We are currently at the springtime of Next Gen in relation to Plus and Games with Gold for many gamers. Much like the seasons where the temperature warms up so it clearly isn’t Winter anymore, your expectation of BBQ’s and sipping local ales is dashed as the wind and rain tell you it’s not quite time to get your shorts out.
Now that we are starting to see a catalogue of previously released Triple A and PSN/Arcade titles for both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, you can see the expectations of many a gamer rise as we get closer and closer to the announcements of what is dropping this month only for the rage to take over when an Indie game is announced – however the person on the PlayStation Blog who predicted Resident Evil Revelations and The Order 1886 as this months games was always going to be disappointed.
Although we are not in the period of Triple A and constant physical disc releases yet, “nothing but Indies” is not something that can quoted this month
For the Xbox One, Microsoft delivers an unexpected physical disc release in Rayman Legends and in doing so have created a Physical Release / Arcade / Physical Release trend. Whether this is deliberate we will see in the next couple of months. For the Xbox 360 they deliver two of the biggest games from the golden age of last gen in Tomb Raider and Boshock Infinite. This coupled with the announcement that, to celebrate one million downloads, all Games with Gold offerings will be doubled in April so we can expect 2 Xbox Ones titles and four, yes four, Xbox 360 titles.
Xbox One – Rayman Legends
Xbox 360 – Bioshock Infinite & Tomb Raider
Sony this month give a lesson in how to troll the entitled gamer, delaying the Plus announcement literally to the eleventh hour with no explanation – yes there really was internet rage about the delay of an announcement. An announcement people. Not the games themselves just the fact that people had to wait to find out what games they were getting. A few hawk-eyed Midlife Gamers noticed in the PlayStation URL that dishonored seemed to drop through the net for whatever reason and the delay was probably caused by a last minute replacement needing to be found and signed up.
Sony however knock it out the park for PlayStation 4 owners this month with four of the titles being compatible. Again if this the direction that is being taken as the life of the PlayStation 3 comes to an end and PlayStation Now for the UK edging ever closer remains to be seen but the next few months will certainly answer that. The interesting aspect is in regards to what Sony have planned to counteract Microsoft doubling down in April.
PlayStation 4 – Oddword: New n Tasty, Valiant Hearts, Olli Olli 2 and Counterspy
PlayStation 3 – Papa & Yo, Counterspy and Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments
PlayStation Vita – Olli Olli 2 and Counterspy
EA Access continue the random nature of The Vault by adding NBA Live 15 to the mix. A game that is simply just a few months old. The limited next Gen catalogue that EA have to pull from means that we are likely to see titles of this age get added to the Vault more often than not. However I would hold your breath if you are expecting Dragon Age Inquisition to appear just yet.
| Title | Format | Release Date | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games with Gold Launched | 2013 | £152.06 | ||
| Xbox One titles added to GwG | 2014 | £476.18 | ||
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D4: Dark Dreams Don’t Die | Xbox One | January 2015 | £11.99 |
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MX vs ATV Alive | Xbox 360 | January 2015 | £19.99 |
 |
The Witcher 2 | Xbox 360 | January 2015 | £24.99 |
 |
#IDARB | Xbox One | February 2015 | £11.99 |
 |
Brothers: A Take of Two Sons | Xbox 360 | February 2015 | £9.99 |
 |
Sniper Elite v2 | Xbox 360 | February 2015 | £24.99 |
 |
Rayman Legends | Xbox One | March 2015 | £23.99 |
 |
Tomb Raider | Xbox 360 | March 2015 | £19.99 |
 |
Bioshock Infinite | Xbox 360 | March 2015 | £19.99 |
| Current Year Savings | £167.91 | |||
| Overall Savings | £853.12 |
| Title | Format | Release Date | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plus Launched | 2010 | £24.26 | ||
| Instant Game Collection Added To Plus | 2011 | £173.85 | ||
| Vita Games Added to Instant Game Collection | 2012 | £735.35 | ||
| PS4 Titles Added to Instant Game Collection | 2013 | £1351.80 | ||
| 2 x 2 x 2 ratio launched for Plus Titles | 2014 | £1000.06 | ||
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Infamous: First Light | PS4 | January 2015 | £11.99 |
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The Swapper | PS4 / PS3 / Vita | January 2015 | £11.99 |
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Prototype 2 | PS3 | January 2015 | £39.99 |
 |
Ducktales Remastered | PS3 | January 2015 | £11.99 |
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Woah Dave | Vita | January 2015 | £7.99 |
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Duke Nukem 3D Megaton Edition | Vita | January 2015 | £7.99 |
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Apotheon | PS4 | February 2015 | £8.99 |
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Transistor | PS4 | February 2015 | £14.99 |
 |
Rogue Legacy | PS4 / PS3 / Vita | February 2015 | £9.99 |
 |
Yakuza 4 | PS3 | February 2015 | £15.99 |
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Thief | PS3 | February 2015 | £29.99 |
 |
Kick & Fennick | Vita | February 2015 | £6.49 |
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Oddworld New n Tasty | PS4 | March 2015 | £17.99 |
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Valiant Hearts | PS4 | March 2015 | £11.99 |
 |
Olli Olli 2: Welcome to Olliwood | PS4 / Vita | March 2015 | £7.99 |
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Counterspy | PS4 / PS3 / Vita | March 2015 | £9.99 |
 |
Papo & Yo | PS3 | March 2015 | £6.49 |
 |
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments | PS3 | March 2015 | £39.99 |
| Current Year Savings | £272.82 | |||
| Overall Savings | £3650.08 |
| Title | Format | Release Date | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EA Access Vault Launched | Xbox One | 2014 | £289.93 | |
 |
NBA Live 15 | Xbox One | March 2015 | £54.99 |
| Current Year Savings | £54.99 | |||
| Overall Savings | £344.92 |
Tags: access, EA, gold, micorsoft, PlayStation, plus, Sony, vault, xbox