Yes its true and it always has been. It now seems Microsoft want to make everyone aware of this fact also. The problem of course is they are kinda ignoring the bits that are not.

The new pictures of the Arcade and Elite clearly show Xbox Live is FREE! whereas previously they would of mentioned the gold account now they just add a little number 4 which I am guessing refers to Gold someplace on the box.

Also the latest advert, you know the one the Sackboy advert it also alludes to Xbox Live being FREE! again at the end it mumbles something about all the stuff that is not.

So is this a new tactic and maybe some changes to how the Silver account works or just Microsoft tricking the consumer.

Notes about this post:

This post is not about the live service rather the move to advertising it for free when we as members of the more savvy public know not to be completely true. If you believe for example that they may be modifying the live service hence why the have shifted to upping the Free marketing then this is of interest.

bait and switch with 2 point font disclaimer tags, welcome to the world of the consumer. BTW I noticed in the ad it said facebook, did you guys finaly get a browser or something?

Twitter, Facebook and Last.FM are all integrated into the NXE. They are expected to arrive before Xmas. So no browser just very controlled access.

You can't generalise Xbox Live by saying its either free or paid for. There is a lot more free on Xbox Live than what you have to pay for, but that part you pay for is the most important. Microsoft isn't doing anything wrong as long as they say on the box you have to pay to play online against other folks.

Yeah, it's most likely a bait and switch. It would be one hell of a megaton if they actually did it, though.

Ahhh i see, thanks for the info :)

It is the more clandestine message they are putting out whereas previously it was clear that a Gold account gave you Multiplayer access they appear to be making this information less obvious.

Obviously it would be nice if it was going to become free, likewise it would be nice if they expanded some of the silver functionality.

What a megaton if Live turned to be completely FREE.

I would kill a chicken as a sacrifice to Allah.

Would be nice, but I doubt MS would do that. I do see MS changing some rules though letting silver XBL members play online as long as they're invited to a game.

It's an evil tactic, but technically they aren't doing anything wrong because they do give Silver for free. They are trying to get more sales as they know Sony is doing the Slim. Personally I don't think the strategy will work as most people who buy a PS3/360 have friends and they would tell them that it is just Silver.

It is just one of Microsofts many tactics to take sales. If Gold was free, then I would be happy, but I would still prefer PSN as it is more to my taste, but would be cool non-the-less.