Microsoft generally isn't the habit of laying out several weeks worth of Xbox Live releases in one fell swoop, so we can assume that the company is going out of town for the holidays, and this is the note they are leaving on the really big fridge, containing all we need to know about the coming weeks.

First off, today sees the addition of holiday gear and tokidoki wear on the Avatar Marketplace, with tons of new items to spend your discretionary Microsoft points on. Be sure to save some for Christmas Eve, however, when Disney Classics wear shows up, filling your friends list with pretty princesses.

The Xbox Live Deal of the Week program continues throughout the month, starting with the Lips: Coldplay Track Pack (200 Microsoft points) next week, followed by Shadow Complex (800 points) and The Maw (400 points).

The Games on Demand service expands by several titles this month, with Crackdown and Disney's Bolt already available, and Viva Piñata: Party Animals, Lost Planet Colonies Edition and Devil May Cry 4, and Gears of War coming over the next three weeks.

*pause for breath*

Xbox Live Arcade gets two new additions over the course of the next two weeks, with Alien Breed Evolution Episode 1 dropping on the 16th (800 points) and the Trails HD Big Pack adding 35 new racing and skill tracks to the game on the 23rd.

On top of all that, December 18th through the 31st, Microsoft will be holding one-day sales on select Xbox Live Marketplace items, including games, movies, add-ons, and themes, counting down to the New Year with savings, as is tradition.

As for me, I'm driving to Florida to hang out with my girlfriend's mother and grandmother. Not really all that interesting, but since we were sharing.

The ending to the most recent Prince of Persia left a bad taste in the mouth of many a player, as it more or less forced you to be a complete and utter tool. While the Prince of Persia: Epilogue downloadable content might not make you any less of one, it does at least allow you to explore what happened after you made an involuntary giant mistake. Normally retailing for 800 Microsoft points, three or so more hours of Prince of Persia can now be yours for only 560, as part of Microsoft's Deal of the Week program.

Head over to the purchase page to get the DLC in your download queue.

Deal of the Week: Prince of Persia: Epilogue 30% off [Xbox Live's Major Nelson]

The Lost and Damned is this week's Xbox Live Deal of the Week, shaving $5 off the price of a new storyline and new multiplayer features for the already excellent Grand Theft Auto IV. Gold members (snicker) who've not yet given the newer content a whirl would be doing themselves a favor by snagging it this week. With the next set of DLC just around the corner, you might want to get Lost and Damned out of the way to make room for the coming of Gay Tony.

It's time for the Xbox Live Deal of the Week, and this time around it isn't half bad. The Jedi Temple Mission Add-On for the Xbox 360 was one of those iffy add-ons that a lot of people passed up. After all, why pay 800 Microsoft points for a mission they included in the Wii, PlayStation 2, and PSP versions of the game but left out of the PS3 and 360 versions?

Well how about 400 Microsoft points then? From now until the end of the week, the Jedi Temple is priced to move, so if you've a spare $5 lying around, there you go. I have the PlayStation 3 version of the game myself, so all I can do is weep.

Deal of the Week: The Force Unleashed: Jedi Temple Mission Pack [Major Nelson]

Black and white has never been quite as complicated as it is in Ikaruga, the shooter that adds an interesting polarity mechanic to standard gameplay, with black and white bullets only affecting white and black ships respectively. The Dreamcast and Gamecube shooter got a lovely Xbox Live Arcade port last year, and now that port is available to Xbox Live Gold members for half off this week. 400 Microsoft points, or $5 in real money, is a ridiculously low price to pay for the hours of sweet frustration Ikaruga supplies.

Deal of the Week: Ikaruga [Major Nelson]

Heading up the deals for this month is Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, on sale next week for half of its 1600 Microsoft point price. That's 800 points for the math challenged, or $10 in real-world money. If you've yet to experience the PA-flavored role-playing game, $10 is pretty much a steal.

The rest of the month is filled with add-on values. The week of April 13th brings the Advanced Warfighter 2 Co-Op Collection for 320 points, followed by the Spyglass Hill Golf Course add-on for Tiger Woods 09 for 400 points during the week of the 20th. Finally, the month ends with the NBA Live 365 Subscription add-on for 30 percent off, or 560 Microsoft points.

Well at least April's deals start off somewhat exciting, right?

The Deal of the Week is Microsoft's way of saying thank you to Xbox Live Gold customers by offering them content they more than likely already purchased at a discounted price. The service kicked off in December of last year, returning on a permanent basis last week with a discount on Braid. This week's deal is the Ninja Gaiden 2 Mission Mode, priced to sell at 560 Microsoft points, or 33% cheaper than the original 800 point price.

Mission Mode originally dropped in July of last year, so chance are if you were going to pick it up, you already have. If you haven't? Well never let it be said that procrastination never paid off.

This weeks Deal: Ninja Gaiden 2 ‘Mission Mode' [Xbox Live's Major Nelson]