As a child I can remember my mum stopping at London Road Stores on the way in order to rent us a new video game for the week. Something that was a huge treat ahead of the half term holidays or the start of summer. This was a great way for us to get hands on with the game to decide whether it was one we loved enough to purchase or one that we were happy to play for a week.
Nowadays the major retailers that you rented games from have disappeared from our high streets. And you’d be forgiven for thinking that you have to purchase a game on the off chance that you, the children or all of you like enough to warrant the price tag. However, there is a fantastic way to ‘rent’ games right inside your Xbox One console (or even your PC). Introducing the Xbox Game Pass...
Xbox Game Pass
Immerse yourself in a deep library of more than 100 high-quality games. Join the fun in new games or catch up on a recent hit. With Xbox Game Pass, you always have something new to play.
Xbox Game Pass is something Microsoft introduced for their Xbox One console with an accompanying Xbox App on the Windows 10 based PC/laptops. The principle is a renting service of games for a monthly fee, much like a film type service such as Netflix and Amazon Prime. However you will need to download these to your Xbox or PC, it isn’t cloud-based (maybe one day).
How does the Xbox Game Pass work?
- Choose a plan and become an Xbox Game Pass member.
- Browse the library of more than 100 high-quality games.
- Download and play your next favourite game.
Play on PC or Xbox One – Play PC games on your Windows 10 PC, console games on your Xbox One, or—with the Ultimate plan—both.
There are often deals to be had via Xbox Live Gold membership, which allows you to play your games online, 4 free games every month, and discounts on full price games. However, if you are not needing to buy games as you would rather play it and see if you like it then, in reality, the Xbox Game Pass is far more suitable for you. This is potentially the future of this type of gaming, whether you buy digital or use these streaming service type subscriptions.
Xbox Game Pass downloadable games
The great thing with the Xbox Game Pass is the choice of games available to download. There are over 100 available from big titles like Sea of Thieves, Forza Horizon, and the State of Decay to classics like Halo, Gears of War, even some Xbox original titles. So even as a family, the choice is huge, games like Minecraft, Robot League are still hugely popular. But if you were to try and buy all these games it would cost you way more than the monthly fee added up over time. Let alone that more games get added to it all the time, would not many of us keep over 100 games sat on the side, let alone the space to save the games in the system.
If you are also a PC owner then having the Xbox App is another way to have yet more games. As you also get access to those games on your PC, and with your progress in something like Sea of Thieves, this can transfer over seamlessly. So you could be playing it on PC, turn off and go on to the Xbox in another room and carry on with the relevant character which is great. Many gamers prefer some games on PC than Xbox one, because of the keyboard and mouse etc… Like Halo Wars and Minecraft.
Why you should consider the Xbox Game Pass for your family
So if you wanting to manage money but still allow you or the family access to a big selection of games, Xbox Game Pass is well worth a look at. If you have a great game that you absolutely love you can still buy it separately digitally, as there will be offers. You may have played it for a month and thought it was great and now you are happy to make the purchase, enabling you to get hands-on and really play the game.
But personally, I’d advise taking full advantage of the games on there. Over a year the cost is around £100, which might sound a lot. However, given that some games retail at £40-£50, this is a much smarter way if budgeting. The future may see this become more normal as one day we will move away from discs. The game choice might be much larger by that point.
Overall we utilise it as a family on both our Xbox One console and PC. With each member of the family able to find games to suit their tastes. The choice is massive and diverse, single player and Multiplayer, with all genres, covered.
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