Xbox Live Gold members to get content before Silver members

Xbox Live

Okay, so the exclusive Gears of War promotional ad – the one that was shown last week at X’06 Canada – became available for download on the Marketplace earlier, but not everybody who wanted to check it out was able to. Why? It was exclusively for Xbox Live Gold members.

Of course, enterprising Xbox Live Silver members found it on the net only minutes later (it’ll also be made available to Silver members on the Marketplace in about a week), but the way the download was released on the Marketplace made us wonder: Will this “exclusive content for Xbox Live Gold members” trend continue?

Well, Major Nelson says it will. In a reply to a comment on his blog, the Major said, “This is going to happen more and more (Gold getting things before Silver) so you may want to think about upgrading if you want all the latest and greatest trailers, demos etc.”

Right now, according to Microsoft, Xbox Live Gold members are supposed to get “access to premium multiplayer experiences exclusive to Xbox Live Gold members.” Doesn’t say anything about demos and trailers, but a move like this can result in diminished server loads whenever new demos and trailers become available. Perhaps that’s what Microsoft is going for.

Of course, we feel for the Silver members too. Nobody likes to be late in getting the latest hot thing, and heck, this is Gears of War we’re talking about here! Still, I’m trying to be optimistic that this particular move by Microsoft (note the “this particular move” bit because I’m personally still not so sure about the whole micropayments thing) will eventually benefit everybody connected to the Xbox Live servers – lower server loads, faster speeds, and the like.

What about you guys? We’d love your input on this issue. Leave a comment below and let us know what you think.

Xbox Live

Okay, so the exclusive Gears of War promotional ad – the one that was shown last week at X’06 Canada – became available for download on the Marketplace earlier, but not everybody who wanted to check it out was able to. Why? It was exclusively for Xbox Live Gold members.

Of course, enterprising Xbox Live Silver members found it on the net only minutes later (it’ll also be made available to Silver members on the Marketplace in about a week), but the way the download was released on the Marketplace made us wonder: Will this “exclusive content for Xbox Live Gold members” trend continue?

Well, Major Nelson says it will. In a reply to a comment on his blog, the Major said, “This is going to happen more and more (Gold getting things before Silver) so you may want to think about upgrading if you want all the latest and greatest trailers, demos etc.”

Right now, according to Microsoft, Xbox Live Gold members are supposed to get “access to premium multiplayer experiences exclusive to Xbox Live Gold members.” Doesn’t say anything about demos and trailers, but a move like this can result in diminished server loads whenever new demos and trailers become available. Perhaps that’s what Microsoft is going for.

Of course, we feel for the Silver members too. Nobody likes to be late in getting the latest hot thing, and heck, this is Gears of War we’re talking about here! Still, I’m trying to be optimistic that this particular move by Microsoft (note the “this particular move” bit because I’m personally still not so sure about the whole micropayments thing) will eventually benefit everybody connected to the Xbox Live servers – lower server loads, faster speeds, and the like.

What about you guys? We’d love your input on this issue. Leave a comment below and let us know what you think.

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