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Xbox Live For Original Xbox Games Shutting Down

Posted by Soulskill on from the this-is-where-the-sidewalk-ends dept.

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."

8 of 307 comments (clear)

  1. So I guess you would call it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Xbox Dead... goodnight everybody, I'll be here all week. Remember to tip your waitress.

  2. Well... by Jorl17 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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?
    1. Re:Well... by blahplusplus · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "We can't sit around and hope that everything will be maintained for ever..."

      You wouldn't have this problem on PC, anyone with a server or internet connection can host their own.

    2. Re:Well... by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The issue, of course, is less with exactly when a given product is deprecated, and more with how many products are designed such that deprecation is effectively terminal.

      It is hard to make a case for forcing a company to continue to offer a particular good or service(unless they contractually obligated themselves and are violating that contract); but the fact that product design is moving in the direction of deprecation = death is extremely disturbing.

      Historically, with PC games, the creator may or may not have offered a matchmaking service or servers at all, but there was nothing stopping 3rd parties from doing so. Increasingly, through a combination of DRM activation and closer tying of matchmaking services and multiplayer servers to the core game, it is becoming difficult for 3rd parties to step up(and, if they do, they often place themselves in the line of fire with respect to some DMCA or equivalent legal hassle). On the hardware side, it is a matter of driver specs and parts. If driver specs aren't available, deprecation is death more or less as soon as the next major OS comes out. If service guides/tools/parts are tightly restricted, deprecation is death as soon as the parts dry up.

      The fact that products get deprecated is fine. The fact that the severity of deprecation is markedly increasing, and promises only to increase further, is very, very troubling.

    3. Re:Well... by spleentor · · Score: 5, Informative

      Tribes is still very much alive. Unlike with an xbox live game, all you need to do is change the master server the game looks for. http://www.maxogc.net/tribes/master/

  3. Punish Them by Concern · · Score: 5, Informative

    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!
    1. Re:Punish Them by Red+Flayer · · Score: 5, Funny

      I never had Fender call me to say that I could only use the G-string from that point on.

      That line had me all sorts of confused until I realized that Fender is a guitar company, not a supplier of stripper apparel.

      --
      "Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
  4. Life expectancy by chilvence · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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?