With the arrival of the new Xbox 360 Slim for $299, Sony and Microsoft's gaming consoles look a lot alike in terms of specs--except the PS3 Slim has a Blu-ray player and the new 360 doesn't.

In all that time, Xbox Live Gold has endured as a pain point for Xbox-using console gamers. It's still free to play PC games online and even use Xbox Live-specific features like party chat.

An Xbox Live Gold membership costs £40 for 12 months, and extends across Xbox 360 and Xbox One. So, if you're an existing Xbox Live Gold member, there's no need to pay any extra.

Microsoft just launched Xbox Game Pass Core, its newest subscription taking the place of Xbox Live Gold. This means the Xbox Live service many console owners used throughout their childhood for ...