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February 06, 2015
It's February already, and that means it's time for yet another lineup for the Games with Gold promotion. This month, we have three new games available for free, two of which are available right now. The third game is an Xbox 360 title and will be available half way through the month, and will swap out with the other Xbox 360 game currently available.
The first game for the start of the month is an arcade title for Xbox 360, named Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons. This game features pretty story driven puzzle platformer experience, and whilst it is just an arcade game, it certainly offers a very thorough experience for players.
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons usually goes for $14.99, and it will be free for Gold members till February 15th.
A day after, Sniper Elite V2, which usually retails for $29.99 will then be put up for free for Xbox 360 Gold players. In Sniper Elite V2, players are encouraged to use stealth and tactics to take out enemies, instead of a face first, guns
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December 10, 2014
If you weren't accustomed to the name already, Lizard Squad is the title given to a group of online hackers that have spent their time bringing down online services for big corporations, and in the past they have managed to attack Sony, League of Legends and many other companies, typically related to the video game industry.
They have now set their sights on an even bigger challenge, and it is actually quite scary, considering the damage they have done in the past. Lizard Squad took to Twitter earlier this month to announce that the plan to bring down Xbox Live on December 25th, and they hope to keep it down forever.
The tweet stated, "This is not a threat, but a promise. On Christmas we will tap in to Microsoft and shut down Xbox Live, forever!"
Obviously, Microsoft are taking the issue very seriously, and I'm sure they will do their best to ensure server performance is as good as possible leading up to Christmas. Microsoft did issue a warning that increased traffic
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October 19, 2014
New details have emerged about a planned update that will add a bit more customization to the Xbox One dashboard.
Phil Spencer, head of Xbox, has recently confirmed that the Xbox One will soon be getting new options for custom backgrounds, along with talking about other plans for the platform, in a new TiC podcast.
During the podcast, Phil Spencer mentioned that backgrounds, screenshots and themes will be coming to the Xbox One soon, however Spencer failed to mentioned exactly when this would be.
When asked about the Xbox One UI and the likelihood of seeing background and profile pic customization options, Phil Spencer replied with, "You will see it, I'll announce it here - I was told themes and background pics are something we're working on, and screenshots -- people beat me up about screenshots - I know people like to customize the look of their dashboard, we're going to deliver them, I can't give you a when yet."
By the sounds of it, a lot more UI customization
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October 12, 2014
Agent Locke is a new character to the lore of Halo that will make his first appearance in the live actions series, Halo Nightfall, however, the actor that plays Locke suggests the character will play a big part in Halo 5: Guardians as well.
In fact, according to actor Mike Colter, the man who plays Agent Locke, the main protagonist in Halo 5 may instead be Agent Locke instead of the Master Chief.
Colter revealed in a recent interview with X-One magazine that "I'm a playable character in Halo 5." Colter went on to explain that, "Once Halo: The Master Chief Collection is released, and then Halo 5 comes out shortly thereafter, you're basically going to be playing a game with me as the primary character.
"I'll have some cool weaponry, and some cool abilities, because by that time I'll be a Spartan IV."
"What's not known, is whether I'm a friend or foe," Colter suggested. "The relationship between Master Chief and Jameson Locke is going to be interesting. Because what's -
October 07, 2014
I have started to quietly anticipate the release of the Xbox Live Games with Gold and PlayStation Plus free games each month, and like clockwork, each month new games are announced, and thousands of players bag a bunch of titles for free.
This month, Microsoft has announced a few new games for the Games with Gold promotion, some of which players may enjoy.
The first title released as part of the October Xbox Live Games with Gold promotion is Battlefield: Bad Company 2, and whilst this game is now incredibly old, when compared to the lifespan of the Xbox 360, it is still a great title, and if you haven't played it, I'd definitely suggest giving it a try. Many old school Battlefield fans have named Bad Company 2 the last "good" Battlefield game, but you'll have to make your own mind up about that one.
Bad Company 2 will be available to download for free till October 15th, and a day later, Darksiders 2 will be put up for free. Darksiders 2 is another old title, but it's
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August 10, 2014
We've just rolled into a new month, and that means it's time to talk about the next Xbox Live Games with Gold lineup. We've got quite a few treats in store this week, including some Xbox 360 retail titles, as well as a couple digital-based Xbox One games.
Firstly, Xbox One owners with Xbox Gold will be able to treat themselves with Crimson Dragon, an Xbox exclusive that saw itself as one of the few available Xbox One launch titles the day the console was released. Crimson Dragon is an indirect sequel to Panzer Dragoon, a game that made it's rounds on the Original Xbox many years ago. Crimson Dragon will be available all the way throughout the month.
Alongside Crimson Dragon, Xbox Live gold subscribers will be able to get their hands on Strike Suit Zero: Director's Cut, which made it to reality after successfully being backed on Kickstarter. Both Xbox One games are available till August 31st.
As for the Xbox 360, players will be able to pick up Motocross Madness, a Trials
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April 10, 2014
Another month has gone by already, and that means another lineup of free games for both the PlayStation network and Xbox Live. For those that didn't know, both Microsoft and Sony have been running a monthly loyalty program that offers players free games to download each month in return for paying a monthly subscription to their services.
So far it's been a pretty successful venture, but a lot of gamers have criticized Microsoft for not offering a decent rotation of games. The team behind the Xbox Live games with Gold program have recently revealed that they plan to improve the program over the coming months, and it looks like April is looking to be the first month to showcase these new improvements.
Until April 16th, if you are a paying Xbox Live Gold member you will be able to download and play Hitman Absolution for free. Once downloaded, the title will stay in your game library, even after your Gold membership is cancelled.
Hitman Absolution is a great game, and if
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March 14, 2014
As it stands right now, the PS Plus loyalty offering completely trumps what Microsoft has to offer to their monthly Xbox LIVE subscribers, but Phil Spencer has tried to explain why at SXSW. However, no matter how much explaining is done, there is no denying that the PS Plus offering is miles better than the Games with Gold offering.
One reason why Phil Spencer feels as if the Games with Gold offering is a little different to the PS Plus games collection is that players can still get access to games, even after their subscription ends. Whilst this is true, surely Sony is putting a lot more effort into their deals to even think about allowing players to get access to games that are only a year old. In the case of Microsoft, most Games with Gold titles are five to eight years old already.
Phil Spencer stated at SXSW that, "One of our issues with Games with Gold, differences between the other system we get compared to, is the fact that with Games with Gold, you get to keep that
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March 12, 2014
Just as information about Sony's free game lineup for March was released, we're hearing rumors about what games may make it into Microsoft's similar loyalty program, Xbox Live Games with Gold.
So far, nothing has been made official, but according to WorthPlaying, a pretty reputable source when it comes to this stuff, Civilization Revolution will be one of the titles made available in this month's Games with Gold promotion.
Civ Revolution is a pretty fun game, but it has been out since 2008 now, and whilst Microsoft is offering 6 year old games to their loyal gamers, Sony is giving away free copies of Tomb Raider, a game that was released just 1 year ago.
Of course, Microsoft could be giving no games away at all, so we shouldn't really complain at these free titles, but still, it would be nice if the guys behind Xbox decided to put a bit more thought into the loyalty rewards for those paying a monthly subscription to get the most out of their consoles.
So far,
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February 15, 2014
Over the last half decade, it's become quite a popular thing for developers to make remakes of their old games. I'm not just talking about new re-imagined versions of games, either, I'm talking literal ports of ancient titles with nothing new added to it other than an HD skin, in most cases.
Personally, I always feel the idea behind playing an old game is for the nostalgia value, and HD remakes always ruin that for me a little, however if you're a fan of HD remakes, you may want to keep get your wallet out because the original Far Cry game is about to join the likes of Goldeneye, Halo: Combat Evolved, and Fable: The Lost Chapters, among others.
A Far Cry Classic remake has been rumored for a while now, and it has finally been released to the public, however details are still a bit blurry. Ubisoft seemed to have messed up a little with the promotion of the project, and despite development time being put in the remake to add revamped cutscenes, enhanced graphics and a new interface,