why should microsoft have these things for free? because the competiton, losing money with it, has it for free? just because microsoft isn't going the "we are so nice to you we give it for free" way doesn't mean they are assholes or whatever. it's a strategy, as much as sony's system is a strategy as well. they don't give you that for free because they like you so much, they do it because they hope to sell more consoles with this system. that's the only reason, it's a strategy to do it as much as microsoft has a startegy as well. but a different one.

and do you really believe 0 euros from ps+ is going to pay the psn costs for sony? they make money with it which they can use to reduce the loss of psn as example. who knows what they would do without playstation+ and so many users nowadays. maybe they would charge everyone as well, just for less, for mabye 20 bucks a year or so.it's not like sony is doing it like this: "everyone who pays for ps+ is getting so much extra, it's an even bigger loss for us". it's more like: "everyone who is paying for playstation+ is also paying a little bit for the people playing for free"

I know that it's not free because they like us so much. I am saying what makes them so different from the competition when the competition from PC to PS3 gives the same offerings for free. Simple question really...no need to go around it. PSN had losses recently because of the PSN breach not because it was free. PSN Plus is doing pretty well for themselves and they are making profit off of microtransactions. PSN Plus should be considered a tier above Live because it gives you much more. Free games and themes (conditional that you can't keep it without Plus, but you keep the trophies)? 60 minute demos? Early demos? Discounted titles? The gamers are using their own connection for the online anyway so, meh.

It will go unnoticed.

Those bundles don't give you exactly what you want and you still end up with crap you don't want.

I fail to see how buying a single song can be compared to a subscription service. Its like comparing buying a single movie to a month of Netflix, cable, etc.

No, you pay for PSN plus in packages. You can either buy a 3 month ($20) or 12 month ($50). So you may sign up on a month that has products you want, but there is no guarantee the other months will have products you want. Also I believe you lose access to free games if you cancel, which means the free games aren't actually free. The people generally getting locked out of their accounts on Xbox are morons harassing people, cheaters, or pirates.

I wouldn't mind Netflix, Hulu, or other services being available to Silver members. But MS chooses to make that available only to Gold members. However, you're free to use other platforms that let you access those services free. Simple as that.

Only in the US people are obliged to pay taxes on services they don't use? That's news to me.

correction/ ignore this post 

Derailed, by the usual suspect it seems.

7 years on, people still bitch about live.

You can't blame them though, I don't see where our money goes.

What a fantastic game.

Misinformation if you believe all of what i said has only to do with Call of Duty.

It is not misinformation that gamers love to bitch and moan about anything and everything and then proceed to still buy the things they continually bitch and moan about. That is what my point is. My point isn't about Call of Duty.

To line a corporation's pockets. That's no surprise to anyone who knows the usual business model - to fleece the consumer.