Games with Gold

For those who don't already know, Microsoft is giving away free Xbox 360 games for Xbox LIVE Gold members.

Beginning on the 1st and then 16th of each month, two games will be available for download absolutely free for Xbox LIVE Gold members starting on July 1st.

To launch the program, beginning on June 10th and running until month's end, Fable III is available for free to Xbox LIVE Gold members.  I've heard rumour that Assassins Creed II and Halo 3 will follow suit.

While this is clearly taking the concept of the Instant Game Collection from PlayStation Plus, which has been received extremely well, the difference is that you get to keep any game you download even if you revert back to an Xbox LIVE Free member.  Unlike PlayStation Plus however, Games with Gold only runs until December 31st, 2013.

While I wouldn't say that you should run out and buy an Xbox LIVE Gold membership just for this, let's face it, the games revealed for the program thus far are older, it is something and does add some real value to the ridiculously overinflated cost of Xbox LIVE Gold.  Without this, everyone knows an Xbox LIVE Gold membership is a blatant rip-off at full price, and Microsoft has struggled for some time now to truly justify its value.  This is better than nothing, at least.

For full details on Games with Gold, check out the official page here.