Microsoft has two big messages it wants to pass on to gamers right now. The first is simple gloating. Microsoft is excited that it has sold around 17.7 million Xbox 360 consoles worldwide so far, and has sold 8.1 million copies of Halo 3. The other relates to a free Xbox Live Arcade game.

Xbox Live members may have noticed that over the recent holidays (approximately December 25 to January 3), there were ongoing problems with Xbox Live connectivity. While the problems were no more than a nuisance for many, other gamers had problems connecting and recovering accounts. Microsoft partly blames this on new accounts created in recent days, but appears to be taking responsibility and calling these problems “unacceptable.”

As an apology, Microsoft plans to offer Xbox Live members a free Xbox Live Arcade game. Details on the game will be announced soon.