Why Should Xbox Live Be Free?

Of course he's smiling, he gets it for free!

Since the launch of the Xbox 360 in 2005, Xbox Live has seriously ballooned into the de facto online console experience.  Xbox Live wasn't free when it debut on the original Xbox but at that time, online gaming was still a very novel idea for consoles.  Sure the Dreamcast has online capabilities and the GameCube and PS2 did as well but no one had yet conglomerated the experience into one cohesive experience.

Comments

[Skust]

You say, "I don’t see how they should continue to be allowed to charge for a service that others offer for free", now the problem with that is it is a service. That is what you are paying for. If they are the largest, and rake in the most profits then they are doing something right! They should be rewarded for providing a service that people want. As far as I am concerned you get what you pay for look at the Wii, is there a reason why its free no one would pay for it. I do not know much about the PSN from personal experience but the public's opinion has been bad so far. Do I hope that PSN turns out to be a good thing, because competition is great for the consumer both the Xbox and PS consumers will benefit from the two companies. Until someone can provide completion for Xbox Live they should be free to charge what they feel is reasonable to provide the service, because it is the best that is out there.