Obviously this was leaps and bounds above the black box service being that you could now stream a variety of media content from your computer to your 360. For those late in the game, Microsoft did not include the movies and television shows until a later date and time. Regardless, what was provided was seven fold what was originally given. We end in present day Live where the service has gone from a gaming machine with multi media options to a multi media gaming console. If you were to subscribe tomorrow you would have access to all of the above bulleted aforementioned as well as;
- Movies
- Television Shows
- A Robust Xbox Live Arcade Library
- MSN Chat
- Video Chat
When the update which brought us movies and television shows launched the pickings were slim. During the initial implementation of this feature anybody who attempted to download anything when it first became available to the 360 public can attest to the horrid download speeds. A few bugs needed to be repaired but all in all I was pleasantly surprised with this new service. It costs some points and although not entirely cheap, most movies (non-HD) and television shows were not exorbitantly priced. They were reasonable and I took advantage as well as millions of other 360 owners. The Live service now consists of an extremely wide variety of television shows, movies, even game trailers, and previews. Also included are an exceedingly large Xbox Live Arcade library as well as music videos, demos, and the standard picture packs and themes. The 07’ spring update brought us even more presents with the inclusion of MSN messaging on Xbox Live. What does the future hold for Live? Who is to know for sure as Microsoft is known for throwing curve balls, but IPTV is pretty much a given and that unto itself is well worth my money. Microsoft takes its Xbox Live seriously and with its heavy pocket book and financial backing I am certain we have yet to see the best of Xbox Live and that is a scary thought.
Money MisconceptionsThrough the years I have heard many criticisms concerning Live but the most prevalent and consistently used is the micro-transactions argument. I would surmise a small minority looks upon this feature with deploration and disgust. The foundation of this argument is built from the ground up to criticize “M$” and the bundles of money they receive via the purchases of Live movies, television shows, et cetera. Complaints of prices have been echoed throughout the forums and gaming outlets but let’s take a moment to further examine this issue.
If “M$” was garnering revenue based solely off the sales of DLC wouldn’t you think Mr. Gates and Live would be swimming in their Scrooge McDuck money bin circa 1987? Rhetorical question, yes, as we all know Mr. Gates swims in his money bin daily with or without Xbox Live, but the statistics may be surprising to some. Since the launch of the original Xbox, Microsoft has been Suge Knight deep in the red throughout their entire gaming division. A more precise statement would be that Microsoft, after 6 years in the gaming market, has yet to produce a profit. Well the sales of movies and other media available on Live should now currently offset this lose correct? Wrong. Microsoft released their first quarter fiscal numbers and although losses were not as large as was in previous years, “M$” managed to drop 21% in their gaming division including every revenue stream available to them such as Live, hardware sales, accessories and game purchases. Remember, this is only first quarter numbers! Many have the misconception that every DLC purchase is deposited directly in the bank of Microsoft. On rare occasions this is correct but the entire media DLC is a contractual revenue sharing process. If you were to download an episode of Heroes, NBC owns its copyright and intellectual property so in return for supplying MS with their programming are you to believe, NBC as a corporation, would provide such media gratis? Let’s get a grip on reality here people. Unless you were sleeping with a high ranking Microsoft employee it would be nearly impossible to get a copy of the contractual amount owed and due to each party respectively, but I will go out on a limb here and assume NBC will get the first slice of the pie. The same can be applied to ABC, CBS, and every other broadcast corporation which provides content for Xbox Live. To demonstrate my point let us use Comedy Central as a central tenet. They have praised Microsoft and the Xbox Live service in part because they had an increase in both revenue and profit since they initially offered media content such as South Park and Mind of Mencia through the Live service. Is Comedy Central the exception to the rule? A fluke if you will? Do all broadcast corporations participate in a uniform contractual agreement? Are each individual agreements different? Who is to know for sure but bottom line Microsoft is far from making a massive profit from the sales of your DLC. The belief that Microsoft is profiting from Xbox Live is a fallacious belief at best and nearing borderline sophistry. Numbers do not lie so if you doubt my conclusions investigate the fiscal year numbers through Microsoft’s gaming division. After locating all the negative numbers highlighted in fire truck red you would be hard pressed to formulate a legitimate and valid rebuttal. Microsoft’s gaming division is losing money faster than Sony PR reps are spinning their declining PS3 sales figures. End of story.
