July's Xbox Live Gold free blockbuster game


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There's nothing wrong with these games, it's just they are so damn old (AC2/DG/Halo 3). Fable 3 isn't the best in the franchise but at least more recent than the others.

 

MS can do a lot better, they just don't want to dip into their piggybank from the looks of things.

 

 PS+ is still lightyears ahead, understandably.

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PSN+ is getting Battlefield 3, Saints Row 3, Pay Day, SpecOps: The Line and New DMC in next 2 months. Microsoft decide to release a 4 year old Arcade game and 5 year old Halo 3.

 

Yeah, bad MS for releasing a game that's more popular than all of those put together ;)

 

face it though. both XBL free games and PSN+ is giving away games that have sold past the "curve". i.e. games that have already sold a lot and the vast majority of those interested in the game have bought it so very few are actually buying them anymore, hence they're "safe" to give away. 

There's nothing wrong with these games, it's just they are so damn old (AC2/DG/Halo 3). Fable 3 isn't the best in the franchise but at least more recent than the others.

 

MS can do a lot better, they just don't want to dip into their piggybank from the looks of things.

 

 PS+ is still lightyears ahead, understandably.

 

 

Difference is that MS is actually giving away full games for use forever. This is a lot more expensive and not all developers are willing to allow this either. so for the start we'll have to expect mostly MS developed/published titles. 

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Yeah, bad MS for releasing a game that's more popular than all of those put together ;)

 

face it though. both XBL free games and PSN+ is giving away games that have sold past the "curve". i.e. games that have already sold a lot and the vast majority of those interested in the game have bought it so very few are actually buying them anymore, hence they're "safe" to give away. 

 

Was more popular.

 

The story in 3 is great, probably my favourite, but don't kid yourself for 1 second if you think it has anything on BF's MP numbers. It's a ghost town these days. It's expected though, Reach is the better game and many Halo 4 MP players have gone back to it because how terrible it is. 4 is still selling so they wouldn't pick that either. Anninversary..? Don't think MS needs any more jokes circulating about their business tactics right now...

 

Dmc isn't past it's curve either. I mean maybe in full price sales yeah, that's over within a few weeks. But it's only just reaching bargain prices right now when a lot of people pick up games. PS+ is cheaper than that still, so it's a great choice / deal for gamers.

 

Edit:

 

Difference is that MS is actually giving away full games for use forever. This is a lot more expensive and not all developers are willing to allow this either. so for the start we'll have to expect mostly MS developed/published titles.

 

Very true and kudos to them for that, but it's a little too late to make a dent in PS+ with 4/5 year old games that have already sold "past their curve" as you like to put it. There's really little value in them, even if they don't expire.

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Yeah, bad MS for releasing a game that's more popular than all of those put together ;)

 

face it though. both XBL free games and PSN+ is giving away games that have sold past the "curve". i.e. games that have already sold a lot and the vast majority of those interested in the game have bought it so very few are actually buying them anymore, hence they're "safe" to give away. 

 

 

Are you.. er, are you for real? You are saying that the 5 year old ARCADE game Defense Grid: The Awakening is more popular than Battlefield 3, Saints Row 3, Pay Day, SpecOps: The Line and New DMC?

 

Edit; you are talking about Halo 3... to Which I say.. LOL!

 

64 games...... Enough said.

 

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Are you.. er, are you for real? You are saying that the 5 year old ARCADE game Defense Grid: The Awakening is more popular than Battlefield 3, Saints Row 3, Pay Day, SpecOps: The Line and New DMC?

 

Edit; you are talking about Halo 3... to Which I say.. LOL!

 

64 games...... Enough said.

 

 

 

actually referring to Halo 3 which shoudl have been pretty obvious. PS3 also has arcae games and AAA games, why would a service that actually gives you full games be any different. 

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actually referring to Halo 3 which shoudl have been pretty obvious. PS3 also has arcae games and AAA games, why would a service that actually gives you full games be any different. 

It wasn't obvious because Halo 3 hasn't been provided yet.

But you are right, it is a very popular game, so popular to the vast majority of people have already played it, and you can pick up a physical copy of it (new or used) for next to nothing.

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Alright, so what's with the sudden ps+ gloating in this thread?

 

No one claimed Sony hasn't provided a good lineup of games now.

 

I swear, some of you are so invested in the console wars that its impossible for to avoid the topic. PS+ is a great value as long as there are enough games that you like and don't already own. They have grown the selection from something too small to be worth it to a wide variety. The only downside is that you can only play those games as long as you pay for plus. Sony has to keep a steady rotation of decent games to keep gamers coming back.

 

MS has decided to offer something similar. As with Sony, the current selection isn't great, but if they decide to continue it beyond the end of the year, that selection should get better. While the selection isn't great, the advantage is that the games you get are not tied to paying for Gold. I'm guessing MS did this since it wasn't as much about keeping gamers on Gold as they are locked in for multiplayer.

 

 

That is all about this gen. What about next gen?  Is there any info on what Sony or MS will do in regards to their services for next gen?

 

We know that Sony now requires you pay for ps+ for multiplayer, so that means other features could become less important to them. For MS, they already have the pay wall, so they could be looking to fill in the gaps that ps+ offers. The reality is, any service offering older games won't work for next consoles at launch, there just isn't any content. It'll be interesting to see what each side does to offset that, if anything at all.

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Did it on the website just now, haven't played it yet but figured hey might as well get it anyways. I bought some games back in the days and now they aren't available anymore because of licensing. I found a few via my download history but some just aren't there anymore at all. This is partially why I don't like digital only downloads but hey, free is free :yes:

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I think both sides of the console market are making good n bad changes, xbox 360 getting free games or decent deals, 8 years after launch, while Sony prepare to charge for online multiplayer access via it's Plus system on PS4.
 
I think the marketing team at Microsoft just don't know games or are not as passionate as they should be, I think there are that many chains of command in Microsoft that deals and offers like these just get pushed out without thought or substance.
 
We all know major nelson is a gamer and knows games but still has to take what he is bottle fed without the power to change it, as he states himself he just finds out titles then blasts them onto his blog (his job) and he gets the backlash from the users. There should be more people like him in the positions that make the decisions about games and offers.
 
Comments here keep talking about how the xbox games for gold let you keep the games not like PS+ that just lets you use them as you're a member of the PS+, Microsofts offer is games for gold which means you have to be a gold member to avail of them in the first place, meaning you also have to pay to get them, and most are pretty pointless without MP access unless you pay for gold again.
 
We can all say PS+ wasn't as good when it first started but it's pretty good now and Microsoft needs to challenge Sony now, not start off with crappy arcade games building up to a console release when people now are making up their minds whether to stay with Microsoft or whether they should ditch XB1 for PS4. Microsoft needs to be setting examples and pleasing their userbase to a certain level, not ignoring them and then embarrassing themselves with poor offering like this grid dribble. 
 
I have to admit i was a Xbox user up to about the unveil of the XB1, I was so underwhelmed by the presentation, the look of it, the features and the obvious American only features of the console. My Xbox gold account runs it's course in a few weeks and my 8 year stint with Microsoft comes to an end, and I've given my Xbox 360 to my 5yr old nephew who just plays Doritos crash course on it (he loves it).
 
I joined PS+ the month before last and paid for a years sub, and already I've had the following..
 

  • Lord of the rings: war in the north
  • The Cave
  • Little big Planet 2
  • Little big planet karting
  • ICO
  • Shadow of the colossus
  • Motorstorm
  • Infamous 2
  • Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
  • Uncharted: Golden Abyss
  • Uncharted 3: Drakes deception
  • Demon's Souls
  • XCOM: Enemy Unknown

And tomorrow..

  • Battlefield 3
  • Payday: The Heist
  • Saints Row the Third

All this for ?49.99 just this year alone.

I have been paying ?49.99 every year since 2005 for the xbox 360.

I got..
 

  • Doritos Crash Course 1

 

yes..that's it.

 

Speaks for itself really.

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I logged onto XBL today and it said my free game was some Spartacus Legends game? I haven't looked for this Defense Grid game however my main XBL page said Julys free game was Spartacus. I'm quite confused, maybe that was just a coincidence?

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So when you drop PSN+ do you get to keep playing those games?

 

No, But why would i want to?

I only have a 120gb HD

if i keep getting so many great free games every month I'll need to delete many old games to make room for the new.

This is a restriction with any HD on any system, can't hold onto digital copies for too long, specially free ones.

 

I can recall someone stating here the latest offering from Microsoft, Defense Grid is an arcade game and very small to download?.

That's fine if you want to hold onto so many small games but PS+ offering can be as big as 33GB a game.

But then only great looking HD games have big filesizes like this, Uncharted/last of us/etc

 

Also, PS4 requires a Plus subscription to use multiplayer, so like Microsoft gold accounts i will retain my membership for that very reason just i will have just a far superior bonus scheme going with it so games not working out of PS+ doesn't bother me one bit at this time, I paid ?49.99 for 8 years and literally got nothing from microsoft and Sony offer far more for their users and their European audience which Microsoft ignore mostly.

 

:)

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You completely skipped over my question though, Are you saying that EVERY month PSN+ gives you AAA titles over the year or so it has started doing this?

All I am saying is you can't slate a company for the one month they started doing something and it hasn't given in your opinion the games PSN+ has or is. If they don't start giving out games that a majority want then fine, but for all we know next month they may release some newer, better games!

I think its a little too early to be getting the daggers in without this just coming across as another Sony Vs Microsoft fanboy thread.

 

 

Nevermind, MindTrickz beat me to it...

 

I logged onto XBL today and it said my free game was some Spartacus Legends game? I haven't looked for this Defense Grid game however my main XBL page said Julys free game was Spartacus. I'm quite confused, maybe that was just a coincidence?

 

Uh, Spartacus Legends is free to play anyway.

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Ah I didn't realise that, It was just advertised as Free in July on my XBL homepage so I presumed it was something to do with this free game malarky.

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Ah I didn't realise that, It was just advertised as Free in July on my XBL homepage so I presumed it was something to do with this free game malarky.

 

Yep, it's free on all platforms, with microtransactions for armor and stuff.

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I think both sides of the console market are making good n bad changes, xbox 360 getting free games or decent deals, 8 years after launch, while Sony prepare to charge for online multiplayer access via it's Plus system on PS4.

 

I think the marketing team at Microsoft just don't know games or are not as passionate as they should be, I think there are that many chains of command in Microsoft that deals and offers like these just get pushed out without thought or substance.

 

We all know major nelson is a gamer and knows games but still has to take what he is bottle fed without the power to change it, as he states himself he just finds out titles then blasts them onto his blog (his job) and he gets the backlash from the users. There should be more people like him in the positions that make the decisions about games and offers.

 

Comments here keep talking about how the xbox games for gold let you keep the games not like PS+ that just lets you use them as you're a member of the PS+, Microsofts offer is games for gold which means you have to be a gold member to avail of them in the first place, meaning you also have to pay to get them, and most are pretty pointless without MP access unless you pay for gold again.

 

We can all say PS+ wasn't as good when it first started but it's pretty good now and Microsoft needs to challenge Sony now, not start off with crappy arcade games building up to a console release when people now are making up their minds whether to stay with Microsoft or whether they should ditch XB1 for PS4. Microsoft needs to be setting examples and pleasing their userbase to a certain level, not ignoring them and then embarrassing themselves with poor offering like this grid dribble. 

 

I have to admit i was a Xbox user up to about the unveil of the XB1, I was so underwhelmed by the presentation, the look of it, the features and the obvious American only features of the console. My Xbox gold account runs it's course in a few weeks and my 8 year stint with Microsoft comes to an end, and I've given my Xbox 360 to my 5yr old nephew who just plays Doritos crash course on it (he loves it).

 

I joined PS+ the month before last and paid for a years sub, and already I've had the following..

 

  • Lord of the rings: war in the north
  • The Cave
  • Little big Planet 2
  • Little big planet karting
  • ICO
  • Shadow of the colossus
  • Motorstorm
  • Infamous 2
  • Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
  • Uncharted: Golden Abyss
  • Uncharted 3: Drakes deception
  • Demon's Souls
  • XCOM: Enemy Unknown

And tomorrow..

  • Battlefield 3
  • Payday: The Heist
  • Saints Row the Third

All this for ?49.99 just this year alone.

I have been paying ?49.99 every year since 2005 for the xbox 360.

I got..

 

  • Doritos Crash Course 1

 

yes..that's it.

 

Speaks for itself really.

 

 

 

I agree with most of your points about why ps+ is a good deal. Somehow this thread changed from discussing a free game being released to how great ps+ is. Again, who is arguing against their service that requires so much defense of it?

 

Great, you laid out why your done with MS and show off all the great games your playing. I'm not sure what features you think are 'US exclusives', but even the tv stuff is going to get European support. If you didn't like how it looked or the games lineup, then I get why you would pass.

 

PS+ works so well thanks to a strong lineup that rotates each month. MS needs to improve their lineup in order for this to be a competitive feature.  I'm not defending the reality now, I'm just looking at history and I see a pattern where a new service like this starts off small and then grows. Is that wrong? I doubt any company can start these things and suddenly dominate.

 

MS needs to start moving in a direction gamers want, this is a good first step. As long as we keep reminding them to improve, I expect them to improve.

 

As far as keeping the games vs 'renting' them, your right that any multiplayer game would still require Gold, but that's an unfair blanket statement. Look through that roster of ps+ titles. Many of those don't require multiplayer or are single/local co-op only. Same goes for the initial MS offerings. Fable, AC, heck even Halo 3 can be enjoyed without multiplayer.

 

I don't have any problem with the ps+ method, it seems like a good deal, but I also see MS' idea as a good one. As they improve the choices, it will be a bigger feature.

 

Also, PS4 requires a Plus subscription to use multiplayer, so like Microsoft gold accounts i will retain my membership for that very reason just i will have just a far superior bonus scheme going with it so games not working out of PS+ doesn't bother me one bit at this time, I paid ?49.99 for 8 years and literally got nothing from microsoft and Sony offer far more for their users and their European audience which Microsoft ignore mostly.

 

:)

 

 

 

One question about ps+ that I wasn't sure about. When you sign up, do get access to all the games you listed, or just what is available for that month and what comes out while your subscribed?

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One question about ps+ that I wasn't sure about. When you sign up, do get access to all the games you listed, or just what is available for that month and what comes out while your subscribed?

 

The games are available as long as you continue your PS+ subscription.  If you do let it lapse and pick it back up again at a later time, you get access to all the games you had again.  

 

Something I'd be interested in knowing is the business aspects of it.  PS+ is at least somewhat consistently giving access to third-party AAA titles from about 1-2 years ago.  Saints Row The Third, BF3, etc.  Obviously the first-party stuff they can just do whatever with, but does anyone have any insight on how the deals are done with third-party?  Since all the games are out of their fiscal years does Sony just give a lump sum to the publisher of a title, or do they pay X per download to the publisher.  

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The games are available as long as you continue your PS+ subscription.  If you do let it lapse and pick it back up again at a later time, you get access to all the games you had again.  

 

Something I'd be interested in knowing is the business aspects of it.  PS+ is at least somewhat consistently giving access to third-party AAA titles from about 1-2 years ago.  Saints Row The Third, BF3, etc.  Obviously the first-party stuff they can just do whatever with, but does anyone have any insight on how the deals are done with third-party?  Since all the games are out of their fiscal years does Sony just give a lump sum to the publisher of a title, or do they pay X per download to the publisher.  

 

 

I get that you can get the games as long as you stay subscribed, but do you get access to the entire catalog of games that came out in previous months? Say I signed up now, would I get access to all the games released for ps+ up to this point, or just the games released this month and games released in the future while I was a member?

 

I haven't signed up for ps+ yet, but I plan to soon. I haven't yet since most of the games I would want to play on their list, I already own. I decided to stop buying the ps3 games that were offered on ps+ so I could get more out of it.

 

Regarding the business side, I'd like to know this as well. MS may still be working on deals with publishers in order to offer more recent titles like Sony does. Since MS is offering them for you to keep, maybe it requires different red tape.

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Something I'd be interested in knowing is the business aspects of it.  PS+ is at least somewhat consistently giving access to third-party AAA titles from about 1-2 years ago.  Saints Row The Third, BF3, etc.  Obviously the first-party stuff they can just do whatever with, but does anyone have any insight on how the deals are done with third-party?  Since all the games are out of their fiscal years does Sony just give a lump sum to the publisher of a title, or do they pay X per download to the publisher.  

 

I've noticed that a lot of the 3rd party games that come out contain a lot of DLC.  I'm betting that they expect to get something on the back end for a game that's already made its money back in initial sales.  And a lot of them are Squeenix games (Sleeping Dogs, Just Cause 2, Hitman: Absolution [which was a PAL PS+ game], Deus Ex), for some reason.

I get that you can get the games as long as you stay subscribed, but do you get access to the entire catalog of games that came out in previous months? Say I signed up now, would I get access to all the games released for ps+ up to this point, or just the games released this month and games released in the future while I was a member?

 

 

There are games that are only available for that month, and then they are replaced with new games.

 

But there also is a core "Instant Game Collection".  For the first year it was Just Cause 2, inFamous 2, Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One, and a few others.  Starting in June, that was replaced by Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Uncharted 3, XCOM, and some others.  I think it's always six games, with 3 - 4 other games rotating each month, for total access to about 10 - 12 games your first month.

 

That said, once you've "purchased" the game, it's always available as long as you're subscribed, even if it leaves the rotation.

 

I subcribed about a year ago when they first did the Instant Game Collection.  Since then I've gotten Saints Row the Third, Sleeping Dogs, Vanquish, Spec Ops: The Line, Just Cause 2, The Walking Dead, Starhawk, Little Big Planet 2, Trine 2, Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One, Outland, along with deals on Ratchet & Clank HD, Laura Croft: Guardian of Light, Journey, Unfinished Swan, and Hitman: Blood Money HD, for $50.  And I just renewed for $40 thanks to Best Buy.

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