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Xbox Live For Original Xbox Games Shutting Down
itwbennett writes "Giving no explanation beyond that it 'will provide the greatest benefit to the Xbox LIVE community,' Microsoft's General Manager for Xbox Live, Mark Whitten, announced that as of April 15th, Microsoft will be shutting down its Xbox Live service for the original Xbox and its games. 'Cold comfort for those of you who still enjoy playing Xbox titles like Halo 2 with your friends,' writes blogger Peter Smith. But Smith notes that Whitten's announcement does hint at some form of restitution for those affected, encouraging users to check their LIVE messages for more details and opportunities."
Xbox Dead... goodnight everybody, I'll be here all week. Remember to tip your waitress.
We can't sit around and hope that everything will be maintained for ever...
Sometimes it has to go down as deprecated, no matter when, no matter how, no matter why. Microsoft can and Microsoft shall, that's the price for being at their hands. The reward? To get to use their products.
Have you heard about SoylentNews?
If you want to know what the cost is for buying games from companies that control their platform this tightly, now you get to see it.
If it bothers you, you have one option. Cancel your xbox live subs. Ebay your xbox. Buy your games on a different platform.
They didn't even set out to screw you over and make the games you (thought you) paid for (largely) worthless. You just gave them so much power that they practically did it by accident.
The answer is the PC games model we already had, where the platform is open and the infrastructure isn't something you are forced to buy from a single seller you are locked to for life (xbox live).
Yeah, I know - what is one slashdot post going to do to stop the console juggernaut? Answer: nothing. But don't say I didn't warn you. Give a thought at least to patronizing developers who make and sell their games the old-fashioned way. Especially the ones who support open standards and open platforms like opengl and linux - there are a few.
Tired of Political Trolls? Opt Out!
From the article, Halo 2 has a 5 year run on the internet. Wow, thats a LONG time!
Doom is still being played online.. that's about 17 years and still going?
So from this we can see, if you happen to be attached to a particular game, then in future you get to be dispersed by the company for loitering.
How many people here play chess?
... we have decided not to serve you at all.
What do you say? That doesn't make any sense? Look! Shiny! New stuff for you to buy, Mr. Consumer!
________
Entranced by anime since late summer 2001 and loving it ^_^
And this is why you want player controlled dedicated servers for your :p
favorite FPS or RTS game. A game studio will eventually shut down the central
one because of the lack of $$. Oh and I am still waiting for a game studio to
try the monthly fee route for their central server
largely as a result of continued incidents like this. People use to say they could just set up a console and use it are now having to deal with real quality issues and vendor lock-in problems are realizing it is not actually such a great deal.
Quit playing your Xbox and buy a Xbox 360 already dammit.
- Love Steve Ballmer
As an avid gamer, I hate the way modern games are moving away from the old model of pay once, play forever, and moving toward licensing. It may not be called licensing by the producers, but that's exactly what it is. How many of us still enjoy a nostalgic game of Donkey Kong, or Super Mario Bros.? I'm sure there is still a group of gamers out there who enjoy a multiplayer game of Quake or Command and Conquer.
Ten years from now, a few friends would like to play a game of Halo 2, but they won't be able to. Just last year, I sank a good 30 hours into the original Sid Mier's(sp?) Colonization, like I have been doing since 1996. I don't know the details about Xbox Live, or Halo 2, but if the game requires a centralized Live server for multiplayer functionality, then it simply won't work. In effect, you are only licensing a portion of the game for a certain period of time. Sure, you can code your own server from scratch, like the Star Wars Galaxies fans have done, but that still eliminates 90% of the fans who will one day want to replay the game that they loved.
Get XLink Kai, problem solved!
Supports original Xbox, Xbox 360, PS2, PS3, PSP, and Gamecube.
It's free to use, and the source code is freely available:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XLink_Kai
Just another reason to buy a computer.
I will admit I too had an Xbox. I long ago let the subscription expire. At one point I had to make the decision: Buy a new console (likely the 360) or spend more and get a new computer. I am 100% glad I sent it on a new computer.
It was just last week that Sony announced that "hey guess what? Even though you bought the PS3 thinking online networking would be free, well not anymore suckas!".
Now MS is saying they are shutting down service for old hardware, making many games pretty useless (as they were sold as online games with limited single player options).
That's the problem with consoles, they (MS and Sony, and Nintendo) own everything. They can do whatever they please. Don't like it? Too bad. Your option is to buy the other guys console, who is going to screw you just as much.
So buy or upgrade your computer where you can actually own your own stuff, and join in the big boy games.
Also there are less 12 year old shouting profanities at you (notice I only said less, you can only do so much!) and generally being asshats.
Listen... xBox v1 has been around for almost 10 years. They stopped selling the thing 4 years ago. Look at any Microsoft support life cycle.
Windows 98
- Released June 1998
- Discontinued 2002
- Extended support ended 2006
---Total shelf life - 8 years
Windows ME
- Released December 2000
- Discontinued December 2003
- Extended support ended 2006
---Total shelf life - 6 years
Windows 2000
- Released March 2000
- Discontinued June 2005
- Extended support ends this summer
---Total shelf life - 10 years
Microsoft is right in line with their typical support life cycle for the xBox. Even though its a different product line, Microsoft is still Microsoft. They cannot support an aging product forever (even if by support I mean maintain a server for it)
Ever since Microsoft decided Xbox Live Marketplace content should only work offline when played on the particular console to which it was originally downloaded?
"In prison you just have to shut your eyes and take it. Here you have to shut your eyes and give it."
People have complained for years about the 100 tag limit on friends list and other seemingly stupid limitations put into place. The reasoning offered by MS then was that in order to maintain compatabilty with original xbox games the limitations in the original live service had to follow over to the 360.
MS has decided after 5 years of the 360 to remove the legacy caps by removing support for a platform that hasnt been sold in 5 years. You cant really have it both ways...
Let's talk about some old games. Take, for one, Halo 2. It's now going to be permanently offline, as a result of it being connected to Microsoft's services. Let's go back though. Take a look at Jedi Knight. Can you play that online anymore? Nope. Microsoft service. Dead. Any of those other MSN/"Zone" games? Dead. At least DirectPlay supported LAN in the same manner as online, so the games all still support that.
But - Quake 2? Still kicking. Released the same year as JK, too, IIRC. Microsoft continues to do this; they entice game developers with easy online/multiplayer libraries and then kill the service to force people to upgrade. I fear for all the Games for Windows games; that's why I'll never buy a title that uses Games for Windows Live. 10 years down the road, all those games will be permanently offline too, as will (likely) all this trash like CoD42 which uses an even smaller and even more restricted network. Meanwhile, I'll still be playing Quake 3 (and hopefully RAGE, now that it's not being published by EA).
DirectPlay. Live. When will developers learn?
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
This is exactly why I refuse to buy games that require online activation. The presumption that I might be online and must connect to their server to install/play my game is anathema to the philosophy of controlling the things that I own. This extends to Steam, as well. I simply refuse to cede any control of the things I own merely so that I can use the latest shiney.
Does it mean I miss out on some of the latest and greatest games? Sure! But there are also a surprising number of games companies that do treat me like a valued customer and do produce software the just installs itself quietly in a single directory and lets you get on with things. I buy their products, sometimes because I just -have- to have the thing they've sold, and sometimes just to check out their latest work and to support a company that makes things I like.
Scientists point out problems, engineers fix them
altslashdot.org: The future of slashdot.
not only that, but you can play those games over a direct IP connection for free without involving battle.net. So when battle.net eventually does shut down or upgrades beyond compatability. You can still play those games with your friends. However this will not be true for starcraft 2.
Because the demand for a "fake" Xboxlive server just became reality.
Someone will hack one together in short order and post the code out there.
I love it when Microsoft creates a need for someone to completely hack a service they were providing and decided to end.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Its like when GEnie shut down the Air Warrior servers!
(did I just date myself?)
Seriously, though. Halo2 is fun, but its 2010. Play Halo3. All of the rest of us know its identical to Halo2 only with better graphics. You'll barely even notice the change if you're on an equally old TV.
And it sure sounded to me like they aren't happy they're making the move and, unlike most companies that do it, are planning on interacting with the affected people *somehow*.
I know people on Slashdot hate Microsoft for just about everything, but once you pull your head out of that hole, I don't see how this is worth grabbing the pitchforks for. If you aren't one of the people impacted, why do you care so much, and if you are *they said they're going to work with you about it*. So why are you bent out of shape *before they have*?
So you're saying Halo 3 is exactly like Halo 2, but because Halo 2 was released so long ago they should just buy a new console and Halo 3 to continue playing the same game?
And then you're saying people need to pull their head out of the hole and get over their hatred for Microsoft?
...
And more importantly, its replacement was released in '05!
GLaDOS for President 2016! "Well here we are again. It's always such a pleasure." -- GLaDOS, 2011
"Do you grow your own food, or cede control of that to others?"
Makes sense. It is annoying when I can't eat my food because they took down the server and now I can't activate it. It is even worse that I can't give my food to someone else or resell it; I should have purchased it on DVD or downloaded the installer. Perfect analogy.
You can't keep track of your stuff, thus those who prefer having a local installer that doesn't need activation or an internet connection must leave society. Makes sense.
I agree with Bengal. I buy a game and play it for years. I still have a PS2 which works great for LAN parties.......sadly only a few dozen games support LAN without going through an online server.
Bengal and I are in the minority I believe, which means my days of buying video games are over. Almost everything I play is now FOSS.
There are too many great open source projects out there to be willing to buy games.
This is a good thing, that means more bandwidth and lower ping times for people who play 360 games, who wants to play halo 2 instead of halo 3 though? IMO halo 3 kicks the crap out of 2 any day of the week, looks better, plays better, is better. There is no excuse to NOT own a 360 by now, they have been out for 5 years and are dirt cheap.