Before we get into the main topic, a quick look at recent events:

First, I want to point and laugh at whoever decided to put Max Payne 1 and 2 up as Xbox Originals. They’re good games by most accounts, but you can get Max Payne 1 for about $6 new in retail box and the sequel for about $12. Why charge us 1200 Microsoft Points ($15) apiece for downloadable versions? How does that even remotely make sense? It’s a lot easier to justify that price in the case of “Pirates!” and San Andreas, as new in box copies of those games tend to be around $30. But in this case I can get both games in new retail condition for roughly the price of one Xbox Originals download, so... what was the point?

Also, the Deal of the Week for Gold Members for the week of May 4 is 33% off the Xbox Original “Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex.” Normally 1200 points, it’s 800 this week. That’s not so bad, I suppose; new in box copies tend to go for about $18, and used copies for about $8, so an Xbox Originals download of it for $10 does fit a certain niche. I haven’t played the game to know if it’s even worth $10, but at least this is an actual Deal this time around.

And now, a look at the general state of Xbox LIVE.