Xbox Game Pass Has Been Upgraded…Substantially.

Xbox Game Pass, the $10 per month downloading of games service, in a Netflix style, just got an upgrade.

 

Update (25/01/18) – Turns out retailers aren’t happy.

As noted by WCCFTech, an Austrian retailer has delisted all Xbox One inventory, stating that if Microsoft wants to profit purely from software, they can do it alone.

So it seems a number of things are happening now.
Microsoft as we know traditionally launches and for a while sells consoles at a loss, making the difference in licensing and software. Lord knows Xbox One X breaks even at most. Naturally because of this, the margins for retailers selling consoles, especially new ones, cant be that high, and we already hear from most places that selling new sealed games isn’t very profitable, if at all, for retailers.
So with the Game Pass announcement that games from Microsoft will be there day and date for that same $10 fee, it seems like MS is moving to a model that allows them to keep making their limited library, and getting a constant stream of revenue from more users, rather than making a handful of games yearly and selling them to a smaller base for $60 a pop. Of course, that latter option will still exist.
Plus MS can easily eat up any potentially lost revenue from other areas of the business. Remember they have done that before.
But what’s apparently more shocking is that according to those who have worked in the retail scene, MS games are historically 30% better with margins than first party stuff from Nintendo and Sony. MS games, for retailers, are the best ones to sell new. They are now losing a potential source of revenue that will shift to MS directly and make MS more money than the $60 per sale.


Basically, $10 per month from 10 million people is better for investors than $60 per game every few months from 2 million people. But one retailer isn’t happy about this it seems. They’ve caught on that this does nothing for them and are dropping Xbox inventory.

 

Original Story

All future first party releases will not only be available via Xbox Live, and in stores, but Game Pass…on launch day.

So now not only do you get Xbox 360 and Xbox One games for $10, you now get included in that price, full price retail games on the day they launch.

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This is an incredible move from Microsoft that has some people scratching their heads. Why would Microsoft release their own games for $60, and give you what is undeniably a better deal for $10 monthly, alongside a host of other games ready to go when you want?

Simple. Retailers, manufacturing, all of that stuff is factored into a $60 price tag. Plus, say a game got 2 million sales for $60. Lot of money, probably recoup development costs at that point. Now imagine 10 million people paying $10 a month.

For a company that hasn’t got the largest portfolio of first party software, this is a great move. They will be making in-house software fairly infrequently, as we have seen in the past few years, so why not sweeten the deal for a constant flow of $10 subscriptions each month?

The pros outweigh the cons it seems for Microsoft. Further, the Xbox brand historically has been covered by huge profits from other hardware and even Windows alone. Microsoft is fine with Xbox being a loss leader and with a subscription service…the bills effectively pay themselves.

I do believe this a way to get more money while not having to buy into more studios and make more games in a shorter time.

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Of course there are cons to this however. If you stop paying your $10 a month, you can’t access the games, as is the case with PS Plus. You will be able to bulk buy 6 months at a time soon, so there is that for those who need it.

Secondly, the games are in rotation. They are only available for as long as they are up, just like shows on Netflix or BBC iPlayer. If it remains on the server, you can play it. For the new titles this is unlikely to be an issue, but older 360 titles may fall to this.

Finally, and this is the eventuality, what happens when the service ends? Would Microsoft let you play the games offline? Would you just get to keep them as you do with your physical Xbox 360 games?

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These are the important questions and sadly they can’t be answered because this day has yet to come. We don’t know and I’m not sure Microsoft does either.

When considering Game Pass at face value, it is an excellent deal, but if you don’t play games much, you’re likely better off paying the $60 for a game outright.

Yes the eventuality of that is even physical copies of games now are subject to patches and updates, so when the servers one day go own, some games will be “unfinished” as it were, or at least unrefined.  But at least you won’t lose access to the games entirely.

 

 

So this is the situation. Microsoft has made an aggressive move into a Netflix like format, and the payoffs are obvious: It’s more money, monthly, rather than per game.

But for us consumers, maybe it’s not so great in the very long-term, or even medium term depending on how the service is received or games are rotated.

 

Maybe we need to wait and see, but I didn’t think this day would come so soon.

 

 

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoy this article, and I will be updating everyone on developments as they happen via social media. Until next time, Happy Gaming!

Behind The Game Update: 17-1-2018

So today happened.

 

YouTube has been a bit problematic lately and with the unfortunate e-mail today that I will indeed be losing access to a lot of features, and my network, as of February 20th 2018, I had to quickly and very certainly move ahead with some plans I had been considering, but have now been pushed to acting upon.

 

So what is happening? Well YouTube basically stripped us, and hundreds of thousands of other small channels, of most of our features, and monetisation, to fix some problem (The email is kinda bad).

Now this isn’t a money issue. This is a “I’ve been at this for 9 years and the goalposts just moved”. Imagine getting an eviction notice and at that same moment being told your eviction is because your rent is increasing. Bit like that.

After this point YouTube has presented a brick wall that has to be climbed, and while many will stick with it, as they aren’t far from the requirements, others don’t get such a luxury.

But instead of give up, I have pushed myself to this point to consolidate all of my media avenues into one thing. So let us begin:

 

 

Behind The Game!

 

Behind The Game will see the least changes.

As always we will post written reviews, articles, discussion pieces, impressions on upcoming games, all the usual content. This will not change.

What will be added however, is podcasts, discussing certain topics in gaming, the previous week in gaming and more.

These podcasts will be held on Twitch, viewable live and linked to both here, and posted here for posterity, as well as available after the fact as on-demand videos on YouTube.

There will also be video impressions on indie games, DLC, other gaming things and more as stand-alone videos available on YouTube, that will be linked here.

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YouTube!

 

This is where the most will change.

Currently we upload episodic Let’s Plays of video games. Now however, that content will not be recorded in advance (Usually, this is situation permitting).

From now on, all the “Let’s Play Content” will be streamed live on Twitch, then uploaded as VoDs onto YouTube, same as the podcasts for Behind The Game.

YouTube will also get the Impressions videos and any other things specifically for Behind The Game that cannot be livestreamed.

This is going to be the most drastic change, but allows us to record footage in better time, and upload it as long form episodes of an hour or two per week.

 

 

Twitch!

 

Finally we come to Twitch.

On Twitch we will host several shows that will replace our LP content on YouTube, such as a retro gaming session, indie session, so on so forth. More so this is where we will host our Podcasts for Behind The Game.

All things streamed on Twitch, whether it be the new “LP” content that will populate YouTube,  or Behind The Game podcasts, will be made available on YouTube after the fact.

 

So In Summary…

 

Behind The Game – Business as usual, except expect added podcasts and discussions (Hosted on Twitch, then uploaded to YouTube), and Impressions videos (Uploaded to YouTube)

YouTube – Our Let’s Play content will be replaced by live streamed content, made available after streaming on Twitch, and we will add the Impression videos.

Twitch – Twitch will be where we host our livestreamed content, both for gaming and Behind The Game.

 

 

So with that said, I hope you enjoy the changes, look forward to some streaming schedules, and go follow both of the channels at the links below. Oh, and stay tuned on Twitter @BritishPlaying for on the fly updates and news on all things BLP and BTG!

Twitch

YouTube

Happy Gaming!

Behind The Game Update: 8/1/2018

It’s time for our monthly update, a little later than usual, as some things have only just come to light.

 

So first off, yes, Metroid Prime (Both review and BTG article) have yet to surface. Long story short I have hardly had the time with some other commitments going on, and more on that later.

Those will happen sometime in the next few weeks. I do have a few smaller games up on my desk to review of course in the meantime, such as Sonic Advance, FAST RMX and Crash Bandicoot. Look forward to those!

Further, we are toying with the idea of videos to go alongside the articles. As someone who already makes videos for YouTube, this wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility, though it is dependant on time.

 

Okay so on that note, time. Over the holiday period I haven’t really given myself time off, from any one of my ventures, be it YouTube, this site, or game development. That’s not going to change except for the next few days immediately from the posting of this article.

As of Monday 8th January, I will be undergoing surgery, nothing major thankfully, on my foot. This is going to temporarily wipe my mobility and prevent me from getting around the house, let alone out to do things. So articles may slow this week. I will be having a potential second round of surgery in the year as well, so the same will apply then.

Of course there is the 4-10 week recovery time which will be hit and miss at the start. It’s a very “as it happens” kind of thing I am afraid.

Twitter is where you want to be for any on the fly updates about the site of anything else going on: https://twitter.com/BritishPlaying

Oh, and of course I have a job interview the day after surgery. That won’t sap any time from the site should I get employment, rather supplement it with actual income for once!

 

So with all that said stay tuned to social media, and Happy Gaming! I’ll see you on the other side of the knife!

Behind The Game Update: 2/12/2017

Alright guys, forgive me for being quiet this past week, it’s been rough.

 

But now we have some future plans!

 

So, the next full “Behind The Game Article” will be Metroid Prime. I want to take apart the pre-release of that game especially, as it was a very interesting time both from the gamer and developer standpoints.

 

Secondly, our next main review will be Metroid Prime. I just really want to 100% the game for the first time and I’ve been in the mood to sink my teeth into it. I may review a few smaller games before then, but the next big review is indeed Metroid Prime.

 

As for upcoming articles, regarding what Take Two just said about doing all digital confirms my suspicions regarding what I said about them in a previous article, and EA just keeps digging, so be sure I’ll update or write new articles in due course.

 

Outside of any other articles I really want to write, I suppose the next one would be dissecting Steam. I have some bones to pick their. After that, we will see.

 

So thanks for your patience guys, I will keep you guys posted over on Twitter (Link above) and as always, Happy Gaming!

BTG Update: Our Review Policy

So this is going to be an update while we finish Sonic Forces because yes, we still aren’t done: Thank the delays to the DLC distribution for EU players with physical copies on PS4 (I’m not joking).

 

Anyway, the first thing you’ll notice (Because no one reads the actual text, just scrolls down) is that we don’t give scores here. No matter the scale, there are too many games, and it doesn’t feel appropriate assigning numbers to qualitative views on a product. There would have to be constant rescoring as more games are added to prevent inconsistency over time. Plus, that 4 point scale has really killed the full range of numbers anyway!

 

Secondly, comparisons. Remember the joke “The Dark Souls of X”? Yeah, we wont do that. We review the thing you put money down for, including any free DLC (This is why Sonic Forces is taking so long). If there is a contemporary or game in the same franchise does something better, it’ll be a footnote at most: A direct comparison like that tells you, the reader, more about the other game than the thing actually being reviewed. If there is enough demand then we can include comparisons.

 

Third, we review games that have been 100% completed. This allows us to give a verdict on the entire experience, and the review will endeavour to cover every aspect of the game, including collectibles, barring spoilers for newer games. This gives us the full range of content to cover, and a complete look at the entire experience. This does mean some reviews will take a bit longer than other places, but in the name of being thorough, it’s what we prefer.

 

Finally, we wont consider marketing or hype, or promises, or expectations, when reviewing a game. That’s not part of the product you pay for. Fr our coverage of the hype behind a game, expectations on them, marketing etc., that is where our Behind The Game articles come in.

 

With that said, sorry that Sonic Forces is taking forever, it won’t be more than a few days now. Thanks for reading, give this a share, leave your thoughts below, and Happy Gaming!

Behind The Game Update – 7/11/17

Hey let’s have an update why not?

 

So, as you guys know I was expecting to review Sonic Forces (PS4) by Friday. As the game has yet to arrive (Thanks Amazon) that is now looking like Monday at the latest.

In the meantime, I will be putting up a new review on Thursday 9th November and as usual Behind The Game will go up on Saturday.

For Wednesday I have a piece about Capcom planned, and for Friday an article on industry layoffs (Which more have just been revealed at Telltale Games actually).

 

So with that, Happy Gaming, and I will have a fresh article here tomorrow for you guys!