Gamers keep on saying free games aren’t really free if you have to pay for a subscription fee. I beg to differ. When you buy a car, TV, or beer, sometimes you’ll receive: alloys, Blu-ray player, or a bottle opener. You’re adding to the value of product or service you’re already purchasing. You’re not getting charged more for that product or service. That value has already been determined. The value of the PlayStation Plus subscription fee was already determined before Outlast became a “free exclusive”. If Sony stops putting out free exclusives, then you’re just paying $50 a year for multiplayer.

@thermalmotion @RoyaleWthCheese

The focus of my comments was gaining more of a market share in the console marketplace, but I’m more than happy to answer that question from a fact finding objective standpoint.

In terms of the deterioration of the PC marketplace, there are wonderful articles on the Forbes/Bloom Business Week/or the Motley Fool. For instance: Forbes 7/12/2012 “Apple Holds Upper Hand in PC Decline”, Motley Fool 3/13/13 “Will PC Sales Ever Stop Declining” (article on Mobile devices), Bloomberg Business week July 23rd 2013 “What the Death of the PC Means for Microsoft” (market watch video). A lot of people have stopped building or buying, they're just moving away from desktops.

People that are building PC’s at your college or in your town have a minimal impact on the overall global marketplace. I will agree that PC game builders are a niche market in the overall PC marketplace.

But that didn't stop NVidia Corp falling short of estimates- Aug. 9th 2013 Bloomberg Business Week.

Commodore 64 owner since the early 80’s.

Why not have MS throw in a mouse and keyboard with the XB1?

The comparisons between the XB1 and PS4 are so similar. Inject new game play into console gaming. StarCraft, DOTA, and MMO’s have been institutionalized with PC gaming based upon past PC power and its peripherals.

PC shipments went down around 13.9% in Q1 of 2013. There’s a market to consume (domestic and international).

By doing that, you’re making the XB1 seem more like a game centric console.

I won’t be affected by MS mind tricks to tempt me to cancel my PS4 preorder. Just flat out make a better console. A $60 game that’s going to get old within a year doesn’t really compare to purchasing a console that you’ll have for half a decade.

Let’s go with the low end of the spectrum and say you buy the game for $60 and the monthly fee is $6.99. You’ve invested $144, with tax around $150 depending upon which side of the pond you’re on. Compare that to the cost of a spanking new PS4/XB1 (over a third/over a quarter of their values), or during the last Steam seasonal sale I purchased Borderlands 2 and XCOM for around $20 (a third of the cost for the WildStar game). I’m not even including the C.R.E.E.D. AH costs, or the micro transactions for those ascetic items that should be acquired by conquering various instances/dungeons.

NCSOFT has the credit and moxi from GW2 to attempt this differentiated marketing strategy (Mercedes marketing plan) vs. a low cost strategy (Honda/Nissan marketing plan). NCSOFT will appeal to less because of the premium put on cost, or just take more money from people who make less (going to be a great WildStar community-sarcasm has been activated). It’s more about the breakeven point for NCSOFT than how big the WildStar community could actually grow and develop.

It all comes down to value. My point is, I can afford all of the cost that go into WildStar’s product and services. That still doesn’t mean I want to spend more, save less, and purposefully get ripped off. The gaming market in Q2 of 2014 is going to be expanding into new realms and providing more gaming exploration for less.