1 month ago | By Ars Technica

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Over the past 12 months, electronics retailers have been under increased fire and scrutiny for mishandling how they sell brand-new consoles and high-end PC components. This week, online retailer Newegg has moved forward with a new, peculiar system for selling high-demand, low-supply electronics: the Newegg Shuffle. (Or, as the site's metadata calls it, the Newegg Popular Product Lottery Queue.)
If you catch this article early enough on Friday, January 22, consider this a drop-everything suggestion to rush to the site by 5 pm ET and place a product-purchase request. Really: Do that...
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Microsoft Announces Price Hike On Xbox Live Gold, Now Doubled

1 month ago | By Game Skinny

Rumors have been circulating since yesterday that Microsoft were planning to increase the cost of Xbox Live Gold. As spotted by VGC , redeemable cards for 6-month memberships at $60 had been found, what amounted to a 50% increase on the original price of $40. Releasing a statement several hours ago, Microsoft have now formally confirmed this price increase is happening.
The increase won't affect everyone, however, and it appears to mostly affect new subscribers, who now face yearly memberships of $120. Existing subscribers won't be affected, and Microsoft have outlined how this will...
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Microsoft's Xbox Live Gold price increase feels like manipulation

1 month ago | By VentureBeat

Xbox Live Gold is getting a price hike that only makes sense if Microsft wants subscribers to shift to Xbox Game Pass instead.
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Xbox Live price increase sets a new $10/month floor for online access

1 month ago | By Ars Technica

Xbox users will soon have to pay at least $10/month for the baseline Xbox Live Gold subscription needed for online play on Xbox consoles. That's a significant increase from the recent floor of $5/month for an annual subscription.
The new pricing, as Microsoft unveiled this morning is as follows (or a "local market equivalent" outside the US):
One month: $11/month
Three months: $30, $10/month
Six months: $60, $10/month
A 12-month, $60 subscription plan was officially removed from Microsoft's online store last July , but annual digital subscriptions at that $5/month rate are still...
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