We were starting to wonder what had happened to the free Live weekends Microsoft promised with the launch of the Xbox 360. However, it now seems that the first freebie weekend has been penned in on the official Xbox website.
April 1 is the day that cheeky freeloaders can jump on to Xbox Live, without having to spend a penny on superior Gold membership. During the free weekend, Silver members will have their service extended, and for 72 hours will be able to play any of their favourite Xbox games online.
Non-paying Silver members normally have restricted access on Xbox Live, limited only to game and demo downloads from Xbox Live Marketplace. Gold membership, which costs $49.99 a year, extends to the more obvious function of actually being able to play games online.