Xbox Live downtime scheduled

Xbox 360 gamers won't be able to answer the Call of Duty and the Gears of War will cease grinding (online, at least) for the better part of a day next week as Microsoft has notified Xbox Live users that the service is in for some downtime.

Starting at 12:01 a.m. PDT on Tuesday, March 27, Xbox Live will be unavailable for an expected 14 hours, according to Microsoft, while the publisher makes upgrades to the service. Eager 360 owners are advised not to get their hopes up speculating about possible upgrades; Xbox Live director of programming Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb posted on his blog that the changes are not a new dashboard update for the system. That's expected later this spring.