Before I begin, that headline is completely ripped off a Eurogamer commenter, so never let it be said that I’m above stealing jokes within the right context. OK, so, it seems that the new “DLC” for BioShock 2 (which came out four days ago) isn’t really DLC at all! Nope, the content is right there, already on the disc that’s sitting inside your Xbox 360. Time to storm the Bastille again.

Users have reported that the download size of the DLC, which adds two playable multi-player characters, among other things, only comes in at 108K for the Xbox 360, and 24K for the PC. Now, unless 2K Games have invented some sort of Space Age compression technology, how can you fit two new characters (and more!) in a file so small? Conclusion: the content must have been on the disc the whole time.

In other words, that means that you’re paying 400 Microsoft Points (around $5) for something that’s already in your possession! It’d be like walking into the shoe store at the mall, then being asked to pay for the shoes you’re wearing. Well, not really, but sorta.

Or is it? Do you really “own” everything that’s on the disc? I would say yeah: I bought the disc, I own it. Now, if I were to have a lawyer read the fine print, he’d probably say, “Well, technically you purchased a license to play the game, and you don’t necessarily own the contents of the disc per se…”

How often do you download software that, while you download the entire thing, only unlocks after you cough up $20? Same deal or not?

I’d say no: when I download shareware I’m well aware that I’m downloading something that, while it’s all on my hard drive, won’t unlock until I actually buy it. There’s no such expectation for Xbox 360 games: I buy the disc, and I expect that I’ll have access to everything on the disc without having to pay extra at a later date. If not, publishers should put a sticker on the box that says, “Contains additional content on the disc that must be purchased separately.” That way people can decide if they want to support that. I probably wouldn’t just on principle, but I’m crazy like that.

It’s just unseemly. I would expect that the game’s developers had created the content that later wound up in the DLC currently with the full game, and at some point the publisher was like, “Well, put these assets aside, we’ll release it as a DLC at a later date. Just put it all in a hidden directory or something.”

Or maybe 2K Games should create a new term to take the place of DLC: PBC, or premium bonus content. Be upfront about it—it’s on the disc that ships, but you need to pay extra for it—and see if it sinks or swims.

Video game publishers: I’m available for consulting. I’ll let you use PBC, but further tips will cost you.

Today most everyone has a camcorder and is able to capture life’s moments on demand. The key to choosing the right type of camcorder is finding a happy medium between usability and price. Digital camcorders can be pricey and finding discounts online for video cameras, as well as cheap digital cameras is a great way to get more features for a much lower price than retail.

The types of digital camcorders mainly centers on the media they utilize for recording capability and the storage device where the video is written to. There are several types of digital camcorders that are popular today, each with specific media formats, benefits and price ranges.

7 Types of Digital Camcorders

1. MiniDV Camcorder
With the MiniDV types of digital camcorders video records to a mini cassette and is then transferred to a computer via fire-wire port, downloaded and edited with the use of video editing software. The advanced compression technology allows for very small recording cassettes making this camcorder very small and compact. This is one of the original types of camcorder and remains very popular today because of the low price and very good video and sound quality.

2. MicroMV Camcorder
The MicroMV type of camcorder uses tapes that are even smaller that the MiniDV cassettes with increased compression technology. The Micro MV records super high quality video and has full digital editing capability. It is also very compact, lightweight and ultra small.

3. DVD
The DVD type of camcorder is probably the most popular model today. This type records directly to DVD disks, both DVD-R and DVD-RW.

DVD-R is a recordable DVD format with a write-once only capability and DVD-RW is a recordable DVD but it allows rewrites and provides unlimited recording to same disk.

A great feature of this recording format is the ability to edit in-camera and the fact that the disk does not degrade with repeated playbacks. Sony makes several great DVD models at affordable prices.

4. HDV
The most expensive of all camcorders that provide superb high definition video recording. They allow for high definition video recording in a full 1920×1080 resolution. They come in the MiniDV and Hard Disk Drive storage types and provide the highest quality and clarity for the best video picture quality that looks fantastic on a high definition television. The high-def model requires a good computer with a high end processor and lots of memory, at least 512MB RAM, and at least 5GB free hard disk space to meet requirements of video editing software.

5. HDD
HDD stands for Hard Disk Drive and these types of camcorders record in the compact MPEG-2 video that is saved to an internal hard disk drive within the camcorder.

The biggest benefit of this type of camcorder is the ability to store huge amounts of video data via the use of compression technology. The vide is saved to an interanl disk with the camocrder itself and then dowloaded to a computer for editing and burning and viewing.,. This type is also long lasting as there are no moving parts and less chance of mechanical breaks.

6. Flash Camcorders
This type records and stores via an internal flash drive and flash memory cards. The memory cards include, Compact Flash, Memory Stick, SD and Memory Stick Duo.

7. Digital 8 Camcorders
This type utilizes Hi-8 tapes for recording. Introduced in 1999 by Sony, Digital 8 is a consumer digital videotape format. While Digital 8 camcorders use the same cassettes as Hi8 equipment the audio/video signal is encoded digitally. The picture quality is good and you can playback on analong videotapes.