Microsoft , which has begun offering 4 GB Xbox 360 bundled with Kinect motion sensor for $99 on its own online store and at Microsoft Stores to purchasers who will sign up for a two-year Xbox Live Gold Membership, has expanded its footprint, with select GameStop and Best Buy outlets starting to offer the bundle.

Xbox Live Gold, which allows gamers  to play with other Xbox 360 users online as well as access various types of content, costs $14.99 a month-which means those who participate in the program will actually be paying close to $460 over the life of the two-year contract (including the price of the Xbox bundle).

According to the Xbox Web Site, users can return the hardware and cancel their subscription within 30 days, but the first month's $14.99 payment is non-refundable. After 30 days, users will incur an early termination fee (ETF) that will start at $250 and decrease as the two years progress; for example, a user would owe $144 as ETF after one year.

Usually, a Live Gold membership costs $60 per year (or $5 per month) with a $299 Xbox bundle. If you are going to buy an Xbox with a Live Gold membership and you don't like the idea of walling yourself into a two-year contract for a gaming console, then you should probably just put down the $300 up front and save $40 for the same service. However, if you don't have that kind of money, Microsoft's $99 plan is for you.

Microsoft has consistently referred to this new pricing scheme as a "pilot program." This may be the way the company wants to place Xbox pricing in the future. A new content plan could help position the Xbox much more directly as a full-service living room entertainment center, rather than primarily as a video game system. Ars Gaming Editor Kyle Orland wrote in May "That's a transition Microsoft has been signaling for years with its slow accumulation of online entertainment apps, and one that seems somewhat natural given that entertainment apps are already more popular than online gaming on the Xbox 360."