Microsoft offers free "Xbox Live Gold Weekend"

If you’re one of those casual Xbox 360 owners who doesn’t care for the annual fee of Xbox Live Gold, this weekend’s for you.

Of course, it’s really a marketing ploy to get you to realize some of the benefits of a Gold membership in the hopes that you’ll sign up next week, but at least for the next two days you’ll get access to content usually reserved for premium Gold subscribers.

That means for this weekend only, everyone will be able to play their games online, as well as connect with Facebook and use exclusive features like Lovefilm and Video Kinect.

This promotion also comes just a few short days after Microsoft rolled out the newest update to the Xbox 360 dashboard, giving users cloud storage for game saves and user profiles, as well as new social connectivity features and a more personal feel to the entire interface.

Of course, users need to take their console online in order to prompt the update and Microsoft wants as many consoles updated as possible.

So even if the allure of new features and free Xbox Live Gold content isn’t enough for you, Microsoft is also offering a giveaway wherein lucky gamers have a shot at winning prizes like a Samsung HDTV, Xbox 360 Kinect console bundle, or thousands of Microsoft Points.

Tis the season for Xbox.