Loved linking XBOX's to play Halo back in 2005 via long blue cords, then life happened. I'm re-invigorating interest to play with visiting family (including kids) as well as via (fiber) internet with brother+kids down the road. Mostly Halo collection and family fun stuff. I am not inclined to play scary exploding monster gang zombie skull type stuff (outside of Halo and maybe Call of Duty things). About to buy a XBOX X (so I can use old discs).

Please explain to me like I am a child what all of the "Live, Game Pass, Gold, Ultimate, etc" functions mean (and cost strategy if known). I've perused the xbox site, but I do not think I am the target audience for many of these subscription-related products.

I sure appreciate insight.

Xbox Live - Doesn't exist any more. Renamed to Xbox Network. Just gives access to the online store.

Xbox Live Gold - Allows you to play games you have purchased online with friends. Also gives you 3 free games a month, but you have to remember to "claim" them every month if you want them.

Xbox Game Pass - Subscription service which allows you to play any of the 400+ games offered for free on your Xbox. You don't have to buy any of the games, just download them. Think of it like Netflix for Xbox

Game Pass Ultimate - Same as Game Pass but you can play games on your computer or certain other devices as well


With Microsoft attempting to buy Activision, the Call of Duty games may end up on GamePass in the future, but for now, you sound like an Xbox Live Gold kinda guy

agdoc2001 said:

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Xbox Live - Doesn't exist any more. Renamed to Xbox Network. Just gives access to the online store.

Xbox Live Gold - Allows you to play games you have purchased online with friends. Also gives you 3 free games a month, but you have to remember to "claim" them every month if you want them.

Xbox Game Pass - Subscription service which allows you to play any of the 400+ games offered for free on your Xbox. You don't have to buy any of the games, just download them. Think of it like Netflix for Xbox

Game Pass Ultimate - Same as Game Pass but you can play games on your computer or certain other devices as well


With Microsoft attempting to buy Activision, the Call of Duty games may end up on GamePass in the future, but for now, you sound like an Xbox Live Gold kinda guy

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Only thing I would say is Xbox Live Gold and the Xbox Game Pass for Console are both $10 per month. With the game pass, you gain those 400+ games along with online. Not sure what Halo discs and versions are trying to be used, but the servers for those may be offline? Game pass gives you all of the latest versions of Halo (MCC, 5, Infinite, etc) that have active multiplayer servers.

The info above is "mostly" accurate but with some key omissions.

Xbox Live Gold is $9.99 per month... allows you to play online games with friends.

Xbox Game Pass is $9.99 per month... gives you access to a crap ton of games. Netflix for video games essentially. You'll get all the Halos, Gears of War, Forza, etc. type games from MS, but there are a lot of really great 3rd party and Indie games as well. This does NOT allow you to play online though... for that you'll need Xbox Gold

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is $14.99 per month... gives you both Gold & Gamepass at the same time. On top of that, it gives you EA Play (includes games like Madden, Need for Speed, etc.) and lets you play games via the cloud (stream games to your phone or just try out games without having to download), etc.

In short, they are 100% trying to do away with Xbox Live Gold and push everybody to Gamepass Ultimate. Would be nice if they offered Gold for $5, but they don't. I personally really like Gamepass Ultimate.

Use this link and scroll down the page... towards the bottom is a comparison between the different options that is probably helpful.

https://www.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-game-pass?xr=shellnav#join

This is good info folks - Thank you for the translation!

It appears I will be looking at the Game Pass Ultimate since I will want to play with the kids remotely AND avoid having to go buy the games they want to play. I think I decoded that right...

I checked the available Ultimate games and will be missing a few of the Lego games nieces have, but this should work for my purposes (still more than I'm paying for Netflix (passive entertainment) , but the extra 5/mo is worth it for the opportunity to take a beat-down from the my sweetie pie nieces and grandson online (active entertainment).

I'm also dusting off the old Wii for the wee Mario Kart fans that come visit.

Being a good Uncle/Papaw involves being a punching bag on occasion. For $15/mo, I'll be able to "work remotely."

does the Gold -> Ultimate conversion hack still work?

It's SO complicated!!!!

I'm not a gamer, and couldn't care less, but my boys are and we've had a lot of trouble navigating this stuff since I modestly allow them to play games rated above their age.

Add in things like a EA Account for those games and we have a web of accounts that I really don't have an understanding of.

Even more complex as the oldest boy has built himself a gaming rig and trying to use add that into the mix.

Add in the fact that they start asking for new games or help or a log-in at a time when my patience for such a thing is pretty low and I really just want to get rid of these boxes in our house.

I completely agree, the whole thing is a mess between Xbox/Playstation subscription services and individual games making you sign up with one of their accounts whenever you want to play a game. The worst part is how the try and link it all together.

My son was really into Fortnite a few years ago. He was on my computer trying to link his Xbox profile to his Epic Games profile... but because he was using my computer, it (without even asking) automatically linked to MY microsoft/Xbox account to his Epic account since that's the account that is always logged in on that computer. And let me tell you, it is fracking impossible to unlink those accounts once they are linked. Believe me I tried!

Long story short... yes, all of that crap is a complete mess!!!

Uncle Bug... if you end up getting Gamepass Ultimate, there are 2 really great co-op games on there that you can play with kids. One is called It Takes Two and the other is Unravel 2. You can play them online or sitting on the same couch.

Just finished It Takes Two with my daughter... she's in college but so we'd play on weekends when she'd come home. It's a pretty long game but it was really fun.

Xbox GamePass is the best bang for buck out there in entertainment, if you are a gamer.

I assume PlayStation has an equivalent.