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Is Xbox Game Pass Really Cheaper Than Buying Games? We Do the Math

We break down if it’s worth it to buy an Xbox Game Pass subscription, or if you should just keep paying for individual games.

I grew up with a video game controller in my hands. Video games have gone through a major evolution since my childhood — and while everything else has become more expensive, games have stayed roughly the same price.

But in 2017, Microsoft launched Xbox Game Pass, followed by Xbox Game Pass Ultimate in 2019. These are subscription services that give players unlimited access to an expanding library of over 400 new and old games, and cost $120 or $180 for one year, respectively. XBGP lets you play on console or PC, and XBGPU lets you play console, PC and cloud gaming. These prices make either Game Pass plan attractive, but in the end, is it cheaper to buy physical copies of games?

I did the math and found a year of XBGPU with an Xbox Series S is a better value than buying physical copies of games to play on an Xbox Series X, especially if you play a lot of different games.

See at Xbox

You can also check out if streaming services or cable offer a better deal, and whether it’s cheaper to buy groceries or meal kits.

Xbox Game Pass vs. physical game copies

Series S + XBGP Series S + XBGPU Series X + XBGP Series X + XBGPU Series X + XBGP + game Series X + XBGPU + game Series X + game

Console

$300

$300

$500

$500

$500

$500

$500

Subscription (1 year)

$120

$180

$120

$180

$120

$180

N/A

Physical game (1)

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

$60-70

$60-70

$60-70

Total

$420

$480

$620

$680

$680-690

$740-750

$560-570

How I did the math

To calculate the costs, I started with the cost of the Series S, $300, and Series X, $500, since you need a console to play games on. The Series S is a digital-only console with no disc drive, so it can’t play physical copies of games. The Series X has a disc drive, so it can play either digital or physical copies of games. It’s important to include both, since the Series S is the more budget-friendly option, but the Series X has more gaming capabilities. If you already own either console though, you can scroll down for a yearly price breakdown of just the gaming service versus buying physical copies of the games.

Next, I found the price of each Xbox Game Pass plan without promotional deals, $10 and $15 a month. I multiplied both costs by 12 to give us the cost of the subscription over a one-year period. This is how we get $120 for XBGP and $180 for XBGPU.

Then, I found the price of new physical games. Many new games are $60, but game publishers are starting to increase game prices to $70, as was the case for NBA 2K21. Microsoft said it would start charging $70 for games made by its studios in 2023. That’s why there are two prices for new physical games.

A Series S with either Game Pass plan is budget-friendly gaming

We have two columns reflecting a Series S with one year of either game pass plan. A Series S with XBGP costs $420, the least expensive option. The Series S with XBGPU is $480, the second least expensive option. Both of these cost less than the Series X, and that’s before you buy a game or a subscription.

See Series S at Xbox

A Series X with either Game Pass plan and physical games cost more

There are five columns to show the Series X with one year of either Game Pass plan, Series X with one year of either Game Pass plan and physical games and Series X with just physical games.

As you might expect, the Series X with XBGPU and one physical game costs the most, at $740 or $750. Next, the Series X with XBGP and one physical game costs $680, and the Series X with XBGPU costs $680 or $690 with a $70 physical game. The Series X with XBGP costs $620. Finally, an Xbox Series X with one physical game costs $560 or $570.

See Series X at Xbox

What if you already have a Series S or X?

As you can see above, the consoles are responsible for the majority of the costs in the first year. For the second year, we remove the cost of the consoles, and this also gives us an idea of what the cost will look like moving forward.

XBGP (1 year) XBGPU (1 year) Physical game (1)

Total

$120

$180

$60-70

As a reminder, one year of XBGP is $120, one year of XBGPU is $180 and a physical copy of a new game is between $60-70. You could buy up to three new $60 games in a year to equal the cost of XBGPU. If you buy $70 games, you can get two for the price of XBGPU or just one for the cost of XBGP. If you usually play more than two or three games a year, either Game Pass plan is worth it.

With both Game Pass plans, subscribers have access to over 400 games. Some of those games are new, like A Plague Tale: Requiem, while others are classics, like Doom. Games are added to the Game Pass library periodically, but they are also removed, like how Netflix adds and removes shows and movies over time. The number of games has also increased from when Microsoft launched the subscription service, so it’s safe to say that number will continue to rise.

Online play included with XBGPU, not physical games

Another important thing to consider is whether or not you plan on playing games online. If you want to do that with physical games, you need to subscribe to Xbox Gold Live.

XBGP (1 year) + Xbox Live Gold (1 year) XBGPU (1 year) Physical game (1) + Xbox Live Gold (1 year)

Total

$180

$180

$120-130

Xbox Live Gold is $10 a month, or $60 a year. You would need to pay for a physical copy of a new game ($60-70) and then add the cost of one year of Xbox Live Gold ($60) to get $120-130.

Subscribe to Xbox Live Gold

If you have XBGPU then Xbox Live Gold is included with your subscription, so you don’t have to include that cost with your plan and you have access to the game library. However, an XBGP subscription doesn’t include Xbox Live Gold, so you’d have to pay for that separately or upgrade to XBGPU for the same cost.

Is either Xbox Game Pass plan worth it?

If you’re on a budget and want access to hundreds of games and online play, you should consider a Series S with XBGPU. And if you already have a console, XBGPU is still a great deal. You have unlimited access to over 400 games as compared to buying a few physical games, plus you can play online with your friends. If money isn’t an issue, then ball out with a Series X, XBGPU and as many physical games as you want.

For more We Do The Math, check out if Trader Joe’s is cheaper than other grocery stores, whether a meal kit is cheaper than buying groceries at the store or how much you could save by going meatless for one day a week.

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Technologies

Pope Francis’ Funeral: How to Stream Live or Watch the Replay

Here’s how to stream the pope’s funeral very early Saturday, and what you can expect to see during the service.

After a week of global mourning for Pope Francis, who died on Monday at age 88, the pope’s funeral will be celebrated on Saturday . Francis’ funeral will be held Saturday at 10 a.m. local time at St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City (which is very, very early if you’re tuning in from the US or Canada), and he will be laid to rest at the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome. 

The Vatican will be livestreaming the papal funeral and procession, though not the burial, on its YouTube channel as it happens. The funeral will also be televised live on CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox, as well as on streaming services like Disney Plus, Hulu, Peacock and Paramount Plus. Due to the time difference, it seems likely that many interested North American viewers will catch it when it’s replayed later on Saturday. Numerous networks will rebroadcast the service later that day.

If you choose to stay up, or get up early, here’s when the live broadcast of the pope’s funeral will air in your time zone in the continental US on April 26:

  • ET: 4 a.m.
  • CT: 3 a.m.
  • MT: 2 a.m.
  • PT: 1 a.m.

The papacy of Pope Francis was notable for the progressive reforms he brought to the Roman Catholic Church. He appointed more than half of the current College of Cardinals and attempted to foster more positive attitudes toward members of the LGBT community and migrants worldwide.

What to expect from the funeral 

The funeral will follow many rituals, though not all traditional protocols will be followed. Most popes are buried in St. Peter’s Basilica or its grottoes, but the AP reports Francis chose the St. Mary Major Basilica to reflect his veneration of an icon of the Virgin Mary that is located there, the Salus Populi Romani (Salvation of the People of Rome).

His funeral will be less elaborate than those of other popes per his own wishes. Francis simplified papal funeral rites last year, permitting his burial outside the Vatican, and emphasizing his role as a bishop rather than as pope (the pope is also the Bishop of Rome).

Previous popes were buried in three coffins: one of cypress, one of lead and one of oak. Francis requested to be buried in a single wooden, zinc-lined coffin and not to be placed in an elevated bier as other popes were.

The coffin will be taken from St Peter’s Basilica and placed on a dais in St Peter’s Square, where Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re will lead the service. After the service, the coffin will return to St Peter’s Basilica before it is carried across the River Tiber and to the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major for burial. The ceremony is estimated to end around 2 p.m. local time, or four hours after it begins.

Pope Francis’ funeral Mass will be the first of nine Masses held daily at St. Peter’s until May 4. This is an ancient tradition of the Catholic Church that observes nine days of consecutive mourning. According to Vatican News, a different group of mourners will participate each day, though the Eucharistic celebrations are open to everyone.

Who will attend Pope Francis’ funeral?

Hundreds of people, including world leaders and royals, are expected to attend Pope Francis’ funeral. 

US president Donald Trump confirmed on his Truth Social Platform that he and first lady Melania Trump will be at the funeral. This will be Trump’s first foreign trip in his second term. He is expected to have a seat in the third row, though the Vatican has yet to release an official seating chart. It is tradition for the first row of seats to go to Catholic royalty, and the second row to non-Catholic royals.

Prince William, who is attending on behalf of King Charles, will sit in the second row, which is reserved for non-Catholic royals. Former president Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden, devout Catholics, will also attend the funeral.

Conclave: What happens next to choose the new pope

After Pope Francis’ funeral, the cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church will vote on his successor in an assembly of cardinals known as a conclave.

There are many matters for the cardinals to settle before the conclave begins, but once it does, it can take days or even weeks to conclude. Two-thirds of the cardinals’ votes are required to elect the next pope. The conclave occurs behind closed doors and the vote tally is never made public.

Read more: Where to Watch Conclave, the Vatican Thriller About Electing a New Pope

Look for the white smoke

The ballots are burned after each round, and chemicals are added to the flames to produce black smoke if there’s no majority. When a new pope has been selected, the chemicals will be added to the flames so they produce white smoke. Crowds gather in St. Peter’s Square to watch for the results.

If you’re fascinated by the process, you can watch a dramatized version of the events in 2024 film Conclave.

In the movie, Ralph Fiennes stars as Cardinal Thomas Lawrence, who spearheads the election of the next pope while investigating rumors about potential candidates. The film is based on the 2016 novel by Robert Harris and is completely fictional — though it does represent some of the events of how actual papal conclaves take place. In March, the film won the Academy Award for best adapted screenplay.

You can stream Conclave on Amazon Prime Video, or rent it for $6 on Apple TV, Fandango at Home, YouTube or Google Play Movies.

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Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for April 26, #685

Hints and answers for Connections for April 26, #685.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections puzzle features a lot of short words, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. That purple category requires a lot of thinking — probably most people will solve it only by solving the other three and having four words left over. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Rainbow.

Green group hint: San Fernando ____.

Blue group hint: Think Robert.

Purple group hint: Mixed-up hue words.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Tint.

Green group: Valley.

Blue group: Bobs.

Purple group: Color anagrams.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is tint. The four answers are color, hue, shade and tone.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is valley. The four answers are dale, dell, glen and hollow.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is Bobs. The four answers are Dole, Hope, Marley and Ross.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is color anagrams. The four answers are Dre (red), Gary (gray), genre (green) and lube (blue).

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Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for April 26, #215

Hints and answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, No. 215, for Saturday, April 26.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Connections: Sports Edition is tough today. The purple category theme threw me because of one phrase I didn’t know. And let’s hope you’re familiar with college coach surnames. Read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta now, making its debut on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 9. That’s a sign that the game has earned enough loyal players that The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times, will continue to publish it. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but now appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can continue to play it free online.  

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Try to achieve.

Green group hint: Move through it.

Blue group hint: Sideline bosses.

Purple group hint: Like a carton.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: What one strives for.

Green group: Room to run.

Blue group: College football coaches.

Purple group: Box ____.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is what one strives for. The four answers are aim, goal, objective and target.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is room to run. The four answers are gap, hole, opening and space.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is college football coaches. The four answers are Day, Lanning, Smart and Stoops.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is box ____. The four answers are lacrosse, office, score and seat.

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