Xbox Live developed a nasty case of the squirts over Christmas, as anyone who tried to log on in the past week or two has found out. Rumours have begun to circulate that Microsoft might offer a refund to anyone who paid for Gold membership and had trouble with the service. Seems only fair to us, though it could be argued that because Xbox Live wasn't completely 'down' at any time - just hiding in a dark corner, shivering and sweaty while batting away imaginary fruitbats - Uncle Bill might not be obligated to be so generous.

At the time of writing, the Xbox Live website declares the service to be 'Up and running. Users may experience intermittent issues with login, account recovery, matchmaking, and statistics." Which, to us, sounds like another way of saying 'it's still knackered.' We will continue to watch with interest.