People have the choice on whether to pay for online gaming or not... If you don't want to pay, buy a PS3... If you do buy a 360...
Something to think about...
Servers and online gaming networks cost money to run... You need high end hardware, high end networks, pay internet network provider costs, and smart people planning/running those infrastructures. These costs do not disappear after the game ships. So why is it unfair to charge for these?
Companies will retrieve the money they pay out in their online networks somewhere... Price of the console, price of games dropping slower, advertising, royalties on game sales, etc... Anyone who believes that any company is giving away their online gaming network for free is not in touch with business reality... It is only free if other things are paying for it.
As for Sony, the realties of network costs hit them, and now they have packaged a paid network that most PS gamers cannot refuse. PSN Plus funds their network expansion and growth. I now know very few PS gamers that don't subscribe. Why? because of the free games? How much does a free game Sony developed several months ago and shipped really cost Sony to provide for free? Almost nothing... Sony realized that they needed to start charging for the network so they put a model out there that cost them very little to deliver, but generates the revenue required for their network.
Charging directly for the online gaming network is not greed, it is putting the costs upfront to the consumer rather than hiding them somewhere else...
Existing User Log In
New User Registration
Register for a free account to gain full access to the VGChartz Network and join our thriving community.
