EA Subscription for Xbone

[Something Amyss]

So you get whatever EA decides to stick inside their so called vault, considering the price i doubt that there will be anything good in it, probably last years sports titles and maybe some old titles that are already dirt cheap. But if you plan on buying a bunch of games made by EA and their dlc's that 10% discount might be worth it.

Maybe, but why not wait for it to actually leave beta and evaluate it on what is actually does have?

Microsoft and EA, huh? A marriage made in hell. I'm not even surprised.

Hell only does domestic partnerships.

 

[COMaestro]

I think a lot of people are making a mistake here.

This isn't a separate subscription for online play on EA games.

This is EA saying "Give us $30 a year and play your fill of as many of our games as you like without having to pay separately for them. Also if you want to buy the DLC we'll give you a discount on it".

Also Early releases of some of its games so you can play before the official release.

This is EA giving you all it's games to rent for $30. If anything that's going to kill the game rentals business at least for EA games. I mean who's going to compete with that really ?

You are not interpreting the article correctly. Let me translate. For $5/mo or $30/yr, you have unlimited access to whatever games EA chooses to put in their "Vault", which is currently Battlefield 4, Peggle 2, FIFA 15, and Madden NFL 25. They will add games in the future, but there's no indication of which games, how many, or how old they will be. They are not going to add new release games to this vault, at least not until the normal sales of the games fall below a certain margin.

By subscribing, you will have access to a "almost week long" trial (probably 5 days) of upcoming releases, in which the save data can transfer to the full version of the game if you purchase it later. Additionally, you will have a 10% discount on all of EA's digital games and DLC. So if you try out, for instance, Dragon Age Inquisition as an EA Access member, you will get to play a trial 5 days before the game's release, which will most likely end at some predetermined point maybe an hour or so into the game. If you choose to purchase it digitally, you will save 10% of the cost, so you'll pay $54 rather than the full $60, and you won't have to replay that hour you put into the trial.

A year or more down the road, EA may add Inquisition to their Vault, at which time you could play it all you wanted while you are a subscriber to EA Access, but that means you waited that year or more to play the game. Or, you already bought the game and having it available through this subscription does nothing at all for you.

The reason this service seems pointless is because of how iterative most of EA's catalog is. Madden? FIFA? Any sports game? Nearly all sales of these games stop as soon as the next year's version is released, so when Madden 27 comes out, they'll throw Madden 26 into their vault because it really won't be making them any more money. As someone else mentioned, most of their FPS games are multiplayer focused, and the players often move to the newer game, so when Battlefield 5 comes out, Battlefield Hardline will probably be put in the vault since less people will be playing it. Wash, rinse, repeat.

EA won't be losing any money on this deal, and in fact will have the opportunity to make more money by getting games that some people chose not to buy out to them, and if they get hooked they might purchase the DLC for said games. For instance, I've never played a Battlefield game and have no interest in doing so, but if I had the option to play it for essentially free, I'd give it a shot. If I suddenly got hooked on it, I might purchase the DLC, and also be interested in the future iterations of the franchise. EA Access is essentially advertising for EA that is being paid for by the consumer.

 

[Something Amyss]

Ok how about look at it first before getting the pitch forks out because, hell if you buy EA stuff digital, You'll like this.

Hell, at a monthly fee cheaper than a rental, this might benefit even people who are largely indifferent to EA.

If only internet hatred could be turned into a renewable resource. EA could solve any energy crisis alone. Which of course, the internet would find a way to blame them for.

Considering they're giving away free games on Origin and getting hate for it, I'm inclined to agree. It would proibably be something to the effect of "OMG. EA created sustainable, renewable energy, thus securing our future. But they put a bunch of people out of work by doing so! I hope they go bankrupt and their power source is lost forever!"

I do say this as someone who is by no means an EA fan.

You're not wrong, that was definitely one of my biggest issues. I reckon it was a mixture of everything though, but generally speaking the reaction seemed to me to be people unhappy with the console's reliance on online. I remember shortly after the PS3 was released, Sony mentioned that the PS4 would probably have no physical drive, and there was outcry against it (internet isn't good enough). Same thing happened when OnLive was launched in the UK, and the whole thing died (through various reasons). People don't like streaming games or subscriptions, but everyone else does, so I reckon it's going to seep in one way or another.

It's kind of sad that for a lot of people, that internet issue is the same complaint as it was when the statement was first made in...2005, I think?

But more to the point, I think a larger part of it comes from the way these things are handled. There was a time when streaming music was a joke, and a time when music downloads were unfeasible. There was a time when streaming video was slow and of poor quality.

The thing is, you also never had BMG or Warner Brothers decide they were going to go digital only, or require an online connection just to play your music or movies. Hell, you can still buy CDs if you want. YouTube was still in its infancy when it was suggested that the next console might be physical media free. And you have to consider that we were talking about this from the company that had 50 GB discs.

games are still kind of there, because a good chunk of the US (and let's face it, the US is a huge consumer base) still has the same issues with broadband service they did in 2005/06. Hell, in some cases it's worse now. These larger game sizes limit the download options of a good chunk of the market. Always online is a similar boat, because any loss of connection can screw you.

Worse still, we're talking about consoles. The PS3 and 360 were not really future proofed. Hell, Microsoft's HDDs are ridiculously priced and still fairly small for digital. They had the chance to redesign it with the 360 slim, and they didn't. Now the Xbone has a larger HDD out of the gate, but also has larger games. Sony, at least you could upgrade with any HDD that would fit, but they've been ridiculously short-sighted with that capacity, too. The PS4 still has the sizing issue of the PS3, being slightly more generous but limiting it to a 2TB drive if you can find one that fits. That doesn't seem so bad unless you're designing a multimedia hub intended to last the better part of a decade with no external drive support. Which admittedly wouldn't be so bad if there was an infrastructure to redownload content quickly.

But I'm not sure this is so much an issue with an optional service such as EA's.

 

[Mikeyfell]

I have a question, because I'm incredibly lazy and didn't bother to read the article.
Is this just like a "buy in bulk, Online Pass?"
So instead of having to buy each individual Online Pass you can get the the whole shebang for a subscription fee?
Or is this just a "pay us and maybe we'll let you play that game you payed for... if you're good"

'Cause if it's the first one I don't have a problem with it.
But if it's the second one there's no way they'll get away with it.
so I'm sort of indifferent towards the whole thing, unless I have to pay a subscription to play Mirror's Edge 2...
That won't happen right! RIGHT!

 

[DarkhoIlow]

This just adds more fuel to the fire and another subscription to the pile that the consoles require to play games.

Also I agree that EA + MS doesn't bode to well if they get in bed together.

 

[Elijin]

I have a question, because I'm incredibly lazy and didn't bother to read the article.
Is this just like a "buy in bulk, Online Pass?"
So instead of having to buy each individual Online Pass you can get the the whole shebang for a subscription fee?
Or is this just a "pay us and maybe we'll let you play that game you payed for... if you're good"

'Cause if it's the first one I don't have a problem with it.
But if it's the second one there's no way they'll get away with it.
so I'm sort of indifferent towards the whole thing, unless I have to pay a subscription to play Mirror's Edge 2...
That won't happen right! RIGHT!

Neither.

Its more like...uh...Netflix - EA Edition?

Its a rental service paired with some discounts on EA digital content, and early access to new releases.

At this point in time, EA no longer actually do online passes with their games. Retired them when the new gen came in.

 

[Mikeyfell]

I have a question, because I'm incredibly lazy and didn't bother to read the article.
Is this just like a "buy in bulk, Online Pass?"
So instead of having to buy each individual Online Pass you can get the the whole shebang for a subscription fee?
Or is this just a "pay us and maybe we'll let you play that game you payed for... if you're good"

'Cause if it's the first one I don't have a problem with it.
But if it's the second one there's no way they'll get away with it.
so I'm sort of indifferent towards the whole thing, unless I have to pay a subscription to play Mirror's Edge 2...
That won't happen right! RIGHT!

Neither.

Its more like...uh...Netflix - EA Edition?

Its a rental service paired with some discounts on EA digital content, and early access to new releases.

At this point in time, EA no longer actually do online passes with their games. Retired them when the new gen came in.

Oh, well as long as it's optional and you're still able to buy individual games I don't see what the big deal is.
I'd love to be able to rent games digitally, not on a subscription basis, (and not EA games) but this doesn't sound like such a bad thing.

 

[kasperbbs]

Maybe, but why not wait for it to actually leave beta and evaluate it on what is actually does have?

You are right about that, but are you really expecting EA to give anything of value for free? Well it might happen, and if it did i would be genuinely surprised. They did give away Dead space and sims 2 for free on origin so it might be that sort of thing with old titles, but xbone doesn't really have anything that old at this time so i'm curious to see what will come of it.

 

[Something Amyss]

You are right about that, but are you really expecting EA to give anything of value for free? Well it might happen, and if it did i would be genuinely surprised. They did give away Dead space and sims 2 for free on origin so it might be that sort of thing with old titles, but xbone doesn't really have anything that old at this time so i'm curious to see what will come of it.

I expect them to provide games for a service. That's about all I expect. I suspect there will be some titles of merit, however. I also suspect they won't be the newest titles, as EA's promo material included the five day trial before release thing, which advertises that you can buy the game and pick up where you left off.

How many titles they end up with and how hot the titles are is up for grabs. And honestly, I don't care all that much. I mean, I don't own an Xbone, but if it comes to a device I own, I look at it this way: either it will contain games that I find are worth 30 bucks a year or it won't and I won't subscribe to it. Either way, we won't know until it launches.

 

[lnin0]

The Vault. Too many popular games too soon and it becomes cheaper for subscribers to hold off on purchasing games Not enough relevant games and people will see no point in paying the subs for access to year old Madden and FIFA titles. EA needs to keep at least one relevant title in the vault that justifies the $30 outlay. I think BF4 is a good choice for a lot of people who may have put off purchasing it. $30 is probably not the cheapest you can find BF4 for but its still a pretty good price considering all the other benefits you get. On top of that, it will also help push DLC sales for that game. We will have to see if EA can maintain a good balance.

Early Access. I can see this for the sports and online shooters because they are really not the type of games you can finish in 5 days. However, things like Dragon Age or other single player games will probably not offer up more than an extended demo, if any. Otherwise, too many people would just play through all of DA in 5 days and have no need to buy it. Then enjoy a second run through in a year when it hits the vault.

 

[COMaestro]

-snip-

Except in the article it says about the coming games such as most of the 2015 sports games.
If EA keep this current an not as some bargain basement bin then they'll be giving people a pretty amazing deal really/

That's for the early access program, where you get to play a trial of the game a few days before release and can transfer your save to the full game if you purchase it. From the article:

"Games that will be eligible for early access and save copy-over are Madden NFL 15, NHL 15, FIFA 15, NBA Live 15, and Dragon Age: Inquisition."

You are mistaking early access (game trial/demo) with EA Access (the subscription service).

 

[Ticklefist]

If I owned an Xbox One I'd probably give this a pass. Since I don't I'm going to maintain my dignity and carry on without whining about it.

 

[Rozalia1]

Console gamers pay money for what PC gamers get for free. Not big surprise.

While correct for those who shelled out for 10 years for live on the 360 that isn't fully accurate. I've been using plus since it's inception as have many others and there was no online requirement attached at that point. Than there is Nintendo...
So you're correct on a technicality I suppose, but you should acknowledge there is more to it than the base.

Though I'll agree with you that it shouldn't be a thing, how Microsoft duped people to pay for a service that had no value (outside the supposed "better" online I suppose if any marks are reading) is a lesson that businesses will study for a long time. How such smart business men have messed up so heavily with the Xbone is baffling.