Xbox Live down October 17

Online gaming addicts looking for an opportune time to get some chores done may want to think about scheduling them for next Tuesday. On a post on its Xbox Web site, Microsoft announced it will be taking its Xbox Live service and Xbox.com offline beginning Tuesday, October 17.

The company is quick to point out that the reason for the downtime is maintenance and not the fall dashboard update. However, Microsoft does say that they are "adding some cool stuff," but would not divulge exactly what was being added. Both Xbox.com and Xbox Live may be down for up to 24 hours.

Unfortunately, October 17 is the day one of the more popular online games makes its debut on the Xbox 360. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Double Agent, which features four-player competitive play, will be released that day, as will the Xbox 360 version of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07.