Original Xbox dropped from Live

February 5th, 2010, 12:43

post #1

MasterGazelle
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Original Xbox dropped from Live

It's been announced that Xbox live will cease to support the Original Xbox as from April 15th.

Quote:

A Letter from Marc Whitten: Discontinuation of Xbox LIVE for Original Xbox Games

Dear Xbox LIVE Members,

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.

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’s no greater example of the power of the Xbox LIVE community than the “Halo” franchise. “Halo 2” has had an amazing run on LIVE, with a dedicated community more than five years after launch and well into the next generation of consoles. It has fundamentally changed the way we play video games. And while it’s difficult to see that run come to an end, the “Halo” franchise continues to act as the benchmark for multiplayer gaming in this generation, with “Halo 3,” “Halo 3: ODST” and soon “Halo: Reach” on Xbox 360.

Your Xbox LIVE community has grown to 23 million strong. And as we look down the road, we’ll continue to evolve the service with features and experiences that harness the full power of Xbox 360. To reach our aspiration, we need to make changes to the service that are incompatible with our original Xbox v1 games. We will contact the Xbox LIVE members directly impacted by this change and if this includes you, I encourage you to check your LIVE messages and associated e-mail account over the coming weeks for more details and opportunities. We view you as a partner in this process.

We’ll share more details soon, but in the meantime 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. The LIVE community is the driving force behind everything we do, and it’s because of the community that ground-breaking experiences on Xbox continue to be possible.

See you on LIVE,

Marc Whitten
Gamertag - Notwen
www.twitter.com/notwen

February 5th, 2010, 14:21

post #2

Sgt Phantomizer
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Ouch

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February 5th, 2010, 18:11

post #3

Knight667
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Wow...I wonder how Bungie's taking it? Halo 2 is still played quite a bit, based on the statistics on their site, so this'll hit them hard, I think.

I understand that at some point, something's got to give, but people still play SOCOM 1 on the PS2 online (among other things). I'd like to know what their business decision was like for this...are they trying to repurpose servers or something? The architecture can't be that different...can it?

Questions that come to mind:
1. Maybe this is an impetus to get people to trade in their Xbox for a 360...holy cow, the glut of trades that's going to happen at GameStop (etc.) is going to be insane...I wouldn't be surprised if they stop taking them (they don't take the games on trade or sale anymore).
2. Will this increase PS2 sales, because many original games are multi-plat, so they could be played online on the PS2 potentially (SWBFII for example...I love that game).
3. What about people who downloaded games in 2010 thinking they could pay them online? Will they get a refund or compensation?

This makes me sad for some reason. I loved my original Xbox...it was big and clunky, but it brought me into the "new world of gaming" at the time.

Times they are a-changin'...

February 5th, 2010, 21:00

post #4

Sgt Phantomizer
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Same thoughts here

February 6th, 2010, 12:55

post #5

MasterGazelle
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Yep, Games on demand just gained 200 sucky points. I bet that any game stores that still sell on Original Xbox discs won't make any changes for MP games either. Next it'll be Shadowrun still being sold after loosing it's servers

I know that Game & Gamestation are still selling Chromehounds for £9.99 even though it's servers are gone. That's more than they sell Phantasy Star Universe for, which still has it's servers.

February 7th, 2010, 00:10

post #6

Knight667
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lol! I've seen Shadowrun at GameStop recently! Unbelievable...

I actually stopped by GameStop when my wife and I were out today to see what used PS2s and SWBFII would run me...very tempting...

February 7th, 2010, 15:52

post #7

Steve Gauvreau
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I'm a manager in my EBgames/gamestop, and I tell the big bosses everyday that we should discontinue selling/trading Shadowrun and Chromehound, but they just keep doing it. I think only my store and the stores I know other managers stopped. We just stash them in the backstore o_o

You think you've got lag? It took Jesus 3 days to respawn!

February 8th, 2010, 13:19

post #8

MasterGazelle
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Was in a couple of game shops today. One had no idea the Original Xbox was being dropped from 'Live'. The other was still asking for £9.99 GBP for Chromehounds. When I said it wasn't even worth £0.50p GBP with the servers shut down, they took it away for a minute then brought it back with a shiny new sticker on it. The new sticker said...............£8.99 GBP

Wow, Big concession

So now you know guys, Training missions alone are worth 9 times more than a complete game.

Last edited by MasterGazelle : February 8th, 2010 at 13:23.

February 8th, 2010, 14:16

post #9

Sgt Phantomizer
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Quote:

Originally Posted by MasterGazelle

Wow, Big concession

So now you know guys, Training missions alone are worth 9 times more than a complete game.

February 8th, 2010, 22:12

post #10

Knight667
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@MG - Wow...one whole £ discount...that's $1.55USD today. I can get a couple candy bars or something for that...

That's right up there with Microsoft charging $30 for GRAW via download...what the heck?

February 12th, 2010, 03:05

post #11

Knight667
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Well, at least Microsoft fixed something!
http://kotaku.com/5469763/halo-2-map...s-to-xbox-live