Microsoft Offers Gamers 96 Cent MW2 Map Pack Apology

I was writing Short Takes this morning and it occurred to me that I should include a blurb about Microsoft's apology this week to gamers who suffered at the hands of its ineptitude when the Modern Warfare 2 "Stimulus Package" map pack was released last week. By which I mean, I, like many others who were offline for two hours that day, received the following message from the software giant via Xbox Live: To thank you for your loyalty to Xbox LIVE and for buying the Modern Warfare 2 Stimulus package on day 1, we will extend your Gold membership for 7 more days of adrenaline-pumping action with your friends on LIVE. Your account will be updated by May 1. Wow! 7 more days. What a gift. Actually, what kind of gift is that? I wondered. So I did the math. Xbox Live Gold costs $49.99 per year. If you divide that by 365 (the number of days in a year) and then multiple that figure by 7 (the number of additional days you're getting), you arrive at the value of this gift. Which is... Just under 96 cents . So two hours of your time, two hours of incredible aggravation ... is worth 96 cents. To Microsoft. Just so you know where you stand, oh loyal Xbox Live subscriber. :)