Recently Microsoft announced a 4GB Xbox 360 console with Kinect bundle for $99—a shockingly low price that’s sure to turn some heads. But, is it a good deal?

On the surface, a $99 price tag seems too good to be true. I mean really… a console with Kinect for $99? That’s less expensive than a PS3, Wii or even any handheld device out there.  Count me in!

But, as you know—if something sounds too good to be true it usually is—and that’s the case here if you don’t know what you’re getting yourself into.

If you’re a smart consumer who pays attention to things, you’ve probably already noticed the asterisk (*) next to the $99 price. This indicates something. In this case it indicates a required 2 year contract to Xbox Live Gold at $15/month. Ouch.

So let’s do the math:

A new 4GB Xbox 360 with Kinect bundle costs about $300. Add 2 years ($50/year) of XBL Gold and you’re up to $400.

With this new bundle you start with a $100 for the console and then add $15 each month for 2 years (24 months). That gives you a grand total of $460.

Honestly, it’s not a bad deal as long as you realize what the total cost ends up being after your contract is up. Knowing that, what do you think? Do you find that a $99 + $15/month subscription model is easier to swallow than $300 + $50 + $50?

Let me know what you think via Twitter.

11/11/11, it will only happen once in our lifetime. So, what better way to immortalize that date than by playing video games with friends? WeTheGamerz and KontrolFreek (along with some other really awesome people and companies) will be hosting an Xbox Live Community Playdate online from 8-11 PM EST this Friday, November 11.

The game we will be playing is Modern Warfare 3 (duh?!?) and is open to anybody who wants to join. All you’ll need to do to participate is send an invite to the following Gamertags and start playing:

• TG Fireflex
• Sogo01
• MollyPopGirl
• Rondeau04
• Kelky 111
• Uo1drama
• MRPINK310
• KF Trevor

There will be prizes awarded for completely random happenings. All prizes are Call of Duty themed and include our FPS Freek Prestige and FPS Freek ELITE controller attachments. You have to play with us to be eligible to win.

WeTheGamerz is a fantastic community to play with and we are really excited about killing everyone involved. Seriously, you’re all going to die. See you there!

Welcome!

Good afternoon, evening, morning and night! Wherever you are in the world, we’d like to welcome you to the place where time is irrelevant and rare zombie codes wait patiently for redemption. We are pleased to meet all of you new fans from Facebook and we welcome back all you original Freeks who have been with us since the beginning.

What we’ve got here is…

About a month ago we got our hands on a couple of those rare Call of Duty: Black Ops zombie maps and avatar outfit cards that shipped with the Prestige and Hardened editions of the game (thanks, @NuckFuggets!). People went crazy! Over the past few weeks we’ve noticed a bunch of you asking for “moar zombie maps pweez,” “I can haz zombie maps nao,” and “gimme zombie maps kthnxbai.” Silly internet memes aside, we heard you.

Rapid fire!

Here’s how it’s going to work: throughout the day we will be firing codes out at you over Facebook. The first one to redeem each code will be the winner. To make things more challenging, we’ll be replacing one or more of the code characters with a question mark(s) and you’ll need to guess the missing character(s) to win. We have a total of six codes to give out—three map packs and three avatar outfits. Two avatar outfits and two map packs are for Xbox 360 and the other map pack and avatar outfit is for PS3. We’ll say what the code is for when we post it. Good luck!

FAQ

Q: Where do I redeem the code?

A: For Xbox 360 or Xbox.com. While signed into Xbox LIVE, go to the Marketplace blade, then select “Redeem Code.” From there, use the keyboard to type in the code. On Xbox.com, go to this page (after you sign in) and enter the code. Hint: Pasting the code will work with some browsers.

A: For PS3. Go to the PlayStation Network tab, select “Account Management” and then “Redeem Codes.” You can also redeem codes while accessing the PlayStation Store.

Q: What are the question marks (?) I see in the codes?

A: To make it more challenging we have replaced one (or more) of the code characters with a question mark. You need to guess the missing character(s) to win.

Q: I entered the code, but I get an error that the code is not valid! I know I entered it correctly.

A: You probably did enter the code correctly, but someone has already redeemed the code.

Q: What do you mean someone entered the code already?

A: Each code is only good ONCE. That means that the first person to correctly enter the code will get the item for free.

Q: How do people enter the code so quickly!

A: They may own a chat pad, or be using a USB Keyboard. It is much quicker to enter codes using one of these methods.

Q: I was working / sleeping/ eating/ taking a test/ stuck in traffic when you posted the code. Can you send me one?

A: No. Sorry.

Q: It’s my birthday! Can you send me a code?

A: No. Happy Birthday though!

Q: When will you give them out? Is it a certain time?

A: Nope. Your best option is to keep checking Facebook throughout the day.

Q: Are the codes good where I live?

A: Probably. There may be some restrictions but we’re not aware of them.

Q: I live in (insert country here) can I participate in your code give away?

A: Sure. Anyone can participate.

Q: Do you have any more codes once these are gone?

A: Nope.

Next time you turn on your Xbox 360 and log in to Xbox Live, you will be prompted to download the Fall dashboard update.  The update is mandatory if you want to continue playing on Xbox Live—which you obviously do, since Black Ops will be here in less than a week.  The Fall update finally gives us a better voice chat and a number of other improvements that should make the overall Live experience a much better one.  Here’s the list of features straight from Xbox Live’s Major Nelson:

ESPN on Xbox LIVE*

3,500 Sporting Events A Year – Access more than 3,500 live and on-demand global sporting events from ESPN3.com a year, including college basketball, college football and college bowl games, MLB, NBA, international soccer and more.

Out of Market Games – Catch your favorite college team games. Check out the huge catalog of out of market games and enjoy them on the big screen.

The Best Ways to Watch – Enjoy HD programming, DVR controls, plus access to hundreds of clips from ESPN3.com, refreshed daily.

Games at a Glance – Keep up on real-time score information using ESPN.com’s score feed without leaving the game you’re watching. View scores for leagues and games currently in the ESPN.com feed and select “Watch Live” or “Watch Replay” to jump straight into that game.

Predict the Winner – Pick what team you think will win. While watching selected games in college football, college basketball, MLB, and NBA, you will be prompted to vote for your team of choice. You’ll also see the percentage of votes among the Xbox LIVE viewing community.

Voice Chat – Voice chat with up to seven other friends while watching the big game.

My Sports – To customize your ESPN on Xbox LIVE experience, click on the “Events, Highlights and More” slot on the homepage and browse by sport to pick a specific league that you want to follow for the season. The league that you select will now automatically display in your My Sports Channel.

Zune Music*

Zune Pass – Zune Pass is a monthly subscription service that gives you unlimited, on demand streaming of millions of songs at launch from all the major music labels and thousands of independent labels.

Enhanced search – Search the broad library to find your favorite artists, albums, songs and playlists.

Social – Connect with like-minded fans on the Zune online community and get new music recommendations. Zune Social also lets you see friend’s Avatars and listen to their recently played songs or check out their favorite artists.

Smart DJ – Instantly create customized playlists by selecting an artist and have Smart DJ find songs that complement your selection.

Netflix* Search – Experience a streamlined search function making it much easier to find the movies and TV shows you want to watch.

 Improved voice chat quality – The audio codec is updated to improve Xbox LIVE Party audio quality. So grab your friends and jump into a multiplayer game or catch a big game with friends via ESPN3.

Improved Gamertag creation – Choosing a new Gamertag? If the Gamertag you’re looking for is already taken, your Avatar will spin a wheel and we will provide five other Gamertag suggestions at a time for you to choose from.

Streamlined in-dashboard virtual keyboard – We’ve taken the existing QWERTY keyboard in-dash and made it easier to use for scenarios that involve repeated text entry, when signing up for LIVE within the dashboard for example.

Improved Xbox LIVE Marketplace UI and browse experience – The Game Marketplace has been re-organized to provide streamlined access to the gaming and video content you want, reducing the number of steps to get to a download.

Easier to get on a wireless network – Trying to connect to a wireless network? Now you can see a list of all the wireless networks within range when you go into network settings.  From there, you can select a new network or further configure the network you’re connected to.

Ability to sign-out other controllers in the sign-in UI – We’re adding the ability to sign-out profiles on other controllers in the sign-in UI within the Guide. This is especially useful when playing games like Rock Band.

New browse experience for 100% completed games – You spent a lot of time and effort earning those Achievements, so we’re giving you a new and better way to browse all of them.

Updated Family Settings – Xbox 360 continues to lead the industry in efforts to create tools that help parents and caregivers choose the right play and viewing settings for their families. We are enhancing the core Family Settings tools for all Xbox LIVE members:

Family Programming – When turned on, Family Programming disables display of all mature content on the dashboard and can be turned on or off with a protected password for individual members (per account). It also highlights all family-friendly entertainment.

Intelligent Default Settings – Your Xbox automatically customizes privacy and activity settings for each member, based on age (child, teen and adult). These settings can later be individually customized.

Title Exceptions – Allow your family members to play specific games above the console’s designated ESRB/PEGI (etc.) rating as you deem appropriate.

* Xbox LIVE Gold account required to access these features. Not all features available in all Xbox LIVE Regions.

And it’s about freeking time.  The game that defined my early-teen years is finally playable on my favorite white console thanks to Xbox Live.  The Xbox version includes an all-new episode with 9-levels called “No Rest for the Living,” enhanced graphics and 4-player co-op.  Here’s hoping it’s as awesome as I remember it!

Game description from Microsoft:

“To save Earth, you must descend into the stygian depths of hell. Battle nastier, deadlier demons and monsters with your trusty Super Shotgun. Survive more mind-blowing explosions and take part in the bloodiest, fiercest, most awesome blastfest ever. Recruit your friends and plow through 9 all-new levels in the new episode, No Rest for the Living! Play solo or multiplayer over Xbox LIVE with up to 4 players. DOOM II for XBLA includes split screen co-op over Xbox LIVE, Game clips, 5.1 Surround Sound, enhanced graphics, and HD display support.”

In the last few weeks I have had a couple of friends who have had their Gamertags banned from Xbox Live for having “offensive” names.  My friend Dustin (a.k.a. DustyWang) wasn’t allowed to log-on to Xbox Live again until he changed his name to something more politically correct.  Apparently “wang” is in violation of the Xbox Live Code of Conduct (92.88 million Chinese people just cried a little). Another friend, xPuppyKicker (who’s Gamertag was inspired by a Nora song, not Mike Vick), had the same issue.  This got me thinking:  isn’t this kind of censorship in an environment where you can still be called every racial name over your headset pointless?  And what even gets people banned these days anyway? 

After some research I have discovered a few more, and in some cases,  even less offensive Gamertags that have been banned for violating the extremely vague Xbox Live user agreement.  And since Xbox has no answers, I have taken it upon myself to interpret the rules and reasoning behind these bans:

DustyWang – No Chinese surnames that loosely translate to “king.”

xPuppyKicker – Don’t mess with PETA!

Sputinik 006 – Anything about the Russian space program is no good.

PimpInc333 – Pimpin’ ain’t easy after all—and is allegedly a big NO on Xbox.

Vodka Burn – Alcohol is bad, m’kay… or is this just another Russian thing?

Valuable Asset – You can’t spell “asset” without “ass.”

UglyJackass – Unattractive donkeys were up-in-arms over this one!

 After having the same online identity for a long time you can probably understand the frustration that ensues when all of the sudden you have to change the name that you’ve become quite attached to.  And then to get no real answers from Microsoft as to why your name was suddenly banned doesn’t help either.

Have you or someone that you know ever been forced to change your name on Xbox Live?  If so, please tell your story (and banned Gamertag) so that I can continue my list of ban-worthy names and the reasoning for the bans.