Xbox Game Pass: Netflix, but for your Xbox games

Doctor Glyndwr · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 32624

https://majornelson.com/2017/02/28/intr ... 100-games/

Quote:

At Xbox... Today, we’re continuing our commitment to give you more options to diversify and expand your library of games with Xbox Game Pass, a new gaming subscription service coming later this spring. Xbox Game Pass gives you unlimited access to over 100 Xbox One and backward compatible Xbox 360 games – all for $9.99 per month.

With great games from top industry publishers such as 2K, 505 Games, BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment, Capcom, Codemasters, Deep Silver, Focus Home Interactive, SEGA, SNK CORPORATION, THQ Nordic GmbH, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Microsoft Studios, there’s something for everyone to enjoy and you will always find something exciting to play across a variety of genres. Some of the fan favorite titles coming to Xbox Game Pass when it launches to the broader Xbox community in late spring include, Halo 5: Guardians, Payday 2, NBA 2K16 and SoulCalibur II.

One of the best things about Xbox Game Pass is that you can discover and download the full titles directly on your Xbox One. That means continuous, full-fidelity gameplay without having to worry about streaming, bandwidth or connectivity issues. In addition, all Xbox One games in the catalog – and related add-ons – will be available to purchase at an exclusive discount for Xbox Game Pass members, so you can make the games you love part of your permanent library to play whenever you want. Every month new games will cycle into the subscription with some cycling out, giving you a constantly updating library of games. Xbox Game Pass is your ticket to endless play.

It’s important to us that Xbox Game Pass provides an enjoyable and seamless experience. Before the program rolls out to the broader community later this spring, we’ll be testing Xbox Game Pass with select members of the Xbox Insider Program in the Alpha Preview ring, starting today with a very limited number of titles. The titles that are available in Preview are just a small glimpse at the expansive catalog of games that will be available when Xbox Game Pass launches late spring. Xbox Live Gold members will also be receiving exclusive access to Xbox Game Pass prior to the program launching to the broader community. We’ll have more details on timing closer to launch.

Emphasis mine.

Interesting, but the first time something I was halfway through cycled out of my library would enrage me beyond all reason.

The parallel here to Sony introducing PS+ for the woefully-lagging-in-mindshare-at-that-point PS3 is striking.

Bamba · **Joined:** 25th Jul, 2010 **Posts:** 11128

Doctor Glyndwr wrote:

Interesting, but the first time something I was halfway through cycled out of my library would enrage me beyond all reason.

'Cycled out' could mean that it was no longer available for download but would continue to work if you already had it. Technically there's no reason it couldn't work that way, though it depends on the specifics of the licensing I suppose.

Doctor Glyndwr · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 32624

Bamba wrote:

'Cycled out' could mean that it was no longer available for download but would continue to work if you already had it. Technically there's no reason it couldn't work that way, though it depends on the specifics of the licensing I suppose.

It's pretty clear that's not how it works, as the proceeding sentence says you can purchase the games at a discount in order to permanently own them.

TheVision · **Posted:** Tue Feb 28, 2017 15:40

This is very similar to the EA vault but not as cheap. (BTW - If you’re into your sports games, that’s amazing value for money).

Is this the future of gaming then? I think it sounds like a good deal. Having access to hundreds of games for the price of 2-3 full price games per year, is not to be sniffed at.

Bamba · **Joined:** 25th Jul, 2010 **Posts:** 11128

Doctor Glyndwr wrote:

Bamba wrote:

'Cycled out' could mean that it was no longer available for download but would continue to work if you already had it. Technically there's no reason it couldn't work that way, though it depends on the specifics of the licensing I suppose.

It's pretty clear that's not how it works, as the proceeding sentence says you can purchase the games at a discount in order to permanently own them.

I dunno, I read that as covering the case where you were going to let your subscription lapse but still wanted to be able to play a particular game. Or you were continuing your sub but wanted to ensure you could play the game in the future even after it cycled out and you'd potentially deleted it from your console.

myp · **Posted:** Tue Feb 28, 2017 15:42

It's a good deal if you want to hammer through games as quickly as possible for gamerscore, but won't it end up much like bad old days where we used to pirate every game for a system? You'd play 30 mins each of eight games every night and not actually finish anything because there are so many other games to try.

TheVision · **Posted:** Tue Feb 28, 2017 15:43

Lonewolves wrote:

It's a good deal if you want to hammer through games as quickly as possible for gamerscore, but won't it end up much like bad old days where we used to pirate every game for a system? You'd play 30 mins each of eight games every night and not actually finish anything because there are so many other games to try.

I find I have this problem with the Games for Gold games and there's only 4 of them a month!

Doctor Glyndwr · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 32624

Bamba wrote:

I dunno, I read that as covering the case where you were going to let your subscription lapse but still wanted to be able to play a particular game. Or you were continuing your sub but wanted to ensure you could play the game in the future even after it cycled out and you'd potentially deleted it from your console.

C'mon, you know it's not going to be that generous.

Trousers · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 3073

TheVision wrote:

Lonewolves wrote:

It's a good deal if you want to hammer through games as quickly as possible for gamerscore, but won't it end up much like bad old days where we used to pirate every game for a system? You'd play 30 mins each of eight games every night and not actually finish anything because there are so many other games to try.

I find I have this problem with the Games for Gold games and there's only 4 of them a month!

and I have both a PS+ and Xbox Gold sub so my backlog just continues to grow. I probably have lots of excellent games that I have loaded up, gone "oooh", and then closed never to play again because there's another 15 in the queue.

My concern would be the quality of the games - if it's similar to Games with Gold it's going to be a right load of old shite

Bamba · **Joined:** 25th Jul, 2010 **Posts:** 11128

Doctor Glyndwr wrote:

Bamba wrote:

I dunno, I read that as covering the case where you were going to let your subscription lapse but still wanted to be able to play a particular game. Or you were continuing your sub but wanted to ensure you could play the game in the future even after it cycled out and you'd potentially deleted it from your console.

C'mon, you know it's not going to be that generous.

The absolutely only reason I'm even considering it is purely because not doing something like this would result in exactly the situation you described (having a partially played game yanked out from under you) and that just seems so needlessly punitive that I'm struggling to imagine then going with it. That only needs to happen once or twice to someone and they're going to fuck the whole thing off in disgust.

Grim... · **Posted:** Tue Feb 28, 2017 15:49

Why would you ever buy the discounted game if you can play it for as long as you keep your sub up, though?

myp · **Posted:** Tue Feb 28, 2017 15:49

In a way it's nice that all my PS+ games have disappeared from my library now. It's much tidier.

Bamba · **Joined:** 25th Jul, 2010 **Posts:** 11128

Trousers wrote:

and I have both a PS+ and Xbox Gold sub so my backlog just continues to grow. I probably have lots of excellent games that I have loaded up, gone "oooh", and then closed never to play again because there's another 15 in the queue.

This sort of thing is the exact reason I've never had a PS+ sub despite previously thinking I'd go in for it whenever I moved to the PS4. Ultimately it's not a very expensive hobby given the rate I go through games, so I'd rather just buy and play whatever I fancy at any given point rather than feeling some obligation to play from the specific selection available to me just because they're there.

Bamba · **Joined:** 25th Jul, 2010 **Posts:** 11128

Grim... wrote:

Why would you ever buy the discounted game if you can play it for as long as you keep your sub up, though?

Even in my mooted setup you wouldn't be able to though; you'd only still be able to play it if it was still physically on your console. If you'd played it then deleted it and it had cycled out then you'd be fucked. I admit though this is a very weak reason to purchase a game which very much bolsters the Doc's argument.

Cras · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 49244

But how u steal Titan tho?

Pundabaya · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 5016

To be honest, the only PS+ games I've got decent mileage out of have been NBA 2K16, that world war 1 puzzle jobby and the point and click one from Double Fine. I can't even remember the names of two of them.

asfish · **Joined:** 5th Dec, 2010 **Posts:** 3353

Would really depend on how many 360 vs Xbox One games they were offering.

In the past with Gold there have been a few decent games available, these days its always small games and 360 titles

This month the 360 title was Force Unleashed, then you see them offering DLC for an old console game that if you bought it all would set you back £30.

Satsuma · **Joined:** 20th Apr, 2008 **Posts:** 14419

Quite a few good new additions to this:

Metro: Exodus (I fancy a go at this)
Steamworld Dig 2 (and this)
Moonlighter (and this)
Full Metal Furies (by the guys who did Rogue Legacy which is ace)
Portal: Bridge Constructor (and this)
Thimbleweed Park (some of the Secret of Monkey Island guys do a new point and click)
Guacamelee 2 (bloody good this)
Hollow Knight (and this)
Shenmue 1 & 2 (never played any of these. Probably won’t either)
Metal Gear Survive (probably worth a look to see what the fuss was about)
Into the Breach (didn’t someone on here mention this?)

And some other stuff probably. I paid a quid, it’s just insane value.

Satsuma · **Joined:** 20th Apr, 2008 **Posts:** 14419

Coming to Game Pass:

Rare Replay (yay!)
Resident Evil Revolutions (fuckouttahere)
Goat Simulator (fuckouttahere)
Torment: Tides of Nummererererier (who cares)

myp · **Posted:** Wed Jun 19, 2019 15:26

Revelations. It’s actually quite good! Like a million times better than Resi 6, in any case.

Satsuma · **Joined:** 20th Apr, 2008 **Posts:** 14419

It absolutely isn’t.

https://www.beexcellenttoeachother.com/ ... nt#p862968

myp · **Posted:** Wed Jun 19, 2019 16:45

It’s fine on PC. I tried playing it on Wii U and had to give up as the controls were so awful.

Satsuma · **Joined:** 20th Apr, 2008 **Posts:** 14419

The controls clearly aren’t the only problems it had.

myp · **Posted:** Wed Jun 19, 2019 17:15

Satsuma wrote:

The controls clearly aren’t the only problems it had.

No, I acknowledge and agree with the issues you had surrounding the portrayal of women in this game (saying that I’m only 2 chapters in). However, I’m a bit confused that you would (rightly) point this out in the Resi series, but seem to gloss over it in other games and media.

Criticism of the objectification of women in games, movies and film isn’t something I see you do a lot of, in truth. I’m just wondering why you thought this was more egregious than other examples.

Satsuma · **Joined:** 20th Apr, 2008 **Posts:** 14419

The nonsense with the women isn’t the only issue I raised, but it’s particularly bad in this game. You’ll know, cause you’ve played it.

myp · **Posted:** Wed Jun 19, 2019 17:54

Satsuma wrote:

The nonsense with the women isn’t the only issue I raised

No, you also mentioned the controls

Satsuma · **Joined:** 20th Apr, 2008 **Posts:** 14419

And other stuff.

myp · **Posted:** Wed Jun 19, 2019 18:17

Satsuma wrote:

And other stuff.

Sexism against women. Which you hate

Satsuma · **Joined:** 20th Apr, 2008 **Posts:** 14419

I get it, you’re being obtuse. Well done, you!

romanista · **Posted:** Mon Feb 22, 2021 15:12

So, how are you guys using it.. more for the pc, more just as free games on xbox one? As said in the other topic, i'm now using it to stream on android, which works sort of nice.. not sure if it has enough to keep me interested for a very long time though

myp · **Posted:** Mon Feb 22, 2021 17:49

It doesn’t appeal to me at all. I have issues narrowing down what I want to play as it is, without paying a monthly subscription for the privilege. It’s also why I sacked off the humble monthly bundle too. Games end up really cheap anyway (unless they’re by Nintendo) so I just get them for pennies a few years down the line. Back in the Amiga days when piracy was rife I’d have 500 games to play and try most of them for 5 mins before turning off. I imagine this would go much the same way.

Movies and TV are different because buying digital copies/box sets of everything I would want to watch would be prohibitively expensive. Even subbing to 3-4 of them is about £30 a month and I find that much better value.

Satsuma · **Joined:** 20th Apr, 2008 **Posts:** 14419

romanista wrote:

So, how are you guys using it.. more for the pc, more just as free games on xbox one? As said in the other topic, i'm now using it to stream on android, which works sort of nice.. not sure if it has enough to keep me interested for a very long time though

Didn’t you create a thread for Game Pass because you couldn’t find one for Game Pass and now you’re posting in the Game Pass thread you couldn’t find?

Dimrill · **Posted:** Mon Feb 22, 2021 19:53

I cancelled mine last month. Access to all Halo, Gears, Ori, and Cracking Downs 3 was great though. Will re-sub whenever I want to play those again.

romanista · **Posted:** Mon Mar 15, 2021 14:35

yes Ori is great... and now Bethesda is on makes me dip into those games as well

Satsuma · **Joined:** 20th Apr, 2008 **Posts:** 14419

I’ve done it guys and gals. I’ve found the best game on Game Pass.

Ever play Doom and think “well, it’s good but if I want loads of blood I’ve got to install Brutal Doom and mess around with stuff on my PC and that’s too much hard work” or “Doom is good but what if I want to play with my friends coop” or “Doom is good but the chain gun is a bit boring.” Or “Doom is good but he super shot gun needs more barrels”

The answer is Prodeus.

Brutal Doom? HAVE BLOOD EVERYWHERE. FLOORS. CEILINGS. ON YOU. Lost and wonder where you’ve been? THIS CORRIDOR IS FILLED WITH THE BLOOD OF YOUR ENEMIES.

Single player? Nah, just connect with friends for seamless COOP FUN.

Chain gun? MINIGUN

Supershot? QUAD BARREL SHOTGUN.

And so on.

It’s fucking GREAT.

Dr Zoidberg · **Joined:** 15th Oct, 2010 **Posts:** 5413

I shall download it today!

Be Excellent To Each Other

Xbox Game Pass: Netflix, but for your Xbox games

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