More Reasons to Hate MS?

Yesterday MS announced the first price rise for Xbox Live subscriptions, this only affects a few types of Gold Memberships and only a few regions, so don't freak out with OMG The Price of Live has Gone UP that SUCKS!... check the details here;

http://majornelson.com/archive/2010/08/30/price-change-for-xbox-live-gold-subscription.aspx

Personally, I always thought the price of Xbox Live would be reduced as more and more people sign up to be Gold Members. MS boast about having 23 million+ people on Xbox Live, the cheaper Gold is, the more members there will be, right?

The price is not going up by a lot, and the annual price is only going up in the US and Mexico, only the monthly price is being increased in the UK and Canada. Our price in Norway is unaffected... but as Xbox Live is already more expensive in Norway (and the rest of the world) in effect the US is just coming in line a bit more with how much Xbox Live costs everywhere else.

The US still has more content on Xbox Live then we do too... so I am still feeling a little ripped off by not getting the same content for the same Gold subscription. All I really want to do tho is to play on Xbox Live, so I hope the price doesn't go up for us to be able to do that.

The prices are being increased from the 1st of November 2010, but if you are in the US and you renew now, you can get another year of Xbox Live for a discounted price of $39.99. For current subscribers in the rest of the world, this means that for the following year we are paying even more than our Xbox Live friends across the pond.

The price of an annual subcription in the states has been $49.99 and will be $59.99 from the 1st of November... or only $39.99 if you renew before halloween.

I have read some of the comments on Major Nelson's page about this announcement, along with the many complaints on the Xbox.com forums. Lots of people saying they are going to cancel their subs. Seems a bit daft to me as for the next year they can actually get Xbox Live for less then they are paying now. Everybody can still cancel before they have to actually pay an increased amount, and AFAIK Xbox Live Gold Code Cards will still be available at discounted rates.

There are many reasons to hate MS, but I don't think this is one of them.... at least not until you have to renew next year!