Microsoft Unveils Xbox Live Family Membership Plan

[Andy Chalk]

Microsoft Unveils Xbox Live Family Membership Plan

Microsoft has announced the Xbox Live Gold Family Subscription Plan, a new membership option designed specifically for family-friendly online gaming that ties in nicely with the upcoming launch of Kinect [http://www.amazon.com/Kinect-Xbox-360/dp/B002BSA298/ref=sr_tr_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1277227411&sr=1-1].

For $99.99 per year, the Xbox Live Gold Family Pack will support up to four individual Xbox Live Gold memberships and offer "exclusive family content and discounts." A designated "primary account" will be able to purchase and distribute Microsoft Points to other Family Pack members, while all online purchases will be charged to the primary account holder, simplifying the billing process.

The built-in Family Settings options are also being improved, making it easier for parents to monitor and manage their children's online gaming. A new option to remove all mature games, movies and content from the Xbox Live Dashboard based on ESRB, MPAA and TV Parental Guideline settings will be included, as will "Title Exceptions," which will allow access to individual titles above the default ratings on a case-by-case basis, and customizable "intelligent default settings" for children, teens and adult gamers.

Microsoft is clearly lining up for a run at the family demographic and while it'll be tough to break Nintendo's death-grip on that particular market, 100 bucks for four individual Gold accounts is a pretty solid deal. The Xbox Live Gold Family Subscription Plan will become available in November alongside the Kinect motion controller, which is set to debut on November 4.


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[Ranooth]

Yeah i see a lot of arguements and huge bills due to one family member buying everything occuring here.

 

[uppitycracker]

Hmm, I would actually find this cool if I could have my own separate CC for points to be charged on. I live in a house with 3 roommates, and this could help us save money... but oh well. Nice for families, I suppose.

 

[Dioxide20]

Good to see that Microsoft is looking at all the aspects of really getting Kinect to be a valid competitor to Nintendo.

 

[khaimera]

Maybe now they can afford to let us change our gamertag once without having to pay money for it. One can hope.

 

[Cpt Corallis]

That could be very interesting and i can definitely see it getting used by students, maybe not families so much.
Does anyone know whether all of the accounts have to stay on the same console as well, otherwise I can see some abuse of the deal to get cheaper subscriptions.

 

[Cabisco]

That could be very interesting and i can definitely see it getting used by students, maybe not families so much.
Does anyone know whether all of the accounts have to stay on the same console as well, otherwise I can see some abuse of the deal to get cheaper subscriptions.

I was thinking about that, get four mates together and you could potentially save money. Ahh I don't trust it though, their will be an insane catch.

 

[Deofuta]

Great Idea by microsoft. that saves money if even 2 people join correct? 60 dollars a year?

I do hope it is not limited to consoles, it would be great for me and my little brother.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

That could be very interesting and i can definitely see it getting used by students, maybe not families so much.
Does anyone know whether all of the accounts have to stay on the same console as well, otherwise I can see some abuse of the deal to get cheaper subscriptions.

I was thinking about that, get four mates together and you could potentially save money. Ahh I don't trust it though, their will be an insane catch.

yup first thing i thought of

i got my two brothers and i'd either sucker talk my dad into it or a friend and we'd each get our own accounts...but im also very curious if it has to be on the same xbox, which if so is a load of horse crap, which is probably the catch we are all thinking of

 

[sln333]

That could be very interesting and i can definitely see it getting used by students, maybe not families so much.
Does anyone know whether all of the accounts have to stay on the same console as well, otherwise I can see some abuse of the deal to get cheaper subscriptions.

I was thinking about that, get four mates together and you could potentially save money. Ahh I don't trust it though, their will be an insane catch.

yup first thing i thought of

i got my two brothers and i'd either sucker talk my dad into it or a friend and we'd each get our own accounts...but im also very curious if it has to be on the same xbox, which if so is a load of horse crap, which is probably the catch we are all thinking of

Well it's called a family membership plan. Families usually live in one household, so I think this will have to be on one console. Also, now that the hard drives are internal in the new 360's, you can't move the hard drive from one console to another.

 

[Cabisco]

That could be very interesting and i can definitely see it getting used by students, maybe not families so much.
Does anyone know whether all of the accounts have to stay on the same console as well, otherwise I can see some abuse of the deal to get cheaper subscriptions.

I was thinking about that, get four mates together and you could potentially save money. Ahh I don't trust it though, their will be an insane catch.

yup first thing i thought of

i got my two brothers and i'd either sucker talk my dad into it or a friend and we'd each get our own accounts...but im also very curious if it has to be on the same xbox, which if so is a load of horse crap, which is probably the catch we are all thinking of

Will be interesting to see, though so far I haven't actually since the use of having a live account if your only using Kinect. So from a family view, only the teen kid will be online killing aliens and terrorists. Just use his account if you want to rent a movie I guess.

 

[Phatnpround]

Maybe they have to be connected via the same network (although I'm not sure if microsoft can moderate that :S) but I can't see the point of this being targetted at families. Whats the point in distributing points to your childrens accounts, surely it would make sense to have all the xbla games and stuff on one account so you only have to buy one subscription. Plus I'm sure not many people have two 360s per house.

 

[Danpascooch]

This is really clever, most families who play 360 do it all off of one Gold Account, so this way it looks like a huge deal, and Microsoft gets an extra $40 from the average 360 playing family (I get some families play on separate accounts, but I think most don't)

 

[SharedProphet]

Sounds decent, but only because we already have to pay $50/year/account for multiplayer. Will they be adjusting the DRM junk to account for this, so that I can play Rock Band tracks we purchased with points I accidentally put on my wife's account instead of mine when she's not signed in, and she can play with the ones I've bought?

 

[Jared]

Suyppose good if you live in a gaming household...but, I dont know that many gaming households x.x

 

[felixader]

MS, MS. You are shoehorning your family shit into a console with... well the wrong democrazy.

The Price speaks against it (and i mean the price for all of it including a console).

Your actuall picture to the public speaks against it.

Most of your games speak against it.

 

[VanityGirl]

Actually sounds pretty solid. I mean it would be best if you could have it on multiple consoles.