Microsoft Xbox 360 Live Gold Membership Card (12 Month)
- SKU: 151955
- , EAN: 5055060925324
- , UPC: 882224628273
- , Mfr: 52M-00046
- , Brand: Microsoft
-
This product has been discontinued, the information below is for reference purposes only.
- Discontinued
Discounts on bulk orders for Businesses, contact: 0845 269 3759 or business@expansys.com
Microsoft Xbox 360 Live Gold Membership Card Features
Xbox Live is an online multiplayer gaming and content delivery system that allows registered users to create their own friends list of other users, and communicate with them via a mail-like system of either text or voice messages which can even be used to send a message to an offline user. With the new Xbox Live Vision camera, users can also send snapshot images to offline friends or video conference with them when they're online.
With the launch of the Xbox 360, Xbox Live went through a major change. The most notable change is the establishment of two subscription types, called Silver and Gold. Xbox Live Silver is free to all Xbox 360 owners. While it does not allow access to online play, it still has access to other Xbox Live features such as the friends list, messages, and the Xbox Live Marketplace. Xbox Live Gold, which requires a monthly or yearly subscription fee, allows users to access all available features on Xbox Live. Although there are no parental controls available in Xbox Live, any reports of misuse of the service for criminal or sexual purposes results in a permanent ban of the account.
Key Features:
Xbox Live has a number of great community-focused features and benefits such as:
Gamertags - for user identification
Avatars - gamer pictures for association with gamer tags
Mottos - for display on gamer profiles
Gamer zones - which represents your gaming style and influences player matchmaking (Recreation, Pro, Family, Underground)
Game achievements - shows how well you and your friends are doing in a game
Reputation rating - voted on by other players who decide to either prefer or avoid another player Gamerscores - a total of a player's achievement points
Friends list - a list of a player's chosen friends
Recent player list - lists the last 50 players one user has played with Xbox Live Marketplace content - download demos, trailers, new and retro games Multiplayer online gameplay - play against other gamers across the globe
Enhanced matchmaking - cumulative gamerscore, reputation, location/language profile and skill level are all used to find the perfect opponent
Xbox Live Gold:
With an Xbox Live Gold account, which costs just £39.99 a year, you can get online and do a number of things, like download demos, engage in online play against others, post high scores on leaderboards, check out game trailers and play new service-exclusive games on Xbox Live Arcade such as Lumines Live, Texas Hold 'Em and Uno or updated classic retro titles such as Pac-Man and Frogger. This isn't the same service that was offered with the original Xbox, but a living, breathing Marketplace where a number of things are available each day for checking out, and a bevy of competition is waiting to play against you. All in all, it's an essential part of Xbox 360.
Microsoft Points:
A system of Microsoft Points-based transactions and pre-paid subscription cards are available for the 360, cutting down the amount of separate credit card transactions Microsoft handles and allowing users without credit cards access to the service. You can use Microsoft Points to purchase games from Xbox Live Arcade, buy new maps and levels for full-priced games such as Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, and even change your Gamertag if you ever need to.
Centralization:
Unlike other online multiplayer systems (including those used on the PC and PlayStation 2), Xbox Live is highly centralized. This means that while game companies supply the networking code and gameplay, Microsoft provides the infrastructure for services like matchmaking and statistics. This removes some of the financial burden from game developers who do not already have such systems in place, adding incentive to add multiplayer modes to certain genres of non-persistent game. This system also means that instead of paying third parties for access to each individual game, users pay only one subscription fee that covers every game they own.
Xbox Live is restricted to broadband-only connections. This allows developers to further lower cost by being able to count on the consoles themselves to act as server for the individual games, something which otherwise would have to be provided by the publisher. This restriction does exclude users in geographic areas where high-speed Internet access is not affordable to residential customers. While some third-party services for online play also exist, they are unsupported by Microsoft.
Centralization does have its downsides. On the PC, for example, a few games charge a separate fee to play online. Players pay monthly fees for massively multiplayer online games (regardless of the platform), which, on Xbox Live or the original Xbox, translates to paying a subscription fee specific to the MMOG game itself on top of the subscription fee for Xbox Live, such as Phantasy Star Online. However, this has changed for the Xbox 360, as it is no longer necessary to have a paid subscription to Xbox Live in order to play online games that have a monthly fee, such as Final Fantasy XI for the Xbox 360
With the launch of the Xbox 360, Xbox Live went through a major change. The most notable change is the establishment of two subscription types, called Silver and Gold. Xbox Live Silver is free to all Xbox 360 owners. While it does not allow access to online play, it still has access to other Xbox Live features such as the friends list, messages, and the Xbox Live Marketplace. Xbox Live Gold, which requires a monthly or yearly subscription fee, allows users to access all available features on Xbox Live. Although there are no parental controls available in Xbox Live, any reports of misuse of the service for criminal or sexual purposes results in a permanent ban of the account.
Key Features:
Xbox Live has a number of great community-focused features and benefits such as:
Gamertags - for user identification
Avatars - gamer pictures for association with gamer tags
Mottos - for display on gamer profiles
Gamer zones - which represents your gaming style and influences player matchmaking (Recreation, Pro, Family, Underground)
Game achievements - shows how well you and your friends are doing in a game
Reputation rating - voted on by other players who decide to either prefer or avoid another player Gamerscores - a total of a player's achievement points
Friends list - a list of a player's chosen friends
Recent player list - lists the last 50 players one user has played with Xbox Live Marketplace content - download demos, trailers, new and retro games Multiplayer online gameplay - play against other gamers across the globe
Enhanced matchmaking - cumulative gamerscore, reputation, location/language profile and skill level are all used to find the perfect opponent
Xbox Live Gold:
With an Xbox Live Gold account, which costs just £39.99 a year, you can get online and do a number of things, like download demos, engage in online play against others, post high scores on leaderboards, check out game trailers and play new service-exclusive games on Xbox Live Arcade such as Lumines Live, Texas Hold 'Em and Uno or updated classic retro titles such as Pac-Man and Frogger. This isn't the same service that was offered with the original Xbox, but a living, breathing Marketplace where a number of things are available each day for checking out, and a bevy of competition is waiting to play against you. All in all, it's an essential part of Xbox 360.
Microsoft Points:
A system of Microsoft Points-based transactions and pre-paid subscription cards are available for the 360, cutting down the amount of separate credit card transactions Microsoft handles and allowing users without credit cards access to the service. You can use Microsoft Points to purchase games from Xbox Live Arcade, buy new maps and levels for full-priced games such as Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, and even change your Gamertag if you ever need to.
Centralization:
Unlike other online multiplayer systems (including those used on the PC and PlayStation 2), Xbox Live is highly centralized. This means that while game companies supply the networking code and gameplay, Microsoft provides the infrastructure for services like matchmaking and statistics. This removes some of the financial burden from game developers who do not already have such systems in place, adding incentive to add multiplayer modes to certain genres of non-persistent game. This system also means that instead of paying third parties for access to each individual game, users pay only one subscription fee that covers every game they own.
Xbox Live is restricted to broadband-only connections. This allows developers to further lower cost by being able to count on the consoles themselves to act as server for the individual games, something which otherwise would have to be provided by the publisher. This restriction does exclude users in geographic areas where high-speed Internet access is not affordable to residential customers. While some third-party services for online play also exist, they are unsupported by Microsoft.
Centralization does have its downsides. On the PC, for example, a few games charge a separate fee to play online. Players pay monthly fees for massively multiplayer online games (regardless of the platform), which, on Xbox Live or the original Xbox, translates to paying a subscription fee specific to the MMOG game itself on top of the subscription fee for Xbox Live, such as Phantasy Star Online. However, this has changed for the Xbox 360, as it is no longer necessary to have a paid subscription to Xbox Live in order to play online games that have a monthly fee, such as Final Fantasy XI for the Xbox 360
- Shipping Weight: 0.15kg
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