Nathan tried to save some money on his Xbox Live subscription by buying a prepaid $50 card to avoid having to pay the recently increased annual fee of $60. While he did so, he failed to replace his expired credit card on file with a valid card. [More]
Resetting My Xbox Live Password Was An Exercise In Futility
By January 10, 2011
Reader P bought a new Xbox 360 after his old console descended to Red Ring of Death hell. Having forgotten his Xbox Live password, P endured the arduous process of attempting to recover the password through Microsoft. The way P describes it, doing so was as simple and user-friendly as spinal surgery. [More]
Xbox Rewards Program Offers Online Currency For Online Activity
By December 2, 2010
Whenever a monolithic company concocts a rewards program, the inclination is to view it with a skeptical eye, as a Trojan Horse that will surely lead to exploitation. But at first glance, it’s tough to find fault with Microsoft’s seemingly benevolent Xbox Live Rewards program. [More]
Microsoft Explains Why Its Xbox Live Price Hike Is Good, And Good For You
By November 3, 2010
As of Monday, an annual Xbox Live Gold subscription costs $60 a year, a 20 percent jump from Sunday, when it was $50. Microsoft is here to assure you that the inflation is in your best interest, and necessary for the company to keep pace with its rising costs to do something or other. [More]
Xbox Suspends Gay Gamer For Calling Himself A "Homosexueller" Who "Likes Cupcakes"
By September 2, 2010
Despite Xbox recently changing its policy to allow folks to describe their sexual orientation in their gamer profile, Super Street Fighter IV fan Shmoo found his Xbox Live account suspended for breaking their Code of Conduct. His gamer bio states, “Bio Ich bin ein homosexueller Mann in einer großen schlechten Stadt. Ich mag kleine Kuchen und Cheeseburgers.” Which translates from German to, “I am a gay man in a big bad city. I like cupcakes and cheeseburgers.” This, apparently, was verboten. [More]
Microsoft Hikes Xbox Live Subscription Fee
By August 31, 2010
In what seems like a clever ruse to get gamers to quickly buy an extra year or two of Xbox Live Gold service — which offers online multiplayer as its main draw — Microsoft announced it’s raising the annual subscription fee from $50 to $60. One-month subscriptions rise from $8 to $10 and three-month hitches go from $20 to $25. The price changes go into effect Nov. 1. [More]
Go Ahead, Try To Make Sense Of This Xbox Live Pricing Scheme
By August 12, 2010
Did you know that “free” is basically the same thing as $10? Neither did Jer, until he went to renew his Xbox Live account. He tells Consumerist that along with his account expiration date, he discovered the most baffling pricing scheme this side of Target. [More]
Xbox Assumes Women Contacting Them Must Be Doing It For Their "Sons"
By August 9, 2010
When a woman emailed Xbox support about downgrading her Xbox LIVE Gold account to Silver, they sent her back a form letter that assumed she was contacting them on behalf of her son, even though she doesn’t have a son and never made mention of one at all. Hey Microsoft! Ever hear of GIRL GAMERS? [More]
Five Months From Now Microsoft Will Stop Gouging Families For Xbox Live
By June 23, 2010
Microsoft’s indispensable Xbox Live service was always tough on gaming households, requiring family members and roommates to piggyback on one another’s accounts or spring for separate $50-a-year subscriptions. Yesterday the company announced it will start selling 4-for-the-price-of-2 Xbox Live Gold Family Packs, which give you four subscriptions for $100 a year. [More]
Microsoft Gives 7 Free Days Of Xbox Live To Players Who Bought Broken DLC
By April 6, 2010
Those who downloaded Modern Warfare 2′s overpriced ($15) and broken Stimulus Package maps the day they came out got a little reward from Microsoft, according to Kotaku: 7 days of free gold service. [More]
Xbox Live No Longer Bans Gay People From Describing Themselves
By March 5, 2010
One of Xbox Live’s more irksome policies has been that if your gamertag happens to mention that you are gay or lesbian, that’s not permitted. (Or if you use your real name, which happens to contain the letters G-A-Y in that order.) But Microsoft has changed their code of conduct, and this policy is no more. [More]
Make A Yo Momma Joke In Xbox Live Profile, Get Suspended
By February 24, 2010
M. had his Xbox Live account suspended for making a mom joke that probably wouldn’t even have gotten his name on the board in third grade. His bio read “I like pie… URmoms PIE.” [More]
Amazon Slashes Prices On Xbox Live Subscription Cards
By January 6, 2010
If you’re an Xbox 360 gamer who likes to play online, you’d do well to hit up Amazon for an Xbox Live subscription card or three. The 12-month subscriptions are $35 rather than $50, and you can stack one card on top of the other, ensuring your 360 and its red ring of death descendants will be online until John Cusack’s movie destroys the planet. [More]
Possible Class-Action Suit Alleges Xbox Bans Result Of Vast Redmond Conspiracy
By November 21, 2009
Microsoft has declared that the owners of banned Xbox consoles have no recourse and no choice but to buy new consoles. Some users see this as unfair and a vast Redmond conspiracy, and law firm AbingtonIP is fighting back with a class-action lawsuit. God bless America.
If You Don't Care About Online Gaming: Banned XBOX 360s Available
By November 18, 2009
Last week Microsoft banned a crapload of modified XBOX 360s from XBOX Live. If you happen to be one of those people who don’t care about playing online, you might consider grabbing one on eBay or Craiglist. Then again, if you’re looking for an XBOX 360 that actually works with XBOX Live, you might want to be wary of buying a used one right now.
Microsoft Says There Is No Recourse For Gamers Whose Consoles Were Banned
By November 12, 2009
Are you one of the 1 million gamers that was recently banned from XBOX Live? Too bad, says the BBC. You’ll need to buy a new system.
Microsoft Refunds Dog's Purchase, Gives Dog His Own Gamertag
By November 3, 2009
Good news, Xbox 360 players! If you’ve got a shopaholic dog who buys Microsoft points as you sleep by chewing on your controller, Microsoft will give you a refund and even get your dog his own profile — at least if the story makes headlines.
Xbox Live Customer Service Proves The Key To Solving Hotmail Woes
By October 30, 2009
Richard, whose wife had her Hotmail account swiped by a hacker, was able to get it back by calling Xbox Live customer service, of all people.
