Xbox Game Pass

[regemond]

That's the thing though. I'm not particularly besotted with my Xbox. I play it every once in a while, but games I didn't have in interest before would get a play from me now. Crackdown? Sign me up. State of Decay? Not a clue what that is, but fuck it, it's 'free'. Plus Forza Motorsport/Horizon will always get interest from me.

 

As for Smash Bros, you're being incredibly biased there. I couldn't give a flying fuck if that game came with a real life Pikachu, it's a series I couldn't care less about. It's a game that's entirely within the Nintendo ecosystem and made specifically for Nintendo fans.

 

Like @Nag just said, were dealing in hypotheticals at the minute. And in fairness I brought the other companies into the argument here, not @Blakey... (I was going to avoid the Labo argument though, that seemed like far too easy a target)

 

Edit: I just realised I'm singing Microsoft's praises. First time this gen I think...

[DisturbedSwan]

[Hendo]

I think it’s a good thing. Bringing up Labo in the same conversation is a little....eyebrow raising, perhaps. 

 

A better argument would be Playstation’s equivalent which is currently nothing, and Nintendo’s which is also currently nothing.

 

If we’re looking for points scoring (and I mean, we really shouldn’t be) chalk Microsoft down as taking a good stride towards the judges and maybe forget about the cardboard as it isn’t even in the same building.

[DisturbedSwan]

19 minutes ago, Hendo said:

Playstation’s equivalent which is currently nothing, and Nintendo’s which is also currently nothing.

 

PS Now is a thing. Does much the same job as Game Pass, no idea what the ratio of PS3 games to PS4 is on there though. It’s more expensive at £12.99 a month.

 

Available on PC too.

[regemond]

Except for the fact PS Now is a streaming service, whereas Game Pass downloads the games directly to the HDD for on or offline gaming. If your PS4 is offline you can't use PS Now.

 

And the steaming is apparently awful unless you have a fantastic connection, and even then there's still lag. Play Heavy Rain, great. Play Ratchet and Clank, not happening.

 

So in this case PS Now isn't really a thing. PS Now is more comparable to something like Gamefly.

[Hendo]

That’s true. They’re all pretty old. 

Sorry Blakey, it’s not as good in comparison. 

 

Which is is not to say I haven’t got questions about this. How long are the new games up for? A month is acceptable, a couple of days would be very poor.

Do they warn you in advance of games falling off the service?

[regemond]

At the minute they give a month's warning when a game is gong to drop off the service. Not a clue whether it'll follow the same format with the new exclusives.

[retroed]

They will always give a month's warning in advance of any game removals. 

 

I can see Microsoft Game Studios games being on there permanently, though. No reason for them not to be, if they're there day one.  

[illdog]

This is better. Agreements and disagreements argued constructively and a good read it has been. I like it when you kids behave because now I get to bath you. Who’s first? And I forgot the soap. And my clothes.

[DisturbedSwan]

I honestly thought Game Pass was a streaming service too, my bad.

[illdog]

[DisturbedSwan]

Austrian Retailer refuses to sell Xbox One consoles after Game Pass news

 

Quote

Gameware KG, operator of the gameware.at portal, told GamesMarkt that all Microsoft consoles have been delisted.

Gameware KG does not understand why one should still sell Microsoft consoles, "which bring zero profit and only expenditure, if Microsoft alone then wants to profit off of the sales of software". The company from Innsbruck, Austria, has been in business since 1989 and has since had almost 375,000 customers. And Gameware tells Microsoft: "If you want to do business alone, you should do the work alone."

 

[regemond]

Total overreaction. Basically they're throwing their toys out of the pram because a few more games a year are thing to be on an established service.

 

It's not like CoD is gonna be on there or anything is it?

 

Games with Gold looks decent this month. Will definitely be giving Split/Second a go, and Shadow Warrior is good fun too.

[Duck]

Streaming/services are probably the future but i totally understand game retailers/internet sites not being happy. They currently have a little mini monopoly because that's the only way to get stuff like that (unless it's first party digital). Movies have cinema, physical then streaming etc.. it's a pretty open field.

 

I agree with in part with Dangerman if people thought in-game purchases and tacked on multiplayer is bad now...wait till low monthly fee's is the norm.

 

I'm really interested in if there was a monthly fee thing how much money they earn. Would the people that buy just buy FIFA and COD etc keep it on all year because they need it to play them games. Would it even out to the usually income or would they make more? I'm gonna guess and say the latter.

 

If streaming/service is a thing too i can see publishers releasing "boxes" too like an Apple TV that misses the middle of all the consoles all together.

 

 

[Hendo]

Split this off from the huge thread, figured it was worth doing.

 

Like I said earlier, retail will not be happy with this. One small company is only the beginning.

[DANGERMAN]

Not meaning to be too down on it, because it's not a bad thing really, it's a whole lot of nothing at the minute. I can't see many stores boycotting Microsoft because what is there to boycott, it's old games and potentially a few new ones on a service currently no one uses. I suspect if the Xbox was selling better they wouldn't refuse to sell it. 

 

We'll see though, maybe everyone will stop selling it 

[regemond]

20 minutes ago, DANGERMAN said:

We'll see though, maybe everyone will stop selling it 

 

Don't say that, @Nag will start panic buying them 'just in case'!

[ThreeFour]

I kinda get why they're annoyed. Every sale counts at the minute for physical sellers and I don't think this is something they want to catch wind. 

 

I don't think it will. Microsoft can obviously take the risk/hit of people paying £8 to play a game rather than £45/50, banking on the upturn of people buying into the service. It's not something everyone is gonna try.

[DisturbedSwan]

Independent game stores react to Game Pass

 

Quote

 

"Essentially, it's made [our Xbox business] worthless overnight," Stuart Benson of Leicestershire store Extreme Gamez tells us. "You've got the whole section sat there, and why would people buy a £12 to £15 second-hand game when they can just pay a tenner and get a massive catalogue of titles to keep them going? Effectively overnight they've wiped massive value off our company and made it not worth doing."

 

Barkman Computer's Nick Elliott notes that while Microsoft hasn't "killed off boxed game sales overnight", the Game Pass has "certainly put a dent in the business". He argues that when retailers sell games hardware, it is largely an investment into a future customer that will hopefully return to the store to buy games for that system and perhaps accessories.
"Without that possibility, there is little benefit in allocating our resources to a dead-end-sale," he says, adding that he also doesn't plan to stock Xbox products in future."

 

Christian Le Cornu, manager of Jersey-based indie Seedee Jons, believe it's only the "die-hard Xbox fans" who are likely to sign up to Game Pass, and because first-party releases tend to be few and far between, the real impact is unlikely to be as severe as some might think.

"If Microsoft's games line-up were stronger, if someone big like Ubisoft started doing this, then yeah, that would be a cause for concern," he says. "So I'm not overly worried about it. It's just a trend, it's where things are going forward."

Seedee Jons is one of the indies we spoke to that still plans to stock and sell Xbox - "We're not in the habit of cutting our nose off to spite our face," says Le Cornu.

 

This is largely because these retailers don't believe even the complete loss of Xbox consumers would hinder their business significantly. The UK games scene is dominated by PlayStation - with UKIE revealing to GamesIndustry.biz that it accounted for half of all physical game sales last year.

"To be honest with you, our sales are quite predominantly PS4 - the ratio is something like 5 to 1," says Steve Walker of Somerset store Insane Games. "So yes, I can see it making quite a big impact to Xbox gaming in general, but I don't think it will affect our company as much."

 

 

[Sly Reflex]

I don't believe that the ratio is 5:1. Literally all the kids I dealt with were on the One. Xbox is the cooler brand for that demographic from my experience.