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While recent sweeping Xbox 360 price cuts have seen Microsoft extend its market lead over main rival Sony and its PlayStation 3 console, Sony’s cost-free PlayStation Network remains a more attractive online multiplayer facet that manages to tarnish Microsoft’s subscription-based Xbox Live platform.
Annual Xbox Live subscription drops by $20 USD. Image: Microsoft.
However, the well established Xbox Live service, which was made completely free to PC users in July of 2008, is now considerably more appealing to Xbox 360 owners thanks to a substantial price cut implemented by retail giant Amazon.
Unveiled by Amazon.com this past Sunday as part of its latest accessories sale, the price cut covers Microsoft’s Xbox Live Gold Subscription card and brings the usual $49.99 USD price down to a much more tempting $29.97 USD.
The product delivers a full 12 months of complete Xbox Live access, which includes worldwide multiplayer gaming as well as the download of free videogame demos and trailers, and the cost-based download of additional gameplay content, full games, TV shows, movies and other related items.
Although Xbox Live boasts some 17 million subscribers and a wealth of online content, Sony’s relatively new PlayStation Network enables PlayStation 3 owners to take advantage of a similarly structured service without any form of charged access.
It remains to be seen whether the Amazon price cut emerges as little more than a temporary reduction or if Redmond-based Microsoft moves to expand free PC access to also include its Xbox 360 user base.
Although, given the substantial Xbox Live revenue stream Microsoft reaps from its console customers, that might not be forthcoming any time soon.
According to Microsoft, generation-leading price adjustments made to its gaming hardware have helped the company sell 28 million Xbox 360 consoles around the world, which it claims is some eight million more units than the PlayStation 3.
The Xbox 360 outperformed the PlayStation 3 by a ratio of 2-to-1 in December, according to market research specialist NPD Group.
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