Woo! FREE POINTS just for downloading 5 games!!
...NOT!!
Reading the fine print, I see that Microsoft has apparently redefined the word "download". What MS actually means when they say "download" here is "give us MS points in exchange for the full version of the game". In the language most Xboxers speak, this means "buy".
So this amazing-at-first ad turns out to simply mean, in net effect: "buy these 5 arcade games, get one free". Hardly a deal if you only like 2 or 3 enough to want to buy their full-length version.
"Demo before you download"
This is Microsoft, so it's not surprising that one change leads to a cascade of fail. Look at the above seeming clueless statement, also from that ad. Is this because, having redefined "download", they had no word left to describe the 1GB+ transfer required to play each game's demo version? Actually, probably not. Marketing doesn't like to mention dirty, inconvenient things like long waits, so that concept isn't even there. To them, this NewSpeak simply means "Try before you buy".
Windows über alles
As a non-Windows type person, this made me cringe: They've got a free countdown clock! But it's Windows Vista or 7 only. ... Yeah, the countdown widget, the widget that takes minutes for anyone to create, cross-platform or web-based, or even iPhone or other mobile's app, Microsoft decided on Windows-only.
Caveat Emptor
At the risk of stating the obvious, I must point out that the actual "buy" moment is when the MS points are purchased with good ol', non-virtual money. Microsoft then has your money, and likely doesn't care if you trade these MS points or not (except that if you reduce your points balance to near zero, you're more likely to give Microsoft more real-world money to fill them up again).
Note: I'd link to the ad, but its URL is full of identifying codes. And the pages online actually say "purchase". I guess it's OK in email to be "less precise".
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