Xbox Live Games with Gold for November 2014

For the month of November, Xbox Live Gold members can look forward to three new free games on Xbox One and Xbox 360.

[Mr Pumblechook]

Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise. Another six year old game. Woo hoo!

Neither PlayStation Plus or Games with Gold have anything spectacular in November. But maybe both Microsoft and Sony know that with all the big releases coming out they can save the better free games for the quieter months because gamers are going to be too busy playing games like GTA V, Halo:MCC, LBP, Dragon Age, etc.

[Abash]

Man some people were complaining about the November PlayStation Plus releases, but compared to Games wth Gold this month, it actually looks a ton better. I can't believe how stingy Microsoft is being this month

[bleedsoe9mm]

volgarr the viking looked really cool when the showed it at E3 . still its shocking that ms hasn't matched sony's 2 next gen games per month .

[AngelicIceDiamond]

@Bash how many will actually care if SSOD, MCC and COD AW are coming?

Pretty sure Xbox fans won't care as much.

[darthv72]

Heck...Im down for some trouble in paradise. I liked the original VP and never played this one. Can't argue with the price.

[nX]

^Well you can play these games after November as well... Sony offers brand new games at least.

[XanderZane]

They both suck. PS+ just has more games that suck, that's all. lol!! I don't have VivaPinata:TiP, so I'll at least get to check that out. On the PS+ side, I wanted Escape Plan and Luftrausers. So even though the pickings are slim, I have a few games to test out for free.

[MeliMel]

STINGY? You make it seem like MS needs to give you better games. Theyre FREE, either you like it or you dont, but you cant complain about something FREE. Make you look petty.

[Midane]

Yeah, some indie crap once again. Nothing against indie games, but not that much into it. Still, MS offered 50% discount on Titanfall which seems like a nice deal for late adopters. Me included. Titanfall at 25$ + 3 DLC for only 6.25$ is a no brainer for Xbox One owners who are into FPS.

[walkincarpet]

with Destiny and Sunset Overdrive out and Halo coming in two weeks, not to mention other games like Forza, Spark, and Fantasia if that's your thing, I don't think most X1 players will have time to play freebies anyway. I still haven't finished guacemelee and it is one my favorite games. But every time I sit down on the couch I have to choose between playing it or playing Destiny with my buds on the best gaming network with the best controller and Destiny always wins just as the other games I mentioned will win. Unless you are playing every day the free games don't mean anything to X1 gamers... too many good AAA games.

[AngelicIceDiamond]

You said it.

We're in the middle of gaming season MS or Sony won't give away newer games considering majority will be playing FH2, SSOD, COD, Halo MCC, AC Unity, Farcry, LBP, TLOUS, etc.

Just like you said they're saving the good stuff for a slower month.

As for the selection. Not really bad but old. That indie looks like it could be fun I guess but I'm focused on trying to buy these games this season than worry about the free ones.

[Ra3030]

Where as you make a great point waiting for "slower months". IMO Microsoft let a opportunity pass. With the recent releases of FH2, Sunset Overdrive And upcoming MCC and knowing what the Sony free games where they could have taken it to Sony by giving something special away and they didn't. Microsoft needs all the help they can get and with the bad press coming to Microsoft with the Destiny DLC and Microsoft calling those xbox gamers that want a refund "liars" and "fraudulent" .....they need all the help they can get.

[Pogmathoin]

Oh my gosh.... Free games... how terrible! Really guys?

[Jaqen_Hghar]

After all the bashing PS+ has taken for their free offerings a man thinks a little crow for playstation haters is justified just to emphasize that it is not being overshadowed in the slightest which is what was being implied when PS+ revealed its games this month

[d0x360]

Age aside viva pinata and red faction are excellent games. I'd prefer those over more indie shclock any day. If I want to play an indie game I'll buy it. There are now 8 million of them and 99.9% of them are gimmicky borefests.

[3-4-5]

Volgar looks legit, but they've only had one new game each of the past two months, while keeping 1-2 the same for XB1.

It's free so no complaint here, but in all honestly, I think even they know they could offer more.

[k3rn3ll]

I like that that free game has been a brand spanking new game though. That's always legit.

[GamingSinceThe80s]

Viva pinata 2 TIP is still $28 used at Gamestop so there is still a lot of value in it at least even being 6 years old.More so than many games only a year or less old.

[trywizardo]

actually i didn't play viva piniata nor red faction , so to me and to other people like me , its awesome
mean while the X1 game really sucks xD

[Cueil]

VP:TiP is a good effing games

[Fanci]

Viva Pinata is a sweet game, not sure what you're talking about. Addicting as hell.

[madmonkey01]

ps plus used to be good when it was about the games, now they know they can get people to pay for it to play online, they dont need to put out good games.

[frezhblunts]

They usually don't pumblechook because someone like can't look forward to indie games

[Blastoise]

Microsoft had a chance to top the appalling PS+ November offerings and they blew it. Garbage all round.

MS and sony need to get their act together, these are mandatory services that make them a lot of money, its time they put some of that money back into it

Disagree all you want, these are multi million dollar companies getting away with giving the bare minimum

[DanielGearSolid]

Honestly... if i were sony or ms i would stop the free games programs

You ppl are too spoiled now

[Blastoise]

Free games? Free games that I pay for?

Stop spoiling me Sony!

[tinynuggins]

Seriously, it's like a little kid complaining that he wants a bigger candy bar than the one you gave him.

[Blastoise]

I remember when we used to get games like Catherine, Demon's Souls, Metal Gear Rising, Resogun, Outlast, Tomb Raider, Gravity Rush, Uncharted, Disgaea, Unit 13, DmC, Battlefield 3, Dragons Crown, Dead Space, Little Big Planet Karting, Uncharted 3 & Infamous 2.

Now we get games like Joe Danger, Escape Plan & Steamworld dig, despite the Playstation brand being in a better position than ever. Apparently me calling out the blatantly obvious nose-dive in quality is me being a complaining kid who wants a bigger candy bar.

[Highlife]

@Daniel
I completely agree I pay for ps+i have been overwhelmed by the amount of free games to many to even play. Frankly I think it's kids who don't even pay for the service to begin with that complain. Everything is given to them. Go out and earn it.

@blast. That's fine you can complain out you can save your money and don't be a member like someone said below this is a network service with free games thrown in not the other way around.

[andibandit]

Yeah the games are mostly crap, regardless of the price.

[Cueil]

also to be fair you get to keep the Xbox 360 games

[MRMagoo123]

@cueil

Also to be fair who would want to the games are years old not just a couple but years.

[Alsybub]

@Blastoise

Sony used to offer better games because they needed to justify PS+ to people. Now that PS+ is a requirement and the position that they are in, being the most popular platform, they don't really have a motivation to burn money any more. I'm certain that they offered better games, intentionally, as a loss leader to build up PS+ as a service and convert people to a paid model. Now that the transition to paid service is complete they'll begin to retract that.

Stands to reason. If they could they'd take it away right now but that would have everyone reaching for their pitch forks, the next best thing is to just offer the cheapest games possible. After all, I'm sure they must have to pay the devs for every copy downloaded. Eventually no one will be bothered with it and Sony will be able to quietly retire the policy and then MS will probably follow. That'll be a few years yet, I'd imagine.

After all, it is a business.

[Volkama]

Maybe they are putting some money back into it. Where it's needed. Maybe Sony are putting it towards infrastructure and Driveclub servers, and Microsoft are... I dunno, probably rubbing themselves with the cash or something.

Personally I would rather they dropped the free games completely rather than keep throwing us token indie games though. I can buy my own indie games if they interest me. This one does not.

[Death]

Live is a match making service. Plus is a game subscription service. "Free" games for Live subscribers is not an integral part of the service and not what the service advertises itself to be. Plus advertises itself as a game subscription service. You pay $50 a year for the "free" downloadable games. Their online infrastructure as far as multiplayer is concerned is a separate entity and "free" to use as long as you subscribe to the free games. This is why free game selection has higher expectations on the Playstation and server reliability and feature set take a back seat.

[Alsybub]

@Death

Correction, PS+ WAS a game subscription service to motivate PS3 owners to move to a paid service in order to to condition and prepare them for the paid model that they intended to implement on PS4. It's worked and will gradually be phased out. PS+ is now a subscription service for online gaming.

It's understandable, there was no way that Sony could offer free online gaming forever and I think they transitioned to paid service in the best way they possibly could have. After all, one of the biggest arguments for PSN over LIVE was that it was 100% free , they couldn't possibly have switched to paid over night without getting a huge backlash from gamers and the press. I don't think for a moment that it wasn't their intention from the inception of PS+.

Now the problem they have is that people will be far more critical when the service is down. We all used to say that you couldn't really complain about PSN being down because it was so good that it was free. Of course, it will get better as time goes on.

[ramiuk1]

so what your saying is for your £3 a month fee u should be given £50-£100 worht of games??

get a grip of reality.

i would rather them keep giving indies and use the profits towards network etc.
it will be mid next year till we get full ps4 games imo.

[Death]

Free games and higher network reliability would be perfect for gamers. I'd settle for a more reliable network and better features though if I had to choose. I am capable of buying my own games, but I'm not so sure I could make a better network.

[NeoGamer232]

People have misunderstood this since the start of PSN+ free games...

This is not a free games service with the network services thrown in.

It is network services with free games thrown in.

Sony misled gamers with PSN+... They couldn't get anyone to pay for their network services so they started to give away free games each month to hook people on.

MS was up front from the start. These networks are very expensive to create and maintain, so they charged for the service from the start.

Now, that both have moved online gaming behind the pay wall, they don't have to offer the quality of games as they did before. And they aren't.

People need to understand what they are really paying for here.

[Death]

I respectfully disagree. Sony had stated with the PS3 they wouldn't charge for online gameplay. In order to keep their promise they needed to substitute charging for online play with something else. They sold the service as an optional game subscription service. This is why you can play online with your PS3 for free. If we were paying for the network services as you suggest, non-subscribers wouldn't be able to play without a subscription.

The only announced change with the PS4 is the game subscription service is mandatory if you want to play online. The additional revenue was to create a more "robust" online gaming experience. Unless it was a translational error, I think they missed the mark by definition. http://www.merriam-webster....

http://www.egmnow.com/artic...

[Jaqen_Hghar]

So giving you the choice to pay for online for over a decade and still having less restrictions gets you nothing? None of that matters? Sony was upfront from the start because they said exactly when it would be required for online play. It's not like they made PS3 online or vita mandatory for online play. Apps are still free and F2P Games are still free online. They told you exactly what it's for

[NeoGamer232]

@Death...
The first problem is believing anything that any company has to say about "why" they do something. The reality is that Sony promised not to charge for online gaming for PS3 and then realized that it was getting too costly not to charge for it. Rather than just sucking it up and taking the publicity punch the marketing geniuses offered up free games as a service in which they redirected much of the money back to the network services.

Also, I cannot believe how Sony talked that they needed the additional revenue this gen to make the network service more robust. So far this generation Sony have left gamers off their network with capacity and DDoS issues more than they did last gen (with the exception of their multi-week outage) so where is the money really going?

@Jagen_Hghar
They were honest about requirements for online in both gens, but with the PS3 they were not honest about where the money for PSN+ was going. They sold people that they were paying for free games, but needed money to fund their network services. This generation they've finally come clean... And the realities of the network services infrastructure are keeping them from being able to give away third party retail games. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that... People just have to realize that PSN+ is about network services and not free games anymore...

All I am doing is calling a spade a spade... Anyone that thinks that any company gives you the truth all the time is just plain dumb. They say what they have to say to get the money they need/want... MS, Sony, Nintendo are all the same.

[Alsybub]

@Death

After replying to your previous post I'll reply to this one too.

The marketing for PS+ really worked on you. It was obvious from the start that switching to a paid online gaming service was the objective. It was never hard to read between the lines and it was completely understandable they would need to do it eventually.

My previous posts, further up, goes into much greater detail as to why.

I have to say that I never realised that people thought it was any other way, since it was so obvious. We were all compensated for the switch with the free games. We couldn't really complain and I will be quite happy in the long run, once the service is suitably stable.

[lelo2play]

Have to agree with you. Another golden opportunity wasted by Microsoft.

Both PS+/PS4 and XBLAGold/X1 "offerings" are underwhelming.
Sony doesn't need to offer anything better since the PS4 is selling like crack.
... but Microsoft could and should do much better XBLA Gold "offerings". They could at least try to improve X1's sales.

Looks like both companies (Sony and Microsoft) are in a competition to see which has the worse offerings. Honestly, it would be better if they just stopped with these crap "giveaways". What's the point in offering games that hardly anybody wants to play?

[the_dark_one]

"Disagree all you want, these are multi million dollar companies getting away with giving the bare minimum"- correction... they are not entitled to give you more then that. you make a subscription already knowing that some of the games could be not you cup of tea. they never NEVER said that they would only give you AAA games, eventually they will come, but until then you have 2 choices 1- deal with it 2- cancel your sub

[HarryMasonHerpderp]

What's with the multi million dollar company defence force?
I'm signed up to Playstation Plus and i agree there has been a bit of a decline in AAA games for the PAID service. The emphasis is on the word PAID service (DanielGearSolid and tinynuggins).
I've been a member for the past 5 years now, I don't mind the odd indie game here and there but it seems as though Sony are now using indie games as filler. The PS4 is god awful at the moment, where's Killzone? Assasins Creed 4? Wolfenstein? there have been plenty of AAA games for Sony to use for the PAID service.
PS+ was a hard sell for Sony at first and boy did they turn it around by using top quality games and discounts. It seems that now that everyone has to pay for PS+ to play online, that Sony aren't trying anymore because they already have your cash.

[DaleCooper]

It's refreshing to see someone NOT state that these games are free! Like you said, they are part of a PAID service.

People have the right to complain if they aren't getting the value they feel is right for the service.

They also have the right to drop the service, though now that it's tied to multiplayer, Sony has us right where they want us -- hence, the drop in quality games that come with the service.

[k3rn3ll]

Deals for these games are made with publishers weeks in advance. You can't scrap a contract like that. They gave me a free game the day it comes out. That's pretty sweet

[Samsara82]

yeah i think they are both keeping better and bigger games for quieter months...when i saw the choice of games I was dissapointed but after thinking of how many games i have to play right now....it's ok....

[IVanSpinal]

I dont need the GWG.
I pay for Gold because of the Dedicated Servers

[Hellsvacancy]

You pay for Gold so you can play online, there's no disguising it

[AutoCad]

i pay it so i can play everyday without downtime

[DeadlyOreo]

Autocad

There it is. I was waiting for the first silly fan boy comment. And look at those agrees paha.

Truth is you'd be paying it regardless of if it had a couple of hours of down time each month or so (maximum). Don't be silly.

[ThanatosDMC]

Hahaha... I remember when p2p was the thing fanboys touted. Justifying it by saying that at least the server will never go down. Now, talking as if dedicated servers are the newest and shiniest thing that MS offer as if Playstation and PC games never had it. Hilarious.

I dont see darth72 and his BS here.

[AngelicIceDiamond]

Well FH2 release perfectly with the cloud servers. Might I add SSOD 8 player online component is also works flawlessly I don't experience drops or anything.

My comment here.

http://n4g.com/comments/red...

Dedicated servers aren't the newest thing but its nice when a company dedicates its games and services to it to make your online experiences a hell of allot better and smoother.

[ThanatosDMC]

@Angelic

That's great and all but wtf that does have to do with my reply to IVanSpinal? Is it your troll account?

I'm not bashing dedicated servers at all since I'm used to using it.

[Dudebro90]

All great games. Good month.

[MegaRay]

I never thought there are games worse than Ps+ this month

[lifesanrpg]

Awful month for both PS Plus and GWG...

[WeAreLegion]

I love VP and RF:Guerrilla. Both fun games.

[Exies7]

The Viking game looks pretty cool!

Reminds me of that old arcade beast within (?) game. I love those type of games, 2d side scrolling action games.

[Rimeskeem]

I don't know about you guys but getting rebirth for free is freaking amazing

[StormLegend]

Not good at all.

[RedCloud88]

Would've been nice if they gave away one of the launch titles to celebrate the one year anniversary. Maybe dead rising 3.

[lodossrage]

Too many whiners around here.

This is EXACTLY why I hate PS Plus sometimes. Not because of anything they do/don't do, but for the kind of entitled people it created.

And now that MS started games with gold, they too are now getting the same whiners PS Plus had since day 1.

People act like their $50 a year should entitle them to top of the line brand new games free every month. Sony gives you 6 games (2 per system) and microsoft gives you 2-3 games per month (between their systems). I don't care what people may say about the "quality" of games some months, the services pays for themselves within 1 month regardless.

I don't care how old the game is, a "free" game is a "free" game. Sometimes I think Sony and MS should just stop giving people games. THEN you'd have something to legitimately cry and moan about.

[Jaqen_Hghar]

Gotta love the people that tried to hold off on games claiming they would wait for them to appear on plus and now complain that there arent AAA titles on ps4 too. Wait a minute they probably cause this lol. Seriously though who thought that such a new system would be giving away AAA games this soon? For formerly full price AAA titles a man didn't see any on plus until FOUR YEARS into its life. So wait for 2017 then you can complain that it's not what it was on PS3.

[lodossrage]

I laugh at those people to be honest. Truth be told, people were whining about the PS4 not bringing retail level games to Plus like the PS3 since DAY ONE.

I'm not sure what they lack more of, patience or common sense.

And you're right, the service came to the PS3 when the PS3 ALREADY had a ton of games to share. The service didn't even come to the Vita until TWO years later.

The negative factor for the PS4 is that it had it the MOMENT the PS4 became available. It's created a back fire effect sadly.

[jrshankill]

Only, it isn't free. Last time I checked, I pay for Xbox Live and PSN.

[lodossrage]

Dude please, last I remember, you don't even own a PS4. So unless you're trying to tell me the PS3 all of a sudden makes you pay for online, you're full of it.

And in the case of Xbox, you went YEARS with just paying for the right to play online online. The games were just thrown in recently to compete with Plus. So as far as that's concerned, the games in xbox case is just gravy for something you ALREADY paid for in the first place.

[halfblackcanadian]

Indies come out much more often and have a much greater need for exposure (early) so get use to this people.
When retail games get included, they will likely coincide with a sequel or a new game by the same studio.

[ghostface9]

ya this is a little disheartening as an x1 owner the last good game they gave out was super time force. Wish they would put outlast, powerstar golf or something a little better than this. I dont like complaining about getting free games but when you dont want to play them its kinda pointless. The 360 games are still good old but good

[SliceOfTruth888]

lol at people complaining about free games

[lelo2play]

I didn't know Sony and Microsoft were offering free games. How come I don't get free games?

[CleverFawn]

I'm happy with the games I have not played either I cannot care less about how old they are I am just happy to be getting them

[BLKxSEPTEMBER]

It must be the young crowd who still depend on mommy and daddy to buy thier games thats doing all the crying. I just cant picture a grown man complaining about bonus content such as "free" games. I really dont care what they give out every month because when i want a game i go buy it.i swear u younger kids and young adults just dont know who good u got it when it comes to gaming these days. Just enjoy what you have and be thankful that we are getting bonus content with our subscriptions..

[lelo2play]

No, it's the exact opposite. I work for a living, and 50€ a year simply to play online is a lot of money. The games "offered" are worthless to me.

With those 50€ in Steam sales, I could purchase quite a lot of indie games, I can CHOOSE which games to buy, and keep those games FOREVER (not rented).

[eferreira]

Then go to steam, no one is forcing you to stay

[SegaGamer]

I need to renew my Gold account, i think i will wait a month. I already have Viva Pinata and don't like it. Red Faction isn't really my kind of game so i think i'll wait until December to renew my account.

If i had a gold account right now i would get them though, they are free after all.

[theFAYEsorceress]

while the games aren't really free, you're still getting them as a bonuses(on both consoles). you are not entitled to any freebies, so what's the problem? you're fine paying for an online subscription and that's what you're getting. since you have to pay for online now, it's pointless to complain about it any bonus content that you may or may not receive. ms was charging for nothing for years and no one had a problem, sony decided to up it by adding "free" games, and now everyone expects super great stuff all the time. why are you buying a current gen console if you can't support it in the first place? is anyone stupid enough to buy a ps4 or xb1 hoping that they're just gonna pay for xbl or ps+ and have the "free games" keep them entertained the whole time?

[xBraiNshOcK]

Wow, bad month for both sides of the turf.

[badvlad]

red factio was the best game for me when it came out mp was a ton of fun

[Crazay]

Come on MS. Give me a break.

Another lame XBLA game for Xbox One and 2 games I have little to no interest in playing at all. If you picked craptacular games because November is the best month of the year traditionally for new games then that's fine. just admit it to us.

[urwifeminder]

Sweet I put so many hours into Red faction I no longer have the game on 360 only pc so this is awesome, Viva piñata is great news my fiancée never got to play it you can keep the 2d side scrolling crap thanks MS.

[Father__Merrin]

the free games are pretty good, it's actually improving

[ScaryMonkey]

A trifecta of pure garbage.

[IWentBrokeForGaming]

I really love that PS+ provides me with current/relevant free offerings when compared to the competition! And with MS losing indie support to Sony along with Xbox fans being so ignorant as to dismiss indie developers games out of ignorance... Better pray your games keep releasing & you don't hit a dry spell like the last couple of years of 360s life... Cause it's gonna get boooorrrriiiinnnngggg! You'll be eatting crow eventually this gen! You'll see!

[iliimaster]

lol wow ps plus has me drowning in games right now im almost done with tomb raider then i got borderlands 2., lbp2 infamous 2 space marines, devil may cry, bioshock and man the list is too long u get the point... playstation plus a million times more value

[GoPanthers999]

Garbage, not on my hardrive.

[desertpunk86]

with horizon 2,sunset overdrive and the halo 2 remastered who cares about free games but on the playstation side well mmmm aaaaa uuuuu driiiveclub lol.

[keki]

atleast they are trying

[StormLegend]

Hopefully early 2015 we get some freaking AAA games!!!

[ps4lifesucka]

Volgarr the Viking is awesome! Seriously go DL it now!!