Personally, I don't think xbox Live is dying, but I don't see it going as strong for another generation. Live's success partly stemmed from being head and shoulders above the competition, and the competition is starting to catch up.

I mean, I don't even think people anticipated PS+ or PSN being nearly as strong as it is, which will only make it harder to rationalize paying for it next gen. Had PSN or the WiiU been under par, then the decision to pay for the Live service is a no-brainer. But now that people are aware that alternatives exist, it might not be so easy later on.

This post was by no means affirming that xbox live was dying, but that MS is going to have to ratchet up the value in the future, which they are easily capable of.

It is kind of hard to say that when PSN has been well behind in multiplayer this whole generation.  Who knows what happens next gen but xbox is known for multiplayer gaming

That's a lot more than I expected, source for it?

Yes I can find it but you can just google it. 

40 million?  That's nearly the size of the 360 installed base.  Are you sure about that?  It would mean that an overwhelming majority of 360s out there are linked to a gold account.  I have trouble believing that.  Isn't gold actually unavaliable in some regions?

I think you're confusing "Live" with "Vita."

They may mean the same thing, but the distinction between these two words is paramount.

What does that mean? Is there some quantifiable value there?

I know the matchmaking is generally a smidge faster, and there is cross chat on live, but other than that there really aren't any differences that couldn't be offset. My point is more that last gen, there was Live and Ps2. Live was the only game in the neighborhood.

Then in this gen, early psn was slow and disconnects frequent.

But now it's gotten to a point where I think the positives like improved speed are offset by ps+ offerings like games and content.

What I'm saying is, last gen, and earlier this gen, if you wanted to play online, that creed of xbox being multiplayer was very much true. But now, it isn't, or at least is not much of a contrast as previously. Like, playstation was once 'the king of console gaming', and now competition has increased, so it isn't the case currently, and they need to try harder in the future to regain and retain. It's the same with Live.

Yes I'm positive.  They have 35-40 million a year.  

No, PS2 had Socom 2 last gen which was also an online game.  And you are correct that it isnt as big of as a gap as early in this gen but it hasn't changed the image of XBL as it has continued to grow.  I'm happy for the people who like PSN and all but VGKing was incorrect so I thought I'd say something about it.  

As for next gen who knows what will happen.  Off of what I know XBL will most likely not be effected too much because it is known for multiplayer and is popular in regions where multiplayer is huge (America).  PSN will most likely get cross chat which will help it but they also need to improve there image to americans which it hasn't done.

Lmao that wasn't very nice haha Hilarious though :P