Why does it cost money to play online on consoles

[DeuceCypherUno]

10 bucks a month is really not that much though.

or you can set aside 10 bucks every check and pay the 60 for the year in less than a month and a half

 

[MeachTheMonster]

Steam has all that

every game has a "Community Hub" with forums, screenshots, videos, guides, reviews, news, and a workshop and/or marketplace if the game supports user content

Steam Community :: DOOM

two-factor authentication for your account and any trades

text/voice chat and group text/voice chat (aka party chat)

and cloud saves

You don't get unlimited cloud storage

From what i know about party chat it doesn't function as it does on Xbl. I know a lot of steam users use skype as a substitute.

A "game hub" is different from allowing pics and vids to be hosted under your gamertag.

And again. The most important thing I listed was security. Cheaters all in every game on steam unless the devs specifically are looking for them.

 

[hayesc0]

10 bucks a month is really not that much though.

or you can set aside 10 bucks every check and pay the 60 for the year in less than a month and a half

That mentality is how companies get away with nickel and diming people to death.

 

[DeuceCypherUno]

That mentality is how companies get away with nickel and diming people to death.

True but it is what it is. they got the monopoly on dedicated console-based servers.

 

[N*ggerFa*ot]

 

[daze23]

You don't get unlimited cloud storage

From what i know about party chat it doesn't function as it does on Xbl. I know a lot of steam users use skype as a substitute.

A "game hub" is different from allowing pics and vids to be hosted under your gamertag.

And again. The most important thing I listed was security. Cheaters all in every game on steam unless the devs specifically are looking for them.

the pics are also under your 'gamertag'. here's mine:

Steam Community :: daze23 :: Screenshots

it's up to dev's to stop cheaters on all platforms. it's more prevalent on PC because of the open nature of the platform. Valve does have VAC, and many 3rd party games use it

the cloud storage is effectively 'unlimited' just like consoles, in that you'll never use it all

I really don't find these distinctions compelling enough to call Steam's service "barebones" compared to consoles. it's pretty much the same shyt, and some of this stuff was on Steam first. do consoles even host forums for every game?

last I checked, you never even set up a Steam profile. so I'm not sure how much experience you have with this

 

[Liquid]

I'm saying what value does it have for someone that just wants to play Madden? and people that aren't interested in the 'free' games?

The free games count. Yeah, the typical dudebro Madden/2K player is not going to care about them, but it is incredible value to people who like to play a lot of games. Think of it in terms of a parent. I can get my son/daughter an xbox one or PS4 and be guaranteed 2 games per month for the entire console life cycle. To make the math easy let's assume the buyer paid the absolute max everywhere.

It's about $1,000 if the buyer bought an xbox one at launch, paid 6 years of live with 144 games and bought an extra controller or accessories during that time. A typical PC gamer pays much more than that over 6 years. If you fall into the dudebro category add $120 a year to that mark.

Over 6 years Netflix is $800 alone for passive entertainment. When you look at it from that perspective the yearly fee to play online really doesn't matter all that much compared to what you get across the board. Console gaming is one of the cheapest forms of entertainment you can get when it is broken down in a simple dollars/hours calculation.

Also, you are glossing over the convenience factor which is still very big for people.

 

[desjardins]

The free games were a big bonus. I got damn near 40 free games on my xbox360
now i have ps4 but haven't started paying for the online yet

 

[jadillac]

Paid online for PS4 is exactly the same as free online for PS3 as far as service goes.

wait, PSN isn't free anymore?

I don't know b/c I still have a PS3, but it's not free on PS4?

 

[Zero]

On PSN?

That's not true. The service offers a lot more now than it did at first.

And even then it was a huge investment for Sony to offer PSN. I don't blame them for trying to make money off of it

The only thing it offers now are game rentals and the selections are terrible 9 times out of 10.

wait, PSN isn't free anymore?

I don't know b/c I still have a PS3, but it's not free on PS4?

But nah man, online play is no longer free on PS4. You have to have Playstation Plus if you want to play multiplayer.

 

[ahomeplateslugger]

that free game a month deal is garbage. i don't even bother with them 99% of the time and would get rid of it completely if it meant free online or at least a cheaper price.

 

[daze23]

The free games count. Yeah, the typical dudebro Madden/2K player is not going to care about them, but it is incredible value to people who like to play a lot of games. Think of it in terms of a parent. I can get my son/daughter an xbox one or PS4 and be guaranteed 2 games per month for the entire console life cycle. To make the math easy let's assume the buyer paid the absolute max everywhere.

It's about $1,000 if the buyer bought an xbox one at launch, paid 6 years of live with 144 games and bought an extra controller or accessories during that time. A typical PC gamer pays much more than that over 6 years. If you fall into the dudebro category add $120 a year to that mark.

Over 6 years Netflix is $800 alone for passive entertainment. When you look at it from that perspective the yearly fee to play online really doesn't matter all that much compared to what you get across the board. Console gaming is one of the cheapest forms of entertainment you can get when it is broken down in a simple dollars/hours calculation.

Also, you are glossing over the convenience factor which is still very big for people.

my point about people that only want to play a few games has nothing to do with PC. it's just that they offer no cheaper option for those that don't want all the extra stuff

it's like if the cable company only offered one (expensive) package with every channel

 

[Return of the Jedi]

-Dedicated Servers
-Top tier download speeds if your connection can keep up
-Maintaining XBL/PSN accounts
-Security
-UIs and software constantly being supported
-Games with Gold/PSN+

It's $60. Not that big of a deal.

 

[MeachTheMonster]

the pics are also under your 'gamertag'. here's mine:

Steam Community :: daze23 :: Screenshots

it's up to dev's to stop cheaters on all platforms. it's more prevalent on PC because of the open nature of the platform. Valve does have VAC, and many 3rd party games use it

the cloud storage is effectively 'unlimited' just like consoles, in that you'll never use it all

I really don't find these distinctions compelling enough to call Steam's service "barebones" compared to consoles. it's pretty much the same shyt, and some of this stuff was on Steam first. do consoles even host forums for every game?

last I checked, you never even set up a Steam profile. so I'm not sure how much experience you have with this

Last I checked, you aren't playing on XBL

It's easy to say "steam is offering pretty much the same thing"

But in reality XBL offers a bit more for the money.

You can argue if it is/isn't worth the money for the consumer, but the advantages are there.

 

[daze23]

Last I checked, you aren't playing on XBL

It's easy to say "steam is offering pretty much the same thing"

But in reality XBL offers a bit more for the money.

You can argue if it is/isn't worth the money for the consumer, but the advantages are there.

I was on XBL with the 360 (and I use that same profile for win10 games), and my GF's son has an X1

I honestly think Steam has more robust online features