By
Eli Green
May 21, 2009 - 17:10
It's been a fun couple of weeks for Xbox Live Gold members across Canada. The Canadian Beta of 1 vs. 100 Live and 1 vs. 100 Extended Play has given Gold members the opportunity to take part in a brand new, highly social video game experience, and all the fun draws to a close this weekend, with the final game of 1 vs. 100 Live airing this Saturday night at 7 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (4 p.m. Pacific Standard Time).
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Microsoft is bringing things to a close with a bang though, starting with tonight 1 vs. 100 Extended Play session. Tonight's Extended Play is a special, three-hour long session, running from 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (5 p.m. Pacific Standard Time) until 11 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (8 p.m. Pacific Standard Time). Players will have plenty of opportunity to rack up extra sweepstakes entries tonight, in the extra two hours of play time. But don't forget, even if your friends only have an Xbox Live Silver membership, they can still play with you. They just can't win any sweepstakes entries.
But wait, there's more! Xbox Live Silver members will also get the chance to take part in the final weekend of the Canadian Beta. Both 1 vs. 100 Live and 1 vs. 100 Extended Play will be unlocked for Xbox Live Silver members, allowing them to play without the need for someone with a Gold membership to be playing with them. Beginning with tomorrow night's airing of 1 vs. 100 Live, and running through to Sunday night's final Canadian Beta session, Xbox Live Silver members can join in the fun and get a taste of the experience for themselves. They still can't collect sweepstakes entries though.
There's still more. During Saturday night's show, host Chris Cashman will be joined by a special Canadian guest host, Xbox Canada's own JadeLive. She'll be taking and answering your questions in real time.
Sunday night's final session means the close of the Canadian Beta for 1 vs. 100. Where will it go from there? Well, no one really knows for sure except the folks working at Microsoft. While we expected the game to launch some time during the late spring or early summer – and it certainly looks to be ready, aside from some minor connection glitches and one odd visual glitch – it now appears that the game is only set to release at some unknown time later this year.
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There's also the issue of the game's cost. Microsoft currently says the game is a “value add” for Gold members (in other words, it's another perk for getting a Gold membership), but has not commented on whether that's only for the duration of the Beta, or if it will be that way for as long as the game is available. There are many people out there, including myself, who believe the game should be completely free to players to play, regardless of their type of Xbox Live membership. As it stands, players are going to be bombarded by advertisements when the game officially launches anyway, so Microsoft might as well make it free to all players. Since players will have the opportunity to win prizes, on a regular basis, maybe the game should be free to all players, but only Xbox Live Gold members can win prizes. There are a lot of variables that come into play here, including the aforementioned advertisements, prizes and membership levels. Aside from that, there is also a bigger factor at play, and that's the fact that neither 1 vs. 100 Live or 1 vs. 100 Extended Play can be played on your own schedule. Whichever you choose to play, you're at Microsoft's mercy. Should you even have to pay for a game you can't even play on your own terms? That's a discussion for another time.
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