Microsoft's Games for Windows LIVE service used to cost money, but as Engadget reported back in July, it is now free. Well, unless you want to make or play XNA games without coding your own networking infrastructure, in which case Microsoft still wants people to shell out for a Creators Club premium membership.

I can understand having to pay for putting games on the 360, after all it's a tightly controlled, monetized system. But making people pay so much for online PC gaming, when any reasonably intelligent programmer could work out a system of their own for that purpose... What real advantages does that money bring?