Games support for the original Xbox pretty much completely stopped when the Xbox 360 was released in late 2005, and now support for the console is to be stopped completely with the news that Microsoft will be closing down Xbox Live support for the original Xbox and all of its games on 15th April.
Microsoft PR man Major Nelson announced on his blog:
"I wanted to let you know that on April 15, 2010 Microsoft will discontinue Xbox LIVE service for original Xbox consoles and games, including Xbox 1 games playable on Xbox 360. 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.""While I can't comment on the specifics, this change will allow us to continue evolving the LIVE service with new features and experiences that fully harness the power of Xbox 360 and the Xbox LIVE community."
"We did not make this decision lightly, but after careful consideration and review we realise that this decision will allow us unprecedented flexibility for future features."
That means no more online gaming on your old Xbox, and not even any online support for backwards compatible titles like the ever popular Halo 2 and Star Wars: Battlefront II. The only way to get your Halo 2 fix now is to pick up the shoddy Vista port on the Games for Windows LIVE service, which requires a LIVE Gold subscription.
It's a sad day for those of you still playing on Halo 2. It's a shame and it seems a harsh thing to do on Microsoft's part, considering that people still pay £40 a year to use this online service.
Still, on a slightly happier note, Bungie are planning a Halo 2 matchmaking extravanaganza on April 15th as a send off to the game that really got online console gaming started.
TomLabels: News, Tom Acres, Xbox, Xbox LIVE