Xbox Live Is Worth It

If you're a serious gamer, you probably can't live without Xbox Live.

You love playing Halo 3 or Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 with your friends so much that you find it hard to peel yourself off of the game console and actually do some homework.

For you, having Xbox Live bills to pay every month makes perfect sense: you probably get much more out of it than you put in.

But what about the rest of us, who have a more casual interest in the Xbox than that? Is the Xbox Live subscription really worth the investment, or is it just another bill that we don't need to see on our credit card statement every month? If we're going to answer that question properly, we're going to have to attack it from a few angles. Let's start with the most important one: price.

The Price For XBox Live

If you've looked at the Xbox Live website where it details the pricing options, you might have noticed a very attractive word: "free."

What's free about Xbox Live are a few of the features that you can use when you're connected to the internet via your Xbox, but you can't play games online without paying for the service. Since most people want to use Xbox Live in order to play games online, we're assume that's what you're going to be after, as well. Xbox Live Gold, which is what you're after, is a service that can cost a few different prices depending on the kind of service package you sign up for.

Which package should you get - short-term or long-term? If you're just trying out, you may want to think about getting a short-term package even though it has a higher cost per month. Why? Because even though it has a higher cost per month, there's a chance you may not want to keep the subscription going. If you had signed up for a longer package and didn't want to keep going, then you'd find yourself paying a lot more than you want.

If you are sure about Xbox Live, however, you can have it for just around $50 per year, depending on the package you get. That's a really good price and equals only a few bucks a month: you can swing that, can't you?

Will You Use XBox Live Enough?

Of course, if you're never using Xbox Live, then spending even a few dollars on it per month would be a waste of money. This is when we start to consider another question: is the Xbox Live really a good investment for you? Will you really spend enough time on Xbox Live to justify another expense in your credit card statement every month? There's a chance that the answer is no.

To gauge how much you'd use Xbox Live, try to consider how much you currently use your Xbox. If you find you only get on it occasionally - say once or twice a week - then you're probably not going to want to play Xbox Live a whole lot. There's always the possibility that you could develop a new addiction to it, but is that really what you want right now?

Luckily, Xbox Live is cheap enough per month that you don't have to worry a lot about how much you use it. If you just use it occasionally and find it fun, then that might be enough to justify the low cost.

Our advice: give it a try, as long as you don't have to make a hefty upfront investment like buying a new Xbox of your own.

If you enjoy playing a few of your favorite games online - and even connecting with your friends and family members - then you may want to get a longer-term subscription going. If not, you may want to just ditch the Xbox Live altogether and keep your gaming efforts offline.


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