5469

Microsoft testing “Free Play Day with Gold” on Xbox One. Download and sample a selected game for 24hrs.

209 votes and 82 comments so far on Reddit

5470

I bought and played “Sixty Second Shooter Prime”. I just couldn’t take the lack of a proper twin stick shooter on a console anymore (Resogun is kind of one, but not really), so I downloaded this cheap indie game on XB1.

First of all, it is by far the ugliest twin stick shooter I’ve ever played. I think it’s going for the whole “if it’s so ugly that you can’t recognize what’s going on the screen, it’s challenging” aesthetic that Space Giraffe had going for it.

But once I started getting into the flow, it really gets addictive. It’s not as punishing in its 60 second onslaught as Super Hexagon is, for example. This game is actually playable! I can make progress and quickly do all the unlocks. The unlocks are a clever way of introducing game mechanics while still keeping the core game the same.

I just wish whoever programmed this game had the same kind of visual aesthetic as the guy who made the original Geometry Wars. Not Retro Evolved on the 360, not Geometry Wars 2 either. I realize those were really good looking games not equivalent to one guy doing an indie game. But the original Geometry Wars that came with Project Gotham 2 on the Xbox, that was one guy, also working with simple shapes on a threadbare budget with no art. And yet, those simple shapes were clearly visible, each enemy was distinct, each weapon and power was clear. I miss that.

Still, pretty decent game. It’s the only twin stick shooter on the next-gen consoles, that I know of. So I’ll take what I can get.

5471

Crimsonland is out on PS4.

5472

Don’t just stop there man! I had no idea it was a twin stick shooter! Is it any good? Is it expensive? Does it have a demo?

EDIT: It has a demo! Downloading now.

5473

I don’t know about a demo, it’s a great game, it’s a re-release/update of an old PC classic.

5474

Crimsonland is a fun game, but I prefer playing with keyboard and mouse on the PC. (for those of you who played the original game, some of the weapons and perks changed to accommodate twin stick support). It was re-released on Steam recently, after more than 10 years since the original release!

5475

The XB1 Games with Gold for September are Super Time Force and Crimson Dragon (again).

What a great way to say “we don’t really have enough games yet.”

5476

What? No comments about the stupendous launch of Xbox One in Japan yesterday?

5477

From the article you linked to:

Xbox has been trailing badly in Japan. Japanese sales of Sony’s PlayStation 3 were 824,000 units in 2013, dwarfing the fewer than 20,000 Xbox 360 consoles

With numbers like those I’m surprised they even bothered to port the thing to Japanese. When you’re selling less than 2.5% of what your competitor is doing, maybe that’s a sign you should just get out of that market.

5478

I’m speaking anecdotally here since I have no idea where I read it, but I’m pretty sure MS said they’re supporting that territory very minimally. They aren’t putting a lot of muscle being strategic partnerships and marketing like before. I respect that they’re at least making it available to the few Japanese gamers who are interested.

5479

Just a heads-up… Forza Motorsport 5 is free to play this weekend. (US, at least; I think in other regions as well.)

5480

Hmm, that’s tempting, but it’s still too much. I won’t play more Forza 5 until they pay me at least $10.

-Tom
5481

Picked up an Xbox on Friday as it was released here in Norway then, and I’m actually quite pleased with it. Being able to instantly switch between TV and the console is nice, and getting a notification that the 40GB Forza download was finished while watching TV was brilliant. And since Netflix, Youtube and Twitch are actually fast here (they were slow as hell on the 360), it has actually now replaced my Apple TV as my default switch on device.

Only downside is that I can’t have it set to English language if I want to use my actual location (unlike any other device ever, including Windows), so I had to set my region to UK/English for now.

Oh, and multiplayer and leaderboards were down all weekend for Forza 5, which just made it pointless being free since grinding career mode was out of the question for a game I’m not going to play anymore.

Edit: btw, doesn’t the Xbox One support PayPal? I’ve been using it on my Xbox 360 and xbox.com, but when I was going to get my Pinball FX 2 tables I already owned, it wanted me to add a credit card first. So I was left without being able to download those tables… :(

5482

I am not buying a PS4. I am staying with my XB1, only because I am in it for the long game.

MS was arrogant (and probably still is). They messed up on the XB1 launch.

They are giving stuff away now… and their sales are still slumping. Hence, they will give out more promotions… so it makes sense to stick with the XB1 (plus I am not a huge gamer anymore… work, family, etc).

If I was a huge gamer, the answer is simple: buy both consoles.

5483

Anyone thinking about buying one of the Bundle deals I give it my biggest thumbs up. Just got back from MS store in Christiana, DE. When the manager told me they were out of Madden bundles (and forza bundles too) I asked if they would do the non bundle plus madden and the game and 50 and to my surprise they did just that. So i turned in my oldest slim ($100 credit) and was out the door with the One, Madden, Destiny and 2x $25 gift cards for $299.02 (They had to charge me a penny apiece for the cards for some weird reason). Tax free delaware rules! Madden and Destiny disks go to Craigslist tomorrow and assuming I can get $50 a pop for em that puts me in a One for my theater room for a cool $199 and I have $50 worth of MS gift certs to boot.

5484

Thanks for the heads up on that deal. I forwarded that to my friend who is looking to join us in playing Destiny, so he’s in the market for an Xbox One this week. It certainly sounds like a really great time this week to get one.

5485

Glad to help, they may wish to see this thread at SD:

5486

hmmm really tempted to buy this.

5487

MS is really pushing the monthly system updates hard. There’s been a big update each month adding new functionality while also polishing/fine tuning existing functionality. DLNA support rolls in next month! Woooot!

5488

I’m actually taking advantage of the deal to buy a second One for co-op AC Unity with my kid. :)