Kinect has been priced at $150. Check out my post over at GameRevolution here.

MW2 Stimulus Package Will Be 1200 MS Points

Reactions from my friend Zach have me confused. Is 120o Points, or $15 in non-funny-money, not a ridiculous price?

How about some perspective? I think understanding everything should always be a prerequisite to complete and total internet-brand rage. We all know how people like to react to things when there's no anonymity. Of course, PLAY READ WRITE, I'm not anonymous. If you'd like to express your opinion on the price, please e-mail me or leave a comment on this post. My e-mail address is danielrbischoff@gmail.com

Here are all the details:

//The Stimulus Package map pack consists of 3 new maps and 2 maps from CoD4: MW.

//1200 MS Points equates to $15.

//The Variety Map Pack for Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was 800 MS Points and featured 4 new maps.

//The Map Pack for Call of Duty: World at War was 800 MS Points and featured 4 new maps.

//The Halo 3 Legendary Map Pack released for 600 MS Points and featured 3 new maps.

//Perfect Dark (the XBLA remake) will be releasing this week for 800 MS Points.

So while both previous Call of Duty map packs released with four new maps at a $10 price point, Modern Warfare 2 will be getting 5 maps, two of which aren't new at a $15 price point. Something doesn't seem to add up. Needless to say, I'm not so sure I'll be buying the map pack in order to continue playing seamlessly.

OnLive Launches in June

GDC '10 was last week, and yet, the news is still rolling full steam (obviously I just haven't covered everything I'd like to write about). OnLive made a big splash last year and returned this year with a release date for the service: June 17th.

Some bare bones pricing has also been announced. The service itself will cost $15 a month. I guess this includes a lot of the community features, including: "instant-play free game demos; multiplayer across PC, Mac and TV platforms; massive spectating; viewing of Brag Clips video capture and posting; and cloud-saving of games you've purchased." This monthly cost does not include the rental or purchasing fees for any given game.

Wait, what? So the user pays $15 a month and then pays extra on top of that subscription for any games they'd like to play? That doesn't sound nearly as enticing as I once thought OnLive might have been. Obviously, even a streaming solution can't outrun the publisher's bottom line.

I just don't understand. If you want to use OnLive on your television, without hooking it up to your computer, you'll need some sort of set-top box. I'm guessing you'll be charged for that. Then the user will have to pay for a connection with the bandwith to even run the service. Afterwhich they'll add on $15 a month to even log on. Then depending on whether you want to play games or watch other people play games, you'll have to pay for those too.

Beyond that, how do you own anything on OnLive? Where does ownership fall in a subscription based model? If I "buy" a game to play over the streaming service, and then I cancel my subscription, how do I continue to play the game?

Thank God for Steam and Valve for bringing that platform to the Mac (hypothetically encouraging more developers to create Mac ports of PC games). That was a lot less concise than I was going for....

Thank God for Steam.

BFBC2 Takes Project 10 Dollar To A Bad Place

Having found success with their Project 10 Dollar initiative, EA seems to be fighting the good fight with every major title they release. Having benefitted from Project 10 Dollar with some neat (free) DLC for Mass Effect 2 myself, I certainly don't mind the extra motivation to buy all of my games new in box. Of course, there is a way any good thing can turn into a bad thing, and Project 10 Dollar has turned this corner rather fast.

Today, Battlefield Bad Company 2's Project 10 Dollar DLC was revealed today and it turns out it isn't DLC at all. While, similar to Mass Effect 2 in that a code will be included in the game's box, the code won't open up download channels similar to the Cerberus Network. Instead, the code will unlock content that is already on the BFBC2 disc.

I know that when we buy our games on discs, we're only really buying the license to use the content on that disc, and I also know that, legally, there are some things we "cannot" do with the content on the disc. However, I feel that when we buy the physical medium that a game is transported on, we are, or at least, should be, entitled to everything on the disc. Unlocking DLC is kind of bull shit in my eyes. Project 10 Dollar was an impressively nuanced and strategic way to battle the used game market, but I respected the tactic a lot more when it provided extra material. Unlocking multiplayer maps is not "extra content," and when the player is booted out of matchmaking for not having these maps unlocked, I can guess they won't be playing Bad Company 2 much longer.

I know this is why I don't play Halo 3... ever. When map packs are released, and I don't have the Microsoft Points lying around waiting to be spent, I walk away from the game. BFBC2's unlockable maps are essentially day one map packs that'll force players to walk away, should they be picking up the game off of someone else or used in a shop.

I know that calling foul like this might be a little too soon. Common sense would point to the fact that no one will refuse to shell out the extra $5 for a new copy instead of Gamestop's $55 used copy, but I still don't think unlockable codes are the best kind of business. Charging $15 to the smart used-game buyer who might get the game off craigslist totally shatters the market there because they'll be saving a total of $0.

But that's they're business right? Yes, EA will still succeed in crushing used game sales the world round. But doing so might also crush their opportunities in taking the warfare shooter crown from Modern Warfare 2. Did anyone think Bad Company 2 was going to do that in the first place?

At a CVS Pharmacy...

While visiting Jenna's parents in Ventura, we ran a couple of errands, including a stop at a CVS Pharmacy. Here in northern California, we don't have CVS but it's about the same as any old drug store you might walk in to.

Of course, we looked around a bit while waiting for a prescription. Doing so set us stumbling across these

Wii knock-off products. I would never have guessed that CVS was backed by the Chinese rip-off artists who surely spawned these products. There were plenty of units too, enough for any amount of customers that wanted to walk in and get the Wii experience for $39.99.

Of course, there isn't much other than the sports games that come with the unit, and who can say how well the "wands" work? Nevertheless, the knock-offs stretch for all the gimicks.

Next to the units on the shelf were the sports attachments for Wii-remotes. The packaging didn't say if they would also attach to the Zone 40.

What does the 40 refer to? Apparently the knock-off unit comes with 40 games built right in! I can't imagine those 40 games are anything more than extremely simple minigames.

Below the Zone 40 was the xtreme fit system. Notice the coloring on the box? Notice the yoga-posing? What about the tag-line? "Fitness made fun!" I bet.

How do these things happen? Nintendo is one of the hardest driving corporations when it comes to battling piracy, but these products were being sold for legal tender in a store in southern California! I admit, when we were in China Town in December, I looked around shops wondering where all the R4s were. How dare I submit to such stupid stereotypes! CVS are the real black-market importers. When will they start carrying the iPhone and PSP knockoffs to go with these atrocities.

Honestly, I just couldn't believe it. They're such terrible derivatives, and shameful too. Won't someone send a letter to Reggie so he can start kicking some asses, might as well throw Walgreens under the bus too while you're at it.