No free Xbox Live weekend after all [Update 1]

pwn'd

lol, cheap

I used to have a Live account but I felt guilty if I wasn't using it enough. It's a really bad way to setup your online gaming.

I prefer the Mario Kart DS model where I can jump in an play for a bit, and not worry about it and play again next month. Same with PS2 (even though I want friends list and 1 gamertag!), where I can play some KillZone and worry about it. Um, same with PC where I can play some Call of Duty, all good.

$60 a year (canada) is a lot for to play games that's being hosted by a friend. Having it free is like getting a triple-A title every year that you don't have to pay for.

According to the Xbox-Scene website, there will still be a free xbox live weekend, but the april 1 date was just tentative and they are looking at announcing an official date later on.

http://www.xbox-scene.com/xbox1data/sep/EEupZVkVupyVtPraFr.php

Even the poorest gamers can afford Xbox Live. $60 bucks a year is nothing. You'd have to be really poor to not pay for something that amounts to $5 a month.

http://gamerscoreblog.com/team/archive/2006/02/23/533392.aspx

When we first announced Xbox Live for the Xbox 360, we mentioned that we were building the ability to have "free weekends" for Xbox Live Silver members. If you have cable TV or satellite, you've seen something similar when HBO offers access for a few days, so you can see what you're missing...

Some sharp-eyed gamers noticed the Xbox Live Calendar of Events on Xbox.com included the first Xbox Live Free Weekend. The Xbox.com team pulled it down, because the dates were tentative, and details of the promotion still haven’t been finalized. We'll share details as soon as we can.

In the meantime, make sure you’re signed up with Xbox Live Silver, so you’re ready when we actually announce the program. As you might have guessed, it's coming soon.

If you don't have a Live account by now, you probably won't be getting one.

Everyone knows what online gaming is about....simply testing it out for 72 hours isn't gonna make someone whip their credit card out and purchase it for a full year.

Xbox Live is an excellent way to spend $50 a year, IMO....great features, great service. $50 is a steal for Xbox Live.

"$60 a year (canada) is a lot for to play games that's being hosted by a friend. Having it free is like getting a triple-A title every year that you don't have to pay for."

I'm sorry, but having it free is like getting a budget title every year that you don't have to pay for, while XBOX Live! is the AAA title. PS2 online is no where near XBOX Live!, and being that Mario Kart DS is one game, and on a handheld, it's not really fair to compare, but still XBOX Live! is the better service. When you pay for Live! your not paying to play games hosted by your friends. Your paying for MS's dedicated servers, time, and effort into making online gaming a more total package, offering much more than PS2 online or Mario Kart DS.

Beyond this...for the last time...$60 a year is NOT ALOT OF MONEY. We all eat out at fast food joints...just sacrifice one damn Big Mac value meal ONCE A MONTH...and there you have it, XBOX Live! is paid for, even better yet, go find 25 cents everyday and throw it into a jar, that will cover live!. Hell, when I was 12 years old getting an allowance from my parents of $5 a week I could have managed to pay for XBOX Live!.

The only free service that compares to Live! is PC gaming, because of all the servers you can host, mods, expansion packs, etc.

Doesn't the 360 still come with a free MONTH of Live? That's the only reason I dropped the $50 for the year subscription. After having it for a month, I was hooked.

So, what good does a free weekend do if you've already given everyone a free month?

I agree Nate, but as noted a few weeks ago...there's still a large percentage of XBOX 360 owners who don't have Gold Accounts.

HBO and Showtime used to host free weekends all the time--so I kinda see where MS is going with this venture, but this is just retarded-announcing a Free Weekend and then pulling back so suddenly. Especially when Mr. Protagonist said over and over that these weekends would be happening.

Regardless, XBOX 360 owners with Silver accounts are missing out...most of the games are just much more enjoyable thru Multiplayer...games like DoA are that much more exhilerating as your fighting your opponent and listening to others' "oooh" and "oooh shit"s--nothing like it besides playing in the Arcades...and we all know in NA that the Arcade scene is just about dead.

Well, given that only 10% of XBox1 users bought Live, (and US has ~50% broadband penetration), I'd say that there is a problem with paying $50 a year to play a game that's being hosted on my friend's console.

To #6 and #8

I've turned quite a few people onto Xbox Live, it is by no means even close to market saturation yet. So to say those who don't have it yet, won't get it is completely unrealistic. Broadband isn't totally 100% available in the country yet, regardless of what we may think, it still has a bit more of adoption to go through. So there is a whole entire base of people who can't get Live because they don't have broadband.

Also, to #8, MS didn't announce anyhting about April 1st being a free weekend. Some websites picked up on it, and ran with it, there was never a formal statement released to that effect. Why would they even do free weekends yet? It's only been three months and MS has not even close installed a large enough system base to warrant a promotion like that. Give them another couple of months....hence April.

Actually it has been explained.
http://gamerscoreblog.com/team/archive/2006/02/23/533392.aspx

Xbox Live Free Weekend Coming (but not quite yet...)
posted Thursday, February 23, 2006 5:08 PM by johnporcaro
When we first announced Xbox Live for the Xbox 360, we mentioned that we were building the ability to have "free weekends" for Xbox Live Silver members. If you have cable TV or satellite, you've seen something similar when HBO offers access for a few days, so you can see what you're missing...

Some sharp-eyed gamers noticed the Xbox Live Calendar of Events on Xbox.com included the first Xbox Live Free Weekend. The Xbox.com team pulled it down, because the dates were tentative, and details of the promotion still haven’t been finalized. We'll share details as soon as we can.

In the meantime, make sure you’re signed up with Xbox Live Silver, so you’re ready when we actually announce the program. As you might have guessed, it's coming soon.
For those of you who have an Xbox 360, but haven't signed up for Xbox Live yet, you shouldn't wait. The free account lets you create your gamer profile and friends list, plus you get access to Xbox Live Marketplace, including Xbox Live Arcade, demos, and trailers.

Just because you can create a game on Xbox Live doesn't mean you are hosting it. That's what Microsoft's tons of servers are doing, and as you might be able to guess, those cost a fair bit of money. That's where your 50 bucks are going to.

To #10;

The latest statistics show over 50% of 360 gamers have XBOX Live.

Xploited, that's because it's mostly early-adopters that have 360's right now. If you're willing to stay up all night outside a store or pay a fortune on eBay, you're not exactly a casual gamer.

Um, and the 50% figure includes the free xbox live service, MS even admitted as much. It's not 50% paying for gold.

Regarding the hosting issue: no, when you host a game you are the server. Live just gives your IP to the clients (other players) and they make the TCP connections directly to you.

@16 I bought my 360 for retail at Sam's Club... Wasn't hard at all, just called a few places.

Andrea, youre not wrong, youre just an asshole. (see The Big Lebowski)

Yes an xbox in each group hosts each game. Im not sure but I'll venture that your vaunted Nintendo wifi works the same way.

Comparing PS2 Online (at leat till Hub) or Nintendo Wifi is Apples to oranges. With live youre paying for unified friends list, a 24-7 comminity of opponents, basic features for every online title (like VOIP), access to D/l content (some free), updates and patches, and now with the 360 you get free demos, access to arcade titles, movie trailers, and VOIP independent of games. [takes deep breath]

Every had trouble finding an opponent for Mario Kart? What if all your friends are asleep/in class/at work? Ive never wanted for an opponent with Live and thats the whole point.

Sometimes you get what you pay for. For $60 a year you get quite a bit.