If you’re not an Xbox Live Gold subscriber, you are missing out on a lot of features. You can’t play online multiplayer games or watch streaming video services like Netflix with an Xbox Live Silver account. $50 per year is a lot to pay for something that is free on Sony’s consoles.
However, this weekend Microsoft will be offering free Xbox Live Gold to all users in ceratin countries. The U.S. is one of those countries. Xbox Live Gold will be free on October 4 through October 6. Microsoft has released a full list of regions that will get Xbox Live Gold this weekend:
Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Portugal, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, and Vietnam. Sadly it does not stay free like Sony’s PSN network.
Source Ubergizmo