So Xbox Live gets to increase in price because of infaltion but not video games?

Video games have been 60$ for as long as I can remember here. I won't complain though :/

Correct e if I'm wrong, but when did they got $50 to $60?

I know as of late some prices in the uk are above the standard £40.

I personally don't pay for Live because I personally don't ever play online. However if I did I would play on Xbox Live. Its easily the best online service I have ever used in terms of latency, features and ease of use.

If there was a comparable single service which did everything Live does in the one package just as well and cheaper, then I would feel that Live was over-priced. At the moment it is the one single premium online service that I can see on any platform whether it be PC or console.

From what I understand one of the upcoming improvements to Live is going to be an improvement in voice chat quality. Since voice chat is done be a server they would probably have to beef up that capability considerably. It will also increase the bandwidth demands across the whole of the network.

When Microsoft released Gears of War?

Well I live in Canada so that might be different for the US but I haven't witness a change for a long time (actually forever in my life). 59,99$ is the common price.

Those were actually £55 IIRC, no I'm talking about other games ...

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5737684/c_1/1|category_root|Video games|14419738/c_2/3|cat_15701470|Xbox 360|14419847.htm - Fifa £50

Well what can i say, for me, owner of both consoles (360 and ps3), is something about the needs of the customer.  For those who want everything in one package, definitely live is worth it, but for those who want the necessary components that psn offer, psn is more than enough.  According to my needs, i can see me paying live only when sony start charging for online because that is the only way i can see the difference in value between those two.  But don't get me wrong, i understand those people who like paying online, basically live satisfied their needs, it is simple as that.  The increase only should affect people who are paying, if they are fine with it, the rest should not care.

Weren't games last gen a max of $50 brand new?  Now this gen they are $60 brand new?  I can't really remember what I paid last gen, to be honest, but I could have sworn all game prices increased by $10 this gen.

So in other words there is no free service that integrates all those features in one place.  Thanks :)

You've gotta be stupid to pay more than £40 for a game in the UK though