Heads up bargain hunters. For a limited time only Microsoft is knocking a clear fiver off the retail price for a year’s Xbox LIVE Gold membership.

Can’t be bad, eh - that’s £34.99 for 12 months of online gaming and premium downloading bliss instead of the usual (and frankly outrageous) £39.99.

We’ve no idea what informs this sudden fit of corporate generosity. We’d like to think that Microsoft is at last recognising that it’s out of step charging for online gaming while its competitors don’t. More likely it’s all in the name of encouraging upgrade from Silver to Gold, thus squeezing a few more quid out of the user base.

Either way, there’s no denying the quality of Xbox LIVE - particularly versus Sony and Nintendo’s iffy efforts. And five sheets off the regular rrp is better than nothing, right? Even if nothing’s what we’d prefer to pay.

Microsoft, somewhat inevitably, isn’t saying how long their super-discount offer will last. Fingers crossed forever, but you might want to buy now to avoid disappointment. Off you go...