Xbox Live, Xbox.com Schedule Transition For Xbox 360

Both Xbox Live, Microsoft's unified online service for the Xbox console, and Xbox.com will be undergoing planned downtime on October 24, according to an official statement released by Microsoft. The services will be offline in order to implement upgrades, which will be in place when both Xbox Live and the website return on the 25th. Though new Xbox Live features will be active when the service returns, none of the enhancements will actually be visible to the public eye until Microsoft releases the Xbox 360 on November 22nd. The new features switched on during the downtime will presumably include the Xbox Live Marketplace and the service's "achievements" records, which list special accomplishments the player has made in every Xbox 360 game. These accomplishments will be visible on the new Xbox.com, which will undergo a redesign to more prominently feature the My Xbox area of the site. Accomplishments will be recorded on a player's individual gamer card, which will be viewable both from Xbox.com and within Xbox Live. Using the gamer cards, users can track other players' scores and accomplishments, as well as compare their rivals' performances with their own. The new gamer cards will also be present in other Microsoft web initiatives, including the official Xbox forums and MSN Spaces.