https://twitter.com/Wario64/status/1680733391464071169
@Wario64: Xbox Live Gold will apparently transition to Xbox Game Pass Core on Sept 1st
-includes online multiplayer and various benefits -same price as XBLG -Existing XBLG subscribers will convert to Core -includes 25 Game Pass titles -GWG offers will end
I really, really don’t like the “games as a service” thing Microsoft is trying to shove into the industry. Just watch, it will pan out exactly like the streaming services. Once the golden years (equivalent of OG Netflix) of “burn money by throwing in more games than we can afford” are over, we will gradually see fragmentation, price hikes, cost-cutting, etc.
Fuck Microsoft.
I know I’m preaching to the choir, but whatever.
I know what you’re saying, and it’s definitely possible this will backfire on us, but currently Microsoft has been really dedicated to PC gaming and have been really good to PC gamers.
All games are released on game pass day 1, which means you can play all of their new games for cheap vs having to pay $100 CAD+ for them. They are also releasing their games on steam, which means you don’t even have to use their platform. They are also integrating other companies into game pass, so you can play EA Games and Ubisoft games if you have a game pass subscription. I played the crap out of battlefield 2042 through my game pass subscription.
They also have the ability to play Xbox only games on PC, which is super awesome. It requires the next tier up, and then you can straight up play Xbox games on your PC. I was playing Banjo Kazooie Nuts & Bolts. It launches the game in some kind of cloud gaming emulator thing.
So idk. I don’t really agree with your Fuck Microsoft attitude, because they are currently being really incredible for the PC gaming market. I say we can be skeptical about the future, but I don’t really see much to hate on right now.
Edit: Microsoft also doesn’t require a subscription. Like I said, you can buy their games on steam, or you can buy them from the Microsoft store. A subscription is optional, and it’s nice for people who want to pay $15 CAD per month and play a crap ton of different games instead of paying out right for 1 game.
Microsoft … have been really good to PC gamers.
Don’t forget that businesses are not your friend. They don’t care about you. They only care about making money.
Well. Of course they are currently good to PC players. They want to take over a large chunk of the market after all.
The new food delivery business local to me has also been giving me a lot of subsidized delivery options. Until they run out of money or own a large chunk of the market that is.
GamePass for me actually ends up being more expensive. The majority of games on there aren’t really good games or one I’d like to play. So once we approach a subscription only model I’ll have to pay 15 money per month to just play that one game I like.
Not only that, but if you really love a game and they decide to stop offering it, too bad. You’ll never play it again.
There isn’t a single game on gamepass you can’t also purchase if you so choose.
For now. We’ll see how that plays out in the future. It makes sense they’d offer both during a transition period, but in the game of control and ongoing revenue, I could see where they’d want all games to be steaming only.
I had Game Pass for a little while to see if it would be worth it to stream games on a PC that isn’t really up for local games. GTA V was one of the few games that was actually playable, as it was more forgiving of input lag. I started playing, then after a couple weeks… poof… gone. I guess their license for it was only temporary. That’s a bad experience; I cancelled the service shortly after. Sure, I could go buy a better PC, or pick up an Xbox or Playstation along with the game, but I’d lose my progress and be spending a lot more money (at least in the short-term). If/when that other option isn’t there, pulled content will just be gone. It’s not like movies where people can do web rips. Game streaming only provides the result of the code, not the code itself.
We’re already seeing this happen with games that were only available for digital distribution via Nintendo’s eShop that is being shut down. https://www.keengamer.com/articles/news/every-3ds-and-wii-u-eshop-game-were-about-to-lose-forever/
For what it’s worth GTA 5 is back on the service. It’s definitely not great when a game you’re in the middle of drops off gamepass. I think that’s in part why Microsoft is buying so many publishers; they want the games on the service in perpetuity. I will say that I don’t expect a move to fully streamed games any time in the near future, the internet infrastructure is just not there for it to be the only option any time soon.
Fool me once, shame on Microsoft, fool be twice, shame on me.
I had this happen with Amazon Prime Video as well. I was watching a series, got 5 seasons in, and turned it on to find out they now wanted to charge something like $4/episode. Nope.
Every time something like this happens my resistance to these services grows. I’m in the process of moving back to a manually maintained music library, instead of using a steaming service. I just don’t trust that the music I’m going to want to listen to in 20 years will still be there. I have the same fear with TV, movies, and now games. I went and bought an external optical drive so I could rip physical media again. Something I never thought I’d do after ripping everything I had 15 years ago. I thought I was done with optical media back then, but nope. Now it’s just a question of how much longer that will still be an option.
RIP Games with Gold
