Xbox One owners get access to all of EA's "top games" for only $5 a month!

[MobileVortex]

Man, I wish I was in the dashboard preview program.... I've been on Live since the OG XBox.

Same here, i was a first Gen beta tester before LIVE went live.

 

[ncxcstud]

Same, 11+ years for me. I just opted to not deal with the preview because they used to screw up communication with friends when you were in a dashboard/update beta, and I didn't want to risk that. Then, I just didn't care to ask for an invite, so I didn't.

The first update did that because they changed how communication worked on the XBOX One. And you weren't able to voice chat with friends not on the preview build for MAYBE 1 week. They have literally never had that 'problem' since (and it wasn't a problem either since they even informed new users of that when they signed up for the preview).

 

[ncxcstud]

How does EA win in this deal? They get money. People are going to be paying them (stupidly) 5 bucks every month or (smartly) 30 bucks a year.

EA is cutting out the used game market with this strategy. Instead of only getting the 'first' purchase and no cut of resold games, EA is going to make money every month on these subscriptions. If EA can continue to release games at a steady rate this strategy will start making GOBS of money. If a game becomes available in The Vault a little after 3-6 months after initial release it'll be a huge money maker and I can see people flocking to XBOX One for it.

BTW - YOU DON'T NEED XBOX LIVE GOLD to use this. You only need gold if you want to play online.

Gamestop gets a little bone thrown to them by being able to sell EA Access to customers in store (even if it means less people trading in games).

Microsoft wins because its a feather in their cap that they can (and will) tout over Sony - who doesn't see the value in a service like this. But if it becomes hugely successful (which is a very real possibility) I can see Sony doing their own turn around on this...

The future looks weird if many other publishers do something like this. But I'd really only subscribe (once more games come out) to this for EA and Activision. Those are the two biggest publishers in the video game world.

This is the stuff I hoped that Microsoft would do before they 180'd their stance at E3 last year...

 

[tk-093]

So can you send invites to the preview program via the preview app? If so, hook a brother up.

 

[Keith Wallace]

The first update did that because they changed how communication worked on the XBOX One. And you weren't able to voice chat with friends not on the preview build for MAYBE 1 week. They have literally never had that 'problem' since (and it wasn't a problem either since they even informed new users of that when they signed up for the preview).

I meant that on the 360, being in a dashboard beta locked you out of communicating with others on multiple occasions.

Also, like was said, I'd gladly take a preview invite as well, if it gets you into this. Then again, IDK if I'd even sign up for it right now because all I'd want is Madden, and it's $20 for a physical copy at the moment.

 

[ncxcstud]

Can someone confirm you can get achievement points for these games? I'd like to know before I sub

Yep, you can earn achievements. These are the full games not 'special' versions of them.

 

[MobileVortex]

If were just handing out invites around here put me in line. I'll be looking to play some FIFA and NHL when this program launches.

 

[Coreldan]

Well, damn! I just bought a 50€gift card to get me that 12 month sub for this, then found out it only allows you to pay with a card -_- I dont really feel like linking one cos I'd have to fake my address to an irish address cos I cant use the finnish store just yet. I guess I wont be getting my EA access until september then...

 

[ncxcstud]

Yeah, it needs a CC because it sets up a recurring payment.

 

[MobileVortex]

Well when It launches you should be able to buy a card from Amazon

 

[Keith Wallace]

IDK on Amazon, but they DID say it would be available at GameStop.

 

[MobileVortex]

Soon, fans of GameStop will be able to purchase their EA Access membership in local retail stores. GameStop and Amazon will also carry EA Access memberships for Xbox One gamers across Europe, as well as EB Games in Canada

http://www.ea.com/news/ea-announces-ea-access-on-xbox-one

Thanks for the snarky reply though

 

[Keith Wallace]

What was snarky? Just saying I only saw GameStop mentioned, didn't see Amazon when I was skimming the article.

 

[Svoboda]

IDK...something still worries me about this. For whatever (rational) reason, I can't trust EA. They're going to do SOMETHING to make this a bad thing. They'll do some cable company stuff where it's $30/year for the first year with a 2-year agreement, then the second year is $200 or something, haha.

EA's not benevolent. They never have been. Maybe someone hit them with the common sense stick, but I'm not sure yet.

Common sense has nothing to do with it... it's simply a monetary gimme for them. As it stands now, a majority of their catalog is sports games and those games usually have a very short lifespan with gamers. With this program, they're basically getting people to fork over cash to rent their old games.

 

[Keith Wallace]

We don't know that yet. We've got nothing to show what the long-term offerings will be. They could start going the way of PS Now and port old games into the "vault," and they might not wait the full length of a sports game's life cycle to put it up, we'll see. The common sense of it is to not wait forever, raise prices, and waste a nice opportunity to get gamers back on their side.

 

[Jas00555]

I find it astounding that Sony said that $5 for multiple (and expanding) kinda old games is not a good value, but renting one last-gen game for 4 hours for $5 is. It probably has something to do with the fact that they're barely tuning a profit and it's mainly because people are buying PlayStations and subscribing to PS+, but still.... That's an awful stupid way to say it.

I hope more publishers start doing this. If this is EA's service, I can't wait to see how great other services are. I'd be willing to pay 3 different publishers $30 a year. The only games I ever care about getting Day 1 are GTA, Halo, Fallout, and Titanfall. Even getting those 4 will cost over twice as much as getting access to many games from these various services.

 

[Keith Wallace]

It's $2 for 4 hours, then I think $3 for a week and $15 for a month. My concern here is when EA realizes people are hooked. That's when quality decreases, price increases, and people are too apathetic to take a stand (the reason EA's been so crappy over the past 5+ years).

 

[Jas00555]

It's $2 for 4 hours, then I think $3 for a week and $15 for a month. My concern here is when EA realizes people are hooked. That's when quality decreases, price increases, and people are too apathetic to take a stand (the reason EA's been so crappy over the past 5+ years).

It must depend on the game because I saw a copy of Final Fantasy XIII-2 and it cost $5 for 4 hours.

 

[MobileVortex]

Pretty good article on it
http://kotaku.com/playstation-now-is-still-way-too-expensive-1614022375

 

[Keith Wallace]

Remember, kids: Sony said that they rejected EA Access because $5/month for 4 games wasn't the value PS users were used to. At first, I thought that was an insult to the EA offerings. Now, after seeing $5 for a 4-hour rental, I realize they didn't want EA around exposing their horrid pricing.