Somehow Sony manages, somehow steam manages, somehow the iphone/ipod touch manage, somehow the DS manages, somehow the Wii manages....etc etc

  It is very clearly possible to not charge for online games and more then cover the costs of an online system with game and movie revenue.  Microsoft doesn't because once they get you locked into a platform they milk you for all you're worth (for other examples see Office costing 500 dollars+ and Windows 7 costing over 300 dollars for a full version).

  It should absolutely be free to play the games I PAID for.  The payment for the online services should be included in the 60 dollars I pay for the game just as playing starcraft for years on battlenet was covered by buying starcraft at retail.

Because its generally free means it should always be free?

Sony, Steam, and Nintendo doesn't pay for the servers for every game like Microsoft does (excluding EA games).

Hence, offering online play on the PS3, DS, Wii, and PC becomes another expense for developers/publishers.

Also, people don't need the $500 or $300 versions of Windows 7 and Office. Office Home and Student is $150. You could also get Open Office for free. Windows Home Premium is about $100. It basically comes free with new computers as well.

Correct.  I always hit up those $30 deals.  Got like 3 years worth of Live.  A price hike will affect me none.

Also, the cost of Live has actually decreased about 16% since it started, due to inflation.

Exactly.

Microsoft heavily favors developers. Sony's service is free, but guess who they charge for bandwidth? Developers. It's not free, someone has to pay for it.

As for speaking of playing StarCraft for years... Well, I did too. And I remember server splits. I remember logging on and seeing 3 copies of myself in a channel (but none of my friends, who were in the same channel). I remember trying to join games that would freeze. I remember everyone in my circle of friends attempting to host games, trying to find the one of us everyone could connect to.

Xbox live, you log on, enter a standard matchmaking setup, and a minute later you're in a game. Technology marches forward, everything gets better, and costs rise. If you bargain hunt, what is MS charging for the service... $3? $5 a month for those of us who can't be bothered to save such a small amount of money. It's not exactly price gouging. And Live has enough special features to be worth it

it would be cool to get a channel, i don't have a tv.

as for increasing fees i don't think that would happen.

MS has been constantly adding value to Live without modifying its' price. In the worst case scenario it should be advertising, considering how specific the target audience is that woul make sense.

Also, as stated previously, anyone can just prepay years of Live at the current pricepoint...

As for Live being free :


NEVER !!!


I pay 50 bucks a year for it and it has provided the three best online gaming years i've ever had. Somethings are just worth the price.

If anything i would pay more to get :

language specific communities (at leasty the main ones : english - chinese - spanish - french - german )

kid-free communities (keep those locked in school please)

The Xbox 360 is four and a half years old already. You won't have to buy too many more XBL Gold cards to last you the rest of the generation anyway. I bet if you worked out the math: Buying a PS3 at $300, selling the used 360, free online vs. Keeping the 360, paying for XBL Gold for a couple more years until the gen is over (and if you buy on sale, you won't pay the full price), you probably won't end up saving much or at all anyway.

I would actually *love* it if they set an age filter on games but I don't see that happening, mainly because it's assumed kids aren't supposed to be playing the M rated games anyways...

This is like when Patcher said that XBL will increase to 100 bucks. Everybody started to flip out and started saying that they wouldn't pay more. First of all, I dont think they'll ever increase the price of Live anyway, unless its for a non obligatory premium. They'll make the service better and keep the same price. And lets see what they bring and what they do with the price before we comment on RUMORS.

That would be great, right ?

As for restrictins,, people aren't supposed to hack 360, still they do, and get banned. I would love the sound of a kid crying about not being able to play MW2 anymore.