richard thomas
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| posted on 19/11/12 at 09:34 AM |
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X Box Live
Any gamers on here?
My son (13 years old) is after X Box Live for Christmas....after trying to decipher what it is exactly on various gaming sites (I am a little nervous
about it to be honest), I was wondering if anyone here could let me know what it is in plain English, what it does and how much it costs?
Thanks,
Rich.
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whitestu
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| posted on 19/11/12 at 09:40 AM |
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We've got an Xbox 360 which came with a 12month Xbox live membership. The box itself is just a console. The live bit gives access to online
games, but as our kids are all 10 and under we never used it, as I don't think such online stuff is suitable for them.
You can also pay extra and stream films etc.
Stu
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couch22k
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| posted on 19/11/12 at 09:41 AM |
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Xbox Live allows you to play games online eg. with other players from around the would.
It also gives you a lot more features with the xbox like TV on demand.
The best place to get it is off ebay, I paid around £25 for 12 months. Just Pay with paypal and they usually send you a link with a code that you just
redeem.
Hope this helps
Steve
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richard thomas
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| posted on 19/11/12 at 09:49 AM |
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Thanks - is it just a subscription then or do you need hardware to go with it? He has an Xbox already....
Don't want to ask my son too many questions like this 'cos he will think I am an old fart....more than he does now anyway...
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Davey D
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| posted on 19/11/12 at 10:12 AM |
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Your xbox wil need to be connected to the internet, either via Cat5, or wireless, and then it is just a 12month subscription which you can do by
credit/debit card (auto renews each year) , or you can buy a scratch card for a one off 12month subscription. If you keep you eye out, and have a look
online you can often get a 12+1 (13 month) scratch card cheaper than you would pay via credit card
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couch22k
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| posted on 19/11/12 at 10:20 AM |
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The only other thing I would say is to turn off the auto renew from Microsoft as they charge £40 a year.
Much cheaper from ebay and plenty of sellers. Just make sure they have good feedback.
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richard thomas
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| posted on 19/11/12 at 10:39 AM |
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Thanks Fellas,
Cheers,
Rich.
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loggyboy
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| posted on 19/11/12 at 11:57 AM |
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Its worth noting the paid subscrption is to Live GOLD, which gives you access to games etc online (you will need to buy the game disc still). Services
such as iplayer etc are available on 'Live' which is free, you just have to sign up (or sign in if you have a hotmail//live/microsoft user
account), and just requires the connection to the net. Watch out if you do go gaming online as it can use alot of bandwidth and usage.
Some games come with a trial of live gold with them so keep an eye out for them. (i got 3 months free with one, and 1 month free with another a while
back)
[Edited on 19-11-12 by loggyboy]
Mistral Motorsport
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Dangle_kt
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| posted on 19/11/12 at 12:24 PM |
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I got caught out as the Xbox does not come with built in wireless, you have to buy a dongle for it (and not a normal PC one, an Xbox specific one!) so
I just use a cable, but depending where his xbox is you may need to buy the dongle too for the membership to be used.
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Irony
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| posted on 19/11/12 at 12:33 PM |
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I have had xbox live for several years now and to be honest I don't use it that much. If your son is a fan of multiplayer games then
he'll probably love it. It has lost its appeal to me a little at the moment. I am just plain tired of yet another 3D shooter that has a
variety of maps and a variety of game types. Some people love the online gaming that xbox live gives you but I feel genuinely new content has not
been about for ages.
I would have cancelled my subscription a long time ago but microsoft keeps automatically taking the money from a credit card I cancelled years ago.
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Barkalarr
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| posted on 19/11/12 at 12:56 PM |
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Just make sure you setup a parent / child configuration to xbox gold and also buy him a 12 month subscription up front - Don't put your CC
details in.
<rant>
I've found this out the hard way when my 11 yr old ran up a nice £65 bill (which didn't include the subscription, this was on top of that)
because his account was setup as a "parent" and didn't need an additional password typed in each time he wanted to download games
and other cr*p that kids his age do. There were no settings for this when it was setup on xmas morning, they took the age of my wife from her hotmail
settings because she used her hotmail email to sign him up and presumed the account was for her - they didn't think to check. This was so we
could see if he was doing anything silly (erh... like he did)
The wife phoned Microsoft to complain and their response was "your son should have his own email address".. honestly, they suck!
Hopefully the next big thing all the kids are into will be a book or a football ! I hate consoles with a passion !!
</rant>
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roadrunner
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| posted on 19/11/12 at 12:58 PM |
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Or get a PS3 and its all free. 
It'll be like CEC v BEC.
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jossey
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| posted on 19/11/12 at 01:00 PM |
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How fast is your Internet connection
Is it unlimited
If its less than 5mb or not unlimited don't both.
Thanks
David Johnson
Building my tiger avon slowly but surely.
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Irony
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| posted on 19/11/12 at 01:16 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by roadrunner
Or get a PS3 and its all free.
It'll be like CEC v BEC.
No Halo. The end.
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richard thomas
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| posted on 19/11/12 at 02:19 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Barkalarr
Just make sure you setup a parent / child configuration to xbox gold and also buy him a 12 month subscription up front - Don't put your CC
details in.
<rant>
I've found this out the hard way when my 11 yr old ran up a nice £65 bill (which didn't include the subscription, this was on top of that)
because his account was setup as a "parent" and didn't need an additional password typed in each time he wanted to download games
and other cr*p that kids his age do. There were no settings for this when it was setup on xmas morning, they took the age of my wife from her hotmail
settings because she used her hotmail email to sign him up and presumed the account was for her - they didn't think to check. This was so we
could see if he was doing anything silly (erh... like he did)
The wife phoned Microsoft to complain and their response was "your son should have his own email address".. honestly, they suck!
Hopefully the next big thing all the kids are into will be a book or a football ! I hate consoles with a passion !!
</rant>
Thanks - good info, that was the sort of thing I was worried about......
I have unlimited downloads on contract so hopefully that won't be an issue....
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loggyboy
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| posted on 19/11/12 at 02:23 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Dangle_kt
I got caught out as the Xbox does not come with built in wireless, you have to buy a dongle for it (and not a normal PC one, an Xbox specific one!) so
I just use a cable, but depending where his xbox is you may need to buy the dongle too for the membership to be used.
It does now, since the newer 360s (slim) was introduced a couple of years ago.
Mistral Motorsport
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Barkalarr
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| posted on 19/11/12 at 02:30 PM |
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Don't do it ! Just buy him a season ticket for a 3rd division football team and take him to football every week - I took my son to see
Colchester Utd at the weekend and he loved every minute and it was a great game.
I had much more fun than playing on the Xbox !
Or you could buy him a cadet cart and go carting with him - get him into Motorsport.. Nice!
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richard thomas
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| posted on 19/11/12 at 04:32 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Barkalarr
Don't do it ! Just buy him a season ticket for a 3rd division football team and take him to football every week - I took my son to see
Colchester Utd at the weekend and he loved every minute and it was a great game.
I had much more fun than playing on the Xbox !
Or you could buy him a cadet cart and go carting with him - get him into Motorsport.. Nice!
Have tried the motorsport thing - failed at that...
He is very active though, most of my weekend is taken up with football.....
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