Merry Christmas From Bill

Microsoft, every geek's favourite monopoly, have announced that they are giving gamers an early Christmas present by slashing the prices of several of their recent releases this month. Included in the offer are space combat sim "Starlancer", which drops from £30 to £20, and several titles now going for a song at just £15 - urban racer "Midtown Madness", the imaginatively titled World War II flight sim "Combat Flight Simulator", addictive massively multiplayer RPG "Asheron's Call", and online action-strategy game "Allegiance".

And to celebrate the release of the new "Age of Empires II : The Conquerors" add-on, the original historical strategy game is also getting in on the act. The first "Age of Empires" is now just £10, the Gold Edition £15, and the "Rise of Rome" add-on £10. So now you too can build Rome in a day, and all without having to break open the piggy bank...