XBox Games With Gold Finally Gets Good

Ever since Microsoft's Games with Gold promotion began, the games it has included have always been so very in demand and new and that's not an absolute lie or anything covered up with sarcasm.  Actually it's totally a lie covered up by sarcasm because that's kind of what I do.  Some of the bigger retail (which is the key word here) titles that have hit the service are Gears of War (as in, the first one), Assassin's Creed 2 and Halo 3, all of which would've been fantastic gets....a couple years ago or so, but right now, are merely a bit silly.  It'd be akin to Playstation Plus offering you a copy of Heavenly Sword or the original Uncharted in February.  Of course, I cannot say that won't happen, since Sony has said they won't redo games and the well will dry up at some point, but still, relevancy is a big deal and it's something that's been sorely lacking from Games with Gold.  That all changes next month.

Sleeping Dogs will be January's first Game with Gold, being free from January 1st to the 15th, where Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light will finish out the rest of the month, but that doesn't matter so much.  I'm sure it's a fine game and blah blah blah, but Sleeping Dogs.  You might remember, but I liked Sleeping Dogs.  I liked it a lot.  A whole lot!  So any and all opportunity for the game to be played by someone who otherwise has not played it (what is -wrong- with you, by the way) is a good one that I encourage.  Encouragement might sound vaguely like threatening, since it might sound like I'm saying anyone who doesn't play Sleeping Dogs for the insane price of Free deserves what they get, but of course, what I -mean- is "nothing".  In that they get nothing.  In that they lose.

Good day, sir.

Er, anyway.  XBox Live Gold is almost required for those who have a 360 and/or indeed, an XBone, so this has a potentially far reach.  As such, there better be some people picking the damn game up, if just to get ready for Triad Wars which is actually going to be like Sleeping Dogs in most aspects if a screenshot confirmed to be from Triad Wars is any indication.  Because it certainly looks like an open-world game from that at least, and I'm most happy about that.  My worry that they'd delve into something silly for a new iteration of the franchise was definitely not misplaced because of Squeenix, but I'm glad that it was at least unfounded in some way.  Still, this is definitely something to celebrate in any case - the game will only be a little over a year old when you get it for free through Games with Gold which is a milestone for the service as far as I know, and it might just be an indication of the offerings coming in the future.  Even though I don't have a 360, nor Gold because of that, it's still something that we can all hope for, because hopefully some worthy competition will keep Playstation Plus shining now that it's more or less required for the PS4 as well.  Since we'd all hate it if Sony got complacent because of that.

It's kind of amazing that Sleeping Dogs has been free on everything -but- Steam now

Some Encouraging Project Spark News

It seems that Project Spark, Microsoft's game-building game, will not require XBox Live Gold to play in any of its versions on the 360, PC or XBone.  Seeing as that is a Microsoft Studio title, as first-party as can be, that's quite a surprising development, but not an unwelcome one.  It also makes a lot of sense to do which I posit is most of why it's surprising.  Despite me being a little disappointed in Project Spark, or what little of it has been shown off, I'm still nonetheless interested in it, especially now that the XBone left Crazytown and is a viable, purchasable console now.  Because I am just a whore for the concept of creating things even though I'm terrible at actually executing the creation thereof.

Of course, that's kind of where the rub is - everything points to being able to play Project Spark without XBox Live Gold.  Semantics are a wonderful, terrible thing, of course, so one could actually infer that silver members can only do that - play the game.  Play other creations people have made.  The worry, then, is that you will still need Gold to actually be able to create and share your little games that look suspiciously like Fable even though it's supposed to be set in space or something.  It would certainly make sense, since it makes -more- sense than Microsoft being cool where it concerns this game.  It's not that we want to be cynical, that we don't want to believe, but, well, I think we've all touched the fire one too many times, and we're pretty sure it's still going to burn.

We're watching you, Microsoft.  Keeping an eye on you in case you go all Crazytown again.

yes, it was a short post but what else is there to say about a game that has like three minutes of footage out there

More More Microsoft News

I'm gonna be honest here - I'm getting a bit tired of posting XBone news.  I had to search for the new box art picture instead of using the same old image I tag the XBone posts with (you know the one) just to switch it up a bit.  The obvious response is "Well, then just don't post the news, duh" and yeah, it is kind of obvious, but, well, there ain't shit else going on and a few pieces of news came together that made for an interesting little chat.  So I figured I'd do it and then hopefully get it out of my system and then hopefully we'll get some news about other things, since just about all of it has been about the XBone and not a near-bit of it very positive.  I've been one of the people who have been, uh, vocally against what the XBone was in its original inception, of course, and I remain one of the unswayed by Microsoft's furious back-peddling and desperate attempts for further affection, but even I've basically lost the verve and the concern with which to talk about the XBone in any manner, even negative.

First up in the parade of bad news and worse decisions, one of the other main things that folks have been clamoring about regarding the XBone from the onset of it, even alongside the whole DRM nonsense.  The Kinect 2.0, as it's been dubbed, was previously listed as required for the XBone to do basic things like function whatsoever, which people didn't like for one reason or another.  "The room is too small for it to be utilized", "there's 'no good use for Kinect'", "I don't want it constantly watching and listening to me and even though you can turn it 'off', how off is it really?" and such things, which are valid concerns in one way or another.  While there wasn't going to be some sort of NSA situation going on, there was and still is, I suppose, a very real chance of Kinect 'spying' on you to direct you towards ads that it thinks you want to see, which is almost and oxymoron because nobody wants ads, even if they're advertising the brand of coffee you drink in the morning or the brand of chips you snack on at night.

Obviously, all that build-up is to simply say that the Kinect is no longer required except in the rare case that a game requires Kinect, of course.  Which will be few and far in-between as even Microsoft's Kinect Sports thing was delayed til a few months or more after launch, meaning the number of games that -require- Kinect at launch will be zero I believe.  Of course, the bigger thing is that unless you're planning on talking to your XBone, waving at your TV or playing that new Harmonix game that I can't be bothered to search the name of, you can safely leave the Kinect that will be included in your XBone box right where it is, since absolutely everything about it appears optional now aside from its purchase.  The announcement made a lot of people think that the Kinect could safely be taken out of the box from the getgo, resulting in a hefty price drop, but I seriously doubt that's going to happen.  This is less of an issue of programming and whatnot, and more of an issue of they've probably already started mass-producing the things, so they're -going- to be in the damn boxes whether you like it or not.  Similarly, others have been suggesting that -down the line- there will be a Kinect-less box after the initial 'shove Kinect down everyone's throat' phase and I'm...not inclined to believe in that either.  It's a game of too little time at this point now, and while Microsoft has been screwing the pooch left and right here, splitting things up like that would be silly even for them.  I think.

Speaking of mass-production and shipping, the XBone was initially supposed to launch in 21 Markets, and that number has been reduced to 13 surprising absolutely nobody.  Given that they're still throwing things in the box as shown by the unboxing vid that let slip the Chat Headset that was previously going to be sold separately, but I guess they just decided to throw them in since they were already manufacturing them as well.  Really, it's -far- easier to -include- things than it is to take them out which is why I'm saying that the Kinect is going to stay in for the launch bundles at the very least.  (Also because the unboxing video kind of...well, makes it 'official', I should think)  What with production apparently going on at the moment, though not quite as fast or well as they would like it to be going and all.  What's curious about that is that I can't help but wonder if those countries are going to be the ones where the console -launches- or if they're going to be the ones where the console -launches- and XBox Live for it is up and functional, meaning the region-free aspect of it would be quite moot otherwise.  There is the whole matter of that Day-One Firmware update for the console as well as the update that Forza 5 will require to be a functioning game that will be unavailable to those were Live for the XBone isn't supported.

And while we're on the topic of XBox Live (geez, it's almost like I put thought into the flow of this post), there was a little announcement that....is kind of good?  It actually seems a bit redundant and dumb, but it's not actively harmful or out-right silly like some of the other bits of news, so it gets a pass, I suppose.  A season pass, actually, because I am so clever since the news is that the XBone has a "Season Pass Guarantee", meaning that every time you buy a (supported) 360 game with a Season Pass, you will be able to access the Season Pass content if you then buy the game again on your XBone.  Why you would do that is....quite a bit beyond me (unless the game is just really good and only gets better on the Next-Gen machines for some reason), but it is rather nice that the option is -there-.  Though I do believe GameStop is going to offer some sort of "upgrade" trade-in thing so that you get so much credit towards an XBone version of a game for the 360 version, which makes the offer a whole lot more tantalizing if you're into that sort of thing.

Aside from trying to assuage some RROD-type fears by stating that the XBone will fix itself when it's overheating, there's not a whole lot of other news about the thing which is great, since that was a lot to cover when I didn't even really want to do it in the first place.  With any luck, that should be all the XBone-related news from now until Gamescom which is...in like a week.  Great.  Regardless, Microsoft's presentation will be a short one, though they're hyping it up to be something big.  I guess we'll see what comes of it, but until then, I will hopefully not have to type the words "XBone", "Kinect" or other such things again.  After all, can we just...you know, find some other news to make a big deal about?  There should be more news-worthy things, it's almost the end of Summer!  Almost.

honestly, I probably shouldn't write about it because I'm so whiny, but I want to write -things- and it's like the only topic there is some days

XBone Requires Live Gold for...Pretty Much Everything

In what is no doubt the least surprising thing about the XBone, all those features that were stuck behind the pay-wall of XBox Live Gold are going to be the same way with the new system, as well as the shiny features showed off exclusive to the XBone like the game recording feature, the Twitch integration, NFL Leaderboard integration, Skype and the new and improved match-making.  Some of that isn't a surprise, especially the match-making since you need Live for Multi-player -anyway- so obviously a new shiny thing attached to that is going to be behind the very same pay-wall, but that's kind of semantics.  Basically, this narrows the amount of things you'll be able to do with a Live Silver account down to "Play single-player games, buy games off of XBL and gain regular Achievements" since even the new 'dynamic' Achievements seem to be locked to Gold.  All of which basically means that you may as well tack on $60 to the XBone's already higher price, since it's damn-near mandatory.

Some would argue that Sony's decision to put PS4 multi-player behind a similar pay-wall in Playstation Plus accomplishes much of the same in making it mandatory, but I'd say there is a very, very fundamental difference between the two and their implementation.  From what I've seen, the -only- thing behind with pay-wall is multi-player which means, yes, you can't play online with your friends without it (unless you're playing an MMO like DCUO) but you can still socialize with them regardless.  Party chat, all of the sharing bits, all the social interaction things that aren't specifically tied to playing Killzone:  Shadow Fall MP with your buddy are unrestricted if you choose not to throw down $50 for a year of the service.  Not to mention if you want to enjoy Netflix on your TV and don't want to have to keep going back to your PS3, your Wii U (assuming they ever fix the Wii U's Netflix app) or something else that is presumably letting you watch Netflix without paying more than Netflix's own subscription, you can do that on the PS4.  Same with all of the other programs and applications of a similar nature.

Without throwing what appears to be a console warz-type pitch, there's also the idea of perceived value associated with the services as we've seen them.  Live Gold simply allows you access to all of these things that you're paying for otherwise in Netflix and the like, while also letting you play multi-player in games.  Playstation Plus went an entirely different route with the Instant Game Collection, giving subscribers access to dozens of games over the course of the year simply for subscribing.  Plus was always an additive entry prior to the PS4 and will likely persist in that capacity, where Live Gold has always been the barrier of entry.  They have started a program where you get some free games per month and it's true that the games appear to be 'yours' in that they're not tied with you actually subscribing to Live Gold, but it....comes off as a little too late, not to mention it's a temporary program until the XBone is launched.  Then things look as if they'll return to the status quo.

It just seems like a missed opportunity.  Obviously, you -want- people to subscribe to the service, but you can do that through incentivizing rather than force.  Honestly, even if the PS4 -didn't- require PS+ going forward, I'd still have it because of the IGC, even though that's an extra $50 a year.  It's damn worth it.  When and if I eventually buy a 360 to catch up on a few exclusives, I honestly don't know if I'll get Gold at all and if I do, it will be begrudgingly at best.  I see it as $60 that I don't -need- to spend, nor do I want to.  And you know what?  That argument is always rattled against by people shouting "If you're paying full-price for Live, you're doing it wrong" and to that I say "Fuck you".  I don't need to shop for deals that may or may not exist in the time-span between when I get a 360 and when I need gold, nor do I think it's an effective way of combating the issue.  It's $60 that I don't feel like paying, don't think I -need- to pay, and if that $60 becomes $35 because I stumble across a sale it's not fundamentally different.  I -want- to spend the $50 on Playstation Plus because of what it gives me not what it allows me to do.  That is all the difference there can be.  Live Gold is simply a service that I, nor do many people, feel is worth buying into because of the amount of things that are behind it when it's clear that they don't need to be.

Of course, anyone thinking that anything would come -out- of the pay-wall in the 360-One transition was simply fooling themselves, so this news isn't -really- news.  It's simply an affirmation that Microsoft is happy with the money Live Gold brings in and they don't feel they need to change it up.  Which....good for them.  Clearly they don't since people happily pay for the service and swear by it, but it's just another one of many chances they could've utilized for even the smallest bit of good will, and it's just clear they're not interested.  Still, it does ensure that we'll hear about all these features from the folks who end up picking up the system, since it's out of necessity rather than want, and some of the features are down-right neat sounding.  The Twitch integration for one, and I suppose it is good that they're jumping on Skype, considering it is one thing that legitimizes the Kinect that they're forcing in.  One just has to wonder what else is going to show up and get added to the list of "things you need Live Gold for".

people have been shouting for them to remove the pay-wall from the Netflix thing for ages, they could have at least done -that-

Forza 5 Shipping as an Unfinished Game

Note the title of this post.  Now note the title of the Joystiq post I'm sourcing primarily: "Forza 5 has a mandatory day one download".  Now note the title of the IGN post they sourced from: "Forza Motorsport 5 Requires One-Time Internet Connection".  Hell, look at the title of Eurogamer's post about the topic: "Forza 5 mandatory day one download adds Drivatars for offline play".  Now marvel in wonder in disappointment when friggin' Kotaku of all places manages to title a post the correct way to deliver the message from this Forza 5 news: "Forza 5 Isn't All On The Disc".

It's hard to make it really clear what I'm talking about without giving you the source material, so let's do that.

“So when you first boot up the game, we’re going to ask you to log in,” he explained. “And when you log in you’re going to get the Drivatars and you’re also going to get a whole bunch of content: tracks and cars. Our production schedule is such that we are putting them in as late as possible and that means making them free as downloadable content on Day One.

“[But] that is required content to play the game. We basically have designed the game to work with all that content no matter how late is coming in, in order to make the biggest game possible.”

After that, Greenawalt said, Forza 5 is like your refrigerator. “You have to fill it up with food the first time,” he explained. “And from then on, you connect whenever you want when you want to update your food. The Drivatars are as fresh as they are. It’s not like they’re going to degrade, but when you’re looking for new stuff – fresh stuff…it’s going to keep evolving. That’s the nature of this Drivatar system.”

“You do have to connect the game in order to get the latest Drivatars, because we need as many people training them as possible. And so rather than having just a launch-day set that was created by us, every day that people race is going to make the Drivatar set that much more accurate, that much more diverse, that much more interesting.

“All of the cloud and online features make the game far, far better,” Greenawalt summed up. “In fact I’d even say revolutionary. The things we’re doing with opponents and Drivatar are not something that anyone can envision unless you’ve played it. But we’re trying to get as much of that into the unconnected, offline mode as well.

“We’re not making a launch game. We’re making Forza 5, at launch.”

I cut out as much of the editorializing and whatnot as I could to simply give you the quotes from the post, since I provided the links anyway, and that should allow you to read the rest if you so desire.  But, I mean, the whole point of this post -is- to give you the whole picture on the issue, of course, so it may not be necessary.  Also, note the spin in place that has spurned a lot of misinformation about just what's going on here.  It's quite well done, of course, but it's annoying in how well it's seemed to work, given the comments from those particular sites from people asking for clarification and people touting misinformation with a "This is not news" tagline.  There are also people simply misinterpreting the news pretty clearly to push their own agenda, with the overall response pointing to this not being something to be outraged about despite all the obvious merits of it.  So I'm going to make it easy.

If you throw down $60 (or however much) on Forza 5 inside the confines of a store, walk out with a case that holds a disc of the game, go home, put that disc in the XBone and you cannot, for whatever reason, download the Day-One Download?  You cannot play the game.  The reason for this is that the full game is not printed on the disc.  It is that simple, and it's definitely a first.  A bad first at that.

How is this possible?  Well, it's explained quite clearly in the above if you read it correctly.  When the discs are going to start being printed, Forza 5 will not be a complete, finished game.  So they're printing what's going to be done of it and then working on it up until the days prior to the game launch, (hopefully) submitting it to QA and then letting the rest of the game go up on XBox Live for you to download on Day One.  The same day when, you know, a million other people are going to be downloading that data and the XBone's mandatory day one firmware update.  This is not a recipe for disaster on its face or anything, not to mention the undercurrent of it.  Regardless, it's something that needs stating and I cannot stress this enough:  THIS IS NOT A PATCH.  THIS IS NOT AN UPDATE.  It's astounding that that one point is not clear, because I'm sure if it was a little more clear, people wouldn't be so understanding of it.

Or maybe they would be, I don't know.  People arguing for this are basically throwing every point that we rallied against the XBone for to make this acceptable and the disparity between people arguing for and against it is much, much closer than it was for the XBone's policies.  "If you're buying the XBone, you have to have internet for the day one firmware anyway, so this isn't a big deal." "People barely play Forza offline anyway." "If you're complaining about this, you're using the internet, so you have no room to complain." and the old-standby "If you can't afford the internet, you shouldn't be buying a $500 entertainment machine." are all thrown around, I assume unironically, and it just makes my head hurt because I start questioning whether or not I'm being unreasonable.

I'm not.  If you're selling a game on a disc, the game should be on the disc.  Full Stop.

It doesn't matter if the "Drivatars" basically requires the internet to fulfill their promises and were what Forza 5 was seemingly built around because Forza 5 still claims to have an off-line singleplayer portion to it.  It doesn't matter that they're "using every bit of time up to launch to make it the biggest game it could be".  It doesn't even matter if the download isn't going to be all that big (though it's certainly going to be).  Doing this kind of thing is bullshit, and defending it on any level basically tells everyone that you're in the "Fuck you, got mines" camp which is truly not the place you want to be.  You're willfully ignoring that a Disc is supposed to -be- the game, not merely a pass to play it as the original XBone would have made it.

So, sorry all you people wondering why this is news.  It's because it is news, no matter how much you want to plug your ears and go "La La La" until it passes.  If it's an isolated incident, then that's just a blip on the radar, but if it starts a trend of "Fuck worrying about finishing the game on time" rather than responsibly delaying a game you can't finish, then that's going to be no better than what we were expecting with the original XBone, if not worse.  All it takes is one company trying to mimic this and then not managing to actually finish the game before the release date because....well, it's a gamble.  You're betting you'll be done with a goodly bit of time left for QA and some companies out there simply aren't good with time management.  Hence the myriad of delays you see games get almost every day.  Hopefully, this'll be the last time we hear of news like this.

I get that more people are going to buy an XBone now that it's not completely abhorrent, but you don't have to blindly defend it from actual criticism