The XBOX One

Or not -

https://twitter.com/XboxGamePass/status/1184512210443354115?ref_src=twsrc^tfw|twcamp^tweetembed|twterm^1184512210443354115&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.trueachievements.com%2Fn39291%2Fxbox-game-pass-leaving-october

They must have re-upped their deal. Yay!

Wait, why did they have to do that in the case of Halo Wars in the first place?

Darksiders II is also not actually leaving Game Pass this month. I was keeping an eye on Halo Wars - I think that would have been the first MS first party game that would be leaving GP. I mean, logically enough, they probably have to start taking stuff off if they’re going to introduce every new release first party game. I mean, unless they’re reconsidering their initial plan of keeping the game list fairly small and curated.

Having looked over the list of over 200 PS Now games downloadable by PS4 players as of 9/20/18 (i.e., the ones that don’t have to be streamed to play), MS can’t think that keeping the XGP list small would be a competitive advantage versus PS Now at the new monthly price ($10/mo., same as XGP) and especially the new, significantly lower than XGP annual price of $60. That game list has only gotten longer in 2019, but they don’t sort out the full 650+ game list by system on their website.

Sony will definitely try to me-too you to death. And while I haven’t tried it yet, if the streaming is decent enough, it gives players the ability to not just try-before-you-buy, but also try-before-the-full-install, which is an appealing idea for an inveterate sampler like myself. I have way too many 1 or 2-achievement games in my history.

That’s true, it was some time ago they were talking like that, I guess around the time Game Pass became available. Since then they’ve bumped it up to Ultimate, and we’re seeing new challengers like Stadia, so that may no longer apply. Guess we’ll see.

Age of Wonders: Planetfall is available to play free all weekend. 6.41gb download.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but Sony’s service tends not to have games at release, including Sony’s own games, right?

I think that’ll be the real value of Game Pass, once they can start spinning out a steady drip of first-party stuff on release, along with the odd third party game.

XBox only? What lunacy is this :/

Yep, that’s the one area where they are only half-heartedly me-too, making some high profile first party games like God of War and Spider-Man available only for a limited time. But hey, Knack will probably always be there.

Just on the store? Not a Gamepass thing?

It’s probably the single most expensive investment Microsoft are making into Game Pass. Just getting a collection of old stuff that has long since stopped selling copies, is a lot different than releasing stuff like Halo and Outer Worlds directly to your service, and potentially passing up hundreds of millions of dollars.

It’s sorta like Netflix streaming - how they started out just making gigantic bundle deals for entire libraries of old movies (back when the studios didn’t see the value in streaming), but now they are spending billions on original content, and contracts for specific, lucrative shows.

That’ll be the next shoe to drop in this battle. Someone’ll sign a deal that brings a future Call of Duty game to their “Game Pass”-style service at launch, or something.

I believe the “free play weekend” is a regular feature of Xbox Live Gold. So I don’t think it’s for Silver members. I could be wrong though.

This weekend you can play The Division 2, Age of Wonders: Planetfall and I think Stellaris is the 3rd game? I forget.

No news on that 10k in 10 days bing reward thing.
The other free play is Stellaris, which is also on the pass.

Thanks for posting, would’ve missed them this time.

I pulled a quarter to three playing through the Vanguard & Kir’ko scenarios. The controls and story choices are pretty good, but I didn’t like the maps. No one attacked me when I got bored & set off a doomsday weapon to end the game. Also offered myself as a vassal to an ally which led to an immediate gameover.

Coming soon to Console:

I will try The Outer Wilds and Subnautica. I’m expecting good things from Subnautica.

Looks like the Shocktober Halloween sale is live, some pretty good prices. I recommend SOMA and Voodoo Vince, both great games and decent prices:

So we talked about this a while back, but looks like the Xbox All Access option is now a real thing you can spend money on. Basically for $19.99 you get a console and a 24 month subscription to Game Pass Ultimate - plus there’s an upgrade option to the new console Project Scarlett at holiday 2020.

That doesn’t make sense.

for as little as $19.99 per month for 24 months

Oh, now it makes sense.

$19.99/mo is for the all-digital XB1. If you want to step up to the XB1X, the price jumps to $30.99.

Considering the standard cost for Ultimate is $15 that seems like a solid deal for someone who doesn’t have an Xbox yet.