Microsoft announces Gears of War Christmas bundle

Microsoft has lined up special Xbox 360 bundles comprising a 20GB system and a copy of hit title Gears of War, Call of Duty 3 or WWE Smackdown Vs RAW 2007, in a bid to capture the lucrative Christmas market.

The bundles will retail for GBP 299.99, and go on sale in this Friday.

"Xbox 360 has without a doubt, the most varied, exciting line up of games available this Christmas so now has never been a better time to buy," said Stephen McGill, head of marketing for Xbox.

Gears of War was released last Friday and has already been a huge seller, topping the all-formats software chart and taking over from perennial favourite Halo 2 as the most played game on Xbox Live.

Activision's Call of Duty 3 and THQ's WWE Smackdown Vs RAW 2007 have also been recently released and are currently enjoying chart success.

All bundles come with the game, an Xbox 360 console, 20GB hard drive, wireless controller, 30 day free Xbox Live Gold membership and headset.