change the clockspeed... I ain't gona go further than that.

[QUOTE="Deiuos"][QUOTE="JigglyWiggly_"] What the hell is wrong with you? Do you not think? Who buys a console just for content? the money goes to hosting. I have no idea why you are so aggressive. Dedicated servers are a hell of a lot cheaper for games than gigabyte downloads, moron.JigglyWiggly_

[QUOTE="JigglyWiggly_"]

[QUOTE="Deiuos"] Regarding the quote I just bolded ... do YOU not think? What kind of question is "Who buys a console just for content" ? That'd be mostly everyone, especially me. I sold my PSP because, at the time when I had it, it lacked content. Deiuos

[QUOTE="Deiuos"][QUOTE="JigglyWiggly_"] The hell you are talking about? Do you buy a console just for movies and demos and not games? Fail Don't say putting linux on a ps3 or some garbage like that, that is also fail. It runs in a VM, this is only good for light tasks, try running an apache server on it haha.

JigglyWiggly_

Because they know most 360 gamers will pay the money to play online. Basically its an easy way to steal some money. I hate paying for it, but sadly I do anyway.

[QUOTE="Floppy_Jim"]Greed and the fact that MS are earning a lot of money from it.swazidoughman

I wouldn't call it greed because a large company needs lots of money to operate.

It is a good business choice.

[QUOTE="JigglyWiggly_"]

[QUOTE="Deiuos"] Since when did the word "content" for a gaming console mean "anything that isn't a game" ?Deiuos

It's like saying I inspected the content of your mom, doesn't mean I inspected her private areas :)

[QUOTE="Deiuos"][QUOTE="JigglyWiggly_"] Uh reread my post, I said who buys a console just for content? Does it look like I'm implying games? Nope. Content is a broad word.

JigglyWiggly_

It's like saying I inspected the content of your mom, doesn't mean I inspected her private areas :)

They wany money....

[QUOTE="MortalDecay"]

[QUOTE="foxhound_fox"]
Wrong. http://www.xbconnect.com/

PC gamers were able to convince MS that Windows Live wasn't worth paying for. The only two reasons 360 gamers can't convince MS like PC gamers did is 1) there isn't a popular alternative and 2) they think paying for it makes it better... when in reality, Live Silver offers all of the services Gold does, for free, and Gold makes you pay for peer-to-peer online... while PC services offer dedicated servers for free.

Firebird-5

Is there some kind of hidden cost associated with Steam I'm not aware of? I pay for games cheaper than they are in store, Steam's servers (some hosted by my ISP so it downloads extra fast) let me download the games free of charge and with no limits, and then I can play these games online (or in offline mode if I so please) for free - and I don't have to pay for the multitude of dedicated servers that are available to me.

Am I living in nirvana or something?

because people pay it so they make more money to pay the guys at the top big bucks. [QUOTE="swazidoughman"]

[QUOTE="Floppy_Jim"]Greed and the fact that MS are earning a lot of money from it.imprezawrx500

I wouldn't call it greed because a large company needs lots of money to operate.

It is a good business choice.

It's free money ... Do you not like money?

Better question would be, why do Sony NOT charge for it? 'Cause it's not upto XBOX Live standards ... yet.

-Snooze-

All of you must be happy that people havent found a way to charge for air we breath yet.

Been PC gaming for a long time and it was always free, XBL is not worth it but we are left to no choice but to pay so we can play our gears2 and COD4 MP modes. This is what MS exactly expected, to us consumers end up having no choice but to pay. Simple called business strategy, their gain, our loss.

mostly free of subscription charges. beekayjay

Online gaming should always be free.Bazfrag

Who cares! Really, you spend alot more money on alot of other needless things. I bet you (like me) spend over a couple hundred dollars a cheque on needless crap. 50 dollars is a little over 2 hours work for me, I think people just don't think about it enough. And besides, who is forcing you?