Game Services thread, v2: Ubisoft headline portends a darker gaming future

SaiWa said:
No mention of Epic giving away 1-2 games every week or so? it was the only reason I got an Epic account and it's the list of games they are giving is pretty damn solid.
Click to expand...

Look at the stickies of this sub forum.
 
That sticky is also listed at the top of all links in post #5 detailing "Sales Trackers".

Updated the OP. All this entailed was to update the game counts on the various services, and a few links, but I did notice EA rebranded their "Basic" and "Premium" plans for Origin as "Play" and "Play Pro".

Google also added an annual plan for their "Play Pass" service that halves the monthly price.


*Edit*
I have also moved "Green Man Gaming" back into the authorized PC marketplaces after reading this August 2020 article:
https://www.neogamr.net/is-green-man-gaming-legit/
 
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EA Play added to Xbox Game Pass at no extra cost
Ultimate and PC subscribers will gain access to over 60 of the FIFA publisher's titles
Microsoft and Electronic Arts have teamed up to further increase the value of Xbox Game Pass.

EA Play, the publisher's subscription service formerly known as EA Access, will be included with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and Xbox Game Pass for PC later this year, with no additional fee.

Starting from a currently vague 'Holiday 2020' window, subscribers will be able to download and play over 60 of EA's titles, including FIFA 20, Titanfall 2, and entries from Battlefield, Star Wars Battlefront, Mass Effect, Skate and The Sims franchises.

Users will also be able to download trials of new titles such as FIFA 21 and Madden NFL 21, which can be played for up to 10 hours.

Ultimate subscribers will be able to play select titles on Android via Microsoft's Project xCloud streaming service, which is being added to the top tier of Game Pass later this month -- again, at no additional cost.

Subscribers will also have access to special members-only content, in-game challenges and rewards, plus discounts on EA digital purchases for DLC and full games.

The news comes as Microsoft announces the Xbox Series X will launch at $499 on November 10.

Customers will also have the option of Xbox All Access: a two-year payment plan for $34.99 per month, which includes Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and now EA Play.
Click to expand...
I saw this was already posted in the Xbox thread, but I'm updating the OP. Quite a significant development.
 
Composed this for Xbox Series S thread, but is should serve as a useful reference, so I'm copying it here. A lot of people are confused about how this works.
https://www.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-all-access

Xbox All Access
It is neither a groundbreaking financial strategy nor internet-based service model, but it is groundbreaking to gaming. They are bringing smartphone payment models to gaming. There are three subscription tiers currently advertised.
https://www.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-all-access/
  1. $34.99/mo for 2 yrs = $839.76 total --->> Xbox Series X + Game Pass Ultimate
  2. $24.99/mo for 2 yrs = $599.76 total --->> Xbox Series S + Game Pass Ultimate
  3. $22.99/mo for 2 yrs = $551.76 total --->> Xbox One S + Game Pass Ultimate + Upgrade Option after 18-months w/2nd purchase of one of the above

#1 saves you $20 over two years. #2 saves you $60 over two years.

So they don't look great on paper. On the other hand, that's true of almost all smartphones today. At least these plans actually save you money. You can buy the superior, carrier-unlocked version of pretty much any phone today, online or from Best Buy, and enroll with any carrier you want more cheaply than buying the phone from a carrier with a contract. Long gone are the days when carriers aggressively subsidized your phone purchases to attract you to their service. Only those at the back of the pack like MetroPCS still throw out promotional deals like that. Yet almost everyone I know gets their phones through their carrier on payment plans. Why? Because they can get the latest and greatest if they don't have to pony up $1200-$1500 today. Microsoft understands this.

The #3 option is the best deal. I noticed it's sold out at Best Buy.

I perused the steps & terms for upgrading. It works for the older Xbox One X and Xbox One S Digital Edition, too, if you already bought one of these via Xbox All Access, at least as far back as November 2019, with a Citizen's One Credit payment plan (the bank extending the credit & making payment collections for Xbox All Access).

Requirements to Upgrade
  1. Purchase the Tier #3 bundle with an Xbox One S
    1. Alternatively, it appears if you previously purchased an Xbox One X, Xbox One S, or Xbox One S All-Digital Edition via All Access, this plan already qualifies for the upgrade pathing. These plans cost $30.99/mo, $22.99/mo, and $19.99/mo, respectively, when they were offered.
    2. Special Note: Upgrading the Xbox One S All-Digital Edition will incur an additional $20 upgrade fee; nevertheless, even with this fee, it will still be $52 cheaper than the One S bundle in total.
  2. Purchase a separate bundle from Tier #1 or #2 while this 24-month contract is active. You could purchase this second bundle anytime including today. It's even okay as part of a pre-order. The important part here is that the person purchasing has a pre-existing line of credit active from the first bundle in Step #1.
  3. After purchasing the second bundle you will receive an email from Citizen's One (the bank in charge of payments) asking if you wish to upgrade the first bundle. Respond affirmatively within 14 days.
  4. Reach 18 months of payment with the original account in good standing. At this point, they will freeze payment charges, and send a mail-in kit.
    1. Special Note: it mentions that if you bought an Xbox One X between 11-18-2019 and 12-31-2019 on a Citizen's One payment plan, it will only require 12 monthly payments to reach the minimum. That plan was $30.99/mo.
  5. You must mail back your original Xbox One S console within 14 days of receiving the kit. It must be in "good condition", as they deem it, which entails that it is: (a) physically intact without cracking, unblemished by etchings or coloring, and in working condition (b) includes its controller also in working condition, (c) includes the power supply brick that came with it
  6. Voila! Receive a new Xbox Series X upgraded kit in the mail.

So let's evaluate this All Access plan if you find a buddy to agree to go in together.

All Access Tier 3 Upgrade Strategy, #1: Dual Xbox Series X's
Buy Xbox One S (upgrade after 18 months) + Xbox Series X = 2x Xbox Series X
One of you gets the flagship Xbox Series X and one of you gets the Xbox One S (which after 18-months is upgraded to an Xbox Series X). The total cost between you is $1,391.52 after two years. This includes 2 x Xbox Series X, and 2 x 24-month Game Pass Ultimate memberships. A la carte, those would have cost $1719.50. So this strategy saves you -$327.98, or greater than the cost of an Xbox Series S, assuming you can find two parties who find everything bundled here attractive.

All Access Tier 3 Upgrade Strategy #2: Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S
Buy Xbox One S (upgrade after 18 months) + Xbox Series S = Xbox Series X + Xbox Series S
One of you gets the Xbox Series S and one of you gets the Xbox One S (which after 18-months is upgraded to an Xbox Series X). The total cost between you is $1,151.52 after two years. This includes an Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, and 2 x 24-month Game Pass Ultimate memberships. A la carte, those would have cost $1519.50. So this strategy saves you -$367.98, or greater than the cost of an Xbox Series S (in fact greater than the cost of 2 years of Game Pass Ultimate), assuming you can find two parties who find everything bundled here attractive.


*Edit*
Special note for our Canadian brothers. In your country All Access is being offered exclusively through EB Games Canada (RBC Bank will be the creditor financing the plan).
https://www.cgmagonline.com/2020/10/05/xbox-all-access-financing-becomes-available-in-canada/
 
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Anyone with PS Plus they are holding a Double Discount Sale again on the PS Store
 
Not a freebie, but Cyberpunk 2077 is on sale for 49.99 on current gen consoles with free gen upgrade. Amazon.
 
Is anyone here going to use game streaming regularly?

I have a hard time believing games won't be a stuttering mess. Unless these services are only targeting the mobile market maybe.
 
https://www.theverge.com/platform/a...-nvidia-gpu-servers?__twitter_impression=true

Amazon has confirmed to The Verge that Luna will run on a standard version of Amazon’s EC2 G4 server instance running Windows, complete with Nvidia’s T4 GPUs and Intel’s Cascade Lake CPUs. Nvidia’s T4 is based on the company’s Turing architecture that also powers the previous generation RTX 2080 and RTX 2080 Ti graphics cards. A single T4 GPU (Amazon might be using multiple) provides 8.1 teraflops of performance and support for Microsoft’s DirectX raytracing technology.
Click to expand...
 
Amazon should come up with a shield gaming like device.
 
nefti said:
Amazon should come up with a shield gaming like device.
Click to expand...
They already have one. It's garbage compared to the Shield, but it exists. FireTV Cube (2nd Gen). It just needed a controller and a library of games.
399780-4k-streaming-media-devices-amazon-fire-tv-cube-2nd-gen-10008610.png


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Fire_TV#Models
 
https://www.gamesradar.com/xcloud-ios-announcement-could-be-incoming-according-to-recent-rumours/

An announcement about xCloud coming to iOS could be on the horizon according to recent rumours.


Windows Central journalist Jez Corden has replied to a series of different tweets that seem to suggest news could be on the way regarding xCloud on iOS. In one tweet regarding Bethesda games on different platforms in the future, Corden dropped the suggestion of using an iOS device, which could be hinting at as yet unannounced news that Microsoft's Cloud streaming service may be coming to the App Store in the future.
 
$3.75 is a historical low for Crashlands:


 
Madmick said:
Composed this for Xbox Series S thread, but is should serve as a useful reference, so I'm copying it here. A lot of people are confused about how this works.

Xbox All Access
It is neither a groundbreaking financial strategy nor internet-based service model, but it is groundbreaking to gaming. They are bringing smartphone payment models to gaming. There are three subscription tiers currently advertised.
https://www.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-all-access/
  1. $34.99/mo for 2 yrs = $839.76 total --->> Xbox Series X + Game Pass Ultimate
  2. $24.99/mo for 2 yrs = $599.76 total --->> Xbox Series S + Game Pass Ultimate
  3. $22.99/mo for 2 yrs = $551.76 total --->> Xbox One S + Game Pass Ultimate + Upgrade Option after 18-months w/2nd purchase of one of the above

#1 saves you $20 over two years. #2 saves you $60 over two years.

So they don't look great on paper. On the other hand, that's true of almost all smartphones today. At least these plans actually save you money. You can buy the superior, carrier-unlocked version of pretty much any phone today, online or from Best Buy, and enroll with any carrier you want more cheaply than buying the phone from a carrier with a contract. Long gone are the days when carriers aggressively subsidized your phone purchases to attract you to their service. Only those at the back of the pack like MetroPCS still throw out promotional deals like that. Yet almost everyone I know gets their phones through their carrier on payment plans. Why? Because they can get the latest and greatest if they don't have to pony up $1200-$1500 today. Microsoft understands this.

The #3 option is the best deal. I noticed it's sold out at Best Buy.

I perused the steps & terms for upgrading. It works for the older Xbox One X and Xbox One S Digital Edition, too, if you already bought one of these via Xbox All Access, at least as far back as November 2019, with a Citizen's One Credit payment plan (the bank extending the credit & making payment collections for Xbox All Access).

Requirements to Upgrade
  1. Purchase the Tier #3 bundle with an Xbox One S
    1. Alternatively, it appears if you previously purchased an Xbox One X, Xbox One S, or Xbox One S All-Digital Edition via All Access, this plan already qualifies for the upgrade pathing. These plans cost $30.99/mo, $22.99/mo, and $19.99/mo, respectively, when they were offered.
    2. Special Note: Upgrading the Xbox One S All-Digital Edition will incur an additional $20 upgrade fee; nevertheless, even with this fee, it will still be $52 cheaper than the One S bundle in total.
  2. Purchase a separate bundle from Tier #1 or #2 while this 24-month contract is active. You could purchase this second bundle anytime including today. It's even okay as part of a pre-order. The important part here is that the person purchasing has a pre-existing line of credit active from the first bundle.
  3. After purchasing the second bundle you will receive an email from Citizen's One (the bank in charge of payments) asking if you wish to upgrade the first bundle. Respond affirmatively within 14 days.
  4. Reach 18 months of payment with the original account in good standing. At this point, they will freeze payment charges, and send a mail-in kit.
    1. Special Note: it mentions that if you bought an Xbox One X between 11-18-2019 and 12-31-2019 on a Citizen's One payment plan, it will only require 12 monthly payments to reach the minimum. That plan was $30.99/mo.
  5. You must mail back your original Xbox One S console within 14 days of receiving the kit. It must be in "good condition", as they deem it, which entails that it is: (a) physically intact without cracking, unblemished by etchings or coloring, and in working condition (b) includes its controller also in working condition, (c) includes the power supply brick that came with it
  6. Voila! Receive a new Xbox Series X upgraded kit in the mail.

So let's evaluate this All Access plan if you find a buddy to agree to go in together.

All Access Upgrade Strategy #1: Dual Xbox Series X's
One of you gets the flagship Xbox Series X and one of you gets the Xbox One S (which after 18-months is upgraded to an Xbox Series X). The total cost between you is $1,391.52 after two years. This includes 2 x Xbox Series X, and 2 x 24-month Game Pass Ultimate memberships. A la carte, those would have cost $1719.50. So this strategy saves you -$327.98, or greater than the cost of an Xbox Series S, assuming you can find two parties who find everything bundled here attractive.

All Access Upgrade Strategy #2: Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S
One of you gets the Xbox Series S and one of you gets the Xbox One S (which after 18-months is upgraded to an Xbox Series X). The total cost between you is $1,151.52 after two years. This includes an Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, and 2 x 24-month Game Pass Ultimate memberships. A la carte, those would have cost $1519.50. So this strategy saves you -$367.98, or greater than the cost of an Xbox Series S (in fact greater than the cost of 2 years of Game Pass Ultimate), assuming you can find two parties who find everything bundled here attractive.
Click to expand...

Def looking into this im going to need 3 consoles running in this house so i love these ideas
 
Madmick said:
$3.75 is a historical low for Crashlands:


Click to expand...

I bought this game because I could play the same character on my computer and then on my phone when I was out and about. Thought that was pretty cool.
 
Bought a one month subscription of EA Play on Steam to play some Battlefield 5. Met with massive audio crackling issues making the game unplayable. Guess i'll just wait for Apex Legends to be released later this week.
 
Best Cheap Black Friday 2020 Game Deals Under $10
  • $10: God of War (PS4)
  • $10: Horizon: Zero Dawn Complete Edition (PS4)
  • $10: Bloodborne (PS4)
  • $10: Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection (PS4)
  • $10: Nioh 2 (PS4)
  • $6: Yakuza Kiwami (PS4)
  • $5: Kingdom Hearts III (PS4/XB1)
  • $10: Borderlands 3 (PS5/PS4/XSX/XSS/XB1)
  • $5: Gears 5* (XSX/XSS/XB1)
  • $10: Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice* (XB1)
  • $4: Titanfall 2* (XB1)
  • $10: Rare Replay* (XB1)
  • $4: Transistor (NS)
  • $3: Bastion (NS)
  • $3: Pikuniku (NS)
  • $8: Dishonored 2* (PC)
  • $6: DOOM* (PC/XB1)
*Be aware these games appear on the Xbox Game Pass and Game Pass Ultimate service

AcesHigh said:
Received a Stadia for free since I share a Youtube Premium account with my buddy. It isn't bad, but my connection was a bit meh when trying it out so it froze Destiny 2 in some spots. I wouldn't sink any money in it, but it's not a shit as I thought it would be.
Click to expand...
Do you have a computer? Are you comfortable with a mouse and keyboard at all? You should give GeForce Now a shot and offer a comparative opinion. I was floored by how responsive Destiny 2 is on the free tier of this service:
https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce-now/
 
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