Microsoft has announced they’ll be giving Xbox Live silver accounts access to play some multi-player cross-platform games for free until the fall update. Recently, Microsoft announced free online play with Games for Windows titles, effectively giving PC gamers “gold accounts” to play online.
Most people agree the move to give gold subscriptions to PC gamers was done because PC gamers don’t care to play Games for Windows games online if they have to pay for it. The culture of PC gaming is much different than console gaming on XBL, gamers expect the online experience at no cost; they’re already paying an ISP for network access, paying for a match-making system with a yearly subscription is not desired.
Console gamers don’t have a choice, buying the 360 experience arrives with simple to play games (no drivers, no installs) but limited online choices: pay or go away. Now, silver members will get a little taste of network play, along side PC gamers in the cross-platform Games for Windows titles.
“Supported cross-platform titles include Universe at War, Shadowrun, and Lost Planet: Colonies Edition.” (gamespot)
We question the intention here… is this as a good faith move or are they wetting people’s appitite for XBL so they’ll want to upgrade to gold in the fall? Or, maybe there are some logistical reasons to doing this in the Xbox Live infrastructure to prepare for upgrades where making it free solves a few of their internal upgrade paths and, as a side effect, gives gamers some games to play.
Of course, we’ve seen few people playing Shadowrun or Lost Planet lately. Maybe this will re-popularize a few older titles as well.
Hey guys,
I just finished reading ‘Racing the Beam’, a semi-technical, semi-historical book on the Atari VCS and I’m currently reading ‘The Ultimate History of Video Games’ so your Gaming History segment was timed perfectly. I never had the Atari VCS but I did have the Atari 800XL machine and I did play most of the classic games. It’s certainly one of the most important companies in the history of video gaming and it’s a really fun and interesting story to read and listen about.
@Kinect
I never used the Kinect but the PS4 also has the voice command support and I never use it. I feel silly talking to a machine when I know I can do most of the stuff faster and easier with the controller. I am not suprised that the Kinect has been unbundled from the XBone. Those who think they spent too much money will just as easily sell their Kinects to those who want them. I don’t think it’s an issue. Overall, it seems to me that motion controls are vastly underused but there’s probably a reason for it. Other than party games I don’t really find them that fun. Having said that, I played through Heavy Rain using the PS Move and it wasn’t all that bad. Still, it’s a unique game, which attempts to be as immersive as possible.
@Philips versus Nintendo
This is so bizarre I don’t even know where to start… Why the Wii U and not the Move or the Kinect, which seem to infringe on the patent even more? Does it have to do with the scanner you talked about or the nunchucks because that’s still not clear to me? Didn’t Philips sue Nintendo over a different patent many years ago? Something about CD-i?
@QOTW
I don’t believe I played that many educational games back in the day. I remember a math game featuring Disney characters and butterfly nets but I don’t even remember what platform that was on. Atari or Commodore… Need For Speed didn’t teach me how to drive, Killzone didn’t teach me how to kill and Spelunky didn’t teach me about exploring caves. I prefer games for their entertainment value although I will have to look into the education genres when I have my own kids…