My XBox Live Gold Is Expiring...

[alexjlopez]

Just got the message from Microsoft, my Xbox Live Gold is expiring next month. And I'm struggling to find a reason to renew it hehe.

I don't play Call of Duty anymore, and any "must play" online games that come I can simply buy for PC or PS3.

With Nintendo considering an online pay service, I have to ask myself: is it time for Microsoft to consider retiring the subscription-based online service model? Sure, PS3's setup isn't as great, but it's good enough and it's free...not to mention PC game services like Steam and Games For Windows Live.

A subscription-based model made sense when they were offering something no one else could, but at this point it seems like a liability. I realize I'm not the typical Xbox gamer, but I'd argue that the audience they've been courting with their Arcade SKU and the folks they're going after with Natal might feel the same way.

[Chris]

Did they ever do that "Microsoft Game Room" thing? I thought that looked cool. Did it turn out cool?

[Womp]

Yes they did.

No, it didn't.

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[javierdlopez]

Just got the message from Microsoft, my Xbox Live Gold is expiring next month. And I'm struggling to find a reason to renew it hehe.

I don't play Call of Duty anymore, and any "must play" online games that come I can simply buy for PC or PS3.

With Nintendo considering an online pay service, I have to ask myself: is it time for Microsoft to consider retiring the subscription-based online service model? Sure, PS3's setup isn't as great, but it's good enough and it's free...not to mention PC game services like Steam and Games For Windows Live.

A subscription-based model made sense when they were offering something no one else could, but at this point it seems like a liability. I realize I'm not the typical Xbox gamer, but I'd argue that the audience they've been courting with their Arcade SKU and the folks they're going after with Natal might feel the same way.

You say that every year.

You would probably be OK not renewing right away. There's no argument there, very few forum guys have been on Live over the last 6 months or so. Entexman, the guy who is least impressed with snazzy graphics and next gen gaming is the guy who's on there the most. After him there's Chooka and Hiphop and that's pretty much it. Luckily, I've got some non-forum friends and a few guys I've met over the past few years, where I'm still playing some sort of multiplayer game at least once or twice a week.

I'll still make the argument, that neither Nintendo nor Sony can compete with Microsoft in terms of an Online experience. So the $35 to $39 I spend on Live is money well spent. The PS3 seems archaic in comparison and Nintendo's online offerings have always been an afterthought. From everything I've read and seen Nintendo AND Sony seem to be going subscription based. Those guys don't get it when it comes to community based online gaming. Everyone has their niche and this just happens to be there's.

Either way here you go: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...eapassgam08-20

Just in case.

As for Chris's question. Game Room has two issues. First they haven't been timely with their releases. This is kind of surprising since MS has always been timely with XBLA releases, so I'm not sure why this is different. Second, there are very few compelling games offered. Most of the games are B-rated games. Atari 2600 games simply didn't age well and besides one or two arcade games the rest are mostly trash (jungler included).

Great idea, but poorly implemented. On the plus side the presentation is top notch and the emulation, I thought was very good. I have a quick demo of it on Youtube if you'd like to take a look.

[Womp]

I haven't been on 360 much at all. I've caught up on my big releases outside Batman and Dante Inferno.

MW 2 Just isn't interesting me anymore.

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[javierdlopez]

I guess it's inevitable, really. The site has become less gaming focused over time. I touched on it on another thread last month. You guys launched what was supposed to be a regularly scheduled gaming podcast, put two shows out and have already skipped a month. Kind of feels like the same group of us that are discussing games keep those gaming threads somewhat alive. But even those guys are showing up less frequently. It's not that there aren't quality games out there, and the argument that there are too many good games seems sort of weak sauce, imo.

I lurk through other community sites (3 or 4 I normally lurk in), there seems to be plenty of community interaction and interest in all sorts of gaming over all platforms. Things happen, interests change over time. I've gone through periods over the years where I dropped out of gaming completely for a year or two. Seems like a lot of guys have simply moved on. Kind of bums me out, since I thought we had a pretty good thing going for a while. But such is life I guess.

I enjoy listening to Shane's take on current events on PSR, and the MonroeWorld twitter feed is pretty timely when it comes to news on Nintendo stuff since most other sites don't properly cover Nintendo. But overall the site has become less focused. Non-gaming threads tend to get the most traction for the most part.

I'll stop stating the obvious. Don't mind my repetitive ranting...

[alexjlopez]

MonroeWorld has been around for a really long time, and over that time the community's interests have bounced around. There is still plenty going on that's gaming related though, and video games will always be at the heart of the community.

Shane has been pumping out articles that have gotten lots of hits, and some are even reposted on sites like gonintendo.

As for me personally, I'm working on shifting my Nintendo updates from the forums and over into my MonroeWorld blog. That way, it won't come up in New Posts and enrage the Nintendo bashers who are so concerned about being forced to buy games and systems they don't like hehe. Those who are interested, can swing by--those who aren't won't be bothered by it. There is an interest for the information and I want to continue providing it, but posting news items about Nintendo here on the forums pretty much feeds the same handful of fanboy trolls and to be honest, I find myself losing enthusiasm. When we start becoming a community of anti-enthusiasts, more vocal about what we hate than about the games we enjoy, it really just seems like a big waste of time.

Stick around, man--There are better times ahead. E3 is coming and there will be plenty of MonroeWorld coverage.

[Shane R. Monroe]

Fact ... I'm taking all three days off just to help cover it.

[entexman]

Hell I don't take advantage of most of the Gold member features and I still think it's a pretty good deal. You get to take advantage of the "deal of the Week" for downloadable content which saves you points on purchases. I like posting my high scores on the leaderboards. I also sometimes enjoy listening to music on the last.fm radio service.

I rarely play people online, but the option is there if I want it. With so many new Live Arcade games with multiplayer built in I can see taking advantage of those features sometime down the road. I think Alex should renew his gold account myself. Maybe Alex and I can play some online co-op Bionic Commando Rearmed or Magic Sword? I think XBox Live Arcade is awesome even without multiplayer.

[billwabo]

Maybe Alex and I can play some online co-op Bionic Commando Rearmed

Umm from what i remember, Bionic Commando Rearmed is local co-op only (at least on the PS3). I'll look again to be sure but are you sure there's online co-op for it on Xbox?