Free copy of Undertow for everyone

Remember that free Xbox Live Arcade game we were all promised to thank us for our loyalty? It's Undertow.

Beginning Wednesday, 23rd January at 2am PST (10am GMT) and ending on midnight PST on Sunday (8am GMT on Monday to you and me), every Gold and Silver Xbox Live subscriber in the world will be able to download the underwater shoot-'em-up we actually rather liked for free.

Just remember, this freebie is in no way an apology or compensation for the problems experienced with connectivity over the Christmas period, but rather a "thank you for your loyalty". We didn't realise that the principles of guardedly swapping insurance details after you've rear-ended someone could be applied to the management of a 10-million-strong online community, but hey, maybe it works both ways - perhaps next time I prang someone in a car park I'll jump out and fail to establish an online movie download service in Europe for 12 months.

For more details on how not sorry Microsoft wasn't, check in with the letter from general manager Marc Whitten released just after Christmas.

As everyone knows by now, Microsoft has to watch what it says in public because angry Texans have decided to sue it for the service's performance over Christmas, meaning that Xbox Live's Major Nelson is no longer able to give us service status reports for fear of legal retribution.

Oh well, see you in Undertow.