Are there any 360 gamers left who have not yet been convinced of the benefits of upgrading to Gold membership of Xbox Live?

It’s a great service and is the only way to enjoy the online components of most of the system’s bigger titles. Indeed, it would be 100% brilliant were it not for the small matter of price – the best part of £40 still smarts, especially when compared to Microsoft’s rivals who are asking nought for similar (but, admittedly, not as good) services. Anyhoo, in the name of giving everybody a taste of the fun Gold member-hood (is that a word?) can deliver Microsoft has just announced details of ‘Xtival ‘07’.

It’s a free weekend of Xbox Live Gold privileges by any other name. It all takes place from November 23rd to the 26th, when European gamers will be able to play online and download like crazy, regardless of membership status – assuming they’ve got their 360s wired up to the internet via a suitably chunky connection, that is. By all accounts Microsoft is lining up a few choice extras too – compos, exclusive downloads and other exciting happenings. In other words it'll be worth a look-in, so ch, ch, ch, check it out…