Original Xbox Live to close in April

Microsoft has announced today that they will be discontinuing Xbox Live service for the original Xbox console starting in April. The move will effectively kill all online play for the orphaned console, as well as for Xbox games that can be played on the Xbox 360.

"This isn�t a decision we made lightly, but after careful consideration, it is clear this will provide the greatest benefit to the Xbox Live community," says XBL general manager Marc Whitten.

Whitten does admit that some games still have significant amounts of players, such as Halo 2, but all things must come to an end. Says the GM: "There�s no greater example of the power of the Xbox Live community than the Halo franchise. Halo 2 has had an amazing run on Live, with a dedicated community more than five years after launch and well into the next generation of consoles. It has fundamentally changed the way we play videogames. And while it�s difficult to see that run come to an end, the Halo franchise continues to act as the benchmark for multiplayer gaming in this generation, with Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST and soon Halo: Reach on Xbox 360."

With the death of original Xbox Live, will come new services and features for the 360 version.

"As we look down the road, we�ll continue to evolve the service with features and experiences that harness the full power of Xbox 360. To reach our aspiration, we need to make changes to the service that are incompatible with our original Xbox games. We will contact the Xbox Live members directly impacted by this change and if this includes you, I encourage you to check your Live messages and associated email account over the coming weeks for more details and opportunities. We view you as a partner in this process," Whitten concludes.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 5 Feb 2010 14:49

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19 comments

ZippyDSM

WHy not make the servers able to do both but put more into the 360 side.....I love it when they can do these things but don't.... also what about the Xbox games that run on the 360?

5.2.2010 15:41 #1

98sohc

its probably not worth it for them, they want to go and get on with the new era of hd gaming and probably stay away from all the older games, i heard they might be taking BC away, is this true?

5.2.2010 16:21 #2

glassd

Whitten does admit that some games still have significant amounts of players, such as Halo 2, but all things must come to an end. Says the GM: "There�s no greater example of the power of the MICROSOFT.

Buy a 360.

5.2.2010 16:25 #3

beanos66

all those evil bastards playing halo2 instead of paying for halo3, what are they commies?

5.2.2010 17:15 #4

lxfactor

microsoft loves their fans. watch they will do the same to the 360.. sucks for all the people that got FF11.

5.2.2010 18:08 #5

Bluevoid

Most people aren't touching those games anymore because the core group act like locusts. The jump on the new game and play it while there is a huge audience, then when the new games come out they change and so on and so forth. They derive little value from "last year's game". There are however, those people that thrive on nostalgia. I am one of those people. What this act shows everyone is that XBOX and XBOX Live! Does not care to meet the needs of the nostalgic audience. Since I purchased a 360 to experience what I was missing (and believe me, I am a happy owner of a 360) I was planning to grab some old school titles. Now I come to find out that getting the patches and downloadable content for those titles may not be attainable. Too bad.

Despite it being a losing game they should continue to support XBOX OG on a separate platform. It will increase their integrity among gamers and more than make up for the lost revenue in supporting legacy systems by getting new sales on current and future titles. Am I less likely to buy a new game now that I know it won't be supported in 5-7 years? Yes. Am I more likely to buy it on a competing system that has a track record of longer support? Yes.

I don't believe MS looked at the longer repercussions of their actions here. The nostalgic group may not be a huge one, but they are big enough to cause a rumble if they see fit.

5.2.2010 19:09 #6

ThePastor

This is what I've never liked about this business model. You are beholden to them for your content and more and more that content is only available from their service that they can shut off any time they wish.
When this stuff started growing, with games like Doom and Quake and many others, you could run your own server and host your own games and you could find the patches and fixes all over the place.
Not any more.
It's not just Games... It's the whole online/connected world. Phones, music, video... everything is going to use this model and it will be terrible for innovation and you will be required to buy what they tell you to buy when they tell you to buy it.

5.2.2010 20:00 #7

scorpNZ

Sony not long ago dumped socom 1 & 2 from it's servers as well as HOA,there were others dumped before that,however at least they waited till numbers were so low or none at all before they decided to shutdown access,if the numbers are sufficient i see no reason for ms to do the same especially halo 2 if there is so called significant amount of numbers playing & these servers aren't even free

5.2.2010 20:04 #8

Amak

Sad to see this happen, but it had to happen eventually... goodbye, Old Xbox Live. It was a great run while it lasted.

5.2.2010 21:54 #9

TBandit

Originally posted by scorpNZ: Sony not long ago dumped socom 1 & 2 from it's servers as well as HOA,there were others dumped before that,however at least they waited till numbers were so low or none at all before they decided to shutdown access,if the numbers are sufficient i see no reason for ms to do the same especially halo 2 if there is so called significant amount of numbers playing & these servers aren't even freeWHOA, I remember playing SOCOM 2 last week online are you saying that they dropped support or there is no online servers any more. I was going to say that at least sony still had those servers up.

6.2.2010 02:02 #10

lxhotboy

I understand what they are doing but if a lot of people are still playing halo 2 online they should leave them be.

6.2.2010 02:37 #11

scum101

so now the few people who haven't modded the old black monster will do so to ket on xlink and the other free one..

we don't need M$ to play in leagues and clans etc all the classics on our nice reliable old systems.. and it's free people..

http://www.teamxlink.co.uk/

so screw M$ .. they have screwed us for long enough, and will continue to screw people over as long as governments continue to refuse to enforce the penalties for their criminal anti consumer actions and instead take the same kickbacks to ensure a near monopoly...

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6.2.2010 08:57 #12

alexeemo

6.2.2010 09:53 #13

Amak

Originally posted by scum101: so now the few people who haven't modded the old black monster will do so to ket on xlink and the other free one..
Wrong. XBC/Kai emulate a system link connection via your PC. No console modding needed.

6.2.2010 15:42 #14

Se7ven

i think they gave the big box support long enough time to move forward and continue to build live for the 360 platform.its been almost five years since the 360 came out.but i really feel there should be a universal way for all consoles to play online together i know it will never happen but hey why not hope for it.4plus years is good i mean they killed all other support for the big box in less than a year after the 360,i dont think they wanna screw people this time around its just time.

6.2.2010 21:02 #15

llongtheD

Originally posted by ThePastor: This is what I've never liked about this business model. You are beholden to them for your content and more and more that content is only available from their service that they can shut off any time they wish.
When this stuff started growing, with games like Doom and Quake and many others, you could run your own server and host your own games and you could find the patches and fixes all over the place.
Not any more.
It's not just Games... It's the whole online/connected world. Phones, music, video... everything is going to use this model and it will be terrible for innovation and you will be required to buy what they tell you to buy when they tell you to buy it.I agree completely. We will no longer own our media, we'll just rent it. All of the big corporations are doing it now with Apple leading the way with drm-tunes. Not that sony or microsoft are any better.

If I buy something, I should OWN it right? Shouldn't I be able to use it for as long as I see fit, and transfer it to other devices that I own? Should I be forced into some proprietary piece of software deciding what I do with it?

Yes, I'v strayed from the point, but that "convenient" always on internet connection, and the pay per view model isn't far behind.

Even though I don't play games on it, and haven't for a long time, I like my old xbox with xbmc. Even if its just to stream internet radio.

There is a reason the government doesn't enforce any standard in file formats like they do for everything else. If you were an architect or an engineer, your designs would have to fit a standard for the buildings or parts you design. If it didn't you'd have to prove otherwise, and go through the appropriate steps. Software it seems is exempt from that. This and the ever expanding list of proprietary file formats is yet another check mark on the list of corporate corruption in our current system.

If your fish seems sick, put it back in the water.

7.2.2010 03:43 #16

Joshewah

This is a good example of why the PC gaming audience loathes online console gaming. Its not that the system or games suck, its because of the crap these companies, like MS, pull to dampen the experience. At some point the service for these games will get pulled. I often like to go back and play my games and if I want to play online I should have that option.

Once in a while I install Tribes on my PC and I'm always surprised to see dedicated servers alive and well even after 12 years.

7.2.2010 13:26 #17

scum101

Originally posted by Amak: Originally posted by scum101: so now the few people who haven't modded the old black monster will do so to ket on xlink and the other free one..
Wrong. XBC/Kai emulate a system link connection via your PC. No console modding needed.nub.. may be so.. but EVERYBODY else is running modded games etc.. you will get pwned if you don't mod.

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7.2.2010 14:25 #18

Amak

Quote:Originally posted by Amak: Originally posted by scum101: so now the few people who haven't modded the old black monster will do so to ket on xlink and the other free one..
Wrong. XBC/Kai emulate a system link connection via your PC. No console modding needed.nub.. may be so.. but EVERYBODY else is running modded games etc.. you will get pwned if you don't mod.Maybe, it was stated that you need to mod just to get on Kai/XBC, which I corrected:)

8.2.2010 05:56 #19

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