Microsoft has announced pricing for the Windows Vista LIVE service to go along with it’s Games for Windows brand.
While PC Gamers as a community were hoping it would be close to free, Microsoft has announced that Windows Vista LIVE Gold will be $49.99 /yr or $7.99 /month or $19.99 /3 months. This is the same as it is for the Xbox LIVE Gold service.
There is a free option though on Windows Vista LIVE just like there is for Xbox LIVE, there will be the option to setup a Silver account at no cost which excludes the online gaming feature.
It remains to be seen how well PC gamers will embrace the Windows Vista LIVE service when PC gamers already can game with each other free. They will need this service though if they want to play cross-platform games against Xbox360 players. For example when Shadowrun launches, if players want to play that against people on Xbox LIVE, they will need to have a Windows Vista LIVE Gold account.
One has to think, is it worth $49.99 per year just to play PC games against console owners? Presumably the free Silver account will give you the same things on Vista that it does on Xbox360 which are a gamer tag, achievements, game history, friends list and messaging. So really, the only thing that extra free gets you is online gaming against Xbox360 players.
The one good thing though is if you are an Xbox LIVE Gold member, your gamertag and service will go cross platform to the PC. So if you’re already playing for an Xbox LIVE Gold account, you will not need to buy another account for your Vista computer, you only need the one account. The question here is, since a lot of console gamers are PC gamer converts, what percentage would go through the expense of upgrading to Vista just for gaming to take advantage of their cross platform LIVE Gold account?
All in all this service sounds like a very niche market that has a steep uphill battle to gain members from the PC gaming world. The biggest users out of the gate will no doubt be current Xbox360 LIVE gamers who have upgraded to Vista that want to keep tabs on their Live community most likely at work. Once you game on LIVE though and get used to the community, really there's no turning back. The trick will be to just get Vista gamers to try it out and have tightly integrated LIVE features in the Games for Windows games.
While PC Gamers as a community were hoping it would be close to free, Microsoft has announced that Windows Vista LIVE Gold will be $49.99 /yr or $7.99 /month or $19.99 /3 months. This is the same as it is for the Xbox LIVE Gold service.
There is a free option though on Windows Vista LIVE just like there is for Xbox LIVE, there will be the option to setup a Silver account at no cost which excludes the online gaming feature.
It remains to be seen how well PC gamers will embrace the Windows Vista LIVE service when PC gamers already can game with each other free. They will need this service though if they want to play cross-platform games against Xbox360 players. For example when Shadowrun launches, if players want to play that against people on Xbox LIVE, they will need to have a Windows Vista LIVE Gold account.
One has to think, is it worth $49.99 per year just to play PC games against console owners? Presumably the free Silver account will give you the same things on Vista that it does on Xbox360 which are a gamer tag, achievements, game history, friends list and messaging. So really, the only thing that extra free gets you is online gaming against Xbox360 players.
The one good thing though is if you are an Xbox LIVE Gold member, your gamertag and service will go cross platform to the PC. So if you’re already playing for an Xbox LIVE Gold account, you will not need to buy another account for your Vista computer, you only need the one account. The question here is, since a lot of console gamers are PC gamer converts, what percentage would go through the expense of upgrading to Vista just for gaming to take advantage of their cross platform LIVE Gold account?
All in all this service sounds like a very niche market that has a steep uphill battle to gain members from the PC gaming world. The biggest users out of the gate will no doubt be current Xbox360 LIVE gamers who have upgraded to Vista that want to keep tabs on their Live community most likely at work. Once you game on LIVE though and get used to the community, really there's no turning back. The trick will be to just get Vista gamers to try it out and have tightly integrated LIVE features in the Games for Windows games.
