Well the link doesn't work now, but I'll trust this deal is coming soon.
Microsoft is a crazy company. But even though the amount of software they're giving away is unorthodox, this isn't exactly a dumb move.
Two games that had easily covered their development and one which had stopped selling. Cost to MS to produce and ship all 3 games? Maybe $10 or $12. Value to consumers? Over $100.
Or, a $50 price cut. Cost to MS? $50. Value to consumers? $50.
360 still has to find those customers, though. Are people uninterested in Forza and Halo going to buy a 360 for them? No. The other side of the coin is being careful not to damage those great third party game sales.
And oh yeah... Major win for the >1.5M of you who were going to buy a 360 this holiday anyways!
"[Our former customers] are unable to find software which they WANT to play."
"The way to solve this problem lies in how to communicate what kind of games [they CAN play]."
Satoru Iwata, Nintendo President. Only slightly paraphrased.
