Its not just an interface,
It tracks friends across multiple games
It allows communication across multiple games....on a PC you have to run another program aka ventrillo to do what live allows you to do, and ventrillo is not free.
Its not just an interface,
It tracks friends across multiple games
It allows communication across multiple games....on a PC you have to run another program aka ventrillo to do what live allows you to do, and ventrillo is not free.
I think Live is a decent service but it could use more free arcade downloads and less advertising. Dedicated servers for games like Gears of War would be great too.
Want to be good at GOW? Just host the game.
I don't see how anyone could have a problem paying for live, it's not very expensive, it works with every single game, it tracks all of your gaming achievments, allows video chat, audio chat, and even instant messaging.
It's the single best online system for playing games ever, period.
Saying "should we really have to pay for patches" implies they we do pay for patches, yet we shouldn't have to. You never listed the 360 as being free to patch, so you left it up in the air for the reader to determine.Quote:
Originally Posted by BuggyLoop
This is from MS's official site:
Quote:
Members of Xbox LIVE® automatically receive the functionality of Games for Windows – LIVE, using the same Gamertag and friends list at no additional cost, yes… no additional cost. For a single, unified service, the pricing of the LIVE service across both Xbox and Games for Windows is identical. In addition, Games for Windows – LIVE introduces the best of Xbox LIVE functionality to please PC gamers, such as in-game voice chat, integrated achievements and dedicated servers.
$50/yr es nada (says my south of the border amigo) for what you get. It's one of the main reasons I chose the 360 over the ps3 (well that and the ps3 suxors -haha all you ps3 owners ;) ). Seriously though, you don't have to pay for it if you don't like having to fork out the cost of a playboy magazine every month.
I think the only people who bash it are the ones who have never used it.......
or just hate 360 in general, I find its a great service for the cost
Yea, official PR, Live can have dedicated servers, afterall, companies can make MMORPGs for it, but yet nobody can actually list a single game that use dedicated servers. :confused:Quote:
Members of Xbox LIVE® automatically receive the functionality of Games for Windows – LIVE, using the same Gamertag and friends list at no additional cost, yes… no additional cost. For a single, unified service, the pricing of the LIVE service across both Xbox and Games for Windows is identical. In addition, Games for Windows – LIVE introduces the best of Xbox LIVE functionality to please PC gamers, such as in-game voice chat, integrated achievements and dedicated servers.
good point buggy. it's just another way to milk money from people
So it doesn't cost MS a dime to run live? Milking would be forcing people to pay for live to get patches, updates, or anything. Pay to play online is not milking.Quote:
Originally Posted by PriMaTe
I've never seen people pitch such a fit about 4 dollars a month. IMO the service is worth 10 dollars a month. Live sure is run a hell of a lot better than any MMO out there and probably uses more bandwidth as well.
http://digg.com/gaming_news/Xbox_Liv...dth_during_E3_
600 terabytes of bandwidth just during E3!!! That is roughly 120,000 dollars in just a few days.
Yea milking wasn't the right word. It's a good service and is worth the money
I've never owned a xbox or xbox 360, however I was impressed with the live service when ever I played at a friends house. You get what you pay for and the bottom line is that networked play is not free and someone has to pay for it. Even some of the best free online servers (ie. Battlenet, BF servers, and etc) don't come near to xbox live in terms of quality.
Would I rather have it free? Hell yeah. But is that realistic with out having live gimped in quality and flooded with ads? Probably not.
Though I do believe MS will alter the subscription fee if Nintendo and Sony ever develop a network system as good and at no extra charge to the user. However, thats about 1-2 years away and Nintendo has already shoot themselves in the foot with friend codes.
Just my too cents.
I really just don't have a use for the gold membership so I just take the free silver. I can pretty much do anything besides play games online. Usually when a new game comes out, it includes 24 hours of free gold which is enough for me. I really think that they have to charge for gold due to all of the people that don't bother with it and just go with silver.
Charging for people to play online is ridiculous. I chuckle every time I hear a 360 fanboy talking about how amazing it is and how seamless everything goes. Somebody said that they can get invitations to play a game while in the middle of another. Well let's see - I can be playing Quake 3, have a buddy message me saying "***, come get raped in UTk4," quit out of Quake 3 and start up UT without even changing a CD. Then from Xfire I can even right click his name and Join whatever Ventrilo or Teamspeak server he's in and chat while gaming with him. Oh, and guess what? I CAN ACTUALLY UNDERSTAND HIM. Holy hell trying to understand people over Xbox Live is awful. The microphone that comes with the 360 is horrible.
It's not the money that matters - I think anyone can agree Live is fairly cheap. It's the fact that you can get the EXACT same thing, or in my opinion better, for free on a PC. The thing is that most console users wouldn't have a clue where to even begin on a PC. This goes back to my thing with Halo - they've never experienced something like this so they think its' the next coming of Christ. I had this conversation with my friend and every single thing he said about XBL being so amazing I shot down with things for free on PC.
Another over-generalization of "console users are dumb". See post #5. I can't get over the complex some pc users have that they think people are so stupid that they can't follow install and user directions for pc programs.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dark Sonic
So while everything can be done the same or better on pc, keep in mind a top end video card costs nearly as much or more than the 360. Sure, the games are a few bucks cheaper, but be sure to grab a couple more gigs of RAM ($$) so you can upgrade to Vista ($$) for DX10.
Face it, the cost of PC gaming is MUCH higher than console gaming for the same graphical quality. If people want better quality, then they'll spend even more. If pc users want to put down console users for spending $50 / year over a 4-5 year span for a gaming service (that supposedly sucks) then fine, but I don't want to hear anyone complaining about their damn $400 video cards so they can play Crysis. Geez....
Nothing, nothing on the PC comes close to xbox live in terms of functionality on a generic, across the platform system.
PC games are crap anyways, so there's not much to say about them. Have fun playing CS:S or some other 2004 game. What was the last major non-FPS PC game anyways, WoW 2 years ago? Yeah, great choice of games you guys have there. :rolleyes:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dark Sonic
Someone is paying for your server,
Someone is paying for your vent/teamspeak server
I have Live and game on my PC.
I know the PC gaming is free, and Live is not.
Live is worth it because its so DAMN FUN. Playing Gears for hours on end with friends and voice communicating with them has been a blast. Sitting relaxed on my couch with a beer and watching death on my huge TV has been a revolutionizing experience for me in terms of gaming.
I have to turn on my PC, let it boot up, sign into XP, wait for programs to load, open my Steam, check my friends list, and then go into their games... most of the time my friends aren't online. Thats fine. I open CS, find a server and pop in and start killing. But its starting to get boring and I'm not quite sure why.
Something that XBL with the 360 makes gaming really exciting. Something to look forward to. I don't care for themes/gamer pictures. Big deal. Patching my games/updates as soon as they are available is awesome instead of me having to hunt them down or get the latest beta video driver from guru3d.
I can't have a friend come over and play GH2 on a computer. We can't coop sitting right next to each other so I can hit my friend in the face when I get mad that he CHAINSAWed me.
The environment, the excitement, and the ease of use with XBL has made my experience with it worth the while. Its downright awesome. Until I play my eyes out I don't see a reason why it isn't worth it.
Do I wish it was cheaper? Yes.
Do I wish it was free? That would be nice.
I'll keep playing, both ways... some things are meant for the PC, others for the XBL... thats just the way it is. Different ways to have your fun for different prices.
It's like saying "why go to the football game when you can watch it at home for free?"
If you've ever been to a football game, you know there is something completely different about being there versus watching it on TV. And it's freakin' awesome.
Actually, R6: Vegas has support for a dedicated server using a dedicated Xbox 360. Seems like kind of a waste though, because it cost you a lot.Quote:
Originally Posted by BuggyLoop
So just about everyone in this thread is a 360 fanboy? I've been playing online PC games since Ultima Online, continued into EQ, and then into many many others after that. I can't even remember the first PC FPS game I played. I have always been an all round gamer (PCs, consoles, anything.) I find it funny how you can come on here and call us all fanboys when you probably have never even tried out Live or even a 360. So please... take your elitist crap somewhere else. It's not needed in this serious discussion.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dark Sonic
https://www.sharkyforums.com/Quote:
Originally Posted by Timman_24
That is quite possibly one of the ugliest cats I have ever seen.Quote:
Originally Posted by DJBeanPole17
Yea, but he is SERIOUS.Quote:
Originally Posted by Spaceman Spiff
Last I heard, he stared at a bunch of ompah-loompahs. They promptly burst into flame and became snicker bars. I think their packaged as the 'nutty' ones.Quote:
Originally Posted by DJBeanPole17
Doo dee doo
Never said dumb. I merely stated they wouldn't know where to begin because PC gaming is more complicated to get into. Playing WoW and dealing with guild forums, vent, etc. is FAR more complicated than just booting up FF11 on the PS2 and playing. Like I said, they spend a couple bucks a month to have it all shown to them very easily.Quote:
Originally Posted by PowerCreep
Sure are, and guess who that is? Me. I would MUCH rather rent my own server for 20 bucks a month and be able to do whatever I please with. Having my own server and teamspeak is worth it. Playing on Shitty XBL servers is not fun.Quote:
Originally Posted by Recon
I was talking about at school and such, not on here. I went to a technology school where everybody thought that they were hot **** just because they owned a 360 and played Halo 2. Also, I own a 360. Not entirely sure but I think my Gold membership is still running. I mainly play GH2 because it's the only game I could play for longer than 20 minutes without getting bored. I played a few games of GoW online and couldn't get into it. UT suites me better - faster paced.Quote:
Originally Posted by Timman_24
Did I get everybody?