8 Comments
Jun 25, 2022·edited Jun 25, 2022Liked by Nathan Brown

I find all the doom and gloom about game pass from (no offence!) jaded industry types a bit tiresome to be honest. For every person struggling to stay afloat against the tide of ‘content’ I bet there are just as many people who are absolutely loving having access to a great library of games, at a great price, at a time when £70 for a new release just isn’t feasible for a lot of people. Game pass lets me try games I would never have bought otherwise. Citizen Sleeper wasn’t remotely on my radar until it hit Game pass but whatever game that developer makes next certainly will be. Add to that list Carrion, Tunic, Deaths Door and a good few other games I’ve played in the last couple of years.

To use your buffet analogy, if I sit down to eat something at an all you can eat buffet, regardless of what I’ve picked, chances are I’m not going to eat one mouthful and decide to get something else. I’m probably going to make sure I plate up something I know I’m going to like before sitting down and give it a good go. Similarly I also don’t watch 10 mins of a program on Netflix before changing to something else incase it’s better. If people really do interact with subscription services in that way (and buttets for that matter), I find that very weird.

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Jun 26, 2022Liked by Nathan Brown

Just a little additional to this. I keep a list (ok, a spreadsheet) of all the game pass games I want to play. It’s currently at 90 games. Plenty of rpgs on there and other lengthy playtimes. With new games being added all the time, I’m never going to get through my list. I also have a toddler. Maybe there’s something in the game pass that promises a sort of hope. The fantastical idea that one day I will play every game available to me. Or maybe it’s a terrible reminder of my increasingly annoyingly relevant mortality.

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Jun 26, 2022Liked by Nathan Brown

Certainly with the addition of the PS Plus Plus next to Game Pass the way we consume games is about to change drastically. I found this to be a source of concern, though not for the reasons mentioned. I do not think it is a bad thing to be able to access a game at a smaller price than you normally would. Most people cannot afford to play many games throughout the year and subscription services are a great way for them to catch up to new releases. Also many games that you normally wouldn't bother paying for and playing are waiting there to catch your eye. I think it is the next logical step for an industry that has failed to convince gamers for the increased prices of their products (Sony charges more for PS5 titles due to higher production costs? So, am I to believe that The Last of Us Part 2 was cheaper to produce than Sackboy? Also, if you need to increase the cost to amend for the production value why the game is almost insantly on sale?)

One concern though that I have about this new way of things is the library burnout (that pc gamers have been suffering for years on end thanks to EG store freebies and steam sales). I do not find it unimaginable to want to play a game and after endless browsing and thought striving for the solution to not play anything, as it is the least cubbersome option, as opposed to consantly having regrets about that other thing that you could be playing.

(PS: sorry for bad english, non native speaker)

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I haven't really got a lot to add that hasn't already been said about subscription services, but everything you (and others) have written about the subject some up how I feel perfectly, particularly not having a gaming "home". I've tried a fair few things now and I'm getting kind of tired of having to resort to FIFA career mode when I want to auto-pilot something.

On a slightly related note, I went through my PS profile the other day and was massively embarrassed by how many games I'd spent less than 2 hours on, mostly PS+ granted, but still fits in this worrying trend. I just want something to really sink my teeth into!

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Jun 26, 2022Liked by Nathan Brown

A simple yes to all this. I too have played and loved games all my increasingly lengthy life. I know what subscription services are doing to me and the games I love but I can’t help myself. I’ve never been so spoilt. It would take a better person than me to turn these offers down even when I absolutely know it’s diluting my enthusiasm and connection to the individual games.

On the back of your coverage of Elden Ring, I went in the Xbox store and bought it full price. That is the only time I’ve done that this year. Yesterday I saw a game I am quite interested in on the panel for Xbox gold discounts. At 15% off I was ready to confirm my details when I saw that even with that discount it was £52. I downloaded two games I am slightly curious about off game pass instead (my new game samurai sword had been drawn and needed to taste blood).

I’ve barely started Elden Ring and part of me, the me from a few years ago, really doesn’t like that.

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Jun 25, 2022Liked by Nathan Brown

When I look at that surprisingly good list of PS4/PS5 games, I see so many that I've wanted to play for so long but rather than feel excited to jump on board, I almost feel robbed of my anticipation. Right now, I look forward to the point when I feel ready to buy a new game, and that anticipation makes much more invested when I eventually have it in my hands. In a way, I'm a sucker for consumerism and just love spending money on a new possession, but I'm trying to make this more meaningful by considering whose pockets I'm lining and less greedy by limiting myself (where possible) to physical copies. Subscription services feel antithetical to all this.

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Jun 24, 2022Liked by Nathan Brown

Depressing but on the nose I fear.

Happy weekend to you to! ;o)

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> ‘I’ll wait until it’s on Game Pass’ is the new ‘I’ll wait for a sale’.

Maybe even worse, there are games I'm interested in that are out already on other platforms - and not even confirmed in development for Xbox - that I'm holding off on buying because they *might* be on GamePass if and when they arrive on MS' machine.

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