[Update: Well that was fast. Less than an hour after I wrote this piece (and by the time it went live), Dell had pulled this deal. Sorry folks... it was good while it last. Which wasn't very long. Post the best Xbox Live deals you can in the comments if you've got 'em.]
Not only is the sky falling, but Microsoft is raising the costs of its Xbox Live Gold membership this year. It's up to $60 a year from $50, and that's bad news on your wallet.
But why pay more than you have to? If you pick up Xbox Live cards at the current price now, you'll save some cash. Save even more cash with this awesome deal -- Dell is offering 12-month subscription cards for $30 a piece. Order two and you'll get free shipping. That's two years of Xbox Live Gold for what a single year will cost after November 1 of this year. What a bargain!
Depending on who you are, this is your cue to go save some money or to argue in the comments about how PlayStation Network is better because it's free. Get to it.
XBOX Live 12 Month Subscription Card $30 @ Dell - Order 2 for Free Shipping [FatWallet]
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Contest:
10:00 AM on 09.02.2010 | 
This is why I love you, Nick Chester. Keep on keeping on.
But free is always a better bargain
Thanks, nice to meet you too. :)
Good question. As far as I know, no. I have some really old 1-month cards lying around, and I just gave one to my in-laws and they were able to use it just fine. I'd imagine you can stock up on cards and then use them down the line if you choose to.
Don't know if anyone else got that. I pay monthly so I don't know if that's a pre-requisite for this deal.
I can survive by eating from garbage cans for free, but I'd rather pay and get a full meal.
/flame
Point taken. But when there's cheaper or free alternatives that provide just as a good service, wouldn't prudence in your expenditure play a part?
I've never had one expire either. It should also be noted that you can simply redeem multiple cards all at once and they'll all stack. There have been many times in the past that my Gold account has been well over a year from expiring because I took advantage of a cheap deal like the one listed here.
I got a similar offer and I pay yearly, so it's probably being offered to everyone. There are also still places like NewEgg that are selling them for $40.
Well the fact is that XBL lets me do things PSN doesn't. The opposite isn't true. HOWEVER, whether those features are worth $50/yr depends on the person. I don't think there's any debate which service provides more features, it's the value proposition that gets tricky.
well you are right. Value depends on the person. But how long can we gamers keep up with if Microsoft announces another $10 increase?
@mrandydixon
Well, i don't have a 360 nor do i know anyone who does. Most of us are PS3 gamers. Which i think you can tell i am too. Haha.
troll fanboy is troll
I have a Playstation 3. How does that make me a troll? I never insulted or flamed anyone. I'm just here to talk among gamers. I think we all need to chill out with the namecalling, don't we? :)
tell me if im doing this right. O'Keefe
"Since its free, it MUST be better." herp derp
I dont think any LIVE user has ever said anything remotely close to the paying aspect being the reason why it is better, rather they have found worth paying. PSN users on the other hand constantly bring up this "its free so its better" excuse. Only in console warz world i guess. In life scenarios people are willing to pay more for something better like softer toilet paper for example. Yet free is always better...
Point taken. But when there's cheaper or free alternatives that provide just as a good service, wouldn't prudence in your expenditure play a part?
how is the garbage can food mentioned a just as good alternative? Anwyay we can use this idea on PSN, but STEAM is also free and that is an actual very good service. Its quite the conundrum i guess.
"Well i guess the Dead Space 2 deal is a good one for the PS3 owners like myself. But like i said, these 360 exclusivity deprives gamers"
your either extremely foolish or a troll
Well, it is true. Having Case Zero on the 360, deprives the PS3 gamers from enjoying the same prologue too. Am i not right? :)
well i'm sorry you don't feel the same way as a lot of people about PSN. But my point still stands, when you have a cheaper and free alternative, why pay more? :)
Thanks. I wondered about that, considering my Gold account doesn't run out till July 2011, so I'm not missing out unless....
Here's a question maybe you guys might not be able to answer but I jump on eBay looking for deals and they're always American. Since the points difference doesn't transfer to Canada from America, if I bought a cheap 12 month card from an American, would it work all the same or does it need to be continent specific like MS Points?
Its fine for PS3 owners. And yes they do deprive other console owners of the same experience too. :)
Then again i don't think some of the PS3 exclusives like MGS4 can be done on other consoles without sacrificing the quality.
let me ask you this. Which provides a better service? PSN or STEAM. We need to know if you are defending free or defending Playstation brand.
Well, i have had some experience with Steam, and yes for the PC platform it is an excellent service. But i am primarily a console gamer, so i'apologise profusely if i say i am leaning towards the PSN. Although i can't wait to see how Steamworks will integrate itself with the PSN.
By all means, if you feel so strongly about PSN being "garbage can food" by comparison, then provide examples of what Live has, or does better than PSN? I've used both; the lag is no different because very few games on either platform utilize dedicated servers, and the only other feature I can think of is party chat...which became available with PS+ (also, you only need 1 person in the group paying for it).
The only justification I can see for paying for Live, is you A) Just prefer the console itself, or B) You prefer the exclusives in particular (or A and B), and you NEED to pay for Live if you want to play them online. There's nothing wrong with admitting that you pay for it because its your preference, but pretending that Live is head and shoulders above anything just to justify your own preferences is disingenuous to say the least.
Harsh, yet too true.
The actual service is mostly the same I agree. So few games have dedicated servers for either side, however I think as a service XBL offers more than PSN because of all the exclusive content and the better or simpler user interface.
Also if PS Plus now has cross game chatting there's a reason for it because it was such a popular feature on the 360 and on of the many things people prefered about the service.
Plus I'm not too fond of all that renting shit. You rent movies, not video games as you've put your money down so why not let you keep it? That's kinda turned me off from ever getting PS Plus, that and the lackluster extra content they offer.
I've had certain cards expire on me. The 1 month that came with GTA IV only last a year. Most 48 hour cards also only last 5 months. The vast majority of them don't expire, though. It should be listed somewhere on the back, towards the bottom.
Point taken on the UI; but that really just comes down to personal taste. As for the exclusives, not really sure what you mean. As in full games? Because I think the library of 360 exclusives is a bit smaller than PS3 ones (though that doesn't say anything about popularity of the exclusives 360 does have). Or do you mean the timed exclusive DLC for a handful of games?
The XBL features I appreciate the most are party/cross-game chat, universal invite system, and the community calendar. There are some other incidental features like the message shortcut with the guide button and faster title updates, but that's more OS design than an XBL feature.
By your own admission, XBL has features PSN doesn't. The issue is value, not which service has more features.
Also, where are you getting this info about the PS+ party chat? There was some leaked information about it months ago which was quickly retracted by Sony.
Well put.
Nah I'm
Talking about the huge selection of both exclusive DLC and Games. LIVE's been around long enough to have the money to provide it's user base with plenty of exclusive content in that regard that the PSN looks paltry in comparison.
Though I do agree it really is personal preference because I jumped from being a PS3 guy to a 360 mostly because I had a ton of friends playing games all the time, which as far as my experience went was severely lacking. Except for MAG with Elsa, that was usually always a regular thing (and kudos to those guys).
I think we agree that XBL vs. PSN is really just perceived value. Not everyone will value XBL's additional features at $50, and that's fine. However, it would be nice to have a tiered structure where the basic stuff is free and the bells and whistles are extra.