February 5th 2010 8:00 am PT

Best to address this now: Will Halo 2 PC still be playable online? Should be.

Also, I really wish that PC developers/publishers would fully support Games for Windows LIVE. As someone that enjoys going for achievements, it really does affect my purchasing. Games I’m looking at… Split Second, Blur, Alan Wake…

I have a powerful gaming PC AND an Xbox 360. I do enjoy taking advantage of the PC, at times.

I know that it’s holding back the friend list size limit, but I’m looking forward to seeing what else this opens up for LIVE on 360′s.

HALO??!!

I’m really interested to see how many people will be apoplectic with rage after this announcement. I shall be taking those gamertags down, and if I ever see them in a lobby, I will just quit out.

Maybe we’ll get (very) lucky and see reworked Halo 1 and 2 multi-player on Live Arcade.

Making space for Project Natal on LIVE! Yeah Baby!
Great that Microsoft have aired this as early as they have.

23 million strong just on LIVE is mind blowing in its own right.
I really am looking forward to the future of LIVE in 2010 and beyond…

People are about to go crazy. I never thought this would happen honestly.

Wow. We need to get a group together and play Halo 2 one last time over LIVE on April 14th. That really will be weird.

I’m with you K04. I would like to see more Games for Windows Live games enabled as well as see Halo 1 and 2 on the Xbox 360 with achievements. I play both also.

Please let this open up the ability for bigger friends lists is my first though. Although it will be a shame for the people who still play original live games, it will be nice to see what this opens up for Xbox Live on the 360 though.

And @K04 Passat, Halo 2 pc is a totally different game from Halo 2 on xbox…..if we were able to play cross-platform i would be hesitant to say this, but since it’s not cross-platform i am 99.99% sure this wont affect halo 2 on pc. And also not everyone who has a PC loves the G4WL service….don’t get me wrong i am in your boat, i love the PC games that support G4WL, but not many people who only play PC are in that same boat.

Will this affect Original Xbox title updates or Xbox 360 backward compatibility updates?

WTF No more Halo 2, Starwars battleFront, Counterstrike, and Rainbow six… What the Hell Microsoft??? We pay you $60 bucks a month For LIVE to force us off the Original Games!!! I am pissed…WTF WTF

dont 99% of the original xbox users have LAN parties anyways?

i cant imagine this being that big of a deal.

but either way, we do PAY for XBL so in a way i dont see why it cant go on as long as customers are still willing to flip the bill unless that number has dwindled down to were theres not enough revenue or usage to combat the cost to running and administer the servers.

O, what a difference 23 million members make. Back-compat only takes you so far, even the Windows team has learned that one. I’m looking forward to what the LIVE team (and Bungie) can do.

Hope you weather the coming storm well, Major. Having been set on fire once already, probably helps. lol
Godspeed.

I’m fine with this and all for expansion and improvements. Sorry to those that will be inversely impacted. Still the best $50 a year I spend.

That being said, I *must* get in a few more multiplayer games of Halo 2 and especially Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory.

Bring on the change!

Two months left for some nostalgic Halo 2 matches!…Also, LET THE FLOODGATES OPEN FOR THE TROLLS.

So original Xbox games that are BC will still be playable on the 360 and the BC patches will still be available, but you just won’t be able to play online multiplayer in them (like with Halo 2), right? As long as that’s all this is, I’m fine with that. But I really don’t want to have to hunt down an original Xbox just so I can play all those games.

FINALLY MORE THAN 100 FRIENDS!

Obviously not knowing the full technical details involved, would it not be possible to keep a few servers open, operate old XBL separate from new XBL, and make it cheaper, or *gasp* free? To my eye, 8 of the top 10 Xbox games played this last week were multiplayer games.

I’m still waiting for Halo 2 to arrive in Games on Demand or the Arcade… That would be awesome.

So now that XBL is no longer going to be available for original Xbox games, does that mean you’ll get rid of the original Xbox list and we can FINALLY get that Top Add-ons Purchased list added to the weekly Live Activity posts?

Wow it’s hard to believe my beloved Spies vs Mercs will be gone forever… I am going to hunt down my Halo 2 and Chaos Theory and play the shit out of them now! I never took them out of any of the many unmarked boxes from when I moved :O Crap.

Halo 2 still has a great community hopefully something is done to keep it going through a patch or Originals release with updated live.. though I’m sure it’s impossible and would not financially make sense at all.

well m.s it’s about time you bought back your sports franchise so we could get a new version off links. we need a proper golf game not that ea crappy thing called tiger

Yeah, releasing the PC version of Halo 2 for the 360 is now a no-brainer.

Wow, it cant be that hard to have kept this. Everytime they do stuff like this, SONY must love it, as it makes it more and more pointless to buy a 360 over a PS3.

Huh, this is not great. I haven’t got an Original Xbox but I’m not happy with this.

Even all, this will improve (O RLY?) Xbox LIVE for the Xbox 360. Let’s see it.

whatever.

Everyone better pop in their Halo 2, Tom Clancy games, Links, Crimson Skies, and any other games which offered addon level content, because that will dry up as well.

Wouldn’t a better solution be to have separate friends lists for Xbox and Xbox 360 games? It can’t cost very much to keep Xbox compatibility.

This bothers me, because I have several #1 scores in single player leaderboards (Metal Slug 3 and some arcade classics), and these records will be gone.

Guess it time to download all the free content for my Xbox Originaal games now. Might have to get Halo 2 for PC now to play it online.

Well i am looking forward to see what improvements comes from this move. Maybe there will be a preview of the new features being released soon *hint hint*

@Ganon255 – I SO hope you’re right. Halo 2 PC being converted to 360 would be a DAY ONE purchase, even at full price. Maybe more, if they included Halo 1 multi, which is what I’ve always wanted to play online anyway.

So many cry babies on here.
Everything has a life cycle and it is about time the original Xbox and it’s LIVE service was shut down to make way for the 360.
This to me is good news.

You’ll kill Halo 2… That makes me sad. Not angry but very sad. Let’s hope Reach will have Halo 2 multiplayer as a bonus.

That being said, I can’t wait to see what’s coming, and I hope it will come for everyone, unlike Last.fm which still is “unavailable in your region”. Loosing Halo 2 to have some far away players enjoy new features I can’t have access to would really bother me.

I’m surprised MS isn’t smart enough to have annouced a 360 release of Halo 2 at the same time as this – it’d almost instantly make any issues go away.

As long as the 360 remains backwards compatible, with the games already listed, I guess its ok. There are just a couple games I play, Crimson Skies and Splinter Cell. A new Splinter Cell is on the way, so I should be fine there. However, there hasn’t been anything like Crimson Skies since it was released. I hope someone gets to work on that.

Yeah, that’s what I don’t get! Why complain?! Before the Xbox 360 was released, I thought $50 a year was way too much to just be able to pop in Halo 2, and play over Xbox LIVE! With the Xbox 360, there’s a Video Marketplace, downloadable games, and add-ons!

Hell, I know you could do that through Halo 2, but do you realize that on the original Xbox, a credit card is required? The Xbox 360 allows Microsoft Points, with cards purchasable anywhere, and … *gasp* … a credit card is not required! Great for the kids that are complaining here!

Think about it … the one major thing that I can see added here is more than 100 friends! How many of us have a full friends list and have to do a monthly lottery with these friends? If you don’t play, you don’t stay. And, at the same time, how many of us really have 250 friends? What about 500? See my point?

Who cares if these old games won’t work anymore? Give us more for what we pay for!

This really is terrible news!

I regularly play Street Fighter 3 and Star Wars Battlefront 2 online on my 360 and now this is ending? …and I only just re-newed my 12 months subsciption on live too… doh!

It doesn’t look like theres going to be a new SW Battlefront game out for some time (or possibly ever?) and theres no sign of Street Fighter 3 being released on live (plus why should I have to pay for it again)?

I only recently purchased the Star Wars Battlefront 2 additional online mode/characters on my 360 (weirdly you still have to pay for it?)… does this mean I’m going to get a refund now MS???

I’m seriously not happy with this.

A Halo 1&2 remake using the Fall of Reach engine would be nice.

I still really really hope we’ll see further compatibility updates.

It was an extremely bad business decision to kill off Xbox Originals. The reason it wasn’t a success is the games weren’t priced right. That is the *only* reason. I would’ve picked up several titles that I was curious about, but the price just put me off and I decided to wait and see if I’d find them cheaper second hand.

I’m also very disappointed that we’ve not seen further Xbox 1 compatibility updates. I have a big pile of games that still won’t play on my 360, and I’d rather not have to rely on my original Xbox not croaking.

Bad PR – & Sony will be all over this as an example of poor ongoing product support. Doesn’t really affect me but lots of people are going to be p*ssed at this news.

Wow, It is amazing how many people will ignore something until the day you tell them they can’t use it anymore. My only hope is that we 360 users will get some cool features that could only be possible by shutting off Xbox Original Live support.

Thanks for the heads up Major.

Halo 2 online, you will be missed.

well i’ll miss Halo 2, battlefront, rainbow six 3 and Doom 3 online but hopefully there will be some cool stuff added besides a bigger friends list, i seriously doubt anyone plays with all 100 of them on their lists right now but whatever, not angry about it but i think people overreact because they cant just add anyone and everyone like on facebook and myspace etc. thanks to a 100 person cap

Why do people see this as a PR boost for Sony when they’ve already abandoned PS2 BC for the PS3 ages ago?

While I appreciate that this will allow Microsoft the flexibility to add features to the network that were not supported by the original Xbox, it still feels as if consumer loyalty is being rewarded with a kick in the bum. I would have much preferred a virtual server/emulator/firmware solution that wouldn’t leave the older generation in the cold. The funny thing is, although I know most will say, “let go of the past”, I still purchase original (v1) titles often and was actually in the process of procuring Star Wars Battlefront 1 and 2 for my 360. Guess I’ll never have that chance to play my brother in Halo 2 online either- he’ll never spring for a 360!

Alas, at last! Progress can be made.

Kudos to that.

Self interest, now all the v1′s are left with the 360 option.

Why are people still playing H2?

Hello, we have Halo 3 for a while now.

Oh come on guys… things need to move on right ? If MS stayed the same and just sat on the past successes instead of inovate then we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. Look at what they have done since the 360′s launch… the advances they have made in ONE consoles lifespan (thats still ongoing)and as for “another reason to buy a PS3″ … well, Sony dropped their back compatability within months from the Japanese units launch having the emotion chip built in.. then early EU PS3′s just having an emulator to now and NO NEW PS3 being backward compatible in favour of advancement and to push sales of new games not old software… things must change, get better, improve..what PC are you viewing this on.. one from 1987 with a floopy disc with Novell as an UI…? Still got your music on cassette or 8 track (yes I am THAT old!!)must be hard to carry that record player round when the other kids have an ipod or iphone…
From me “I KNOW WHATEVER MS DO THEY WILL DO IT WELL” can’t wait… fully understood why and thanks for the great work so far.

@KazamaSogetsu
Because Halo 2 and 3 are different games. Halo 3 is great, but it’s not Halo 2 and it doesn’t make Halo 2 less good and enjoyable. By the way, why do you still play DMC4? Hideki Kamiya made Bayonetta.

Seems like a joke considering Microsoft sells original Xbox titles on the 360 Marketplace. Thumbs down at this bad decision.

This is a terrible decision. What’s to stop Microsoft from saying in a couple of years or so that the company will no longer be supporting 360 games. Microsoft killed off people’s MP3 libraries when it shuttered MSN Music; is it going to be so quick to do the same with XBLA and 360 DLC? While I admit I rarely have used Live play with an original Xbox title (Third Strike), this is incredibly damaging to the longevity of the brand.

Live is run over peer-to-peer, so all of the costs and burden falls upon those players hosting the game. How is this such a strain such that Microsoft is going to kill a whole generation of games? What’s the point of paying for Live multi-player on an inferior P2P system if the company won’t provide stable, faster servers or guarantee that the games will remain playable over P2P for their duration? There _must_ be another solution to this issue via patching or whatnot, and while Microsoft may not find the costs to find and implement a workaround justifiable now, it’s guaranteed to take a big goodwill hit as a result. I know after the $1,000-plus I’ve spent on XBLA alone, I surely expect to be able to play the games I purchased and not be arbitrarily told that the old framework is a bother, and I kiss my games and on-line access goodbye.

If they really looked at the problems here closely and decided that this was the only real way forward, that there was no chance of any kind of compatibility mode or emulation fix possible to accommodate the old titles being feasible, then I suppose it can’t be helped.

The thing I don’t quite understand is why are so many people enamored by the thought of Microsoft releasing a 360-compatible version of Halo 2? It would seem a little unreasonable for MS to ask me to pay for a new, compatible copy to replace the perfectly good (Limited Edition) one I already paid for that they’re cutting off here.

Great decision. I need to be able to have more than 100 people on my friends list. Thanks MS.

Microsoft should be saluted for keeping those servers running almost five years after the system was discontinued. Even Gamestop stopped selling used original Xbox games a couple of years ago. EA should take a lesson. Support your game for a reasonable amount of time after launch.

Well, I suspected this would come someday. I’m not mad, but I am disappointed by a couple of points.
1) I still can’t buy the last Star Wars Battlefront 2 stuff with MS Points. This was my #1 original Xbox title to play online, I am sad that 3 didn’t materialize first. I may have to seek addiction counseling in the interim
2) Shutting off the Xbox is one thing, but a compatibility update for the emulator would have been nice for some of the top ten UU original games. Some of the best Halo matches I have had have been with original Xbox users still hooked on Halo 2.
That’s pretty much it, actually. So two games really impact me, and the rest, not so much. It’d be nice to see the old XBLA games like Bookworm ported to our 360′s though.
So I will pose this question since we are getting the warning. – Can we at least have the paid DLC zeroed for the last month or so? You know, so those of us who don’t attach credit cards to anything net-enabled can get one last hurrah? It’s not like that multi-player content is going to be worth anything after April, right? I was hoping an update would allow me to pay for them in points at some point.
Ultimately, I am still looking forward to the positive changes this will bring.

It’s sad, XBox story is now over. A page of video games has been turned.
But if I can understand technical evolution impose this change, why “including Xbox 1 games playable on Xbox 360″? Couldn’t you patch these games since they are downloaded and installed on XBox 360 hard disk drive?

Sorry for this double-post, I can not edit my previous comment.

Perhaps MS could release Halo 2 on XBLA with a compatible Live system? It could be great to continue playing, even if players must buy again the game. Just one necessary thing: keep statistics between the 2 versions (Bungie website and ingame).

Wow, The more you people do to “improve” things, the more you are pushing me back to PC.

You have to bear in mind that there is currently only a single Live service across Xbox 1, 360 and Games For Windows; and that the legacy support for Xbox 1 Live is handicapping future expansions for the latter two platforms. Bear in mind also that Halo 2 (the most popular Xbox 1 game) only had a few thousand unique players yesterday, according to Bungie’s website (http://www.bungie.net/Projects/Halo2/default.aspx).
Yes, Microsoft could split the Live service in two to keep Xbox 1 players connected to each other but separated from 360 and Windows, but this would be a lot of time, money and effort for relatively little reward.
Therefore, is it fair to limit the potential of Live for the vast majority of customers just to keep compatibility for a tiny minority?

(I completely sympathise with requests for all Xbox 1 DLC that requires credit card payment rather than MS Points to be made free, by the way, but I suspect that many of the publishers who would need to authorise those decisions no longer exist…)

Part of me looks at this and want to say “boo”. Then I look at the last time I actually PLAYED an original XBox game at all, let alone on Live, and realize my reaction is “eh, whatever, bring on the new features”.

I like the suggestion of seeing if it’s possible to run XBox games in some kind of “Live Sandbox” — a small, separate set of servers devoted to XBox games while allowing the new features on 360′s. Not knowing the underlying architecture of Live, though, I’m sure Microsoft considered this already and decided it wasn’t feasible or practical.

One other slightly related point – when working in software development, supporting legacy systems is often a source of frustration. One of the most infamous examples is Excel’s continued ignorance that the year 1900 wasn’t a leap year, just because the original Lotus 123 made the same mistake. It’d be easy to fix the bug, but doing so would potentially mess up every single spreadsheet with a date in it: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/214326

It’s about damn time! This is LONG overdue.

I still like to play Halo 2 online. But I know Microsoft has to go with the numbers (which are low). Nevertheless, a company with smart engineers would have figured out a way to make the two work together while giving Xbox 360 newer features.

Will the title updates and DLC remain avaliable?

If not, will it be possible to do something like ordering disks containing these files?

@Computerdude103 Trouble is, it’s not just about smart engineers. Because every Xbox 1 game that supported Xbox Live implemented the service (multiplayer, friends lists, friend requests, online leaderboards etc) in its own unique way, there’s no way Microsoft can just switch them all over to a new system without patching *every* *single* Xbox 1 game separately (just not possible without either asking the original developer who might no longer exist, or reverse-engineering the code).

The only viable alternative I can see is to leave Xbox 1 connected to the existing service (let’s call it “Live 1.0″) and move 360 and Windows over to a new service (let’s say “Live 2.0″) instead. That’s still not perfect, especially for things like playing Xbox 1 games on a 360 console. It also doubles maintenance costs, and generally over-complicates the already complicated administration process. Do you really want E and his team to work even longer hours?

@etyek Re:(I completely sympathise with requests for all Xbox 1 DLC that requires credit card payment rather than MS Points to be made free, by the way, but I suspect that many of the publishers who would need to authorise those decisions no longer exist…)

I hear you. The only one that has been of concern to me personally is the Battlefront 2 second pack. Lucas Arts is still around, but Pandemic Studios is not. Could be tricky. I’m still waiting on an *Official* word about the Delistings of XBLA titles (Specifically Double Dragon) where the publisher went under. IMHO If they’re not around to say YES, they’re not around to say NO either. Though I have always been guilty of employing that philosophy. (If there’s no specific rule against it, how are you to know it’s not allowed, or even encouraged or the only way to WIN?) I know… i know… What can I say? The Kobayashi Maru played a significant role in my early development.

@Team Kobun: You’ve definitely hit the nail on the head with your post!

No more Halo 2 or Star Wars Battlefront?! are you fucking kidding me… Microsoft is turning into EA! So we can look forward to the Xbox 360 getting discontinued Xbox LIVE once the new Xbox comes out? I say you need to make Halo 2 as a downloadable game on the 360 so it keeps it’s support, same goes with Battlefront. Xbox will not be the same without Halo 2 XBL

i would rather they of kept Xbox 1 Live and not have Twitter or Facebook etc for the 360,as they are not needed for gaming
-
its sad to think that i wont be able to play Star Wars Battlefront online anymore
-
‘We view you as a partner in this process.’<<<

Good!

Keeping those “classics” around just in case I get nostaligic is a terrible justification for something that as stated impedes xbox live’s development. They may have been good games back in the day, but a general sacrifice of features and progress is hardly worth maintaining them for the few luddites out there who can’t be bothered to move on.

Didn’t Sony remove backwards-compatibility ENTIRELY from their newer PS3s? You’ll still be able to play the originals, guys, just not online. And from my experience some of the best games of the last generation were offline.

Not saying this doesn’t suck, just stop being all “IMMA GO BUY PS3 TIEM NAO” considering, in all fairness, THEY’VE ALREADY DONE THIS.

Heh… makes me wonder why I’m paying $50 a year for a service that gets shutdown in less than a decade while I can always go back and play classics like Counter-Strike and Unreal Tournament on PC 10+ years later.

I’m not afeccted by this but hell, I got mixed feelings.

It’s nice to see they want to step further on XB LIVE’s possibilities and have to agree with all NOCTORNUS (and other users wanting buddy list improvements and so) said.

On the other side, well… I’m sure there is a small community of players that haven’t yet a xbox 360 but still pay for live (odder things I’ve seen in life so I assume that’s possible) so what if someone PAID for a year of LIVE services and they shut it? They have to buy a 360? Will they be refunded ? Maybe with 1 month codes so they “jump in” to 360?

As Team Kobun said, this is a kind of warning for the future; what will prevent microsoft to do this again as soon as a new console appears ? This would dissapoint to people who got a 360 on its later days but still purchased hundreds of games (I know players with 100+ games)

The smartest move now for microsoft would be to track down and refund xbox v1 users’ for the services already paid but that will no longer get, and then release on XBLA (so we get online play/achievements and they get new money for the same stuff) at least the most popular XBL games such as Halo/Halo2, Counter strike, Splinter Cell… I’m sure Bungie will be glad to get money again for an already existing game, just re-coding it again… same goes to EA, who hates money, to find anyone to rework on Pandemic’s battlefront games and take our 1200 points away.

Again, I’m not complaining but wanting to see the two sides of the same coin.

Cheers.

I just hope this doesn’t happen to the 360′s library eventually when the next Xbox is released. I don’t use Xbox1 BC often, but I’ll miss playing KOF Neowave every now and again.

This sucks. You’re supposed to add incentives rather than take them away!

I still play Links 2004 (there’s no better golf game) and RalliSport Challenge 2 (not on the backwards compatibility list) on my original Xbox. I’ll have to think twice on whether I pay for a Gold membership next time, after this.

BTW, for more details this FAQ provides a few answers to more explicit questions:
http://forums.xbox.com/31138980/ShowPost.aspx#31138980

Well, MS definitely has the PR speak down. If this is the only solution than obviously MS is guilty of bad planning. Not surprising however, seeing as how they released a broken console at launch. I don’t play original xbox game online a lot but it was a nice feature to have. I agree with the above poster about twitter and facebook. Believe it or not some of us like to play games. I could give a rat’s ass about twitter and FB. Would have been nice if the time that went in to those could have been used to resolve this situation differently (or update the BC list). I suspect that this will be happening to the 360′s library next gen as well.

I haven’t played an original Xbox game in years, including Halo 2′s multiplayer, of which I played 2800 games. I suppose this makes sense, but I better see some amazing Xbox Live capabilities because of this. Even if I don’t play Halo 2 anymore, it’s very depressing to comprehend a world where its online play is completely snatched away. That was one of the best, most consistent online gaming experiences of my life and the entire reason I got Xbox Live in the first place.

So the 100 person limit on the friends list will be gone on 4/16. Right?

You better put a bigger friend list since the “100″ limit was due to the Xbox 1, if we are to believe you.

lol @ geeks with 100+ friends on their list like that’s improving anything.

Of course some people will be angry over this decision, and as Major himself said, it was a hard choice… Honestly though, I never thought this would happen.

while this sucks that original XBOX games will no longer be supported, its not as bad as EA shutting down servers for a lot of games that are still being played right now. there were only a few games I really wanted to play, but they never became BC or were on the XBOX Originals (like Beyond Good & Evil). I hope that by doing this you guys are going to add some cool new features, not stuff like Twitter or Facebook

I think you must to rewrite Halo 2 code and the most popular games for XBOX360. many people likes to play Halo 2.

Hmmm, went in to get in some Halo 2 action and my maps have been outdated. Trying to update yields the error “Could not download content list. Please try again later.” Does this mean the DLC has already been pulled and that I cannot rumble pit as of today?

time to remake Halo 1 and 2 for the 360 kinda like Metroid Prime series and God Of War
-
i will take Exclusive games over features to the 360 anyday

It seems all the XBOX 1 DLC has been pulled. Same error on Battlefront 2. >:(

Please allow Bungie to re-port H2. I know Halo is now IP belonging to MS, so it’s ultimately your decision. Just as I bought my albums on record, then 8 track, then cassette, and then on CD I would be willing to dump down for the new format for my favorites. It’s just not the direction I would have hoped for as we all know how popular the RIAA is these days after years of that same tactic.

This is a stupid move. How much could it cost to keep these servers around.

I smell announcements Microsoft is preparing for E3 2010. It’s sad that support for the console sank so fast, but it’s also a good thing that Microsoft isn’t going to hold the new system back by trying to keep up with a system they no longer support. Hopefully lessons were learned and the new changes will allow for unprecedented expansion for LIVE on the Xbox 1080.

Need more information. What does this mean exactly?

Does it mean no more title updates for original games? Does this mean that if a game required a title update to play on the 360, consoles that don’t have that update installed will never, ever be able to play the game?

I assume for sure that it means no friend lists, visibility on live, messaging, et cetera from games like Fable and Doom 3. I also assume it means no Live-mediated network multiplayer, like in Doom 3 and Halo 2 (but that LAN games will still work).

Does this mean that putting KotOR in, we can no longer download Yavin Station after that date? Does it mean if we put in Crimson Skies, we can no longer download the maps after that date?

I am not worried about the presence features, the multiplayer, the messaging, that stuff. I *am* concerned that I have games I won’t be able to *play* anymore, either because I can’t get title updates or because I can’t get critical DLC (like Yavin Station). So speaking for myself, you know what you could do to really ease the pain of this? Put out a DVD-ROM disk image (like the ones used to update the console if you don’t have network access) that contains all the title updates and DLC we’ll be losing access to. Let us burn those DVDs and pop ‘em in to keep installing that, so we can replay old classics in 2012 and beyond.

If you guys can take a measure like that (or simply confirm that title updates and DLC are *not* a part of what’s going away), I’ll deal. If not, this is starting to look like what Sony did when they stopped selling PS3 units that could play PS2 games.

(But this does make the XB720 (or whatever comes next) look worse to me. A huge reason I jumped on the XB360 bandwagon was that the network features of the original XBox were supported by the same infrastructure. It gave me confidence that I could get XBox and XBox 360 games and they were an *investment*, and I’d be able to keep playing them even on *future* generations. Turning off the legacy networking means that, going into the next generation of consoles, there’ll be betrayal instead of confidence. This feels like a long-term bait-and-switch. Backwards compat is why I had a PS2 instead of an original XBox, and backwards compat is why I have an XB360 instead of a PS3. We’ll see what happens next time.)

R.I.P.

You’ll be missed.

“The thing I don’t quite understand is why are so many people enamored by the thought of Microsoft releasing a 360-compatible version of Halo 2? It would seem a little unreasonable for MS to ask me to pay for a new, compatible copy to replace the perfectly good (Limited Edition) one I already paid for that they’re cutting off here.”

Because if they used the Halo 2 PC version with the achivements and Scarab Gun etc most of us would probably buy it again anyway…

i really need to play H2 as much as i can before April 15

Will the upcoming changes include MAKING XBOX LIVE AVAILABLE FOR MORE COUNTRIES ???

If not then any other new features are meaningless

About time…

Wow… this is not a good move. I bought a 360 at launch but still have an Xbox 1 that I first bought only in January of 2005. I have over 50 games for Xbox 1, many of them not fully played, or barely played. This is terrible!

@Doug DeJulio Can you try downloading Yavin or a Crimson Skies map? So far all of my XBOX 1 titles seem to have their DLC completely offline today.

I can see peoples issue with certain xbox 1 games HALO 2 online being THE issue here it seems, but if we were to take that out of the situation… lets say we keep HALO 2 alive somehow, and then drop LIVE for everything else xbox 1 related… would there be such an outcry ? Yes I can see HALO 2 being missed and yes it’s a great game but think of it as being for the greater good. To allow for bigger, better, faster. Most of us here want the 100 friends list cap dropped, think about that, over 100 friends… a few years ago just being online was cool now we want more than 100 friends likned to our gamertag ALONE .. The Operations team were overjoyed when they finally got 100,000 ONLINE users for Xbox Live … Now we are at 23 MILLION users …. just think about that one hundred thousand users that have jumped to 23 MILLION.. WE NEED TO MOVE ON, in a way… WE HAVE NO CHOICE if XBOX LIVE is to flourish as it has done so far at an incredible rate, lets not let our nostalgia and fondness ruin the great potential for the future.. GOD I SOUND LIKE TONY ROBBINS !!!! (WIKI him) … P.S why is the “A” button green when it should have been orange I demand a refund you bunch of….

@The Phazer: I too would pay for a H2 that was similar to the one for PC if it were available on the 360… Like I posted above, it’s a grumble, but not any more than it was updating my music library from tape to cd.

Why don’t you just be honest and say “IT’S GOING TO SAVE US A BUNCH OF MONEY.” I mean, you can dedicate all that time, energy, hardware and manpower to the current system. ***Sprinkles sugar all over it*** I could honestly care less, I mean, I just recently found out that the original xbox was still a functioning online.

i think it’s a good idea so the LIVE team can focus more on getting the most out of the xbox 360 consoles..

Can’t wait to see the new features brougth to xbox live.

Good step from XBOX Live team

“including Xbox 1 games playable on Xbox 360.”

So no more backward compatibility? What happens to the people that bought Xbox Originals?

At the risk of reiterating what might have already come up in the sea of comments, why not make XBOs free for all to play online for the last few weeks?
You see it happen often with MMOs as they close down. Would be a nice way to give these games a final ‘hurrah’.

My parents always told me that good news should be released with bad news.. so where is the good news?!

Saddest day in Xbox history ever (besides True Fantasy Live Online being canceled).

I still play my Original Xbox on LIVE. Halo 2, Unreal Championship series, DOA Ultimate, DDR Ultramix series.. sadness…

Simple now they can resell you the games you already purchased once. Games on demand = ripoff.

Major–

While I understand, I am sad that it doesn’t appear as if there were attempts to work around the issue or provide gamers with an alternative.

Between leaving the original XBox owners with multiple incompatible titles due to discontinued backwards compatibility efforts and this, those customers that have been loyal to Microsoft’s video game ventures are taking it in the shorts.

I know you’re just the messenger, Major, but this is very disappointing, indeed.

I was never much of a multiplayer person, myself. As long as I can still play the SP portions of my XBO games I’ll be happy.
I suppose I should also go and launch the games I still play and download their DLC again, since I assume this covers DLC as well.
I can also see it now … April 15th comes along and every internet message board is flooded with “why can’t I connect” topics from morons who all they do is turn their console on and launch the game but never look at messages or the dashboard or any game menu that doesn’t involve starting a game of some kind. I think I have a headache coming on already…

I wouldn’t have expected any different, though it does make me wonder what will happen to the current service when a new xbox is released because the 360 is far more online oriented. Ie. will there be a way for me to be able to move the licences of the 1000 bucks worth of rock band songs onto the 720 so I can use it with whatever version of RB comes out on that?

I assume but would prefer clarification if titles that are both original titles and redone 360 titles will still be playable online as the redone 360 version, ie Burnout Revenge has an original xbox version, but it also has a redone hd version with the xbox 360 stamp on the box.

Before closure, it would be nice if Microsoft put a patch in so that you could point your xbox1 to an ip address. That way if someone wanted to run a free server with their distant friends they could. I know world of warcraft has some servers where people play for free or donation, though those are approved by Blizzard.

I guess now people can just play their Xbox original games on XBConnect, which is free but doesn’t have all the features of Xbox Live and is harder to set up.

http://www.xbconnect.com/

“SONY must love it, as it makes it more and more pointless to buy a 360 over a PS3.”

Because playing Xbox 1 games online is so necessary in 2010? Expansion of Xbox Live for the 360 can now occur, like, MORE THAN 100 FRIENDS. Some other stuff, too.

Backwards. Compatibility. Is. Remaining.

Online. Xbox. 1. Play. Is. Not.

The end of times is approaching! Nostradamus was right! I wish he had been more specific on the fact the world that was ending was XBL first gen… oh well back then lag probably was a drag…

All hail the unquestioned King of XBOX 1 Halo 2…

I hope this really means an improvement in the features and quality of the service, I’ve been really disappointed by the last two or three updates, NXE was only a (bad)visual change and don’t get me started on the facebook/twitter update, that was one of the most hyped and the lamest.

Well, if you haven’t updated your DLC in a little bit, you are done today. I just spent 43 minutes and 48 seconds of daytime minutes speaking to support to find out that the XBOX 1 DLC has already been taken offline. Thanks for the warning. This will undoubtedly lead to some of the worst XBOX PR ever. After having defended the 360 and Microsoft for years, I feel I was just shot in the back. Cannot match-make in Halo 2, cannot play Battlefront 3 when the session has a new map. This also means that if you get a RROD and already have the maps, you are still up the creek, because you cannot update your licenses onto your new console. I upgrade this issue to COLOSSAL FAIL, because EPIC isn’t enough.

I love all the comments thinking this is a big win for Sony. Any of you notice how over multiple revisions of their fully-BC console, Sony has completely removed backwards compatibility? They did it to compete effectively with the 360 on price point, and Xbox Live is discontinuing OG Xbox games on Live so as to allow continued innovation on the service. Unending backwards compatibility is a problem that has plagued many manufacturers and developers (Intel and Microsoft come to mind with their processors and OSes, respectively), and there’s going to have to be a time where enough is enough. This may be a tad early, but 6 years is a reasonable amount of time to be able to play the game online, and all good things have to end sometime.

That gives you the ability for more than 100 friends at that point right?

I am so worked up… my Intellivision console doesn’t work anymore. How could Mattel Electronics stop supporting it in 1986? Lack of Intellivision support will definately be more incentive to get a PS3. What an epic fail!

“Simple now they can resell you the games you already purchased once. Games on demand = ripoff.”

You mean like how I bought GOW 1 and 2 collection for my PS3 because my PS3 is not backwards compatible to PS2 games?

I’m not that upset about the announcement as I am upset about the LACK of announcement that all the 1st gen DLC has already been turfed. I’d expect that from a startup or some inexperienced company, but not from a company that actually has provided some level of customer service for more than a couple of years. Online play through Live I could have easily lived without on those titles after the 15th of April, but being denied today is horrible customer service. Many of the posts assumed that it would only be online play affected since even the FAQs posted are unclear on the matter. But to eliminate our ability to update our titles ever again well before that date is just low. If I were in charge, somebody would be fired.

Well let me just say im sad to hear that…. but I havent touched an Xbox game in 2 years…. So while i find it sad… I dont think its a big deal.

Id also before an xbox live release of halo 2… one that worked with whatever changes you are making… But again… I havent played halo 2 since Gears of War 1 came out… so….

its sad… but not totally. Hell sony doesnt support ps2 online in several of its games… So all i can say is thanks for supporting the play of halo 2 through the release of halo 3 and a bit more.

Can we get less money taking for a renewal of live? or perhaps more exclusives for gold members? Thats all I really want. Deal of the Week is good but its not enough.

Bye Bye, Xbox 1 and games on XBL. You will be missed. Not much though since I replaced you with a 360 the day it came out and haven’t looked back since.

I like to know how Microsoft is going to compensate users who may of just renewed their subscriptions and are using an original Xbox console. My guess? Their not going to and are going to tell people who call in to complain to buy an Xbox 360. Sorry Microsoft but not everyone has that option. This is why the Xbox 360 is the ONLY Microsoft product I’ll use and that’s even starting to slow down in favor the Playstation 3.

~fin~

So you’re shutting down a service people PAY for??? And what of the members with just an Xbox that have just bought a month or alot more of subscriptions? Are you going to pay them back?

What is your goal in this? Terminating the 100 person friends list limit? Why not make a virtual friends list instead, letting you choose 100 friens with a “favorite” or “Xbox Live compatible” tag, so that only this virtual list shows up on original Xbox and the other ones you add on the 360 as well?.

I’m glad I don’t own an original Xbox right now…

I enjoy and have supported your system since early 2006, so why do you guys continue to crap on me? Over the past year I’ve seen you guys remove the video cables that should be standard with the system (even in the so-called Elite model), tell me I’m going to have to buy the same game I already purchased to be able to play it in your “arcade room,” continue on with the completely ridiculous BS pricing of your accessories…and now this. Why is Microsoft trying to undo all the goodwill they built up during the first few years of the console’s lifespan? Is it because they know they already have a fairly large installed user base and can do whatever they want at this point?

Well good for Microsoft if so, but it is going to take a LOT to get me to buy the next console. Not that I should expect Microsoft to care about their customers – it took years to own up to the red ring issue that MS was aware of even prior to the console coming out – but it’s like you guys are TRYING to get me to stop buying your products. You’re doing a good job – no way in hell I’m buying the next console until MS proves itself and gets away from these constant disappointments.

I can still play old PS2 games online…for free. This nonsense is absolutely inexcusable.

Jonah Falcon said: “Expansion of Xbox Live for the 360 can now occur, like, MORE THAN 100 FRIENDS. Some other stuff, too.”

That’s the weakest reasoning I’ve ever heard. How many people here have even close to 100 people on their list that they actually interact/play online frequently with? A miniscule number of users.

“Bad PR – & Sony will be all over this as an example of poor ongoing product support. Doesn’t really affect me but lots of people are going to be p*ssed at this news.”

LOL. Sure they will. This is the Sony that ripped backwards compatibility out of all PS3s soon after launch to save money right?

just wow. you can always separate xbl v1 from v2 and keep both online. but that would cost money and Microsoft is a cheap as$ mother. stupid m$ should go die in a hole.

Seeing how I was wrongly permabanned from Halo 2 a couple days after I got my 360 and connected to Live, I could care less. As long as I can still at least have backwards compatibility unlike a certain console we all know.

Plus I have H2 for PC and play that from time to time. MS, you should definitely give more games GFWL compatibility and achievements in the future, perhaps snag Bioshock 2, Crysis 2, and Dead Space 2, even though they are already coming to Xbox.

There should be one last update for XBox owners to allow them to play online with each other. Or update the really popular games (Halo) to allow network play without LIVE.

http://forums.xbox.com/1/31138531/ShowPost.aspx#31138980

Q: What if I already paid for a year of Gold membership?

A: We will provide a pro-rated refund of the amount paid.

Why was all the DLC for original Xbox titles pulled before the announcement? At the very least I would think we would be able to go online and grab the DLC before our connections are severed. I understand why the service is being discontinued but it is pretty underhanded to pull the DLC before making the announcement.

So ends SvM for all time. Not that I played it after I got my 360 but…

I can’t find a clear answer. The Xbox 1 Back Compat (emulator) won’t be completely disabled, just the XBL functions of the games, right? I’d assume it’s still going to work, but can’t find anything definitive.

I Want Some HALO 360 EVOLVE….P.S. don’t mess with the pistol, shotgun, and throwing arm!!!!!! Kthsby

You guys can still play Halo 2 and such online. Simply use XBConnect. You run the program on the PC and it creates a virtual worldwide system link. Then you choose a system link gameplay and there ya go. your playing online with other people. Of course it’s not the same as live and will never be. but atleast it’s still possible.

I went to go tell all my friends to update their Halo 2 to Version 1.5 and download all the maps so we can system link after Xbox LIVE is shut down but all the DLC has been pulled. I can not believe this. Now they can never get Blastacular map pack or the update. I really hope Microsoft releases an update disc with all of the title updates and DLC for all of the original Xbox games.

I hadn’t played any original xbox games in years so it really don’t affect me very much. My only concern is when they do shut down LIVE for the original xbox will LIVE be down for the day as well for those of us that have an 360? I know the two services are one but I rely on LIVE all the time for more than just online gaming. I use it to talk to friends/family around the world via video chat and party chat.

Terrible news. Halo 2 is an absolute classic, and I still frequently go back and play it online. I pay my $50 a month for what? You would think for that kind of money I could be able to play what is arguably one of the greatest games online. Eventually, I know MS will release a new H2 multiplayer arcade game or something and make us pay for it. Typical MS move, take away something great and then make us pay for it again.

great news!

My 360 has been damaged since last year so all i have been doing is playing HALO 2 in XBox v1 until the 360 price is dropped a bit, this sucks!! im affected by this , what will i get in return? , i have been a live member since XBox Live launched.

just went to download some DLC of Mechassault and there’s none , they should have least given away all Xbox v1 DLC for free , guess they deleted all of it , now they are lost in time

Buy Halo 2 for $10 and get the PC achievements that count towards your Gamerscore.

Sad news, though it’s making way for something good (hopefully). Sad times for Halo 2 and Star Wars Battlefront players, the two largest communities.

I REALLY want Halo 2 PC to come onto 360 as a GoD, with achievements.

Backwards compatibility will remain. It’s software. You just won’t have Xbox 1 Live.

Captain? Halo 2 PC has Xbox Live Achievements. They’re part of your 360 gamerscore.

So now that a major feature that I pay for is going to be removed, I can expect a lesser subscription fee? Of course not… Thanks MS

Hm. What does happen with my Pirates download I just managed to download to my xbox? It would be really bad if I am not able to play it anymore. Just bought it last week and no seeing myself faced with this news :/

so will this mean the add one stuff for the games you had to downloas for the games will be free now or do you still have to pay for them?

Though it may be bad for those still playing the old games, overall I believe this is the right thing to do for the Live community as a whole. I agree with the statements of NOCTORNUS – let’s drop some limiting factors to make way for new innovations that the majority can possibly take advantage of. Could this happen again? Yes, that is a possibility. However, hopefully MS is taking notes on how they originally developed the Live service and the interaction of that service from the original XBOX to attempt an architecture that will not have similar limiting factors in the future.

It just seems wrong that Halo 2 will no longer have online multiplayer. I understand the reasons behind this decision and I support it, but it is still sad.

Maintaining legacy compatibility is what holds back progress, people. Just ask the Windows team. They have to maintain so many legacy apps and features just because so many businesses need it. For gamers, it can only be a good thing.

I think I’ll pop in my Halo 2 disc and play it a few more times before it’s gone.

I’m most interested in hearing what kind of “progress” this move will bring – maybe something Natal-related? I certainly hope it’s something more significant than just an expanded friends list, since honestly most people won’t even need that anyway.

I suspect this is to facilitate the the ability to tweet from your games or something. They couldn’t implement it system wide if they retained Xbox 1 compatibility on live.

Yeah, this is a big kick in the balls. Especially since Microsoft has already shut down the DLC servers for original Xbox games. So anyone who didn’t have DLC prior to today are all SOL. Thanks for the warning, Microsoft.

move on

And I could tell you to move on from crappy Guitar Hero games and spin offs, but to each their own. Seriously, don’t be an asshole dude.

HA! I’m with CrazyNakedMan1, and I never thought I’d type that.

Move. On.

There are sequels to almost every game that you would lose online access to here, so it really isn’t a big kick in the balls. If you wanted the dlc that bad, you would have gotten it ages ago. I don’t think there really is much of a difference between playing Halo 2 online and Halo 3 online, or Cod 2 to Cod X. Time to get a job, a buy the sequel.

@Chakaal Starr: Certainly, whatever you say… Point me to Battlefront 3, and I’ll buy it now. I’m sure I’ll be just as sympathetic when your Guitar Hero and Rockband DLC suddenly doesn’t work next gen.

@CrazyNakedMan1

Thats pretty big ego you have there, thinking my comment was directed at you. Why don’t you check my games played and youll notice something I OWN A LOT OF GAMES. My comment was a general statement meaning it’s time to put the original XBOX to rest or are you so lame that youre still playing on a standard tv

I hope that Xbox takes a cue from the PS3 when they came out with the “double pack” of God of War I & II, with remastered graphics and the possibility of “trophies”. That helped build interest for the release of God of War III.

Bungie and/or 343 could put out Halo:CE and Halo 2 as a “double pack” for 360… hopefully on a disc… with achievements and everything. Remastered graphics for the 360 would be the icing on the Halo cake. I for one would buy that. There are other popular franchises that would benefit from being re-released in this way: KOTOR, Splinter Cell, Rainbow Six, and Burnout to name a few.

Get on the ball, Microsoft! Think of the money to be made…

Dammit, on tax day too.

What abut the DLC we’ve purchased for the original XBox?! If this means that I can’t update or have access to content that I PURCHASED then this is totally unacceptable. And one of the main argument why many are reluctant with the move towards digital distribution. Yeah, it may not seem like a big deal to the masses, but I still play my old stuff from time to time, and with limited HDD space, keeping all the DLC on the console at one time just wasn’t practical. So all the DLC sitting out there is just going to be deleted?!

Kill the online play, I can totally understand that, but if I loose access to my purchased DLC then this is truly a raw deal!

Again, what abut the DLC we’ve purchased?! If this means that I can’t update or have access to content that I PURCHASED then this is unacceptable. And one of the main arguments why many are reluctant with the move towards digital distribution. Yeah, it may not seem like a big deal to the masses, but but I still play my old stuff from time to time, and with limited HDD space, keeping all the DLC on the console at one time just wasn’t practical. So all the DLC sitting out there is just going to be deleted?! Will my money be refunded (inflation adjusted)…just kidding…sort of.

Kill the online play, I can totally understand that, but if I loose access to my purchased DLC then this is truly a raw deal!

I’m hate to see this go but I can understand. It hurts me because I have a HUGE game collection and I still play some of my XBox stuff online…seriously. My younger nephews don’t need an HD console and when you can pick up Xbox games dirt cheap, they get their bang for buck when I hook them up with an XBL subscription every holiday. Oh well, all good things must come to an end.

I just want access and the ability to download all my original XBox DLC. I paid for a lot of that stuff and would be the text-book case why many will rally against digital distribution. I’m looking at the stuff on my account now and I like I’ve a ton of money invested in DLC for the original XBox (hell Ubisoft DLC alone is making my head spin). I can grudgingly stomach losing online play but I want access to the content/DLC, ESPECIALLY the items I’ve purchased. With limited HDD space it’s just not practical to keep ALL your content on your console. So I’m waiting to hear how this will be addressed

Other than that, man I’m going to miss playing some of my staple games: Ghost Recon games, Splinter Cell games(co-op), Burnout 3: Takedown, Rainbow Six games, StarWars:Battlefront 1&2, StarWars: Republic Commando, Capcom & SNK fighters, Full Spectrum Warrior, Conker, CounterStrike, Mech Assault1&2, Forza just to name some of the ones that I still play from time to time.

But the top three games that have me in tears that I’ll never be able to play online again are: Steel Battalion, Phantom Dust, and Unreal Championship 2. My top games on the consoles and gaming experiences that can’t be replicated ANYWHERE. I think I’m seriously going to cry. I understand the move forward, and it REALLY better be worth it.

To quote Tom Hanks in Saving Private Ryan, “EARN THIS!”

@CARNAGE RULES

Well guess what? You’re still an ass.

BTW I own a 1080p television and play Halo 2 on my 360. SO STFU. And standard televisions are fine, you idiot.

I’m gonna play the **** out of H2 till they pull the plug. MS PLEASE put at least the H2 maps back online till April.

It would also be cool if they were included in the Reach LE disc or something like that.

sad face!

So….can we have more than 100 friends then?

Does this mean they are phasing out Xbox original only gamertags or not?

Its title updates that concern me cant have lan parties if we are all on different versions of halo2

The fact people are complaining about this is hilarious. The number of people who don’t play Xbox originals online anymore is a lot higher than people that do.

Guess what? Things have a life cycle. It costs money to keep that stuff up. It can’t just magically stay there forever. When less and less and less people use it, the plug gets pulled.

Continuing support for an old-gen platform that a VERY small portion of people are using is ridiculous, especially when it is holding back the advancement of the current implementation.

The only game anyone plays anymore is Halo 2, but that’s available on PC for about $10. Go grab that and stop whining.

Because clearly 50+ dollars a month for Live is not enough..

argh. *year. lol, either way its still a crazy amount to pay sometime.

@AnEternalEnigma It’s because of attitudes like yours that we have this problem in the first place. Not everyone here has a gaming rig capable of playing H2V, so are you suggesting that you PERSONALLY are going to buy everyone one so they only have to drop $10 on the game? If you read the issues, few of us are upset about the drop of multi-playing and more-so about our DLC stripped without notice which should concern everyone who has ever bought anything on Live.

Attitudes like mine? I do appreciate the fact that you think my opinion is powerful. But my attitude doesn’t affect anything Microsoft does. This is natural progression with technology. I bought a ton of DLC for original Xbox games. I bought every map for Halo 2 and all the Splinter Cell content. Want to know why I don’t care? Because I understand things have a life cycle and understand that the world shouldn’t revolve around me when my opinion is the clear minority. It’s called being unselfish. Is it going to suck not being able to play the incredible Chaos Theory multiplayer ever again. Oh hell yes it is. But am I going to sit here, whine about it, and act like Microsoft should continue to sink the same amount of money into something when less and less and less people use it? No, I’m not that shallow. You shouldn’t be either. Face facts: it’s old-generation stuff. Old-gen stuff gets fazed out over time.

boooo

So the question becomes. Xbox Originals bought on Xbox Live that have multiplayer, will they still be playable via Live?

@Moon Vydeo: Read Marc Whitten’s open-letter. The answer is no. All Xbox Original Xbox Live support is being turned off on April 15, no matter if you’re playing on the old Xbox, Xbox 360 BC, or an Xbox Original downloaded on Marketplace.

I thought 50 bucks a year was enough to keep all service of xbox live???

This will be the last xbox I ever own. I going to buy Play Station 4 when it comes out.

Please O GOD, get rid of the 100 limit for friends list, I have actually reached the point where everyone on my FL is someone I know in real life, or is a gamer friend I have had on my list for YEARS. I have kept my FL @ 99 and am collecting/keeping Friend Requests so I have some way of communicating with the new people. Please, more than 100.

Waaah, I can’t play my 5 and half year old game online anymore.

It is the future of xbox.
You may still be able to play xbox 1 games after April 15, but there’ll be no xbox live for the original xbox. Thus, you can’t download much for it.
If you have a xbox 1 gamertag, you may be contacted about converting it to xbox 360.

Sony still sells the PS2, even though the PS3 is available. They discontinued the PS1, but it’s backward compatible on PS3. PS2 games are not playable on PS3.

I think mostly everyone will agree that we need a boost in the Friends List department. Hopefully this will make way for bigger brighter things…

Hopefully…

@CrazyNakedMan1

I guess I’d be angry like you, if I was poor and couldn’t get out of Ohio.

Man, ive never played much of the original xbox, but it had a lot of fantastic online games.
Paying for the service is sort of a big deal since PC and PS3 have it for free, and i have both as well, so i dont see the point here.

granted, I haven’t plugged in my original xbox in a while, but this is just bullshit. It’s hard to justify spending 50 bucks on a videogame, but the multiplayer is what usually makes it worth the purchase. I’m losing functionality of those games that I paid for, not to mention any dlc that I also paid for to play online with, like mappacks and whatnot. Now all that stuff is worthless too. I’m sure there’s another way to do this. I want to keep what I paid for.

I just tried to play Halo 2 one last time and when I logged in it said my DLC was corrupt and that I needed to redownload the maps. I tried to do this and when I do there are no maps available. I am okay with you guys making changes for the future but taking down the DLC without any notice is very weak. Put everything back up till April 15.

Without the maps it won’t let me play any game online for some reason.

eek 500 guys on your friend list

“This will be the last xbox I ever own. I going to buy Play Station 4 when it comes out.”

You’re not even a Gold member, the PS3 isn’t even backwards compatible so you couldn’t play last gen games on it at all, never mind online, and Sony won’t support online games forever. The servers for Calling all Cars on the PS3 have already been switched off for example and that game isn’t even 3 years old.

Best news I’ve heard all week. About time they throw the xbox out the window!!!!

Just so people know, Halo 2 (PC) uses the 360′s Live service, not the Xbox 1′s.

You Bastards, you’ve already shut down the DLC servers without a heads up!!
Now I can’t even download all the DLC onto my other two Xboxes for backup >:(

best thing to do is do away with facebook and twitter from xbobx360 its funny there free to use on ur pc/laptop but u have to pay €60 a year to use them on xbox360

I don’t understand why everyone is saying this make them think about a PS3 or even a PS4 when it comes out…at least you can play the games offline on any 360 if you REALLY want to, if you have a PS3 you can’t even do THAT…
Don’t get me wrong, I’m gonna miss Halo 2 on Live just like everybody else, but I haven’t even played it in like a year anyway…

Good to see more room made for the 360 now on LIVE!

For those who are still playing on the orignal xbox on live. Check this link out this is what was used before Xbox LIVE went live. http://www.xbconnect.com/index.php?topic=supportedgames along with gamespy. So those who are mad check the link out plus did I mention it is free. So it will still have online just not with XBOX LIVE.

I thought it was an early April 1′st thing then I read April 15th, haha!!

@whoever said this

The only viable alternative I can see is to leave Xbox 1 connected to the existing service (let’s call it “Live 1.0″) and move 360 and Windows over to a new service (let’s say “Live 2.0″) instead. That’s still not perfect, especially for things like playing Xbox 1 games on a 360 console. It also doubles maintenance costs, and generally over-complicates the already complicated administration process. Do you really want E and his team to work even longer hours?

Yes thats the alterative I was thinking of also. It’s not perfect, but it would allow people to keep playing Xbox 1 games. It wouldn’t double costs since they don’t have to do any work on the Xbox 1.0 network once it’s set up. For a team of competent engineers it wouldn’t be a problem. But as we all already know, e is a drunk and his team is a bunch of stupid fools.

Hmm so even money cant guarantee Live running for us in the future. What precious resources can a few hundred xbox1 users possibly take up that any future service could run on!

If and when this same thing happens to the 360, all our arcade games stop working (if say your 360 breaks and you get a new one), we cant patch our games; DLC doesnt work etc etc. Cant say I’m looking forward to that, no matter what marvels the Xbox3 can THEN give us AFTER they clear a few precious gigs of patches from the servers.

Get ready to buy your arcade games and full games over and over again in the coming years. Once for each generation.

I thought we were paying for continued service. Guess not.

I think this will allow fuller Facebook integration (which allows 5000 friends) and Twitter integration.

Can you say “post Facebook/Twitter from within a game”?

” It’s not perfect, but it would allow people to keep playing Xbox 1 games. ”

Backwards compatibility is NOT BEING AFFECTED. Sheesh.

wow whoever has 100 friends is too popular.

delete useless people that you dont play anymore.

Is there any chance that the original Xbox DLC servers could be brought back online for a little while? Apparently they’ve been taken down, so people who need the map packs to play Halo 2 online before 4/15 are unable to download them.

A NECESSARY SACRIFICE.

I cant believe People still play original xbox games on live, those are probably the same people that still have a tube TV. This is going to be on of the best things that the Live team has done that is for the best. Halo 2 wasn’t even that good of a online game.

There is one thing I don’t like about this and it’s called Star Wars Battle Front 2. I will be happy when Lucasarts makes a Battle Front 3 for the 360 instead of PSP games.

I can’t believe the short-sightedness of some people here. Old games this, and move on that…. Well, if old games magically lost their appeal, then no one would own any of the retro arcade titles. This is no different than if you had bought your whole music collection on CD, and they stopped making all the old music when the new format came out. Would you be so inclined to kiss off your entire music collection? Maybe you should move on because that music from 5 years ago is SO inferior to the beautiful classics we have being created today. The comments about tube TVs and stuff is laughable as well. Just because you have 1080P doesn’t mean that you ditched your DVD collection of Criterion films simply because they aren’t on Blu-Ray. 100+ chumps on Live doesn’t appeal to me whereas playing Battlefront 2 with someone like Darth Pman above until 3 surfaces does. Regardless, I can and will live with the fact that the online is disappearing. I will just be very light on my DLC purchases from here on in, as unlike my old SuperNES games I wont necessarily be able to play them in 5 years.
And Major, I’ve said it before… I don’t envy your job one iota. Sure, there’s the perks of playing all the goodies before release, perhaps you have god-mode on the DLC and can sample what you like on whim, and you get to sit next to Wil Wheaton at charity functions. But on the other hand, you’re forced to take the brunt of backlash of passionate games ire every time something is poorly handled.
I know you probably had your information presented to you as a release, I don’t suspect that you personally would mislead your readers, but allow me an edit of your post here -
You wrote:
Our first step in this process will be to turn off auto-renewals for those members who only use Xbox LIVE on a v1 Xbox.
This *SHOULD* read:
Our first step in this process will be to wipe out all of the XBOX 1 DLC effective yesterday and destroy years of consumer confidence in our digital distribution system.

why do people always jump to the wrong conclusions without gathering the facts first?

Microsoft has yet to give more details on what’s coming and going.

I don’t cuss except under extreme stress, but no one took a shit’s worth of “careful consideration” to make the decision to remove DLC BEFORE YOU EVEN MAKE THE FUCKING ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE DISCONTINUATION OF XBOX LIVE ON ORIGINAL CONSOLES. Damn I’ve never been so disappointed with the Xbox division in my entire life.

What is the problem? they have kept it running 5 years into the life cycle of the xbox 360, they obviously want to put new stuff the service that the old xbox can’t support

it is stopping the current console from evolving into something better so why would you complain bout that

Not every xbox 360 owner still has there xbox 1 most of us traded up so why keep around a dead service? id love to see the actual active members on the xbox1

An for the people who are compiling of them taking the DLC away without warning the DLC has been there for 5 years if you didn’t get it then its you’re loss

with the amount of active users on xbox 360 live they should have closed it down sooner

An tot he people saying there going to PS3 blab blab PS3 is just as bad they cut out there BC within 2 years of the PS3 being out(yes i know some have it )

the price you are playing for xbox live is for this current generation not last generation

Wow… Did I just see an F-bomb above? It seems the auto-moderation software is broken here. DarkGin87: Content IS downloaded, but wont play, says corrupted, get it again. What would you suggest? I’m not the only one either. Judging by your GS, you’ve probably had an RRoD by now, when that happens, you need to re-download your DLC. So even if you did everything possible to maintain your DLC it is still a loss.

It’s saddening to see this is happening. Was hoping it would not happen until much later, but at least I hope the original Xbox’s online shutdown can benefit its successor in a very large way.

Thanks for the notice Major. I’ll be playing as many original Xbox online games on the original Xbox itself, that I can in remembrance between now and the shutdown.

There is just no reason to do this – none. Microsoft needs to stop thinking about the Xbox as a version of Microsoft Office or Windows. It’s a piece of hardware with a pricetag on it that people have invested in. As a 360 owner, I did the same expecting that I could play my games, online or off, as I pleased for the lifetime of my console. However, I now realise that this will not be the case because Microsoft will pull support! Well folks, something happened this month: the card I’m using for LIVE billing has expired and I received a message from LIVE to update it. I have decided to ignore that and let my account revert to silver. In fact – I may just trade the lot in for a Playstation 3 as I can see that Sony takes good care of its Playstation 2 owners just as much as the current generation. This is the end for me. Goodbye and good riddance.

LittleBlueAlien: good luck finding a PS3 with backwards compatibility.

@peeking duck – lmao! Buddy, the PSN store is loaded with old titles including the original Silent Hill! Xbox backward compatibility is selective at best and overpriced bigtime if you buy it off of ‘Originals’ from the LIVE marketplace. So what would I be missing out on exactly?

Qoute Marc Whitten
“I want to assure you that the best is yet to come for Xbox LIVE. I believe we’ll look back on 2010 as a landmark year in gaming and home entertainment, and I couldn’t be more excited about what we have in store with “Project Natal” and LIVE”

This sounds very promising. Looking forward to new details.

Wow, I was looking forward to one last hoorah with Halo 2, now I can’t even play it on Live because my maps are outdated and need redownloaded and they are no longer available. That just blows. Oh well, bring on Bioshock 2 and Aliens vs Predator.

That must suck

Yayy! I will be able to have more than a 100 friends finally!

@Quaranj – i have had 4 consoles 1 RROD others are just playable around the house, i could redownload my DLC but i don’t have to when i keep hold of my harddrive and just take 1 minute to copy my content licenses to the xbox I’m using right now then DLC all better.
If the DLC has not been working then complaining here is the wrong place you should of rang Microsoft up right when it was broke and not when they are closing the service down, Microsoft reserves the right to shut any server down after 30 days of launch without warning just like game servers hold that same right so stop complaining because nothing can be done

@Ai Kago I dont think in this case anyone has trouble choosing. You cant even play PS2 titles in any SKU out there for PS3. If you read the back of the box on “Online Enabled” PS2 games you’ll notice they say they can pull support for online at ANY point without notice. I owned a few Online Enabled Ps2 titles before the PS3 ever released that had the online pulled, heck even before they left the shrink wrap in one case. So I’d say if someone is choosing for that reason, they should go with a free online service such as PSN who has no obligation to support their online titles this generation either. As far as I’ve heard game publishers pay for the online service for their games on PSN. If that is the case I’d expect games to drop online support before this generation is over.

So is anything being done yet on the ability of Account Transfer when moving Countries? Or are the Military and others still going to be punished for tours of duty/Living in a different country and then moving home?

I dont play xbox 1 games any more but I know a person that does.

I understand why you are doing this but the short notice stinks. At the very least it should be at least 6 months. A year would be better.

If you are turning off auto renewals now then for all the people that just paid they should get their year of using Xbox 1 online or you give them a free Xbox 360 with Halo 3 or similar game that they play on xbox1. If this really doesnt imparct anyone , then release your numbers of actually how many people this will affect!!!

@LittleBlueAlien

buuuuuuh bye

Dear Microsoft,
I’m sorry to inform you that you lost me aka LittleBlueAlien as a user of your product. This is your own fault for stopping support for the xbox. How dare you stop support before a new xbow was even released.(oops scratch that last line) Ill have you know that I still call Atari when I have a problem with my 2600 and they always find someone to help me. Okay sure at some point they get annoyed and hang up on me but they listen for at least 5 min. I’m leaving you MS and you wont see another penny from me. Hahahahaha without ME youre down to 22,999,999 users hahahahaha GOOD LUCK WITH THAT. YOU WILL MISS ME. [ Yours Truly
[ LittleBlueAlien

I haven’t made up my mind on what to think of the pulling down of online play for the original Xbox, but I am very disappointed about no longer being able to download the DLC for original Xbox-games. There was some stuff that I wanted to download before Live 1.0 was shut down, but I found out that I can’t anymore. That is just wrong and I am very unhappy about that.

What?!?I need the Original Xbox ”Live”.I love to play Counter Strike and Halo 2 and I don’t wanna miss These games…and there are o lot of more games that I will miss like,Unreal and another Online FPS games.Microsoft Should lauch a Halo 2 version Compatible with Xbox 360 Live and with Cross Plataform Online Playing with PC.

Something else to think about: is this the way that things will go with digital distribution? If DLC that I paid money for will be pulled in only a few years time then you are making it very unattractive to buy said DLC. Microsoft needs to think about how they are going to give Xbox Live-users more lasting value from the DLC they paid good money for.

“If not, one consequence could be a huge spike in the gray market value of the game’s Multiplayer Map Pack. Forum posters already are talking about trying to find one at game retailers. Although three maps were released after that disc, so it’s unclear if getting that disc would solve the Halo 2 problem.” (Taken from Kotaku.com)

I have the disc and it is STILL a problem. I erased all the maps, reloaded with this disc and still issues………….arg!

I just wanted to add another voice who is extremely upset that DLC had been pulled without warning. I had been meaning to pick up the Dance Dance Revolution song packs for quite some time and I will be pissed if I’ve lost that opportunity forever.

I cannot believe they have already removed the DLC for Xbox. No one can now download the FREE halo 2 map packs, Star War Battlefront 2, etc. I love the original xbox and the games on there such as Battlefront 2 cannot be matched by any other Star Wars game on any of the other consoles or 360 for that matter! Patch the top 10 xbox original games so they work on the Xbox 360 with more than 100 friends, how hard can it be?

So we’d get

Halo 2
Star Wars Battlefront 1, 2 and Republic Commando
Counter strike
Fable
KOTOR
Doom 3
Conker Live and Reloaded
Splintercell Chaos Theory
Crimson Skies (I added that one in, cos there is nothing else like it anywhere).

This sucks so bad. Here I was just thinking about playing Halo 2 again too… Thank god there are other products that can turn lan parties into an online experience. I don’t honestly see how providing support for the original Xbox can possibly prevent further development. Nothing is impossible for you guys. Find or make a solution to this. You guys have the brains to do this. I know that you know there will be a huge user decline if you are seriously going to do this. All I can say is good luck. If Sony can manage it why can’t you?

“Buddy, the PSN store is loaded with old titles including the original Silent Hill!”

What PS2 titles are on there? Oh yeah – zero. The grass is always greener, yet these whiners never actually make the shift. Wonder why? Maybe cos PSN sucks, has no cross game chat, universal cross-game invites system, private voice chat, voice messaging etc. Most downloadable games on PSN don’t even have demos. Also, LittleBlueAlien, there aren’t any PS1 games with online play, so again, you’re no better off switching to the PS3, although I hope you do just so you can stop appearing on this blog and whining like a bitch.

Sort of on the fence about this.

Sure, I hardly play my original Xbox anymore but the option to play it online was always nice. You never know what you’ve got until it’s gone.

Still, I have to wonder about Xbox Live sometimes. What are we paying you for?
Anyway, all I ask is that you find a way to keep the DLC available. I paid for those Halo 2 maps, I want to be able to redownload them should I need to.

I think it’s a good idea, I remember years ago hearing on a Podcast that the reason the friends list is limited to 100 people is cos of the original xbox live. So, little things like that are being held back on the 360 cos of the original xbox…and lets be honest, who really plays these games that much?

I think it does suck a bit, but it make sense to make the 360 live better. I just wonder what they will do about HALO2, I think they will re-release it live marketplace as a download.

@ Anyone complaining about not being able to play Xbox1 titles online anymore; Go google XBConnect, you’ll realize you can still play those games after they discontinue Live.

The only things I am worried about are patches and DLC released for XBox 1 games.
It would be nice if they could have those available somehow…

LittleBlueAlien: then what is your worry about original Xbox games not being able to go online any more? You will still be able to play whatever original Xbox game that is backwards compatible on the 360. It’s not like Microsoft is removing the ability to play those games entirely, just the ability to play the online multiplayer component of such games.

Have to agree that the DLC stuff matters.

This makes you think twice before getting more DLC for the 360 because who knows if we’ll be able to DL it again once the next console is out.

I care about this cause back at the time I paid for my 8-bit games and in case I wanted to play them again I just have to take from the shelf et voila… I actually did last year.

But nowadays I’m paying for virtual games (stuff that I can not lend or resell if I don’t like it), so if there isn’t anything stopping them doing so, who can assure me I’ll be able to play castle crashers or braid in, lets say, 4 years? It’s amazing how we are getting less and less for our money as time comes and goes.

I’m not really complaining but hell I hope MS think about stuff like this before releasing new hardware, otherwise they’ll be loosing loads of loyal customers.

@Cumore: “Because clearly 50+ dollars a year for Live is not enough..”

Really, are you REALLY arguing about the price?

Let’s hypothetically assume an average of 5.5% sales tax on a 12 month live card from a brick and mortar store. That brings it to $52.74 a year. That’s $4.40 PER MONTH. Less than a freakin’ combo meal at fast food joints. Less than so-called “premium” coffee.

I have never seen so many people complain for so long over what translates to 4 dollars a month as I have since the inception of Xbox Live. We see how well the “free” model is working for PSN. Oh, wait, that’s right, Peter Dille dropped a big bomb of a hint in an IGN interview that the people at the top of SCE/SCEA/SCEE are looking at how to integrate a subscription model!

Hi Major,

What happens to all our DLC once this happens? I assume we’ll no longer be able to download it (since we’ll no longer be able to sign in). How is this progress? I’ve been a member of Xbox Live since it launched in Australia and I’ve bought DLC for most of my old games. I don’t play online since MS don’t provide dedicated servers and the matchmaking experience is beyond appalling in Australia. I do, however, play all my xbox campaign games as well as the DLC missions and I’ve already had to re-download them when my Xbox RRoD’d. How am I meant to download this content that I’ve paid for once you cancel this service?

Cheers

so many sheep

@tasmanian guy Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay was remade for 360 as the original xbox 1 disc was not made backward compatible.

You want every xbox 1 game to be remade for 360? Is that what you’re getting at? I’d say its a bad idea and a waste of time, companies rather make newer games than updating the old ones to work with current generation.

Will this affect Original Xbox title updates or Xbox 360 backward compatibility updates?

I can see why MS have decided to do this, understandably the current subscribers will be very annoyed but there is no way MS can support the massive costs of running live with only a handful of subscribers!

@LittleBlueAlien
Agreed.

I still can’t find the words since I found out on Friday. And it’s been 3 days and it still hurts. With over 260 oXbox games in my library and about 75% of them with Xbox Live support it feels like MS didn’t care about it loyal supporters when they discontinned BC support without warning, breaking that promise. But I got over it and have two oXbox systems set up to play my originals.

But now this. How about asking gamers first? Maybe giving them an option to pay for an extra service or give someone else a shot of hosting and supporting oXbox games and Live. I would pay an extra $10 a year for the option. But I can’t even imagine it costing that much just to keep the servers on. Don’t go the way of Sony, Microsoft. I thought you were better then this.

And to Major Nelson – Long time listener, first time caller.

Thanx.

@Parasassin – yeah, cause it’s not like they charge for LIVE or anything like that, is it? >.>

I really really hope you’ll all be as happy and cheerful when “Microsoft will discontinue Xbox LIVE service for Xbox 360 consoles and games” in a couple of years “to evolve the service with features and experiences that harness the full power of the Xbox 720/whatever” and you discover that all your DLC and Arcade games you bought for your now artificially obsoleted Xbox 360 won’t be available to download ever again!
-
Not to mention the downloadable Title Updates that is needed to load your save files/DLC and isn’t stored on the HDD like on the old Xbox or PS3!
-
“The best is yet to come”
Yes, ironically that always seems to be the case with Microsoft Products!
-
Good luck with that future RROD then!

This is a blanket response to some flames I have been subjected to. Keep them coming, I love knowing I have essentially given you a cyber-wedgie to crank your undies in a bunch.

Truth is if this same tactic was used with Windows, there would be lawsuits from all corners of the globe. They at least offer the patches on disc when announcing a product retirement.

@ Quaranj

No it wouldn’t for the plain and simple fact that this sort of thing does happen with windows, computer hardware, or any other form of obsolete tech. Take TV, for instance. Just a few months ago in the US we just had a big change over from analogue to digital broadcasts which, just as discontinuation does in this case, left quite a few people out in the cold who were on the lagging side of the tech in question. Except, there we didn’t have quite the same innane whining as we do here because we weren’t dealing with self rightous children viewing any act as a horrible betrayal deserving of lawsuits.

Things get old and consiquently loose support. This is a fundamental aspect of our technological society and I’m sorry if this instance was the first you’ve ever really experienced (speaking generally here.) We’ve all dealt with some form of materialistic loss and the only thing you can do (apart from cry) is to move on and accept the plain and simple fact that your isolated niche and the things that occupy it won’t always be lovingly cared for by a motherly support base.

Things change and the world moves on, even if you don’t.

rip

@ Matu Flp Krawfe

Analog tv was around for OVER 50 years. Xbox live has been around 9 years.

Nice comparison. /fail

It’s understandable why they’re doing this – the Xbox 1 is limiting how much they can do with the 360′s LIVE. Still, to take DLC off this early is just wrong.

At least games with LAN will still be playable online, to an extent. Tunneling required though, which probably means any remaining community for these games just got smaller.

@Louie: Xbox Live advanced at a much faster rate that television did. No fail in that statement. I agree with it 100%.

I’m sure XBConnect and Xlink Kai are loving the extra attention and free advertising their services are getting now thanks to Microsoft!

Who do I contact to get refunded for all the DLC that I bought on my original Xbox?

@OrganicNewt

Call customer service or someone to read for you when you buy DLC.

Well if that is your smart way of dealing with things, beware the day when Digital Download is the only way to get your gaming fix. The carpet could be pulled out from under your feet at any moment! Thanks for the CASH!

I know this really has nothing to do with Live restrictions due to the old console but, is the 360 ever going to get NTFS or at least exFAT device support? It sort of sucks being limited to FAT32 drives when everything comes NTFS these days. Windows 7 doesn’t even give you an easy option to format a drive in FAT32, just command line tricks.

@Quaranj – I hate to point this out to you, but this happens with Windows ALL the time. The only difference is techs who support the OS are given considerable warning ahead of time. Every version of Windows has had an “end of support” time frame. After that time period, all Microsoft support for the OS ceases and existing updates are gradually phased out of Windows Update. Techs who still need to support legacy versions of Windows can’t get some magical free disk from Microsoft, they archive all of the up to final patches and keep them on hand.

I should know, I’ve gone through EOS for more than one MS OS in my career.

The only valid argument you have, which I agree with, is the very short notice they slammed everyone with. That is in poor taste, IMO. But to say this doesn’t happen in the world of Windows (or Office) is dead wrong.

@Captiosus77 I meant without notice. I mean everyone had a chance to get all their Win2k, Win 95, 98, ME patches prior to an announced cut-off date. Sorry if I was unclear in my wording. Regardless, it’s all back up. I suspected that this had happened inadvertently somehow and posted such on the bungie forums. The lack of acknowledgment kinda spoke volumes. “Guys, who turfed the DLC?!?!” I don’t expect it to be there after the 15th due to how the xbox connects to Live to pull the content. They’d likely have to re-write part of the marketplace code to get the content in the right places on the drive. (Which I don’t see as impossible, but unlikely all the same.)

Seeing as it IS back up, I’d like to thank the team for whatever they had to do, perhaps retrieve off-site backup. And to the fLamers who had nothing better to do than get all self-righteous and tell me and the other concerned customers off. I’m glad to have wrangled your panties over your head. I have a whole warehouse of cyber-wedgies for the likes of you.