Simple solution to the OP...don't buy it. If you don't like it, don't buy it. Oh, and don't rag on those who pay for it, because chances are, they like it and don't give 2 cat turds what you think anyway. If they didn't like it, they wouldn't buy it, just as you probably shouldn't.

Pretty easy, huh? It was a nice write up, but you literally wasted time on something you hate. Forcing a dump would have benefited you more as long as you didn't prolapse from pushing so hard.

A) You don't have to pay to have an avatar.
B) You don't have to pay to have integration.
C) You don't have to pay to have access to games on demand.

He expects them to have games on demand under used game prices? This guy is an absolute idiot. I hope he does cancel "his gold account" because it'll never go down to $20 as long as people (who are obviously satisfied with it) keep paying for it. People need to stop bitching about something that's been going on for six years now.

why do you pay 50 a year, if you keep watch both 35 and as low as 24 are available for yearly cards, check new egg. outside of that it is worth 50, have gladly renewed every year since it launched coming up on my 7th

1. Yes, it would be awesome if it was free.
2. It's not, but DO NOT pay $50 for it, you can get if for $30 anytime if you look. That is $2.31 a month.
3. I need my Netflix, damn it!

XD, the OP was horribly biased, using a PC as benchmark for many of his points, it would be better to use the PS3 since that is the OTHER HD console with an online gaming service.

The OP forgets that Xbox live is free. However, if you want to play games with friends, you must pay.

The $50.00 a year price tag is faulty, you can find it for $38.99 at a variety of sites, and at Costco. Also, it's not a huge price to pay when you factor in the enjoyment you get from your well spent $38.99.

Crossgame voice chat, IS a very nice feature, but in terms of saleability, I really don't see it a a huge selling point for XBL, especially since you can chat with friends who don't have gold.

Avatars were added after the fact, and have nothing to do with the price, they are just another nice perk.

The interface is excellent, easy to browse, easy to use, regularly updated, so once again, the OP is mistaken.

MS points, are actually a good thing, as annoying as they are. I have one word for you, exchange rates. MS points eliminate that headache.

Games on demand, last time I hear, you had to wait for you used game to arrive from Amazon...need I say more?

In closing, yes, Live has issues, but what online gaming community doesn't. The article was wrong on most points, it seemed to be conjured up by a blatant PS3 fanboy.

Yeah, I don't get his Netflix point either. Try having 5 people over and see how inconvenient it is to watch something on the computer. The feature is there for convenience sake, and if someone had the choice of watching TV shows and movies on their TV or on their computer, I wonder which one they would choose.

Oh Noes.

Microsoft has been ripping me off all this time. I can't believe that I was tricked like this.

There you go

Probably should have left this one off the boards. LIve has value it's that simple, well worth the $50 I and everyone else pays for the service.

QFT.