Free games for PS Plus and Xbox Live members in December

 

Now that we survived the waves of games that came out in November, we enter December, another month that will most likely burn another hole in our wallets. But just in case you need to save up at the same time need to have another game to stack up your ever-growing backlog of games, Xbox Live and PS+ just announced the free games coming to subscribers of both services next month. 

Xbox Live Games with Gold - December

Gears of War

Shoot Many Robots

PlayStation Plus - December

Borderlands 2

Grid 2

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed (PS Vita)

Urban Trial Freestyle (PS Vita)

Quite a handful of free games for those subscribed. We are still recovering from all the games  released a few weeks ago, not to mention the release of the PS4 and Xbox One hitting stores.  Now, we all know how great the free games are in the PS+ service, and getting Borderlands 2 for free along two free Vita games and Grid 2 makes the December Games with Gold worth laughing about. But you have to remember these services have a gap of more than a year. PS+ was not appealing in the first few months as well since they were also releasing weak titles to push anybody to subscribe. With Xbox Live members case, we get the service to play online, and Games with Gold comes as a bonus, free games are still free.

Microsoft did announce they will continue this service in 2014 so it will definitely get better as we move forward. But if they continue to give us tower defense games in the coming months, it's going to be a different story.  My only gripe with the service is their region lock policy. Why provide the same titles to each country when its region-locked to the US only? So yes, pray that Gears of War will be downloadable if you are in the other side of the globe.

Games with Gold source: EuroGamer

PlayStation Plus source: PlayStation BlogUS

Xbox Live discounts this week - Symphony of the Night, Scott Pilgrim, X-Men, and more

Just in case you feel the need to make use of your Xbox 360 HD space, you might want to check out the marketplace  for some cheap downloadable games. These discounts just went live bringing some titles down by 50%

There's a good variety of games that might catch your interest and is dirt cheap for a whole week. If you want to re-visit the classic of Castlevania, you can get Symphony of the Night for 320 MS Points($4), or if you want to go 90s classic arcade, there's the Simpsons Arcade Game, and X-Men. I can still recall playing those classics until my pockets go empty to this day..

This deal of the week will last from today until the 6th.

[source: Major Nelson ]

Final Fantasy XIII-2 Demo hitting PSN and Xbox Live Next Week

Not sure if you want to play Final Fantasy XIII-2? Well a demo is coming to let you decide before release. The demo is hitting PSN and Xbox live next week.

It was officially announced by Square Enix that a demo was coming. The demo will be out on January 11 for free on the PS3 and Xbox 360. While I'm not that excited for Final Fantasy XIII-2's release, I'll still give the demo a try. You never know, feeling the changes done to the game first-hand might get me interested in the end... but I doubt it.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 will be out on Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 on January 31, 2012.

[Source: Gematsu]

Trine 2 now out for consoles

Trine 2 is honestly the only downloadable game I've been excited for as if it's a triple A title. The sequel has been out for Steam since December 7 but it has finally landed on consoles. It's out now for the PSN(Dec 20) with it coming to Xbox Live a day later(Dec 21).

If you want a game to play with some friends, this is the game. It's a platform that needs a lot of cooperation to progress. Playing the game alone is not the way to go for this kind of game, but luckily you can connect with someone online now so if you do get the game, make a friend.

Compared to the visuals in the first game, Trine 2 is looks amazing. The world now looks alive and vibrant. While the length of the first game was just enough for the price given, I do hope its a tad longer.

Trine 2 will also feature an Unlimited mode which allows you to play any kind of character variation at the same time. Check it out the below, it looks pretty fun having a couple of wizards roaming around creating stuff.

I checked out PSN Store ande Trine 2 costs $14.99(same price in steam) with a demo already out if you plan to just try the game out first. If you haven't played the first game though, I suggest you give Trine a shot. It's still one of the best downloadable games out there and you'll appreciate the changes more in Trine 2.

Xbox Live's 12 days of great Deals

Looks like Xbox Live will be throwing some sales until the end of the year. Somewhat similar to the deals happening in Steam, each day until the New Year, Xbox Live will be offering special deals for games, game add-ons, and avatars, but the deal only lasts for 24 hours. gotta be quick!

You really have to be quick. Was only aware of this when they were on the second day, and first day had to be the game that I've been waiting to get a huge discount on. Xbox Live kicked things off with Bastion being 50% off on the first day. Can't believe I missed it.

The deals changes everyday so check regularly and maybe something will catch your eye. If you don't want to miss an awesome discount like me, check out this guy's page here. He works in Microsoft and will provide detailed information and announcements of the new offers.