Rant: OMG XBL is $10 More!

The majority of the NES generation are in their 30′s, including myself. When we were younger we didn’t have to worry about the price of a game or a system, our parents did. Now that we are grown, be it with kids or not, we are now responsible for our gaming habit and how much money we are willing to spend. We choose what we want and what we can do without, be it a monthly/yearly subscription for an online service or for a $100.00 collector’s edition for a video game.

The price of video games themselves have gone up in price over the years. I remember the announcement for the price of XB360 and Ps3 games. These games went up by $10 and everyone had something negative to say. Most gamers said that they would never pay for a game that is $60 dollars. Now look at us today and some of us are willing to pay $150.00 for a video game, if not more. They raise the price and we are the ones that keep buying.

Today, news hit about XBL gold will be going up by $10.00 in America and gamers are outraged. Currently gamers are buying up subscription cards before the November 1st price increase. Some are saying that they will not renew and/or will now get PsN Plus, which is $50.00 a year.

Lets be honest, Microsoft doesn’t have anything to worry about. There are enough of us that are willing to pay an extra $10.00 for XBL. If people want to make a stand, then don’t renew your account and allow it to go silver. I really doubt that there are enough people willing to do this to make a difference.

What a lot of people are angry about is that this price increase is happening when there are currently no new updates to XBL. I heard in passing that there is an update coming this fall around the same time as the release of Kinect. Next year XBL and PsN users will be getting Hulu Plus. I’m not sure of any other new features save for an update on how avatars look and ESPN on demand.

If you look at it this way, we’re now paying the same amount as gamers from Canada, who will only see an increase by a $1.00 for one month.

Canada stays the same for 1 year.. Welcome to Canadian prices.. I think it’s cause the dollar is so close. my thoughts about pricing is that it’s the same that I’ve been paying for a while now.. So I don’t feel bad.. Would have liked a Canadian price drop, not American increase. – MarcinKawa via Twitter

I’m sure there is a reason for this increase like there was when Ps3/XB360 games started out at $60.00 instead of $50.00 dollars. I doubt this decision was made on a whim and I’m sure Microsoft knows that there will be an outrage mob of gamers wanting to kick their ass.

Personally I am a bit PO’ed that I have to pay $10.00 more but it is less than a dollar a month and I rather have an XBL gold account than a PsN Plus. This isn’t the article on why I like one over the other but $10 dollars more for XBL isn’t that bad of a deal. As mentioned before, I’m sure there is a reason for the price increase and ESPN might be one of those reasons. If that is the case, why not have different payment packages? Not all gamers are sports fans. Maybe down the line we might end up seeing different XBL gold account but for now, if you want to play on Live you’re going to have to pay the extra ten dollars, that down the road, won’t be that much of a big deal.