Free Online For Select Xbox Live Arcade Games

Xbox Live Silver members--those are the guys that don't pay Microsoft's fees for full Gold status that I would call "goldbrickers" if that wasn't so confusing--have free access to multiplayer in eight games. This is Microsoft's new "Friendship is Free" program. Don't worry, though, I'm sure they have a team of skunkworks engineers working very hard on a way to charge for friendship.

Here are the eight games that freeloaders can get into for the rest of December:

• A Kingdom for Keflings
• Aegis Wing
• Bomberman Live
• Hardwood Hearts
• Hardwood Spades
• Uno
• Small Arms
• Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix

So, that's a decent variety that covers a few genres. And Aegis Wing is free, so anyone can get in on that. But also, most of these games have a pretty hefty multiplayer component. So I can't help but think that anyone who isn't already a Gold member wouldn't have bought many of these in the first place.

I'm sure that Microsoft has a series of charts and graphs hidden in a back office somewhere that would prove me wrong. It's probably on the same whiteboard as the initial plans for a "Friendship is Available For A Small Fee" program.