Morning Edition News Picks: March 14, 2007
Games for Windows - Live Details
So the official announcement is out, we have Games for Windows - Live details. In particular, the question people were really curious about has been answered. Will a Windows gamer be required to pay in order to play with other Windows gamers? The quick answer, no, but cross-platform play between Windows and Xbox 360 games will require paying for Gold.
This news isn't surprising, but I am curious of two things still:
- Will features like cross-platform gameplay and multiplayer achievements really be a enough of a draw for Windows gamers to pay for Gold memberships?
- With Windows gamers and Sony gamers getting free multiplayer, will Xbox 360 gamers start feeling jaded?
Honestly, the draw to pay for Gold, if a Windows user, seems low unless something else is added to the equation. However, if you play games on the 360 and Windows you can now pick which platform suits you best when buying a game.
My guess, as more revenue is generated via purchases (or perhaps ads) through Live, surpassing the profit generated from Gold subscriptions, you will see Gold either change or go away.
I've never really understood the concept of Gold from a user standpoint. Frankly, it annoys me to no extent that if I buy some game that is primarily good for multiplayer, I have to pay $59 for the game and then another $49 for the gold membership. I guess it is a non-issue if you already have a gold membership, but for someone like me who doesn't spend a lot of time playing, I would really like to see an option to go online intermittently without paying a recurring membership cost.
Microsoft seems to have a different stance, though. For instance, if you are a gold member, you have access to demos before non-gold users. Does it cost them anything to just make the demo available to more users (i.e. if a user wants to check out the demo, he'll wait, so it's not like they will save much on bandwidth or delivery costs), or is this a cheap way of trying to encourage people to pay for a gold membership?
... so said 'Ming' on 03/14/2007 @ 01:30:24 PM [Direct Link]
Hey Ming. Microsoft does allow you to buy less than a year at a time, so if you want to spend some time online without continually paying, you can.
On the original Xbox I had Gold but didn't really multiplayer that often. On the 360 I do it a lot more (relatively speaking). I actually don't mind the idea of paying for it (and as Gold member I appreciate getting the demos early and believe Gold deserves the perk).
Now if Sony does their Network/multiplayer well or some other service unifies the PC world and remains free then I would definitely like to see MS change their stance. As long as there is a distinct difference in the quality of service I'm happy to pay.
... so said 'Joseph Molnar' on 03/14/2007 @ 07:10:38 PM [Direct Link]