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Jereel Hunter on 21 April 2010
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Mr Puggsly said:
Impulsivity said:

  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.

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