Yesterday, some of Kotaku’s readers noticed that you could download Banjo Kazooie early by accessing its Marketplace page on the Internet, and then buying it after logging in to your Live account. Shortly after, people began to notice a host of exclusive pre-order and limited edition content also available for purchase online: the Gears of War 2 golden lancer, the Gears of War 2 flashback map pack, the Call of Duty: World at War pre-order bonus, and more.
Unlike Banjo – which you still had to fork out the points for – all of these could be gotten for free. For a while, at least. Microsoft caught on later that afternoon (presumably after noticing tens of thousands of people suddenly activated their golden lancers and ordered Banjo Kazooie early), and quickly put an end to the ordeal by upping the ante of the once-free items to 99,999 MS points. (About $1250, if you still want to purchase them.)
Who says Microsoft doesn’t have a sense of humor?
When reached for comment, one Microsoft spokesman said he wasn’t entirely sure why this happened yet, but it was likely an unforeseen effect of the NXE update. He did go on to say that the issue will be rectified, and something like this will “never happen again.”
In the meantime, it appears those who got their free game add-ons are still able to use them -- even online. So will Gears of War 2’s multiplayer be filled with shiny gold-plated lancers forever? We’ll probably find out tomorrow when everyone at Microsoft heads back to work. Until then, if you were lucky enough to get in on the action enjoy your early Christmas presents.
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November 24th, 2008 at 10:31 am
[...] Pre-Order and LE XBL Content Briefly Free, then 99999 Points By GameCyte ,November 24, 2008 Yesterday, some of Kotaku’s readers noticed that you could download Banjo Kazooie early by accessing its Marketplace page on the Internet, and then buying … [...]
December 5th, 2008 at 4:12 am
[...] Pre-Order and LE XBL Content Briefly Free, then 99999 Points GameCyte ,November 24, 2008 Yesterday, some of Kotaku’s readers noticed that you could download Banjo Kazooie early by accessing its Marketplace page on the Internet, and then buying … [...]
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