Microsoft - Xbox Live 3 Month Gold Membership [Digital]

I purchased a 12 month Xbox Live Gold membership for the first time on Amazon a couple years ago and I love the convenience. I typically use the "Online Game Code" option which provides you with a code you enter on your Xbox or within your Xbox Live account. This allows me to make the purchase and basically instantly redeem the code on my Xbox Live account. It's great if you need to quickly start, reactivate or extend membership without waiting for a physical card to arrive in the mail or without needing to run to the store to buy one. I also like using these prepaid cards or codes to pay for Xbox Live over paying with a credit card or debit card. If you pay with a credit/debit card Microsoft typically automatically renews it when your subscription is up. As a single dad I may not always have the required funds where they need to be when that happens. I don't like surprises and the associated fees that come with them. ;) I prefer not having a credit card linked to my Xbox anyway because it helps prevent fraud and the kids can't "accidentally" purchase something. WHICH MEMBERSHIP LENGTH SHOULD YOU PURCHASE? Xbox Live membership pre-paid cards/codes are available in 3 month, 12 month or 24 month subscriptions. I typically buy the 12 month and I'll explain why in a minute. The 3 months option is good if you're on a tight budget or if you're not sure you'll like Xbox Live. I typically avoid the 3 month option because it costs you much more in the long run. If you pay for 12 months of Xbox Live using the 3 month option at $24.99 you'll pay $99.96 for a year of Xbox Live. For 3 cents more you could have purchased a two year subscription card! (Currently $99.99 That's crazy! I purchase the 12 month subscription because I know we'll want. . . no NEED . . . Xbox Live all year in our household. The 12 month card saves me money over a monthly Credit Card billed subscription or the 3 month options. In fact if you're patient, I know at least the 12 month memberships go on sale from time to time. I think I scored my first one on Amazon for $39.99 which is about $20 off the normal price. If you've got extra cash burning a hole in your pocket you can also pony up the dough for a 24 month Xbox Live Gold membership and take advantage of the discount it offers. I'm a bit too cheap and try to hold our household to too much of a budget to justify buying the $99.99 24 month subscription card/code. It does save about $20 vs. buying two 12 month cards but the $19.99 it currently saves me isn't enough to justify the expense. If your'e lucky enough to find these Xbox Live Gold membership cards/codes on sale you can always buy and redeem multiples. You can add them at any time and Microsoft allows you to stack them. I believe you can redeem up to 3 years worth of Xbox Live Gold membership credits on your account at any one time. Since many parents/grandparents/adults may be considering buying this as a gift they might have questions. The information below should be helpful in these cases. If you're not new to Xbox Live Gold, just skip the rest of this review! WHAT THE HECK IS XBOX LIVE GOLD?: To any parents, grandparents, adults and gamers that don't know what Xbox Live Gold is: it's basically an extra service that allows video game players to play with other players via the internet. Most of today's games are made to be enjoyed by playing them with and against other players online. The days where you sit on the couch and play with 1-2 other people are pretty much gone. The sad truth is to get the most of their video games, Xbox One and Xbox 360 gamers need Xbox Live Gold. Xbox Live also allows players to access other features like online video etc but the main focus and benefit is online multiplayer gaming. A word of caution: Parents, adults, guardians. PLEASE monitor what your kids are doing. Just like you shouldn't turn your impressionable child loose on the internet without any supervision or guidance, you shouldn't turn them loose on Xbox Live. People can chat and interact with each other via Xbox Multiplayer games, messages and more. Many games allow players to create their own emblems, logos etc. It should be no surprise that many people (adults and children) can't behave themselves. Online interactions on Xbox Live Gold are largely out of the control of Xbox and the game developers. There are rules governing the actions of players online, but for the most part things are on the honor system. Things ARE moderated to a certain extent but for the most part any disciplinary action is reactionary and comes long after violations of the Xbox Live terms of service. For example, if they receive enough complaints, Microsoft/Xbox will take action against anyone who is acting inappropriately. Unfortunately this action is typically taken long after your child has been exposed to language or images you didn't want them to be exposed to. Just know if your child plays online multiplayer games they WILL eventually hear adult language and sometimes worse. If you aren't comfortable with this do NOT let them use Xbox Live Gold. You can supervise your child, change settings to reduce risks slightly, but in the end you can't control what other players say or do.

I have been asked to review the 12 month Xbox live 12 month gold membership. Personally, this request is silly, we already know what this is. The main reason I bought this was during the time when it was about half the price it normally is. For those who don't know, Xbox Live is a paid service that is much cheaper to buy by the year than it is by the month. Yes, it isn't Playstation Network where it is free, and it also isn't Playstation Plus, which you also have to pay for. What you get with your membership to Xbox Live Gold (Not paying for it is called Xbox Live Free, or the old name of Xbox Live Silver) is the ability to play online with other people in multiplayer games, talk to more than one friend at a time using parties (on the 360 you could chat with one friend at a time, no idea how this works on the One) and you also get a higher discount during Tuesday's deals that are brought out. Also, each month you get access to a couple of free games, this program is called Games With Gold. Xbox 360 games are currently cycled out each half month, so you get 2 games there, and if you have a Xbox One you can play them on there as they are all backward compatible when released as a Games With Gold. For the Xbox One you get the chance to download these for a month, but new ones are introduced each half month and cycle for a month. For example, a game from the previous month introduced on the 16th will cycle out on the 16th of each month, and the game introduced on the 1st of the month will cycle out on the 1st of next month. In addition, you get to keep these games, even if you lapse on Xbox Live Gold and get dropped to a free membership. To regain Gold features, just renew your Gold with a store card, or you can use a credit card. Personally, if you go with bought cards, they usually go on sale for nearly half price throughout the year, just pay attention and/or stock up to when this happens. While I don't use much of the multiplayer features for some games, I feel that the advanced features on offer that work *most* of the time (ever since Xbox One was introduced there have been a few times when a feature goes down) are generally worth the cost for a system that is usually up a majority of the time. Purchasing this product for the first time, I feel this review might be informative, but for those who are buying this to renew, you pretty much know what it is. It is a time renewal card to allow you to use the features for another year.

I purchased a 12 month Xbox Live Gold membership for the first time on Amazon a couple years ago and I love the convenience. I typically use the "Online Game Code" option which provides you with a code you enter on your Xbox or within your Xbox Live account. This allows me to make the purchase and basically instantly redeem the code on my Xbox Live account. It's great if you need to quickly start, reactivate or extend membership without waiting for a physical card to arrive in the mail or without needing to run to the store to buy one. I also like using these prepaid cards or codes to pay for Xbox Live over paying with a credit card or debit card. If you pay with a credit/debit card Microsoft typically automatically renews it when your subscription is up. As a single dad I may not always have the required funds where they need to be when that happens. I don't like surprises and the associated fees that come with them. ;) I prefer not having a credit card linked to my Xbox anyway because it helps prevent fraud and the kids can't "accidentally" purchase something. WHICH MEMBERSHIP LENGTH SHOULD YOU PURCHASE? Xbox Live membership pre-paid cards/codes are available in 3 month, 12 month or 24 month subscriptions. I typically buy the 12 month and I'll explain why in a minute.

I placed an order on bestbuy.com for several items. Xbox gold membership gift cards were on sale, and for whatever reason they would not ship them with the remainder of the order, they had to be picked up at the store, which was a major inconvenience but the price was good. This was 2 hrs out of my way. When I got home I realized that the pick up sticker that they placed on the cards - every one of them, doesn't come off without destroying the card. It has my name all over it in bold print, I can't use these as gifts because the packaging is destroyed, I can't give them from santa because my name is all over the sticker. I called the 1800 number and was told my only option is to deal with the store direct - so another 2 hrs out of my time for this? I called the store direct but I can't reach a person just an auto attendant. Do people not understand that they are ruining gifts with these stickers? Please educate your help and tell me what my options are. I understand mistakes are made and everyone is very busy but why should I have to take another 2hrs of my time to rectify?

I purchased a 12 month Xbox Live Gold membership for the first time on Best Buy a couple years ago and I love the convenience. I typically use the "Online Game Code" option which provides you with a code you enter on your Xbox or within your Xbox Live account. This allows me to make the purchase and basically instantly redeem the code on my Xbox Live account. It's great if you need to quickly start, reactivate or extend membership without waiting for a physical card to arrive in the mail or without needing to run to the store to buy one. I also like using these prepaid cards or codes to pay for Xbox Live over paying with a credit card or debit card. If you pay with a credit/debit card Microsoft typically automatically renews it when your subscription is up. As a single dad I may not always have the required funds where they need to be when that happens. I don't like surprises and the associated fees that come with them. ;) I prefer not having a credit card linked to my Xbox anyway because it helps prevent fraud and the kids can't "accidentally" purchase something.

I have been a member of Xbox live for over 10 years now and love it. Xbox live is one of the best ways to interact with people. I have met some of my best friends on Xbox Live. There are some annoying jerks that talk trash from time to time, but you can't keep people from speaking their minds. For what you get, it is very much affordable. I found it funny when people gave Xbox live a bad rating because it caused them to to drop loads of money into it for their kids... That isn't really a justifiable excuse to give a 1 star rating. I wouldn't allow younger children to interact or talk as much online for what some people say or how they act. It can be regulated for younger children but in my opinion more for adults. It is well worth the money, especially with all of the applications and features that have been added over the years. You can even buy digital copies of games that often are cheaper than buying them at the store.

To start off, I'd like to say that X-Box Live is amazing and worth every penny. Online gaming is incredibly fun and quite a good way to pass time. That aside, there are downsides to X-Box Live that can be avoided through prepaid cards. Number one, you always run the risk that unwarranted transactions will be made if your credit card information is stored on your X-Box 360 system. It may not happen all that often, but it's best to avoid it all together. The biggest reason to buy prepaid Xbox Live card is the renewal process that happens when you don't use one. If you order X-Box Live through your system, it'll renew every time your subscription runs out. This wouldn't be a problem except that it's not that easy to cancel. Instead of canceling through your system, you have to go through the hassle of actually calling X-Box Live support. Even then, depending on the representative you get, you may be hassled to keep your subscription because they really don't want you to cancel it. I'm guessing that's part of their job to convince you to keep it, but it still is frustrating to the person that is trying to cancel it. You'll have to go through this process every time you want to cancel if you don't use a prepaid card. Is that hassle really worth it? I don't think so. Therefore, avoid all of the problems by simply buying a prepaid card. You won't be sorry.

I have always been so impressed with Microsoft up until my now 12-year-old son has received an Xbox one from me for this past Christmas. I signed him up for two trial memberships and they were unable to continue the memberships based on an expired card yet somehow when I purchased a three month subscription card from Best Buy the code was invalid yet Microsoft managed to still charge I have always been so impressed with Microsoft up until my now 12-year-old son has received an Xbox one from me for this past Christmas. I signed him up for to trial memberships and they were unable to continue the membership based on an expired card yet somehow when I purchased a three month subscription card from Best Buy the code was invalid yet Microsoft managed to still charge The card on file even though it had been replaced. Ironically I had purchased the same three month subscription from another store to weeks prior and my friends sons had the same issue with their code. This is not it all reflective up on Best Buy which gives great customer service but reflects very poorly upon Microsoft