Here's another better explanation of what is XBOX Live on Wikipedia.
With each new XBOX360 console sold, Microsoft gives a free 3 months trial GOLD XBOX Live membership.
Gold membership on the XBOX Live allows for multi-player gaming on all original XBOX/XBOX360 games which support XBOX Live. Gold membership is a paid subscription and Microsoft charges S$88 per year of subscription if you sign up within XBOX360 console user interface (Credit card or Paypal).
Microsoft also sells scratch cards with redeemable codes for XBOX Live subscriptions in various periods such as 3 month and 12 months.
Cheaper options are available by hunting Ebay(Singapore) or the usual pre-owned games sites for sellers of such cards.
Once the trial Gold membership or paid membership expires, the account associated with it will be downgraded to normal account. XBOX Live features such as downloading of demo/trial games and free digital live content will still be available but the multi-player function, to challenge other XBOX Live players around the world, will no longer be available.
See here for feature of different levels of XBOX Live membership.
It is important to note that even when Gold membership expires, the games (full download games) redeemed via codes, purchased with money or Microsoft points, will still remain in your XBOX360 HDD.
XBOX Live also allows your Live account to be ported over to another XBOX360 as long as there is an internet connection. With cloud save games, this means that you can play your game on another console if the game was saved in Microsoft's XBOX cloud storage.
Last edited 4th Jan 2012
