XBL Deals - Jan 6 - Sep 4, 2014

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Recent Updates

  • 9/2 - Deals with Gold, Spotlight Activision, Misc Markdowns
  • 8/28 - Sept GwG announced, Misc Markdown
  • 8/27 - NFS Rivals XB1 added to Deals with Gold, Ascend server shutdown
  • 8/26 - Deals with Gold, Summer Binge, Spotlight Shadow Complex, Misc Markdowns
  • 8/23 - Castlevania: LOS2 Misc Markdown
This thread will maintain a list of all current and upcoming sales and markdowns on the Xbox Live Marketplace / Xbox Games Store for the USA.  YMMV in other regions.  If non-US sales are listed, they will be marked with their applicable region(s).
 
Please note:

  • You cannot currently buy any Xbox 360 content on xbox.com using your account balance, you can only use an active credit card or PayPal. To use your balance, you must make purchases on your console.  Unfortunately, even "purchasing" free content through the web site like trials requires an alternative method of payment tied to your account, though adding an empty MasterCard / Visa gift card that is registered for online purchases will work.  Xbox One games can be purchased on the web site with your account balance, but DLC cannot.
  • Some sales are intended for Gold subscribers only, as noted within each section.  This requires being a paid subscriber or within a console-activated "1 month complimentary Gold trial" account.  Neither 48 hour trials, 14 day trials nor free weekends qualify.
  • All known sales and information on sales should make their way into the OP. Major Nelson usually updates his blog with new sales information every other Tuesday.
  • ALL OFFERS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE! No information within this thread can or should be construed as accurate (or still valid), therefore ...
  • Always verify Xbox Live Marketplace prices before your purchase!
  • Spend wisely, have fun, and enjoy!
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Deals with Gold
Gold subscription required
 

9/2 - 9/8 - Misc


[*]Persona 4 Arena - $9.98 - 67% off - xbldb
[*]Resident Evil 4 - $6.59 - 67% off - xbldb
[*]Resident Evil Revelations - $13.59 - 66% off - xbldb
[*]Rock of Ages - $4.99 - 50% off - xbldb
8/26 - 9/1 - NFS Rivals DLC / KI Sabrewulf


[*]Need for Speed Rivals - $19.79 - 67% off - xbldb - base game part of Summer Binge Sale below

8/19 - 8/25 - Call of Duty / Trials Fusion

  • XB1 - Trials Fusion - $13.39 - 33% off (free price on web site is a trial version)
  • XB1 Call of Duty: Ghosts (console only)
    Season Pass - $24.99 - 50% off
  • Legend Pack - CPT Price - $1.99 - 50% off
  • Legend Pack - Makarov - $1.99 - 50% off
  • Snoop Dogg VO Pack - $1.49 - 50% off
  • Squad Pack - Extinction - $1.99 - 50% off

[*]Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - $14.99 - 50% off - xbldb
[*]Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 - $19.99 - 60% off - xbldb

[*]Call of Duty: Black Ops - $19.99 - 50% off - xbldb
[*]Call of Duty: Black Ops II - $29.99 - 50% off - xbldb

[*]Call of Duty: Ghosts

8/12 - 8/18 - Square Enix, Fight Night

8/5 - 8/11 - Misc


[*]Terraria - $4.94 - 67% off - xbldb
7/29 - 8/4 - EA sale

  • XB1 - Battlefield 4 DLC - console only purchase
    Premium - 33% off
    China Rising - 33% off
  • Naval Strike - 33% off
  • Second Assault - 33% off

[*]Ultimate Shortcut Bundle - 33% off

[*]Battlefield 4 DLC

[*]Ultimate Shortcut Bundle - $33.49 - 33% off - xbldb

[*]2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil - $17.99 - 70% off - xbldb
[*]FIFA 14 - $29.99 - 50% off - xbldb
[*]Madden NFL 25 - $24.99 - 50% off - xbldb
[*]NHL 14 - $24.99 - 50% off - xbldb
7/22 - 7/28 - Superhero sale


[*]Marvel vs. Capcom: Origins - $7.49 - 50% off - xbldb
[*]Mortal Kombat vs. DCU - $9.99 - 50% off - xbldb
[*]Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - $19.99 - 50% off - xbldb
[*]Young Justice: Legacy - $4.99 - 75% off - xbldb
7/15 - 7/21 - PvZ: Garden Warfare XB1, BioShock


7/8 - 7/14 - Titanfall XB1, Serious Sam and various DLCs


[*]The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

[*]The Walking Dead: Season Two - Season Pass - $7.49 - 50% off - xbldb
[*]WWE 2K14 Season Pass -  $9.99 - 50% off - xbldb
7/1 - 7/7 - Thief XB1, Ubisoft XBLA and others

6/24 - 6/30 - Ryse / Diablo / Fable / Payday

  • XB1 - Ryse: Son of Rome - $49.99 - 17% off
    Season Pass - $9.99 - 50% off - console only

[*]Diablo III - $29.99 - 50% off - xbldb
[*]Payday 2 - $12.94 - 63% off - xbldb
[*]Fable II - $4.99 - 75% off - xbldb
[*]Fable III - $4.99 - 75% off - xbldb
[*]Fable Heroes - $3.39 - 66% off - xbldb
[*]Fable Anniversary DLC

6/17 - 6/23 - Rockstar Sale, part Umpteen, plus Deadfall & XB1


[*]Midnight Club: LA - $3.74 - 75% off - xbldb
[*]Red Dead Redemption - $7.49 - 75% off - xbldb
6/10 - 6/16 - Hodgepodge, Part II, or "Oh shit, we forgot to schedule a sale"


[*]Forza Horizon - $10.19 - 66% off - xbldb
[*]Resident Evil Revelations - $13.59 - 66% off - xbldb
[*]Terraria - $4.94 - 67% off - xbldb
________________________________________________________________________
 
Games with Gold
Gold subscription required, Xbox One games are only playable while Gold is active, but can be added to your account with a Gold trial
 
Free Games


[*]Sep 1-15 - Monaco: What's Yours is Mine - xbldb
[*]Sep 16-30 - Halo: Reach - xbldb
[*]Sep XB1 - Games can be purchased without requiring an Xbox One console


[*]Jul 1-15 - Gotham City Impostors - xbldb
[*]Jul 16-31 - BattleBlock Theater - xbldb
[*]Jul XB1 - Games can be purchased without requiring an Xbox One console
Related sales ** END DATES UNKNOWN **

________________________________________________________________________

Sales & Specials

[customspoiler=Note]If the start & end dates are not well-defined, ACT FAST! since these "sales" could end anytime. However, they may also be permanent markdowns.[/customspoiler]

Spotlight Activision Sale - 9/2 - 9/8

Spotlight Shadow Complex- 8/26 - 9/1

Summer Binge Sale - 8/26 - 9/1 - Both Gold only and Silver discounts


[*]Far Cry 3 - $9.99 - 50% off - xbldb
[*]Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon - $4.94 - 67% off - xbldb
[*]Forza Horizon - $9.89 - 67% off - xbldb
[*]Guardians of Middle-earth - $4.94 - 67% off - xbldb
[*]Left 4 Dead - $4.99 - 75% off - xbldb
[*]Lego The Lord of the Rings - $4.99 - 75% off - xbldb
[*]Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga - $14.99 - 50% off - xbldb
[*]Mafia II - $3.99 - 80% off - xbldb
[*]Murdered: Soul Suspect - $29.99 - 40% off - xbldb
[*]Need for Speed Rivals - $19.79 - 67% off - xbldb
[*]NFL Blitz - $4.94 - 67% off - xbldb
[*]Plants vs. Zombies - $4.94 - 67% off - xbldb

[*]Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare - $20.09 - 33% off - xbldb
[*]Rayman Legends - $13.19 - 67% off - xbldb
[*]Ridge Racer Unbounded - $4.99 - 75% off - xbldb
[*]Sniper Elite 3 - $26.79 - 33% off - xbldb
[*]SoulCalibur V - $3.74 - 75% off - xbldb
[*]Spec Ops: The Line - $4.49 - 85% off - xbldb
[*]Star Trek - $7.49 - 75% off - xbldb
[*]State of Decay

[*]Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows - $4.94 - 67% off - xbldb
[*]Twisted Pixel Games Bundle - $9.89 - 67% off - xbldb
[*]The Walking Dead: Season Two - Season Pass - $10.04 - 33% off - xbldb
[*]The Wolf Among Us - Season Pass - $10.04 - 33% off - xbldb
Spotlight Rockstar - 8/19 - 8/25


[*]Grand Theft Auto V - $29.99 - 50% off - xbldb
[*]L.A. Noire - $7.49 - 75% off - xbldb

[*]Max Payne 3 - $4.99 - 75% off - xbldb

[*]Midnight Club: LA - $3.74 - 75% off - xbldb
[*]Red Dead Redemption - $7.49 - 75% off - xbldb

[*]Rockstar Table Tennis - $3.74 - 75% off - xbldb
Spotlight Just Dance - 8/12 - 8/18 - Gold only


N64 Banjo Bundle - 7/9 - 8/8


Spotlight XB1 Ghosts (aka, the new Risk Factions) - 8/5 - 8/11

Spotlight Capcom - 8/5 - 8/11


[*]Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara - $5.09 - 66% off - xbldb
[*]Dustforce - $4.99 - 50% off - xbldb
[*]Final Fight: Double Impact - $3.99 - 60% off - xbldb
[*]Lost Planet 2 - $4.99 - 75% off - xbldb
[*]Lost Planet 3 - $13.59 - 66% off - xbldb
[*]Mega Man 9 - $4.99 - 50% off - xbldb
[*]Mega Man 10 - $4.99 - 50% off - xbldb
[*]Puzzle Fighter HD - $4.99 - 50% off - xbldb
[*]Remember Me - $9.99 - 75% off - xbldb
[*]Resident Evil Code: Veronica X - $6.59 - 67% off - xbldb
[*]Resident Evil 4 - $6.59 - 67% off - xbldb
[*]Resident Evil 5 - $6.59 - 67% off - xbldb

[*]Resident Evil 6

[*]Resident Evil Operation Raccoon City - $11.59 - 71% off - xbldb
[*]Resident Evil Revelations - $13.59 - 66% off - xbldb
[*]Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix - $5.09 - 66% off - xbldb
[*]Street Fighter III: Third Strike Online Edition - $3.74 - 75% off - xbldb
[*]Street Fighter X Tekken

Spotlight Splatters - 7/29 - 8/4

Spotlight Deep Silver - 7/22 - 7/28

Spotlight Nordic - 7/22 - 7/28


[*]Destroy All Humans! Path of the Furon - $3.99 - 80% off - xbldb
[*]Frontlines: Fuel of War - $3.99 - 80% off - xbldb - Unobtainable achievements (servers offline)
[*]Jeopardy! - $7.49 - 75% off - xbldb
[*]MX vs. ATV Alive - $4.99 - 75% off - xbldb
[*]Painkiller Hell & Damnation - $5.99 - 80% off - xbldb

[*]The Raven - Legacy of a Master Thief Episode 1 - $2.49 - 75% off - xbldb

[*]Red Faction: Armageddon - $7.49 - 75% off - xbldb

[*]Red Faction: Guerrilla - $9.99 - 50% off - xbldb

[*]Zombie Driver HD - $4.99 - 50% off - xbldb
Spotlight Bethesda QuakeCon Sale - 7/17 - 7/20

Ultimate Games Sale - 7/8 - 7/14
Same DLC also on sale on XB1 through console with same discount


[*]July 9

[*]July 10

[*]July 11

[*]July 12

[*]July 13

[*]July 14

[*]All week

[*]The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Enhanced Edition - $9.89 - 67% off - xbldb
[*]Trials Evolution - $5.09 - 66% off - xbldb
[*]Trials Fusion - $13.39 - 33% off - xbldb

Spotlight Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag DLC - 7/1 - 7/7
Same DLC also on sale on XB1 through console with same discount


Spotlight Pro Evolution Soccer - 7/1 - 7/7


FIFA World Cup Brazil - 6/26 - 6/30

Spotlight Sega - 6/24 - 6/30

Spotlight Lego - 6/24 - 6/30

Spotlight? - 6/17 - 6/23 - Saints Row passes & KI Sabrewulf

Pseudo Deals with Gold - 6/10 - 6/16 - GTA


[*]Grand Theft Auto V - $29.99 - 50% off - xbldb
Xbox One Sales

  • XB1 Xbox Fitness - FREE until January 2015
  • Feb 27-? - Zoo Tycoon - $39.99 - 33% off (360 version also, see below)
Skullgirls characters

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Misc. Markdowns / Recently Reduced
[customspoiler=Notes]May be permanent mark downs, may be temporary pricing errors. Items marked with a * have been confirmed as permanent reductions either on the console dashboard, on Xbox.com's Recently Reduced page or corroborated from other sources (PSN, dev/pub, etc)[/customspoiler]
 
September 2014

August 2014


[*]8/5 - Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance - $19.99 - 50% off - xbldb
[*]8/5 - NHL 14 - $39.99 - 20% off - xbldb
[*]8/5 - Madden NFL 25 - $29.99 - 40% off - xbldb
[*]8/5 - 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil - $39.99 - 33% off - xbldb
[*]8/5 - NCAA Football 14 - $29.99 - 40% off - xbldb
[*]8/5 - NBA 2K14 - $39.99 - 33% off - xbldb
[*]8/4 - South Park: The Stick of Truth - $39.99 - 33% off - xbldb
[*]8/4 - Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag - $29.99 - 25% off - xbldb
July 2014


June 2014

May 2014
April 2014

March 2014

February 2014
[/customspoiler]
[/customspoiler]

[*]2/10 - Far Cry 3 - $19.99 - 33% off - xbldb
[*]2/6 - Ruby Soho by Rancid - $0.99 - 50% off - xbldb - Guitar Hero World Tour
[*]2/6 - Death Blossoms by Rise Against - $0.99 - 50% off - xbldb - Guitar Hero World Tour
[*]2/6 - Guitar Hero Track Pack 4 - $3.49 - 44% off - xbldb - Guitar Hero II
[*]2/4 - XB1 - Lococycle - $9.99 - 50% off * - Confirmed permanent by Major Nelson
[*]2/4 - Armored Core: Verdict Day - $19.99 - 33% off - xbldb
[*]2/3 - Metro: Last Light - $39.99 - 20% off - xbldb
[*]2/3 - Zumba Fitness Core - $29.99 - 25% off - xbldb * Confirmed on Dashboard

January 2014

[*]1/21 - Borderlands 2 - $19.99 - 33% off - xbldb  *
[*]1/21 - BioShock Infinite - $29.99 - 25% off - xbldb *
[*]1/21 - The Bureau: XCOM Declassified - $29.99 - 50% off - xbldb *
[*]1/17 - Warlords - $4.99 - 50% off - xbldb - Previously delisted, relisted at lower price, unknown if it will remain
[*]1/16 - Rayman Origins - $14.99 - 25% off - xbldb
[*]1/14 - Armored Core: Verdict Day - $29.99 - 40% off - xbldb
[*]1/9 - Aqua - $4.99 - 50% off - xbldb
[*]1/8 - Phineas and Ferb: Quest for Cool Stuff - $19.99 - 50% off - xbldb
[*]1/7 - Assassin’s Creed IV Illustrious Pirates Pack - $6.99 - 30% off - xbldb
[*]1/6 - Saints Row IV - $39.99 - 33% off - xbldb
[*]1/1 - Hydrophobia - $2.99 - 40% off - xbldb *

December 2013
________________________________________________________________________
 
Misc. Promotions

________________________________________________________________________
 
Xbox Live Rewards
________________________________________________________________________
 
Cross Buy Promotions
 
Between Xbox 360 and Xbox One :

________________________________________________________________________
 
Microtransaction Deals [customspoiler=Note]Not tracked by xbldb, use playXBLA for blog updates for these deals.[/customspoiler]


________________________________________________________________________
 
Delisting / Server Shutdown Watch


[*]Capcom Gamespy server shutdown - expected 5/31
  • Age of Booty - 2 achievements become unobtainable with loss of online play
  • Flock! - level editor sharing disabled, no achievements affected

[*]Rockstar games affected by Gamespy server shutdown - expected 5/31

[*]Ubisoft online server shutdown - expected 8/8
  • America's Army: True Soldiers
  • James Cameron's Avatar
  • Motionsports Adrenaline
  • PowerUp Heroes
  • Pure Football
  • Shaun White Snowboarding
  • Tom Clancy's EndWar
  • Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2
  • Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Double Agent

[*]Rock Band tracks - expected 8/26
  • Fleetwood Mac - "World Turning"
  • Fleetwood Mac - "Don’t Stop"
  • Spinal Tap Pack 01 - $1.00 - 71% off - xbldb
    Back From The Dead
  • Rock ‘n’ Roll Nightmare
  • Saucy Jack
  • Warmer Than Hell

[*]Spinal Tap’s Tap Ten - $1.00 - 89% off - xbldb
  • (Funky) Sex Farm
  • (Listen to The) Flower People (Reggae Style)
  • America
  • Big Bottom
  • Cups and Cakes
  • Gimme Some Money
  • Heavy Duty
  • Hell Hole
  • Rock N Roll Creation
  • Stonehenge
  • Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You Tonight

[*]Official forums announcement

[*]Doritos Crash Course 2

[*]Ascend: Hand of Kul


[*]Rock Band Track - Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" - expected Apr 30, gone Apr 28

[*]BurgerTime World Tour - $4.99 - 50% off - xbldb - expected Apr 30

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Thanks to reddjoey, tylerh1701, BobbyTastic and Necrozilla for maintaining prior versions of this thread, and to all those who have posted deals and made Wiki edits.  This thread is truly a collaborative effort built from the contributions of the community.
 

 
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Upvote 0 Downvote
Cage017 said:
Does everyone agree with this order? Here I was about to open my sealed copy of Halo CE Anniversary to play it.

Which games? I've only followed FPS games through Playstation so I'd like to know what this series influenced.
Click to expand...
That's the order. I'm not too sure of Wars, but it more than likely is first.

Almost any FPS game to release after Halo and especially games that have MP. Halo nearly perfected the matchmaking system.
 
Cage017 said:
This surprises me since I figured ODST and Halo Wars were spin-offs. I didn't like the demo for Halo Wars at all which is why I don't own it.

Does everyone agree with this order? Here I was about to open my sealed copy of Halo CE Anniversary to play it.
Click to expand...
Reach is a prequel but i'm not sure if you should play it first. The bad thing about those kind of games is that if you play them in order, Reach obviously has newer gameplay and game mechanics, and then when you play halo CE, it feels dated. It might be better to start with CE. I remember going back to halo 3 when it was free and it feels so slow after playing halo 4.

I didn't play halo wars so I can't tell you about that but ODST was fun. It takes place during the events of halo 2 but through the eyes of helljumpers instead of chief.

 
kcobra22 said:
Reach is a prequel but i'm not sure if you should play it first. The bad thing about those kind of games is that if you play them in order, Reach obviously has newer gameplay and game mechanics, and then when you play halo CE, it feels dated. It might be better to start with CE. I remember going back to halo 3 when it was free and it feels so slow after playing halo 4.

I didn't play halo wars so I can't tell you about that but ODST was fun. It takes place during the events of halo 2 but through the eyes of helljumpers instead of chief.
Click to expand...
Meh semantics... I'd recommend going through them in chronological order and I'm not gonna argue with the plot stuff at all. Fighting with anyone over an opinion is nothing more than prick waving... we don't fight over or even discuss our favorite porn genres so why should we argue over some thing else that brings pleasure lol
 
kcobra22 said:
Reach is a prequel but i'm not sure if you should play it first. The bad thing about those kind of games is that if you play them in order, Reach obviously has newer gameplay and game mechanics, and then when you play halo CE, it feels dated. It might be better to start with CE. I remember going back to halo 3 when it was free and it feels so slow after playing halo 4.

I didn't play halo wars so I can't tell you about that but ODST was fun. It takes place during the events of halo 2 but through the eyes of helljumpers instead of chief.
Click to expand...
Agreed, no one should be playing these for the story anyhow.

Wars is pretty cool; its a fun console RTS. You're not getting anything deep, but if you're a Halo fan, its cool to see the different forces utilized in a different manner.

 
Halo Wars- 25 years before the first Halo

Reach

Halo- play the anniversary edition. They did a great job with the graphics, you can switch from the new graphics back to the old while in game.

Halo 2- playable on the pc as well, but not for much longer

Halo 3:ODST

Halo 3

Halo 4

I would play them in that order. The halo wars campaign is really good.

 
kcobra22 said:
Reach is a prequel but i'm not sure if you should play it first. The bad thing about those kind of games is that if you play them in order, Reach obviously has newer gameplay and game mechanics, and then when you play halo CE, it feels dated. It might be better to start with CE. I remember going back to halo 3 when it was free and it feels so slow after playing halo 4.

I didn't play halo wars so I can't tell you about that but ODST was fun. It takes place during the events of halo 2 but through the eyes of helljumpers instead of chief.
Click to expand...
Yeah def play Reach as it's intended, after ODST.

Halo Wars does take place before Halo but you'll be fine playing it anytime honestly. The game has a nice Halo timeline though, with collecting archives on each mission, it's for you if you want to track everything down. I quite liked the campaign, the cutscenes are top notch from Blur studios.

 
Rip44 said:
In addition, here's a quick read on Halo and what its done for gaming:
http://www.gamesradar.com/the-top-7-ways-halo-influenced-the-games-industry/
Click to expand...
EldritchOnRye said:
That article needed to be one sentence: "Everything copied it until they started copying CoD."
Click to expand...
And before that it was Doom, what's your point.

Finished Alan Wake, made me wonder which came first, the Kryll in Gears of War or the birds in Alan Wake, damn birds. They're easy to take out, just a pain that's all. Wow, yah I really liked it, some awesome moments and overall a fun and immersive experience. It actually makes me more excited for Quantum Break this year, well that is if the rumors are to be believed.

 
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EldritchOnRye said:
That article needed to be one sentence: "Everything copied it until they started copying CoD."
Click to expand...
Spybreak9 said:
And before that it was Doom, what's your point.

Finished Alan Wake, made me wonder which came first, the Kryll in Gears of War or the birds in Alan Wake, damn birds. They're easy to take out, just a pain that's all. Wow, yah I really liked it, some awesome moments and overall a fun and immersive experience. It actually makes me more excited for Quantum Break this year, well that is if the rumors are to be believed.
Click to expand...
I think he was saying everyone copied Halo, til everyone started copying CoD. Which I agree.

And yes, eeverything was copied from DOOM, which was copied from Wolfenstein.

Kryll from Gears was first (2006). But I get your point. They're both so similar.

Wake was a great game. Controls were a bit clunky, but great nonetheless. I'm excited for Quantum as well.
 
As a lover of science fiction, I think Halo CE had a fantastic story. Several well-thought-out plot twists kept me glued to the screen until the credits rolled. It wasn't until Halo 2 that Bungie became completely self-indulgent and went off the rails with unnecessarily complex storylines and obscure lore.

Even if you don't care about story, it's a must play for gamers of all stripes; even if you don't particularly care for FPS games. The trademark 2-gun limit made higher difficulties almost puzzle-like in that you must make wise decisions about what weapons to carry if you hope to survive the next encounter. Grenades and melee are a button's press away, leading to quick counters and more dynamic battles than earlier FPSes.

Lastly, and this is something that rarely gets mentioned, the enemy AI is the best I have ever seen in any video game, bar none. Enemy movement (particularly of the elites) is never truly predictable; no two engagements are exactly the same. I have played hundreds of hours of the game and every single time I play, something happens that never happened before. Every. Single. Time.

Halo 2 broke my heart; 3 was just confusing; ODST was an interesting experiment, Reach and 4, while different, are both very good. The first has yet to be topped in sheer gameplay value, in my opinion. If I had to choose just say, 10 games to play forever, Halo CE would likely be the only FPS on the list. And that's coming from a gamer who plays a LOT of FPSes.

 

Baboy said:
Wait a second.

Halo has a storyline?

I'm kidding of course, but I never understood the giant hype around Halo's sci-fi story. It's a good-looking setting, and I'm sure that if I've read the books it would be more interesting, but the games? "OK Chief, go there, kill the aliens, recover item". That pretty much sums up the campaign, for me. Halo 4's campaign was linear and full of explosions and scripted events (not unlike COD), but I barely remember anything of the story besides the chemistry between Chief and Cortana. I just think they're fun shooters - online, especially.
Click to expand...
Halo 1 and 2 have legitimately coherent and interesting storylines. 2 does cut off anticlimactically, but until then it kept me going. True, they upped the complexity with the Covenant stuff, but not impenetrably so.
Part 3 is where things went off the rails, as the story bounces all over the place with very little connective issue (much like the first Gears of War). They did bring it back together for ODST (best story in the series IMO) and Reach though.

Cleaner7 said:
I kind of wish I would have held off on Diablo 3. I should have known better. I'm not sure if I should get the new version on 360 or upgrade to the XB1 version. Either way I'll have to wait for a sale again. That's a really fun game. I'm happy they're allow the saves to transfer to either version.
Click to expand...
Don't feel bad - your progress carries over. You could play it for months until the Ultimate Evil Edition releases and you'll be ahead of the game compared to people who waited. Plus more Achievements.


preston181 said:
Just going to leave this here...

http://wpcentral.com/diablo-iii-ultimate-evil-edition-announced
Click to expand...
Awesome that you chose my story out of all the stories about the Diablo 3 announcement. Thanks man.

 
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ProfessorMicro said:
As a lover of science fiction, I think Halo CE had a fantastic story. Several well-thought-out plot twists kept me glued to the screen until the credits rolled. It wasn't until Halo 2 that Bungie became completely self-indulgent and went off the rails with unnecessarily complex storylines and obscure lore........Halo 2 broke my heart; 3 was just confusing; ODST was an interesting experiment, Reach and 4, while different, are both very good. The first has yet to be topped in sheer gameplay value, in my opinion. If I had to choose just say, 10 games to play forever, Halo CE would likely be the only FPS on the list. And that's coming from a gamer who plays a LOT of FPSes.
Click to expand...
I was waiting for someone to post how I felt so I could completely agree with them and HERE IT IS. Agreed 100 fucking percent. Figures it'd be Prof Micro!!
 
qp Rop3ADop3 qp said:
I have to disagree on that. Halo 4's campaign is the strongest on my opinion, because the entire feel in the game had emotional impact on me as player. How many games do you play without feeling a thing? like robot! You just beat the game and go to the next. Well it's not the case with Halo 4, at least not for me. If there is no emotional factor in game one tends to forget that game very fast.
Despite the nice graphics and change in style, story was there. And by story I mean the development of characters, their interactions and how they react to environment and situations. Great voice overs on part of actors,.. (how many times I've seen bad voice over simply killing the game) Take Cortana for instance, they did amazing job in developing the AI who had feelings. I fell for Cortana 1st time in Halo series, they made Cortana that perfect fragile girl that men wants to protect.
There tons of details to discuss, Out of all Halos this one I def. will remember and play many times, mostly campaign.
Plus I'm really thankful that 343 went out of their way and reinvented the sound and feel of weapons. Finally marine assault rifle sounds like it suppose to.
Click to expand...
Warning - Halo rant incoming:
That's why Halo 4 broke the canon. As a Spartan and de facto leader of the Spartans, he never really showed emotion. The only times he did were when he's trying to do something to desperately "protect his team" (e.g. Running Linda to the cryotube, grabbing Johnson's hand in Halo 3). It was only after the mission was over did he reflect, and it was only to find ways to prevent the same thing from happening again. This abrupt change from an almost stoic character to one that tries to be romantic every 5 seconds with his teammate is freaking weird. Imagine if Gordon Freeman decided to talk and never shut up in HL3. Would kind of ruin his character, unless the voice actor and dialogue were stellar.

John is somewhat excusable, humans can change over time, especially when John's been with Cortana for most of his military career, but Cortana's character change is fucking stupid. AI personalities are based off the brain that they were created from, in Cortana's case, Dr. Halsey's. Dr. Halsey has the personality that Cortana displayed in the first three games: curious, calculating, condescending at times, joking/sarcastic comments. She believed there wasn't a problem she couldn't solve. So Cortana shouldn't have been whining and crying the entire game. Yes, she was worried about rampancy, but rampancy wouldn't have turned her into a "damsel in distress". She would've found a way to beat rampancy, or failing that, found a way to complete the mission and keep John alive (her mission parameters). This romantic love-dovey stuff (they upped the love interest waaaaayyyy too much) combined with the COD copy paste makes halo 4 the worst IMO, despite having an interesting basis with The Didact's story.

Halo Reach was interesting up until the last...30 mins of the game. What in the hell. Completely destroyed one of the novels (First Strike) in terms of canon. But other than that snafu, I found it fun.

/rant

bob101910 said:
I'd love if they released it exactly how it was, with glitches in multiplayer. We spent hours discovering super jumps and trying to get outside the maps. Much exploration.
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Rip44 said:
All of this.

Halo 2 didn't just shape LIVE, it shaped Multiplayer as a whole. It defined and helped make what MP is today.

I hope they keep the glitches too. Super jumps and long distance sword stab for the win!
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Ditto. Memories of butterflying to the top of maps. And I want the original zombies back. Weapons set to single spawn, no shields =D None of this pistol shotgun, no ammo pick up shit.

E3's in half a month right? Anybody going?
 
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Off the Halo topic (like it but don't really care about Halo 5), is Just Cause 2 any better than the demo? Was thinking of getting it for the $5 sale price, but the demo was really pretty underwhelming...so much desert...
 
praxus07 said:
Off the Halo topic (like it but don't really care about Halo 5), is Just Cause 2 any better than the demo? Was thinking of getting it for the $5 sale price, but the demo was really pretty underwhelming...so much desert...
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That does kinda apply to the whole game, too. There are giant areas of nothingness, and while there are towns, they are kinda far and between. It's not exactly like GTA 5 where there's something to do nearly everywhere, in JC2 you could walk miles and miles and find nothing but trees and sand. If you stay in areas where there's stuff to do, the game can be a blast. If you venture far away from it, it's boring to get back.

 
Well I decided to grab the first plants vs zombies and I got hooked pretty quick. 'One more level. Ok one more level. This is the last level. Ok for REAL now last one.'

And here I am now awake over an hour later than I expected to be. Fun game though. Glad I picked it up.

 
kdiddy1989 said:
Well I decided to grab the first plants vs zombies and I got hooked pretty quick. 'One more level. Ok one more level. This is the last level. Ok for REAL now last one.'

And here I am now awake over an hour later than I expected to be. Fun game though. Glad I picked it up.
Click to expand...
Popcap makes some of the most deceptively hardcore casual games.
 
Did you guys like Undead Nightmare?

I haven't played Red Dead Redemption so it might be a better idea for me to get that or the GotY edition somewhere down the line instead.

 
ALL of Red Dead (regular and undead) are amazing. EASILY one of my favorite games of the 360/ps3 generation. It really is just incredible. I'd consider it a must play.

 
I've been close to buying the GotY edition but something always holds me back. I was hoping they had a demo so I could try it out.

Another question: If it is worth buying both should I get Undead Nightmare now while it's on sale and then look around for a cheap copy of the normal game? Or would it probably be cheaper (and better?) to simply find a good deal on the GotY copy?

 
Rip44 said:
In addition, here's a quick read on Halo and what its done for gaming:
http://www.gamesradar.com/the-top-7-ways-halo-influenced-the-games-industry/
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Now there's something I miss: Fast food tie-in's with cool toys and merchandise. I use to have that raccoon Mario spring toy and I still have those glass carved mugs when McDonald's was promoting Batman Forever.

Thanks for the article.

kcobra22 said:
Reach is a prequel but i'm not sure if you should play it first. The bad thing about those kind of games is that if you play them in order, Reach obviously has newer gameplay and game mechanics, and then when you play halo CE, it feels dated. It might be better to start with CE. I remember going back to halo 3 when it was free and it feels so slow after playing halo 4.

I didn't play halo wars so I can't tell you about that but ODST was fun. It takes place during the events of halo 2 but through the eyes of helljumpers instead of chief.
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This is good to know. I'm keen on playing games by release date. Why couldn't they call the game "Halo ODST" if it precedes 3?

Spybreak9 said:
Yeah def play Reach as it's intended, after ODST.

Halo Wars does take place before Halo but you'll be fine playing it anytime honestly. The game has a nice Halo timeline though, with collecting archives on each mission, it's for you if you want to track everything down. I quite liked the campaign, the cutscenes are top notch from Blur studios.
Click to expand...
I remember liking that opening cutscene in the Halo Wars demo, then the gameplay started and I lost interest fast.

What is considered the worst Halo game?

Rip44 said:
And yes, everything was copied from DOOM, which was copied from Wolfenstein.
Click to expand...
What are your guys' stance on Doom vs. Wolfenstein? I hated Wolfenstein 3-D and its sequel but liked the Doom games.

Yet, I liked the next gen revival of Wolfenstein on PS3 and Xbox 360.

 
Crazyglitcher said:
Warning - Halo rant incoming:
That's why Halo 4 broke the canon. As a Spartan and de facto leader of the Spartans, he never really showed emotion. The only times he did were when he's trying to do something to desperately "protect his team" (e.g. Running Linda to the cryotube, grabbing Johnson's hand in Halo 3). It was only after the mission was over did he reflect, and it was only to find ways to prevent the same thing from happening again. This abrupt change from an almost stoic character to one that tries to be romantic every 5 seconds with his teammate is freaking weird. Imagine if Gordon Freeman decided to talk and never shut up in HL3. Would kind of ruin his character, unless the voice actor and dialogue were stellar.

John is somewhat excusable, humans can change over time, especially when John's been with Cortana for most of his military career, but Cortana's character change is fucking stupid. AI personalities are based off the brain that they were created from, in Cortana's case, Dr. Halsey's. Dr. Halsey has the personality that Cortana displayed in the first three games: curious, calculating, condescending at times, joking/sarcastic comments. She believed there wasn't a problem she couldn't solve. So Cortana shouldn't have been whining and crying the entire game. Yes, she was worried about rampancy, but rampancy wouldn't have turned her into a "damsel in distress". She would've found a way to beat rampancy, or failing that, found a way to complete the mission and keep John alive (her mission parameters). This romantic love-dovey stuff (they upped the love interest waaaaayyyy too much) combined with the COD copy paste makes halo 4 the worst IMO, despite having an interesting basis with The Didact's story.

Halo Reach was interesting up until the last...30 mins of the game. What in the hell. Completely destroyed one of the novels (First Strike) in terms of canon. But other than that snafu, I found it fun.

/rant

Ditto. Memories of butterflying to the top of maps. And I want the original zombies back. Weapons set to single spawn, no shields =D None of this pistol shotgun, no ammo pick up shit.

E3's in half a month right? Anybody going?
Click to expand...
Chief showed quite a bit of emotion as Cortans was going crazy after turning rampant...

Chiefs emotions were there, he just had to stifle them during the time because he knew everything he stood for.

There were times throughout the series that he couldn't keep it under wraps.
 
Cage017 said:
Now there's something I miss: Fast food tie-in's with cool toys and merchandise. I use to have that raccoon Mario spring toy and I still have those glass carved mugs when McDonald's was promoting Batman Forever.

Thanks for the article.

This is good to know. I'm keen on playing games by release date. Why couldn't they call the game "Halo ODST" if it precedes 3?



I remember liking that opening cutscene in the Halo Wars demo, then the gameplay started and I lost interest fast.

What is considered the worst Halo game?
What are your guys' stance on Doom vs. Wolfenstein? I hated Wolfenstein 3-D and its sequel but liked the Doom games.

Yet, I liked the next gen revival of Wolfenstein on PS3 and Xbox 360.
Click to expand...
It's on the halo 3 engine I believe... that's why it's H3:ODST
 
Crazyglitcher said:
So Cortana shouldn't have been whining and crying the entire game. Yes, she was worried about rampancy, but rampancy wouldn't have turned her into a "damsel in distress". She would've found a way to beat rampancy, or failing that, found a way to complete the mission and keep John alive (her mission parameters). This romantic love-dovey stuff (they upped the love interest waaaaayyyy too much) combined with the COD copy paste makes halo 4 the worst IMO, despite having an interesting basis with The Didact's story.
Click to expand...
I get you didn't like the turn of Halo 4. Yes there are cons to Halo 4, many folks believe it's another CoD pancake, some don't like the story. We all have different tastes. IMHO Halo 4 is the best. Although I was kinda down that 343 took away the vastness of the game: no more gigantic landshaft and fields to explore; the grand feel of scifi universe was not there. Developers had narrowed things, they scoped in on environments and made it more focused action adventure.

I like the change, and one of them Cortana becoming emotional AI. "whining and crying" that my dear CAG is a drama, and drama complements the package. I'm talking about the emotional aspect. Also, yes the "romantic love-dovey stuff" make Halo 4's story a very appealing one (romantic shard is something that players can relate to "guy wants to protect a girl"). And Chief has emotions despite being a tin knight, having a macho voice and strength+ incredible luck does not make him a lesser human. We see he is human as well.

 
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Cage017 said:
This is good to know. I'm keen on playing games by release date. Why couldn't they call the game "Halo ODST" if it precedes 3?

I remember liking that opening cutscene in the Halo Wars demo, then the gameplay started and I lost interest fast.

What is considered the worst Halo game?

What are your guys' stance on Doom vs. Wolfenstein? I hated Wolfenstein 3-D and its sequel but liked the Doom games.

Yet, I liked the next gen revival of Wolfenstein on PS3 and Xbox 360.
Click to expand...
Halo 3 ODST was first conceptualized as DLC for Halo 3 and then they worked on it more and more and turned it into what it is today, the expansion spin-off of Halo 3.

Worst Halo game is Spartan Assault, no debate.

Doom, I had a bring us Doom II on XBLA forum post over on Xbox.com's forums a while ago and was proud to see so many pages of yes yes oh yeah me too, we want Doom II supporting posts, then lo' and behold it came to XBLA! Not saying I started it but it was great to see that a vast community still loves the old Doom games. Doom II on PC was perfect, so many god damn levels or WADs as they were called and bigger and badder everything than the original Doom. :D/ :twoguns:

Oh and RDR was an amazing game, I don't play Western video games nor really like Westerns but I was hooked from start to finish along with some multiplayer, SocialClub challenges moments.

 
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Cage017 said:
Now there's something I miss: Fast food tie-in's with cool toys and merchandise. I use to have that raccoon Mario spring toy and I still have those glass carved mugs when McDonald's was promoting Batman Forever.

What are your guys' stance on Doom vs. Wolfenstein? I hated Wolfenstein 3-D and its sequel but liked the Doom games.

Yet, I liked the next gen revival of Wolfenstein on PS3 and Xbox 360.
Click to expand...
I was talking to my friend about food tie-ins yesterday. I'm a huge fan of dinosaurs because of The Land Before Time and Jurassic Park. Pizza Hut had TLBT plastic puppets and I had the t-rex that used to terrorize all my other toys haha.

Wolfenstein 3D was one of the first non-NES games I played and the first FPS. I loved that game and played the hell out of it. It's probably one of the first games I ever beat. I liked finding all the hidden treasure rooms. I think I played Doom after that and many years later so it doesn't hold that nostalgia factor like Wolf3D. The 360 Wolf was fun but I ran into some crazy game breaking glitches so I sold it. I read they fixed them so I picked up a cheap copy but haven't gone back to it. The new Wolf looks cool too. I'll get it eventually.
 
So how do you go about re-downloading a delisted game? I was cleaning my HD today to clear out some space and deleted X-men arcade. I thought you can do it from xbox.com but apparently I cannot stumble on the right page to do so.

 
GamerDude316 said:
Free 7 Day XBL Gold Trial:

MDRKH-77H**-PQ9*B-24R*V-H9F66

*=_reen _oblin
Click to expand...
Thank you for the Trial.

Have few codes. Folks feel free to use them.


Male Day 1 Avatar T-Shirt:
XC46M-2K3H4-WXFG9-MFYTR-CPJ9Z

Female Day 1 Avatar T-Shirt:
24DRH-WRPPJ-4V374-QFJWG-7Q4KZ

p.s. I know there is a thread for code drops.
 
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ooga said:
So how do you go about re-downloading a delisted game? I was cleaning my HD today to clear out some space and deleted X-men arcade. I thought you can do it from xbox.com but apparently I cannot stumble on the right page to do so.
Click to expand...
You have to go all the way back to when you purchased it in your download history, which can be found on your dashboard in account settings I believe.
 
Hopefully someone can answer this for me.

If I use my bing points and buy a $5 XBOX Currency Code and apply it to my account and buy let say a $4.99 Game will it take the $5.00 off first and then the rest which will be the taxes off my card on file? or will it take the full amount off my card.

 
dreamer131313 said:
Hopefully someone can answer this for me.

If I use my bing points and buy a $5 XBOX Currency Code and apply it to my account and buy let say a $4.99 Game will it take the $5.00 off first and then the rest which will be the taxes off my card on file? or will it take the full amount off my card.
Click to expand...
I don't think you get charged tax if using a code. I didn't have any added on last time I made a purchase with them.

 
Curious about the sales coming up in just over 24 hours. If they suck, I might grab Just Cause 2. I already played JC2 on PS3 for a dozen or so hours, got a bit boring after a bit, but I'm considering the double dip... not even sure why, good price I guess? Also, Deus Ex... I had that on PS3 from a sale for around one and a half years now, and never played it. Again, I am considering getting it for X360 because it's a good price, plus I prefer X360 over PS3 (the controller, especially).

Backlog. Don't try this at home.

 
I noticed it when I got Super Time Force through the Xbox One store, it didn't add tax to my order, yet last night I purchased The Writer DLC for Alan Wake, hopefully it doesn't go on sale soon lol, and they applied tax. Is it a Xbox 360 Marketplace, Xbox One Store difference or did I just luck out the first time.

 
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I'm not entirely sure if it shows it on the One, but I get an email detailing the purchase that I was charged tax.

Spybreak9 said:
I noticed it when I got Super Time Force through the Xbox One store, it didn't add tax to my order, yet last night I purchased The Writer DLC for Alan Wake, hopefully it doesn't go on sale soon lol, and they applied tax. Is it a Xbox 360 Marketplace, Xbox One Store difference or did I just luck out the first time.
Click to expand...
 
WonkyToad said:
With all of this Halo / FPS talk, I cannot remember if we came to a consensus if State of Decay is worth the $10.
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Try the demo. It's a love or hate game, because the gameplay is not the sharpest, the graphics are meh, and it's glitched, even after the many patches. However it's a very ambitious game with much to do and that is also rather unpredictable, that will last you dozens of hours likely and is a lot of fun. It is worth 10 bucks surely, it's just a matter of fact of whether you can look past the not so sharp gameplay or not. Different genres, but not unlike The Walking Dead by Telltale: it's amazing, if you can close an eye on the technicalities.

 
preston181 said:
I've bought things off of the One store, and it does charge tax. Could've just been a one time thing.
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Yeah I was mentioning the email, lol, well in that case.

Shh_shh.gif


 
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