This picture of a dude's floor is cheekily used to head this post. Here is some of the stuff you used to 'network' your Xbox
Microsoft have announced that following seven years in active duty, Xbox Live’s support for the original Xbox and thus, games designed for the console, is to be ceased, starting on April 15th. Thinking back, I remember reading about it in a magazine all that time ago and because I was in the age of dial up internet and so were many others, we all thought that it was a waste of time and went back to split screen. Oops…
In this letter to Xbox Live members, Live’s General Manager Marc Whitten goes over why they have took the decision:
On April 15 we will discontinue the Xbox LIVE service for original Xbox consoles and games, including Xbox v1 games playable on Xbox 360 and Xbox Originals. I want to start by saying 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.
It now gets a bit PR’d so brace yourselves
Seven years ago we laid out our vision for the connected console when we launched Xbox LIVE. We believed then that the power of the Internet to connect people would revolutionize living room entertainment. It started with amazing multiplayer games, and we’ve since seen that bet pay off again and again with the launches of Xbox 360, Marketplace, Netflix and powerful social features like Facebook, Twitter and Last.fm. None of this would have been possible without the success of LIVE as a multiplayer gaming network.
There is no denying the impact that Xbox live has made on internet gaming and gaming in general. It made it almost mandatory for games to have an online mode of some description, encourage you to buy a console because “my mate is on Live” and connected up gamers who’s idea of multiplayer was occasionally letting someone else have a go.
Sorry guys, looks like your going to have to start playing another game...Like Halo 3
It’s not been all rosy. It’s seen the rise, this isn’t just on Live, of adolescent’s who think it’s big and clever to bitch that you just had someone crouch on your face. And whilst the fact that multiplayer has spread to other games is not necessarily a negative, there are very few games that actually pull off online gaming well, with the majority being poor, tacked on modes that detract from the single player.
Apart from what has been said above, there is another thing to come out of this and it’s that you won’t be able to play Xbox Live games such as Halo 2 and erm, a bunch of others, even if you play them on the 360. I’d heard a while back that the reason they couldn’t increase the friends count any higher than 100 was a result of maintaining what is essentially legacy support for these games and services, so perhaps Live will become a little more optimised as a result of shutting all this out.
So, what do you do if you own an Xbox now you can no longer play Halo 2? Well, I was actually thinking not too long ago of picking one up, very second hand and very cheap, and turning it into a media server thing. I’ll let you know if I ever build up the courage. Which is probably unlikely.
If we haven't bored you, here is some more:
- Microsoft ‘Changing the Price’ for Xbox Live
- Video of the Day: Xbox Live on Windows Phone 7
- Halo: Reach Live action trailer: Birth of a Spartan
- Xbox Live Avatars, Sims Edition
- Guess what? Halo 3 is still popular
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