Xbox Live’s Next “Free” Game? Defense Grid

@spaceinsomniac: I know, right? For $12/month I should expect $100 of support and free shit! Oh wait..did I say "free shit"? I mean the games that are more than 30 days old because devs aren't making money on that OLD ass content - I mean, why should people get paid for that, amirite? Where's the new idea this month, guys? And paying for network reliability and infrastructure?! What do you mean?! I paid my $60 for that $120 million game - now where's my source-code, dammit!

I KNOW! Just because people pay money for a service or product, that doesn't give anyone the right to complain about it, or compare that product or service to a competitor! The NERVE of these bastards!

Defense Grid is a great game. Probably the best one out there if you want classic tower defense. However, a whole lot of us have already picked this up on one of the many deeply discounted Steam sales.

Now, this plan has advantages over PS+. For one, the games are permanently yours, no need to maintain a netflix-style subscription. But this has not been announced for the Xbox One, while Sony has said that PS4 will continue their Instant Game Collection as it is now. (I am particularly happy that the price will not go up!)

I feel that Xbox Live has to add something like this going forward, or Sony's PS+ is just going to be a better deal. Now that I will have to subscribe to one of these services to play console games online regardless, I might as well pick the one that lets me play games for free as well.

@greggd: Don't point out entitlement - I tried it on Kotaku the other day and got all sorts of "shill" and "kool-aid" comments from the peanut gallery.

@patrickklepek Major Nelson has confirmed Creed 2 is the next free game on the 15th.

They never announced that Halo or AC would be available in July, just that they were some of the games coming in the next few months. However, it was announced today that AC will be available later this month.

@kmg90: Fable 3 was free and that 8 year old game "defense grid" is also free. Didn't they tell us that Assassin's Creed 2 and Halo 3 would be free in July? Because if that's true then it doesn't apply to Europe, Halo 3 and AC2 are NOT free. Overproviding value is a lie so far, Defense grid which was 8$ and Fable 3 which was 15$ isn't much value, if you try to compare with their competitor.

Wait so is the free games with gold NOT apply to Europe? or anywhere else that Microsoft has shown little support in "overproviding value" to subscribers?

It's good as Tower Defense games go, but it's $10 when not on sale, four-and-a-half years old, and mouse controls are nice to have for it.

We are getting jack shit in Europe!!! A free 5 year old game and discounts on Prey and Fra Cry instincts compared to Xcom Enemy unknown, Battlefield 3 ultimate edition and Ninja Gaiden (vita) on the Playstation 3!!? Microsoft are giving peanuts compared to Sony, it's pretty obvious why Sony is DOMINATING in Europe and the rest of the world (except NSA-state).

Absolutely.

PS3 EU is getting Battlefield 3 for July

Is it my imagination or has the 'internet' become even more like a spoiled brat lately?

One area where it doesn't seem like MS is getting any credit(which is mostly MS's fault), is the new Ultimate sales in GoD. There are some great deals over there on some pretty current games. Not free grant you, but some are damn cheap, like Steam sale cheap.

So I take it Assassins Creed and Halo are the best they are going to give? :/

Quite sure Defense Grid is better than Fable 3 anyways :P

But yea this is a rather unexciting launch.. Not that giving out Halo 3 is better (Seriously who the fuck still doesn't own halo 3?) I hope they get a bit more serious with this service. would be awesome if it became as good as the Playstation plus thing.

It's not. It's actually more restrictive, because if you end your Plus subscription, you lose access to the IGC games. With Games with Gold, you get to keep them, no matter what your Xbox Live account status.

No need to cherry pick arguments (its like bringing up RROD) , I had none of the aforementioned with my PS3.

Pretty sure there were never reports of CCs being compromised due to the hack.

For people complaining its not free that you pay for the service and deserve the game. No you pay to have downloads of games that don't take 2 days to finish and to not have your credit card hacked for $1000 and then lose service for a month and a half.

I know Microsoft is kinda new at this whole throwing the customer a bone thing. But, they have to realize that their competition is giving away Battlefield 3 while they're tossing out a 5 year old XBLA game.

Baby steps in the right direction are cool, and sure their version of this service is new. But they need to start actively competing real quick.

I don't think it is necessarily a bad thing to get Defense Grid as a freebie is bad. The issue is that it is only this one game.

To be fair, I hear that you even get to keep the games when you revert to silver. So yeah....

Thanks for the "B" tier XBLA game that i already own on steam and XBL, Microsoft. Meanwhile on Playstation Plus, Uncharted 3, Battlefield 3, X-Com, etc. and the ability to inexpensively upgrade my own hard drive to allow for more downloadable titles.

Whoever does it first is bound to do it wrong. They're allowed far more leeway in figuring things out because they're treading new ground. The company that apes their model had best line all the ducks up right because they've seen how the model works and how it doesn't. I'm not bothered by Microsoft dropping the ball a little, it just boggles my mind that they're dropping the ball at all.

@zevvion: Its great that you are either not really interested in alot of games or are rich enough to buy all the games you want to play, that is not the case for most I think. I get alot of value from PS+, I have around 20 games on my Vita and 15-18 of them were either free or heavily discounted. Also some launch titles are free Stacking comes to mind, they are rare though, not to mention PS+ spands 2 (3 with PS4) platforms.

In the other corner we have MS that offers old games for a few months until the Xbox One launches, but hey I get to keep my Halo 3, so its cool.

@lexus2jz: PS plus launched with these games in june 2012

@zevvion: Another user on the forums said that keeping your game with gold is a lie. he deleted Fable 3 and was not able to re download fable 3. Ps plus is great for people who dont have rentals near there neighbourhoods i only pay 11 pound every 3 months and get Battlefield 3, Saints row 3 , Mass effect 3 Resident evil 5 etc etc.

I never understood the appeal of the Instant Game Collection, nor this Games with Gold business. If I want to play a game, I buy it. The games offered through PS+ are at least 6 months old. The chances I do not own a game 6 months after release that I want to play, are really small.

It never happened so far. PS+ has offered me exactly 0 value and I have no doubt Xbox Live will be the same. Unless they start offering free games at launch or at least no more than a month old, there is no point to it for me.

Especially since you just rent them. On the off chance I do want to play a game I did not yet play on PS+, I'm not going to pay 50 bucks just to rent it for a year. I'd be better off buying it.

At least you get to keep it with XBL it seems. Also, I pay for XBL for its service, not the free games. PS+ offers nothing besides its rental service that I'm interested in, so it holds no value for me.

How is it less restrictive? I'm genuinely curious, I have both consoles and both services.

this gemes ar 100% free. u get to keep the games for ever.. PS+ is more like renting...so come down

According to this, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant_Game_Collection, the first PS+ games given away were:

So, yes, not that comparable.

However, the when the "Instant Game Collection" initiative began in June 2012, PS+ users got these in the first month:

That is a better line-up, also take into account that a lot of those free games were released on or around that date.

The problem with MS free games is that they know the exact numbers of people who have played or own Halo3 or ACII. My guess is that if you really wanted to play those games, you already have.

Still maybe we will all get a surprise and on the 16th we will get Battlefield 3 (this months PS+ freebie)!

This is a cool game, I played it on PC. But seeing PS+ will get BF3 and such it feels strange.

A weak start is better than not giving us anything at all.

yeah and it was hidden on the bottom 1/16th of the screen on the 4th tab over. What a total joke. The lack of respect for its customers that M$ is showing these days has me grating my teeth.

This is the start of "thousands of dollars of value" according to Don Mattrick. Better strap myself in.

No doubt Defense Grid is a really soft launch for the Xbox Feature. It seems that they want to give you a good feature in the free games, but don't want to spend the resources on giving you the games you really want. Right now PS+ is making it look like child's play with Saints Row 3, Uncharted 3, Deus Ex, and GBs GotY: XCOM along with Battlefield 3 in the next few days.

I actually wanted to play this game, but not pay for it, I WIN.

Because comparing a service that just launched to one that has been going for a year + is comparable, right?

Look at the first game PS+ put out compared to Fable III, lol. Also, on MS service you get to keep the game forever!

I just feel that is a very lackluster first (or second) choice for this service. This is a game you throw out there in mid-September after you start with a few bangers (AC II and Halo may be old, but they are recognizable and pretty good games.)

Whether it's fair or not, starting with this doesn't really give people confidence that this promotion will be anything but MS halfheartedly attempting to match Sony.

Yeah, because it's the 1st. It was free until today.

I'm looking at Fable III on Xbox.com right now, and it is still twenty dollars.

The specific quote was:

"And to kick off that program, I'd like to share just two of the titles we're going to offer over the next few months: Assassin's Creed II and Halo 3."

Which in no way says they will be the first games, however a lot of news outlets reported them as such which probably caused most of the confusion.

WHO OWNS AND 360 AND NEEDS TO PLAY HALO 3!!!!?

Here's a blu ray player and some episodes of Growing Pains...

I didn't watch E3, but if Microsoft implied that Halo 3 and AC2 were going to be part of it's launch, than the frustration is a little understood. However, I don't know if that is actually the case. I think this is a good sign that Microsoft is finally learning from their mistakes, and hopefully they can make me as excited for the beginning of a month of free content as PSN+ has.

So we already know the two best free games that will come from this --- Halo 3 & Assassin's Creed 2.

I'm legitimately curious how many Xbox 360 owners haven't already played those two titles.

@neurallink: Sad but typical. That goes for both the community and Klepek.

Hold yer head up HP.