To mark the fifth anniversary of the Xbox Live service, Microsoft will be offering
Carcassonne (
Hexic 2 in Korea) free to all subscribers for 48 hours starting at 12:01 a.m. EST on Nov. 15th (and presumably
nothing to the peeps who already plunked down for the virtual board game), along with 500 Microsoft Points to the ten folks who've been on board since 2002 -- see kids, early adoption does pay off! In addition, Microsoft has confirmed
earlier reports that 'Xbox Originals' will be made available for download starting Dec. 4th as part of the Fall Update (the update's additional features have yet to be revealed). Each game can be purchased and downloaded for 1200 points ($15).
In its press release, Microsoft explicitly named
Halo, Psychonauts, Crimson Skies and
Fable as titles for the Xbox Originals initiative, but did not confirm exactly which games will serve as the jumpoff: "This new service will launch with an array of blockbuster titles spanning the most popular genres from action-adventure to classic role-playing games." Third-party reports claim the preliminary lineup will include
Halo, Fable, Indigo Prophecy, Crimson Skies, Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath Of Cortex and
Burnout 3.
[Via press release]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
icehockeyhair @ Nov 13th 2007 12:49PM
great. what about those of us who already bought carcassone?
Alex S. @ Nov 13th 2007 12:52PM
then pick up psychonauts
Viridium @ Nov 13th 2007 2:16PM
We're just f*cked.
Macroy @ Nov 13th 2007 12:51PM
I'm down for Psychonauts if it'll fit n the 6.5GB i have left on my 20GB drive.
Macroy @ Nov 13th 2007 12:52PM
By "n" I meant "in."
NATO_Duke @ Nov 13th 2007 2:55PM
Yeah, Psychonauts being available is pretty sweet.
Xenokai @ Nov 13th 2007 12:53PM
Wow we get game we already have and games that BARELY even run on 360. Have you guys even seen how bad halo 1 plays on 360 why would i wanna buy it threw the service it skips and pauses all the time. lol
J.Goodwin @ Nov 13th 2007 12:56PM
I've played Halo, Halo2, and Psychonauts using 360 BC and I've experienced no problems.
I suggest that yours is an isolated experience.
dan stabbingworth @ Nov 13th 2007 1:21PM
Halo lags fairly decently on the 360. It's really apparent in flood levels.
dan stabbingworth @ Nov 13th 2007 1:22PM
And I forgot to mention that Halo 2 has that annoying ghosting problem still.
dan stabbingworth @ Nov 13th 2007 4:00PM
Well, I guess the truth is unpopular because the original Halo does have slowdown on the 360. Maybe the people who voted me down haven't played Halo on their 360 in a while. I play it all the time and it slows down. It's not unplayable, but that is the truth.
Don't be ignorant.
Dirk Dorkelson @ Nov 13th 2007 5:21PM
@dan stabbingworth
People voted you down because the issue of Halo running slowly when it's running through software emulation should be irrelevant when you'll be downloading the whole game.
FidliousWong @ Nov 13th 2007 5:27PM
"People voted you down because the issue of Halo running slowly when it's running through software emulation should be irrelevant when you'll be downloading the whole game... cont."
which will still be running off software emulation. They aren't rebuilding these games from scratch, dumbasses. It's just running the ISO through BC.
Hsith @ Nov 13th 2007 12:53PM
If Psychonauts is available on Dec.4 at that price. I'm in.
Cyro @ Nov 13th 2007 1:21PM
What is all this Pyschonauts rage? I've never played the game. Is it really that good?? Should I try it?
deaftly @ Nov 13th 2007 1:28PM
yeah its a must play, VERY underrated game. one of the best of the last gen
Zertoss @ Nov 13th 2007 1:31PM
I thought the game garnered tons of praise, it just suffered from a bad launch window. Basically the same thing that happened to Beyond Good & Evil, which is another excellent but sadly overlooked game.
Cyro @ Nov 13th 2007 2:09PM
So what type of game is it? Puzzle, Platformer ? and where can I get it?
StrangeBum @ Nov 13th 2007 2:53PM
If we show enough Psychonauts love this time around, maybe Schafer will get around to making some new ip's for the 360. God knows the game was great, but nobody cared to buy it, despite the critical acclaim that it received.
Mr Slavio @ Nov 13th 2007 3:30PM
Who IS the Milkman? Why did you hit that little girl?
FoxHoundADAM @ Nov 13th 2007 12:54PM
Sweet, free Carcassone for ME!
gonk @ Nov 13th 2007 12:56PM
when does the 48 hours start? now?
gonk @ Nov 13th 2007 12:59PM
nope, i just checked. still $10
Lucipher @ Nov 13th 2007 1:04PM
48 hours starting at 12:01 a.m. EST on Nov. 15th
Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Nov 13th 2007 1:00PM
Yay it wasn't a hoax. I'm defiantly going to dl Halo 1.
and to all to people moaning, I swear to god I wish there was a joystiq feature where a hand comes out of their computers and slaps the shit out of them for as long as I want it to. Cause seriously it's getting ridiculous. If you don't want it, or have all the games you need from xbox 1, then don't use the fucking service.
Gangsta Smurf @ Nov 13th 2007 2:37PM
My only concern is if Halo will come with online play and/or achievements. Doesn't seem worth the purchase without some added features. I think a lot of people would agree.
WiNG @ Nov 13th 2007 3:10PM
Amen Vegeta.
"WHINE WHINE ZOMG M$ added an optional feature that isn't exactly what I want!"
"CRY MOAN boo this FREE Check Mii Out channel does not cure cancer wtf!"
"BOO HISS wtf PS3 needs to add every codec ever made, not just DIVX"
Grow up, everyone.
Dave Wakefield @ Nov 13th 2007 4:22PM
"I'm defiantly going to dl Halo 1."
You're aware that Toys R Us currently has Halo 1 on clearance for $8 new, right? My local store has a stack of twenty just sitting there, and a physical disk will some small retail value later on, unlike a downloaded ROM.
Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Nov 13th 2007 7:28PM
It's called I'm fucking lazy and I don't want to drive to a Toys R us to buy it. That's why this service is worth it to me. And $15 isn't bad.
Tony Bowman @ Nov 13th 2007 1:00PM
well that fucking sucks. my 360 just RRoDed 3 days ago, so no free Carcossonne for me. :( boo, and also hiss. i sure hope the turnaround is quicker than the 6 weeks microsoft told me on the phone.
gonk @ Nov 13th 2007 1:06PM
call em up and complain, see if they'll give you a code to download it when you get your 360 back
Andy @ Nov 13th 2007 1:07PM
do you have any friends with a 360? If so, use your hard drive on their system and download it. You will then have it on your hard drive and use it on your system when you get it back. You will not be able to play unless you sign into live, but that may be fixed on Dec. 4th with the fall update.
dan stabbingworth @ Nov 13th 2007 1:41PM
Andy, was that a fix that's in the works for the fall update?
I can't believe will all the console shuffling that's going on with the 360 that it isn't being brought up more.
Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Nov 13th 2007 1:01PM
same here. I've never had a problem with bc on the 360. I've played Fable, Halo 2, and Kotor2 on the 360 and they all run smoothly.
Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Nov 13th 2007 1:11PM
Halo 2 had a few slowdown spots on me. And there was this really annoying bug that caused explosions to leave an after-image on the display. it wasn't a full image, just a transparent greyness in the outline of whatever you were looking at when the explosion went off.
Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Nov 13th 2007 3:24PM
ok, that transparent thing was the only thing I had when I was playing, though it didn't bother me.
GRANTED @ Nov 13th 2007 1:03PM
500 points to the people that have already dropped $300 on the subscription service?
gonk @ Nov 13th 2007 1:07PM
yeah $6.50 is a pretty shitty reward for 5 years of paying m$, but it's better than nothing
Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Nov 13th 2007 1:14PM
It says nothing about gold members only getting the 500 points.
baby sea tuna @ Nov 13th 2007 2:00PM
My reward already came via the fond memories from 5 years of gaming on Live. The 500 points is just gravy.
Why is it that the people who bitch and moan about how much Live costs are never members (and rarely even Xbox owners) anyway?
tcc3 @ Nov 13th 2007 2:32PM
Hundreds of hours of multiplayer console gaming is its own reward. If you dont find Live to be a value then dont buy it. Quit whining.
Baked Pigeon @ Nov 13th 2007 1:04PM
Ummm unless this Halo comes with online multiplayer support (which it definately without a doubt no way ever will) then I dont see too many people buying it.
CDN Crockett @ Nov 13th 2007 1:05PM
Wicked!!! 500 free points for me, to bad I already own Carcassonne....
J @ Nov 13th 2007 1:07PM
how about a free 800 points for those who recently purchased Carcassone? Think apple and the iphone price debacle. I'm still purchasing products from YOUR store!
schatten529 @ Nov 13th 2007 1:07PM
Never in my wildest dreams did I ever expect to get something free from M$. Although, the 500 points from being one of the original 10 doesn't quite offset the year I paid for Live and never played online while waiting to finally get my 360...oh well.
Cutty @ Nov 13th 2007 1:08PM
While convenient, I can't see myself paying to download an Xbox game which I can buy on a physical medium for a price cheaper than that.
Mike @ Nov 13th 2007 1:09PM
Most of those old xbox games are $9.99 by now. Thanks M$ for your greedy ways.
E.J. @ Nov 13th 2007 1:36PM
You can thank $ony and Nint€ndo for that too!
Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Nov 13th 2007 1:42PM
LOL
You get points for using the Euro in Nintendo.
dan stabbingworth @ Nov 13th 2007 1:47PM
The difference is that Sony, and especially Nintendo, have a large catalog of games that can't be purchased on a physical medium for a reasonable price anymore.
Now, whether or not they are addressing that issue with their service is questionable, but a brief glance on ebay prices of some of the VC games (Mario Kart for example) shows a benefit of using the download service. Show me something rare like Ogre Battle or Suikoden 2 and that's a real bargain.
And as a nice benefit for those that like to collect original carts, prices for games on services like the VC help drive down the outrageous prices on physical games. I just saw Super Metroid for $5. I'll be Ikaruga goes down when it shows up on Live as well.