Microsoft Unveils November's Games With Gold Catalog

[Josh Engen]

Microsoft Unveils November's Games With Gold Catalog

This month, A World of Keflings and Iron Brigade will be free for Xbox LIVE Gold members.

Today, Microsoft's Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb unveiled the titles that will make up this month's Games With Gold catalog. And, unfortunately, they're a little disappointing.

Starting tomorrow, Xbox LIVE Gold members can grab a copy of A World of Keflings, a laid-back city-building sim. And on November 16th, Microsoft will release Iron Brigade, a hybrid title that mixes tower-defense gameplay with third-person shooter elements.

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure that A World of Keflings and Iron Brigade are both entertaining titles, but Games with Gold was created to compete with Sony's PlayStation Plus program, and in that regard, it's a little embarrassing. Sure, Halo 3 and Assassin's Creed 2 have shown up in previous months, but considering that PlayStation Plus currently features Uncharted 3, LittleBigPlanet Karting, and XCOM: The Enemy Unknown, Microsoft's offerings seem little soft.

Either way, Xbox LIVE Gold members are getting access to a couple of free titles, which is more than they were getting before. So, maybe I shouldn't complain so much.

Source: Major Nelson [http://majornelson.com/2013/10/31/games-with-gold-a-world-of-keflings-and-iron-brigade-free-in-november/]

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[BrotherRool]

This has got me thinking that a lot of the information needed to go into deciding which console to buy is simply impossible to know.

Is Xbox games With Gold going to suck more than Playstation +? It seems like it so far, but how can you know how Microsoft or Sony are going to behave a year from now?


And they may have good launch exclusives but what are there excusives after that going to be like? There is absolutely no way Microsoft will have enough money to pay for Titanfall 2 once both consoles have a large install base. Is Rememdy going to make good games this generation? Are Sony going to close down Santa Monica?



All the stuff you actually need to know isn't there to find out. I guess you've got to choose your console as best as you can and hope that next month is going to be more Halo instead of World of Keflings

 

[tippy2k2]

Maybe Microsoft will finally impress me with....

Nope.

Seriously Microsoft? We're not stupid people; this was created to compete with Playstation Plus. You are doing a terrible job of it. Not one game has been less than three years old (though Kingdom is two years and eleven months old and Iron Brigade finally bucks that trend by being ONLY two and a half years old).

As a consumer, free is free and why complain (even if most users already own these games if they had any interest in them)?

However, as someone you are trying to convince to STAY your customer versus the better offering, you are doing a piss poor job about it.

 

[elvis-66]

Dear Microsoft

I dont know if you noticed but your new console is coming out against the ps4 in the next few weeks and even before its out its already lost the battle for hearts and minds with drm asshattery, tales of living room spy-manship and general hardware inferiority syndromitis.

This coupled with decidedly ropey side-by-side comparisons of new titles (CoD and BF4) just makes me want to ask...are you seriously seeing how many toes you can get away with shooting off? The competition are steam rollering you in every regard (did I mention price?) and so what do you do? Release these titles against the free offerings of Dragons Dogma and Binary Domain on the PSN.

Bravo microsoft, bravo.

 

[llamastorm.games]

The difference between Games With Gold and PSN+ is that PSN+ has had the offer from the start and if not for the free games there wasn't much other reason to have it. I always thought it was a pay-per-month rental service with a few other minor extras, you have to keep paying to access them.
As for Games With Gold the games are yours forever, also they only started giving the games away for free very recently so plenty of people were paying for the service even before then, it's no extra on top of what many were paying anyways, and at the end of the day free IS free, getting them costs you not 1 penny extra and we're only about 5 months into the promotion theres a lot of scope for it to grow and include newer games, it would be nice if there were some new titles however.

I see the PSN+ fee as you actually paying for the games you get and them not really being free at all.
How many people would pay for PSN+ if it didn't have the free games thing?

 

[gamegod25]

Wow MS you are just soooo generous.... /sarcasm

Seriously what is this shit? Free is free but you are doing a shit job even trying to match let alone compete with PSN+ in regards to offerings. Sony just showed their free games for November and there are seven, two PS4 three PS3 and two Vita...and they are all good. Trenched is fun but I already own that and I couldn't care less about keflings.

As usual MS you continue to disappoint and give little reason to continue giving you business.

 

[tippy2k2]

snip

The big difference (for me at least) is what you are getting for your money.

I said this as the PS4/Xbox One were being announced and I 100% stand by it: Paying for JUST multiplayer (something Live makes you do) is no longer a big enough bang for my buck anymore. Microsoft needed to add something to sweeten that pot (especially when PS+ came around). Yes, they've been charging this way since it's inception but when your competition ups their game, you have to up yours or you'll get left behind...

PS+ gives you multiple games at a time. These are newer games (PS3 and Vita) that would still cost you a decent amount of money if you wanted to play them now. This cost you $50 a year.

Xbox Live offers you one game at a time. They have all been 3+ years old so far or cheap Xbox Live arcade games. A few of them have actually been given away for free in bundles (specifically Fable 3) This costs you $60 a year. They've stated that this promotion will end in December (unless they've changed their minds). The one thing it does have over PS+ is that you get to keep them but considering the catalog they've offered so far, that's barely a point in their favor...

Yes, Live can grow and maybe they'll start in December but potential means nothing; what you actually deliver is what you're going to be judged by. Microsoft has delivered a joke of a program. If that is enough for you then go for it; I'm not here to tell you what to do with your money. But if Microsoft expects to keep me (and I'd like to think many others) as a customer, they HAVE to do better.

 

[Kaimax]

Lol Microsoft I thought you were trying to compete for the sake of competition, not just for the sake of copying PSN+ services... >_>

GAmes for PSN+ This November:
US PSN:
-Resogun (Ps4)
-Contrast (Ps4)
-Ibb Obb (Ps3)
-Dragon's Dogma Dark Ariser (Ps3)
-Binary Domain (PS3)
-Soul Sacrifice (Vita)
-Oddworld Stranger's Wrath (Vita)

UK PSN
-MEtal Gear Rising (PS3)
-Remember Me (Ps3)
-oddworld Stranger's Wrath (Vita)
-Motorstorm RC (Vita)

 

[FoolKiller]

Wow. Does anyone here not ***** and moan about the free stuff they're getting?

For those uninformed, let me point out:
1. Both A World of Keflings and Iron Brigade are excellent games so just because they are arcade games doesn't mean that they aren't quality ones. They have been trying to give a variety of games out.

2. PS+ and Games with Gold work totally differently. PS+ is a subscription. If you let it lag, all those "free" games you had access to become inaccessible. You could be halfway through a game and then if your PS+ runs out, so does your access.

Games with Gold are free games forever. You could have gold for one month, download the game and you get to keep it even after your gold membership is gone. If you think that online should be free then think of it this way: For $60 you are getting 24 games. That boils down to $2.50 per game. I think its fantastic.

 

[Rezeak]

Having both, Xbox live is more about connectivity and party chat in games the free games are just a extra.

PS plus is basically a Netflix of games and that all it really has going for it at the moment and of course it's 10x better at giving free games out over live.

The beauty of PS plus is that when it adds PS4 games people will slowly build a library of PS4 games so in a year when I buy a next gen console I'll probably get a PS4 considering I'll already have 12+ game for it (works with the vita too).

 

[Saltyk]

What generous offerings, Microsoft.
Let's see, PS Plus has offered games like Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Saints Row: The Third, Scott Pilgrim Versus the World, Megaman 9 and 10, Spec Ops: The Line, Demon Souls, and Uncharted 3. To name a very, very, very small sampling of games.

I really hope they continue with this service, and this level of quality. It would make it insane to not have PS+ going into the future, even if you don't care about online play.

Lol Microsoft I thought you were trying to compete for the sake of competition, not just for the sake of copying PSN+ services... >_>

GAmes for PSN+ This November:
US PSN:
-Resogun (Ps4)
-Contrast (Ps4)
-Ibb Obb (Ps3)
-Dragon's Dogma Dark Ariser (Ps3)
-Binary Domain (PS3)
-Soul Sacrifice (Vita)
-Oddworld Stranger's Wrath (Vita)

UK PSN
-MEtal Gear Rising (PS3)
-Remember Me (Ps3)
-oddworld Stranger's Wrath (Vita)
-Motorstorm RC (Vita)

Those UK Assholes are getting Metal Gear Rising!? What the Hell? I want Metal Gear Rising!
Ahem, I apologize my friends in the UK. Still, that game is fairly new. I think it's still $60 or close to it...

Well, at least I'll get a free game or two on my PS4. That's a nice bonus. I'll look forward to that.

 

[Saltyk]

Having both, Xbox live is more about connectivity and party chat in games the free games are just a extra.

PS plus is basically a Netflix of games and that all it really has going for it at the moment and of course it's 10x better at giving free games out over live.

The beauty of PS plus is that when it adds PS4 games people will slowly build a library of PS4 games so in a year when I buy a next gen console I'll probably get a PS4 considering I'll already have 12+ game for it (works with the vita too).

Worth noting that the games cycle in and out. Games that were available before may not be available later. It seems most games are only available for about a month. Some are notable exceptions, but you shouldn't count on the games that are available now to be available a year from now.

 

[revjor]

Games with gold wasn't meant to compete with PS+. It was done because, if no one remembers, Microsoft had screwed up hard with the Xbox One announcement. They announced the program shortly after the very first announcement was made regarding the, at the time, XBone. It was meant to scam what money they could from gold subscribers before the Xbox One came out and no one but idiots bought it.


This was not a move to compete with Sony, it was a move made by a floundering fish trying to squeeze in a few last breaths before floating belly up.



And the fact that these games are lackluster isn't exactly "surprising", unless you haven't paid attention to the last several months. Seriously... These games are above average compared to what they offered before. Trenches/Iron Brigade is worlds above fable 3 or halo 3 being made free for a couple weeks.

I actually laughed at my tv when the put up Crackdown a few weeks ago. Seriously? Crackdown?

 

[smithy_2045]

ITT: People complaining about free stuff solely because Microsoft.

 

[Doom-Slayer]

Wow. Does anyone here not ***** and moan about the free stuff they're getting?

Thuy arent bitching about free stuff, they are comparing what 2 serves provide, and one service by majority opinion is worse.

You could have gold for one month, download the game and you get to keep it even after your gold membership is gone. If you think that online should be free then think of it this way: For $60 you are getting 24 games. That boils down to $2.50 per game. I think its fantastic.

And basically everyone who does that will play 3-4 of the free games and then get bored and want to go back to AAA titles instead.

Last I checked most people dont buy a hugely expensive next gen console, pay a $60 for 1 month sub fee and then play arcade games. They play the big budget AAA titles, and PS+ is giving customers that, Xbox isnt. Quality over quantity.

 

[Ipsen]

A Flash of Insight!

This 'free game' deal, whether from Microsoft or Sony, is just an advertisement to get console owners in for the subs. You can easily see the effort that either company puts in; Sony is doing waaaaay more with their game offers than Microsoft, but the kicker is that Sony had to do waaaaay more to increase recognition of PS+ (let alone get people to buy it), especially with Sony requiring PS+ for online play for PS4; it's going to be a shock to most PS4 owners that they'll have to pay for online, but Sony does early damage control makes a good gift out of it by continued full game offers (but who knows how long that will last?)

Xbox owners are definitely more 'conditioned' to paying sub to play online, so for that to come back in the Xbone isn't unfamiliar. Them adding in free games is also damage control (for the xbone announcement bungle), but it's extra late, and they seem to be pinching pennies in regards to what they offer (Crackdown? ANOTHER tower defense game?). Granted, Microsoft doesn't have to worry so much about building a base of loyal subscribers as Sony does.

 

[seule]

I was always under the impression that for most AAA games, the bulk of their sales/profit came in the first 6 weeks. By allowing Sony/MS to give them away for free even 6-9 months later, the publisher likely isn't losing much in the way of sales, and may well get some DLC purchases they otherwise wouldn't have.

But what Ipsen said is correct, MS has users conditioned to pay, so they're just throwing them bones, PS is trying to get people to pay, so that when they're forced to, it's no big deal.

And yeah... Australian customers get the PSPlus EU deals, not the American ones, guess we have to have something going for us.