Xbox Live Gold is not good value, and it is holding the 360 back

[NJ5]

Honestly, this XBL argument is stupid. If people see value in it, they will buy it. So far, I'm fairly certain based on how XBL is doing that people do see value in it. In the same sense, I'm sure people saw the 360 and PS3 at their launch prices as good value when they bought them and you might think so as well, I personally don't, but does that mean that the consoles at launch weren't good value? Nope, because value can be subjective. You might think differently, but don't state it as fact when it's just your opinion (which you're entitled to of course).

Obviously when I write something it's my opinion, not a fact. However I think it's an informed opinion and one that most people would probably agree with if they had to choose between paid Xbox Live and free PSN at this moment, all other things being equal. The one thing XBL has for it is a big userbase, which is important if you want to play with friends who already own a console.

 

Reasonable said:
Well, as someone coming from PC I don't see the point of paying for what Live offers, particularly if PSN on another console gives you more or less the same stuff for free, but on the other hand Live is relatively cheap, so while in a sense it's perhaps not great value, it's perhaps too cheap overall to count as having low to no value for the cost.

I'm not sure it's really holding 360 back, either to be honest. I think RROD and MS weak brand at beginning of the 360 lifecycle held the 360 back way more than Live, particularly outside the US.

But there were periods when the 360 outsold the PS3 even in Europe, after it got good price cuts. Now the value is back on the PS3 camp and the PS3 wins in sales, so I do think value for money plays a big part.