Chris Bardon

Free Xbox Live!

Just found this on gaming age. Apparently, MS is giving you two free months of Xbox live if you buy one of the following games:

ACCLAIM -- NBA Jam, Burnout 2: Point of Impact (Developer’s Cut), All-Star Baseball 2005 featuring Derek Jeter
Activision -- Cabela’s Deer Hunt: 2004 Season, Cabela’s Dangerous Hunts
Atari -- Unreal II: The Awakening, Magic: the Gathering - Battlegrounds, Dead Man's Hand
Codemasters -- Pro Race Driver PRDXL
ESPN Videogames -- ESPN NHL Hockey, ESPN NFL Football, ESPN NBA Basketball, ESPN NCAA College Hoops
Jaleco -- World Championship Pool 2004
Konami -- Dance Dance Revolution UltraMix
LucasArts -- Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Knight Academy
Majesco -- Black 9
Microsoft Game Studios -- Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge, Counter-Strike Condition Zero, Project Gotham Racing 2, NBA Inside Drive 2004, NFL Fever 2004, NHL Rivals 2004, Top Spin Tennis, Links 2004, Amped 2
Sega -- Sega GT Online
Take 2 Interactive -- Conflict: Desert Storm 2 - Back to Baghdad
Tecmo -- Ninja Gaiden
Ubi Soft -- Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Island Thunder, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six 3, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, XIII (Thirteen)
Vivendi Universal Games -- Hunter: The Reckoning Redeemer, S.W.A.T. Global Strike Team

Full story is here

This is a great idea on their part-I noticed that they also started updating the dashboard automatically with Live if you're not a subscriber (I'm assuming that KOTOR did that). Might finally check it out if I end up getting Jedi Academy anyway. I wonder if you're only able to claim this once (i.e. if you buy 2 games, can you get 4 free months-probably not).

The next step though-free content downloads...

Jay Mitchosky

I haven't checked my dashboard lately to see if it's been updated. Cool program from Microsoft. Better considering they didn't only offer a selection of lacklustre games to try and boost their sales. There's a pile of winners in there.

\"The computer had attained consciousness, only to reject it, claiming it was too unstable an operating system.\"

Chris Bardon

Now, the only catch is that you'll probably have to sign up with a CC, get the 2 free months, and then cancel before the third month or they'll start billing you. You also lose out on getting the communicator, games, etc from the starter kit. If they play this right, you'll be able to pick up a live starter kit after the two trial months are up so that you can get the first year covered, as well as the communicator and software.

Either way, there's a couple of games there that I might pick up anyway, so I'll have to give Live a try if I do end up getting Jedi Academy, XIII, or Ninja Gaiden.

Graeme Clark

Correct on every count. The trials are for new accounts only, so I suppose you could set up the free 2 months as a 2nd gamertag, or keep creating a new account if you had a stockpile of trial cards, but you'd probably have to change your gamertag every time which loses some of XBL's appeal.


The idea is to include it with ever new XBL title, which will help to boost XBL accounts and subscriptions more than it will help sell the games. It also gives some validity to MS's claims of the XB being online ready out of the box. It was rather humorous that they were touting that you didn't have to purchase any extra hardware when the PS2 Network adaptor was less than a Starter Kit.

The only downside to these trials, and the new playment plans is that you'll start to see more and more people without headsets online.

The DVDs | The Games

Kyle McKnight

I thought you had to buy the headset seperately? MS just released their official ones for $29.99. IIRC, on the box of Fever, it says "additional purchase necessary" where it offers the free two months.

Kyle McKnight

BrianB

You're not forced to buy it though, which is Graeme's point - people can now sign up without being forced to use/own a headset so there'll be more people on XBL that won't be using voicecomms.

high resolution ipod featuring dlp hd programming is the best, almost as good as playstation 2 with wega windows media on a super cd! ps2 and tivo do dolby tv with broadband hdtv!