Stolen Pixels #224: An Incredible Value

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So many people said they preferred these wider comics that I thought I’d do a few more and see if anyone complained. Note that the character on the right is doing a Bad Thing. Apparently some people are confused by this?

I’m sure you’ve heard already that the price of Xbox Live is going up by $10 a year. Of course, there’s never a time when consumers will be happy about a price hike, which means the only choice Microsoft could make was when they would incite the backlash of fiery, yet short-lived rage. People have been calling Microsoft “greedy” for about two decades now. If it ever hurt its feelings once, I think it’s over it now. (The sewer of verbal rapists on Xbox Live is another problem entirely. I avoid online console gaming for exactly this reason. No game could possibly be entertaining enough to make it worth my time to endure the company of those feral dipshits.)

Both Kinect and Xbox Live are claiming the premium spot in the market price-wise. I don’t know that this is an optimal location for them to plant their flag. Yes, part of the success of the Wii (which Microsoft is certainly after) is due to the casual, intuitive, family-friendly controls. But the other reason the Wii has ruled the market for the last four years is because it was by far the most affordable option.

Microsoft is betting that in this hellscape of an economy, consumers will make pricing a secondary concern. This is not a bet that I would take.

Shamus Young is the guy behind Twenty Sided, DM of the Rings, and Stolen Pixels, Shamus Plays, and Spoiler Warning. And none of that is his day job.