Microsoft is not the heartless monolithic giant that everyone makes them out to be, a perfect example is their Summer of Arcade promotion. In these hard economic times, the company is looking to give us 800 Microsoft Points, deposited directly into our Xbox LIVE account at the end of the promotion. Neat, huh?

If our sarcasm did not shine through clearly enough in the first paragraph, there is a catch to the “free” points. In order to get the 800 points into our accounts, we must first purchase all five Summer of Arcade games, Splosion Man, Marvel vs. Capcom 2, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled, Trials HD, and Shadow Complex. All the games run 1200 points, with the exception of ‘Splosion Man at 800 points, which brings the grand total to 5600 points, which is just under $70, for a return of 800 points in September.

Anyone going to take them up on this offer?