Xbox One has announced the news that it will require an annual Xbox Live Gold membership. This includes recording and sharing of game play videos, making Skype video calls and using a service that finds optimal gaming opponents.
An Xbox Live Gold membership, on the current Xbox 360 costs $60 and is required for any and all online functionality. Microsoft announced the news about its next-generation console in an update to its Web pages that detailed the Xbox One's features. It reveals users will need a subscription to watch videos on Netflix or other streaming services or play any other multiplayer games.
The Xbox Live subscription gives players a new option for the Xbox One that allows users to record, upload and share. The console records a rolling sample of player's previous five minutes of game play to make it easier to share key moments. In other words, the next time you pull off a great play, score the game-winning kill or get a lucky drop, you can share the big moment with your friends or brag about it by sending it to your rivals.
According to BBC News, the subscription also lets players take advantage of the One Guide and SmartMatch services.
OneGuide analyses what Xbox One owners usually watch and recommends TV shows and YouTube content that it thinks would be good for the user. Meanwhile, the SmartMatch service links players in online multiplayer games based on similar ability to ensure no one is outclassed in multiplayer rooms.
In June, Sony revealed it too would be requiring users to pay $50, $10 less than an Xbox Live subscription, in order to utilize all of its gaming content for its next-generation console, the PlayStation 4. A PlayStation Plus subscription will give users access to multiplayer gaming, previously this was available for free to all users on the PS3, but given all the resources Sony is packing into online play on the PS4, that is no longer a financially viable option. However, unlike with the Xbox One, users won't be restricted form streaming video on Netflix or sharing big game moments with friends if they don't have the PlayStation Plus subscription. The PlayStation 4 also records users games and allows them to share.
What do you think? Is the $10 discount and lack of restrictions enough to pull you into Sony's gaming web or are you taking it as good news that Xbox's subscription plan will be the same? Comment and share you thoughts below.
