Fans and analysts have long debated on the topic of why consumers must pay for Microsoft's online service Xbox Live while Sony's PlayStation Network users get their access for free. This time, we're getting some official explanations.

As Gamepro points out, in a recent podcast of Microsoft's Gamerscore Blog team, they gave a reason as to why their subscribers need to shell out US$ 50 a year to get on Xbox Live. Representing the company were Chris Paladino of the Xbox Live Community Team and PR Manager Michael Wolf.

Wolf says he pays US$ 100 a month for cable TV, but says "frankly, I spend more time playing online than I do watching TV nowadays, it feels like. So, you're getting a lot of value for $ 50 a year, in my opinion."

He also explains that with the sheer number of options that Live carries and the satisfaction that players get from their system, the value is well justified. With the online play that involves cross-platform competition, Wolf says Live wins outright.

For his part, Paladino says "there are bandwidth costs, there are things that go above and beyond. I think it goes back to this unified system."

"We have to have voice communication, text communication, now we're doing cross-platform. There's Marketplace, there are demos, and all these things don't just mystically hover around that you can pull them out of the ether," he concludes.