12 month pre paid membership card to Xbox Live - No credit card required. Enter the exciting world of multiplayer online gaming. With intelligent matchmaking, access to all... more
the best in gaming entertainment and competition converge. With features like ntelligent matchmaking, leagues, ladders and tournaments, you'll have an incredible o...
A review by shamis4 on Microsoft Official Xbox 360 - Xbox Live Gold Membership Card September 7th, 2008
Author's product rating:
Look & Feel
Good
Robustness & durability
Good
Value For Money
Excellent value
Advantages:
the best online community ever !
Disadvantages:
the playstation 3 is free for online play
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
On purchasing an xbox 360 console you are given a free months xbox live gold membership which can be used once for each xbox live account that is created. However this of course only lasts for a month and after that initial month I was hooked and since then have bought and year's membership and love to play online with my friends over xbox live all the time!
What is Gold Membership?:
When you create an xbox live account on your xbox 360 there are several different things you have to do. You at first have to input your email address and password in order to verify the account. You then get to choose a gamertag to have - this is your special unique gaming name that you will be recognised as while playing on xbox live - mine is magicman142. The final section on signing up is to choose the type of membership you want: - Silver membership - You can have a friends list and manages this. You can also download things from the marketplace including demos, arcade games, pictures, etc (I will talk about this in more detail later). You can also send and receive text and voice messages. This level is free! - Gold Membership - This is the premium account level which is the same as silver and also allows you to play all xbox games online with friends and players across the world. You also have a much more enhanced friends list and features including member feedback etc. This of course comes at a price which I will discuss later.
Why connect to xbox live?:
Xbox live in my opinion has to be the best thing that ever happened to xbox! Without xbox live this console would be just the same as every other one with good games and that's about it. However with xbox live - what having this membership will unlock - you can truly get the most out of your 360 console:
- Xbox live marketplace - with your membership you can get loads of free stuff from the marketplace including themes, demos etc and can also purchase microsoft points and purchase loads of cool stuff to play and do on xbox live: xbox live marketplace. The first thing you can buy is an xbox live arcade game. These are classic old style games whose prices range from 400 to 1200 points. Some of my personal favourites are: - Worms (800 points) - Uno (400 points) - Track and Field (400 points) You can even purchase extra content for these games, for example for worms you can get new levels and backgrounds. You can also buy downloadable content for many xbox 360 games and these cost about 800 points (though prices will vary), and example would be Call of Duty 4 - where you purchase a new map pack of 4 new maps for online and off line play. Other items to download from the games section of the marketplace includes gamer pictures and themes for you xbox - these prices are often below about 200, and again it varies from game to game. Another new privelidge is being able to download old games from the original xbox, called Xbox Originals. My preferred xbox originals are: - Halo - Black - Burnout 3: Takedown These cost 1200 points each. Another area of the marketplace is the video and music marketplace where you can download music videos from a massive variety of singer from Michael Jackson to Robbie Williams. Another new feature is the availability of movies to download for only a few hundred points. These can even be downloaded in HD. These includes titles such as: - I am Legend - Cloverfield - Braveheart - Harry Potter films and so on ( for a full list visit www.xbox.com)
- The best feature of xbox live has to be the ability to play loads of different games online and get the most out of these games. You can play with all your friends and create you own teams or leader boards as well as compare yourself to players across the world in all time leader boards of different games. Most games can be really good offline but they become amazing once you start playing with them online! For example I loved the campaign on Call Of Duty 4, but now can't stop playing online against loads of people and it is so great - if I didn't have my membership I wouldn't be able to do this. Another example is the recently released Mercenaries 2 which involves loads of missions which can be very challenging, however I can now just go online and play with a friend who owns the game and we can work together and help each other out in finishing the game.
- On xbox live you can also have your very own friends list which with the gold membership shows you a list of your friends along with their gamertag, picture, catch line and you ca n then read information about them and compare your games with them and loads of other stuff. You can also see your own statistics about how other members find you - a good player or someone who leaves early? You can also send messages, videos and voice messages to all your friends!
Price:
£34.99 from play.com for 12 months membership £12.99 for 3 months (play.com) - which would work out at £51.96 for a year
In my view it is definitely better to go for the gold membership than the free silver as you get so much more and can of course play games online - one of the most important things about xbox live. It is also far more economical to purchase the full 12 months rather than the 3 months membership for the reasons shown above in the prices.
You can purchase the membership in several ways: - Online from places such as play.com or Game and you will be sent the voucher code through your email account and then type this into the xbox. - In store where you will receive a card and have to just scratch off to reveal the code. - On the xbox - Using your credit card you can sign up for automatic renewal through the xbox dashboard!
Conclusion:
What are you waiting for now is the time to get your membership and start playing all your favourite games online with your friends and get all the other great features from the xbox live marketplace including games and demos and videos, etc. A one off payment can set you up for a whole year's worth of gaming!
More Reviews
XBL Membership GAME ON! Review ofMicrosoft Official Xbox 360 - Xbox Live Gold Membership Cardby
frain2005
Advantages: More secure. Disadvantages: Can be purchased on the console instead.
...service I would receive from Microsoft is obviously a easy decision to make when choosing which service to use. Gold membership does also not have to be purchased through this card games often come with 48 hour trials which obviously give you a tester, and at certain times you can create free 1 month membership accounts VIA xbox Live. However to receive a consistent service its better off to pay but as well as buying a membership card in shops you ... ...as you have to phone Microsoft billing. Overall I do believe it is better to purchase the card as it stops the billing and is one off fee for those 12 months, even though it is a lot easier to go buy one via the console. - Worthwhile? I do think it’s worthwhile to use a game voucher, as it stops billing and makes sure your bank details aren’t connected to your windows live ID which gamer tags are connected which may make your bank details more secure ...
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Fantastic extra range of features for your Xbox 360! Disadvantages: Disheartening when somebody many levels better than you repeatedly beats you
...than excited. Opting against paying Microsoft over fifty pounds for a wireless adapter i chose to get a simple network cable (£10 from ebay) and use the xbox via a wired connection. The results have beeen fantastic, i recieve much higher connection speeds than many of my rival sonline even when there are another 4 people sharing the connection, as we live around a hour from manchester, we cannot get a faster connection than 2mb and even with this ... ...more, because it is a microsoft concept, you have all the latest messaging features of MSN Messenger. This allows all of your contacts to see when you are playing on your xbox, and even what game you are playing (this helps them from distracting you in the middle of a game). I currently own 9 xbox 360 games and with the exception of one, they have become like brand new games since i connected to xbox live. The online service adds a whole new dimension ...
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Great service, vast depth, cheap, easy to use Disadvantages: Can be a waste of money if your internet is poor, it is pre-paid...it is paid
I was really slow in joining the online revolution of gaming, in fact I'm still lagging behind (and not just because my internet is poor) but I have found Xbox live to be an excellent service and provided relatively cheaply. Having played games for years but always living in the middle of the back of beyond I was often resigned to playing single player games, or games I could enjoy with family members. The purchase of Mario Kart Wii was the first ... ...it, it was smooth, it was sleek and it was brilliantly fun and exciting, the Wii it seemed had finally delivered on some of it's promise. Then I tried Smash Bros. Online and got no where at all, it was a night mare that wouldn't even let me connect to the servers, sham I thought, this was stupid, how can one game be so amazing online and yet the next one won't even load? Oh well back to Mario Kart.
A purchase of a 360 a few months later and many ...
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Gives a whole new dimension to the Xbox Disadvantages: A little pricy
I bought my son the Xbox 360 for his birthday in February. I had just mastered using his Wii and knew nothing at all about the Xbox - only the nagging I'd had from my son!! As a thirteen-year old son with plenty of friends who own Xboxes my son was well aware of Xbox Live - therefore so was I before too long!! Xbox Live is an online gaming service that makes it possible to play online, using an Internet connection with other players from all around ... ...demos, videos etc. In fact it is so good that all thirteen -year old boys who have an Xbox 360 need it - this must be true - my thirteen-year old son told me!! So after a few days of owning his Xbox we sorted out an Internet connection. We used an Ethernet cable from the Xbox 360, although we do keep meaning to buy an Xbox 360 Wireless Network Adapter so that he can have the Xbox in his room and stop him hogging the main TV!! The subscriptions can ...
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Look & Feel
Robustness & durability
Value For Money
very helpful
10.08.2009
Live and let Live. Review ofMicrosoft Official Xbox 360 - Xbox Live Gold Membership Cardby
Danneey
Advantages: Online multiplayer, priviledges downloads Disadvantages: Price a little daunting at first, additional hardware required, PS3 online is free
What is Xbox Live:
Xbox Live is the online service for players of the Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles.
Xbox Live Silver is free to all users and gives some limited facilities. With a Silver account you can accumulate a reputation by achieving goals within games. These are own on your Gamercard and allow other users to see how experienced a gamer you are. With a Silver account, you can also download game demos, trailers, and event videos. Some games ... ...times etc. to online leaderboards.
Xbox Live Gold is a pay-for subscription, approx £35 to £40 pound a year. Gold gives you all the benefits of Silver, however you have access to marketplace items days, and sometimes weeks before the rest. The biggest benefit of purchasing a Gold subscription is that it opens up the full online multiplayer capabilites of the Xbox 360. Playing against your console is fun, but nowhere near as fun as knowing the person ...
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Microsoft Official Xbox 360 - Xbox Live Gold Membership Card
Product details
Type: Xbox Live
Console Type: Xbox 360
Region: PAL Version. The Format for UK, Europe, Australia & New Zealand
Long Name: Official Xbox 360 - Xbox Live 12 Month Gold Membership Card, Official Xbox 360 - Xbox Live 3 Month Gold Membership Card
Manufacturer: Microsoft
EAN: 882224079143, 882224079150
Ciao
Listed on Ciao since : 20/11/2006
Manufacturer's product description
12 month pre paid membership card to Xbox Live - No credit card required.
Enter the exciting world of multiplayer online gaming. With intelligent matchmaking, access to all your achievements and statistics, video chat and video messaging, and an enormous selection of games, Xbox Live Gold delivers your competition, on your terms.
Express your digital identity through your Gamertag and gamer card, talk with others using voice chat, and access Xbox Live Marketplace - all right out of the box, at no extra cost.
Similar products and search queries by other users
Official Live, Xbox Live, 360 Live, Official Xbox Live, Official 360 Live, Xbox 360 Live, Xbox Xbox Live, 360 Xbox Live, Official Xbox 360 Live, Official Xbox Xbox Live, Official 360 Xbox Live, Xbox 360 Xbox Live, Microsft Live, Microsft Official Live, Microsft Xbox Live
Are you the manufacturer / provider of Microsoft Official Xbox 360 - Xbox Live Gold Membership Card? Click here