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X-box Live pricing Announced


JoeyN

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The renewal price is great.

 

The rest of the announcement? Utter junk IMO. They're moving away from requiring voice and they're charging $70 for the "full" starter kit. The month to month purchase system combined with free trials mean there'll be a bunch more casual kiddies online playing.

 

Sorry for being negative :-/

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Negative or no, Brian, it's a damn good point. While XBL was not perfect in deterring the prickish amongst us, it was better than anything PC gaming has had lately. Shame they're losing the voice requirement too, because you know a lot of those punks lose their edge when they talk in their little cracky voices.

 

Shame, but it won't stop me from hooking up with online play once I finally graduate in a year's time. My count-down to handing Romier his butt ;).

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My count-down to handing Romier his butt

 

In your dreams sir-jab-a-lot :wink: .

 

I also second the renewal price being fantastic. Ill be reupping. As for negativity. I would not call it negativity Brian. I'd call it reality and as Mark mentioned, you make some damn good points. Voice communication is one of the main reasons I enjoy Live. I dont want see support for that become spotty.

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The communicator isn't a requirement to play now. Lots of people play without it plugged in (not to mention all the poor guests).

 

I'm sure it'll still be a requirement for the actual games though.

 

I think the trial option is a great idea.

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Im sure all live games will have the voice support, otherwise why have the comminicator bundled with the starter,

 

Go check the announcement - they're going to have two XBL kits, one at $50 without the communicator & one at $70 with it. I think you're going to see more people playing XBL without owning a communicator.

 

With the trial system on games, you're going to see more people online without the voice setup too.

 

Before the launch of XBL & in the early days of it, Microsoft stressed again & again that voice communication is the way ahead & that it'd be a requirement of all games. I'm curious why they're backing down on that.

 

I /like/ that almost everyone uses voice. It's one of the major advantages for XBL over the PS2 hotchpotch, one I've grown to appreciate.

 

Let me stress again - I love the renewal price, I think it's a great idea to sell "top-up" cards ala mobile phones, I think offering a "one off" monthly sub is a good idea too. I think the trial XBL games could work great. I'm really pleased Microsoft have done the right thing with renewals... I just dont like the rest of the announcement :)

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The announcement is tucked away nicely behind the work firewall, unfortunately, so I can't read it.

 

If its a good sign of what we'll see in the UK as well, then I might actually get broadband. Its just stupid money here for the access, so a high price on Live as well would definitely be a deal breaker.

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Go check the announcement - they're going to have two XBL kits, one at $50 without the communicator & one at $70 with it. I think you're going to see more people playing XBL without owning a communicator.

 

With the trial system on games, you're going to see more people online without the voice setup too.

 

Before the launch of XBL & in the early days of it, Microsoft stressed again & again that voice communication is the way ahead & that it'd be a requirement of all games. I'm curious why they're backing down on that.

 

So what would you suggest then? Just stick with the current Starter Kit model where you HAVE to pay $50 just to try out Live and to give your XBox's "Built In" internet connectivity a workout? Or perhaps the must purchase a $30 headset before using their "free" trial?

 

I think the current announcement is great for the long term health of the service, even if it means a few less people without a headset.

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I think the current announcement is great for the long term health of the service, even if it means a few less people without a headset.

 

Again Graeme I don't think Brian disagree's with you on the current annoucement being a great thing for Xbox Live service as a whole. I believe he is above all else expressing worry/disenchantment concerning the implications of voice no longer being a requirement.

 

If it were as simple as a few less folks without a headset then surely we have little to worry about but MS has not been clear if voice chat will continue to be a requirement *during live game developement*. Previously it was something every game *HAD* to have and I personally hope that it continues to be that way. We are after all being premature here but I think the concern is a valid one.

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I'm with (what I undersand to be) the rest of you -

 

Allowing people on Live without purchasing a headset first: good

 

Allowing games to not support the headset for those that do have it: bad

 

Apart from anything, its no doubt not long until we see third-party headsets for those that don't like the current one, so the ability to be able to get on live without buying an official one as well has got to be good. After all, between the mono headphone and the 'interesting' design there are bound to be some who would want a different one.

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From the new Xbox NFL2K4 announcement:

 

? Advanced Online Play ? Take your game online on the PlayStation?2 computer entertainment system with fast head-to-head play, downloadable rosters, chat, USB keyboard support, and more.

 

Oh how I hope that USB support was specific to the PS2 part. It's really unclear from the PR release - it states XBox at the top, but refers to PS2 in the text.

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