THE BUZZ: Need to extend your Xbox Live Gold subscription? Want to jump into the online world of the Xbox 360 for the first time? Now might be a great time to do so.

EGM’s TAKE: Currently, 12 months of Xbox Live Gold is only $35.99 on Amazon—$24 off the usual price of a one-year subscription. Unfortunately, the only version available for that price is the physical card you have to have mailed to you—the online game code version is still $49.99. (However, the card is eligible for free shipping, so hey.)

I’ve never been a fan of having to pay for online on the Xbox 360—and I’m especially not a fan of having to have a Gold subscription for options like Netflix (which is free on every other platform).

And yet—most of my friends play online on the Xbox 360, so I don’t have a choice in the matter. Every year, when my account is about to come up, I re-up my subscription. And her, I am, doing it again. Curse you Microsoft and your super-popular gaming platform!

http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-LIVE-Month-Gold-Membership-360/dp/B0029LJIFG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327616650&sr=8-1