Lately, Xbox Live is not living up to its name.

Reports are drifting over the transom at Game Guy’s headquarters. that Xbox Live, the online multiplayer gaming and media service, has been difficult to access through the holidays — if not impossible.

Complaints cite problems with account access and matchmaking, and the problems are not consistent. One minute, gamers are able to link with the service, the next minute they’re not. Also, some gamers have not suffered from any trouble.

Yes, Microsoft Corp., Xbox Live’s parent, is aware of the problem, but it’s frugal with the details.

“Users may experience intermittent issues logging onto Xbox Live,” according to a service status note posted at Xbox FAQ. “Our engineers are continuing to investigate and are working to resolve this issue. We apologize for any inconvenience.”

And that’s it. No mention of how long the inconvenience will last, though a few posts over at Major Nelson, the online settee for Xbox Live programing chief Larry Hryb, say gamers have suffered through it for a couple of days at least.

(Game Guy wouldn’t know about any of this right now; he’s out of town and didn’t pack his Xbox 360 Elite, so further details from readers are greatly appreciated.)