Microsoft: No More Original Xbox Games Over Xbox Live

[wraggster]

Microsoft announced tonight that online play for original Xbox consoles and titles - including those played on an Xbox 360 - over its Xbox Live service will soon be discontinued.

The axe will fall on April 15, and will bring an end to years of online play for games like Halo 2 and...whatever other original Xbox games people still play these days.

With this being 2010, it's not really that big a surprise, but Microsoft's explanation for the move certainly raises an eyebrow or two. Xbox Live's Larry Hryb writes:

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 realize that this decision will allow us unprecedented flexibility for future features.
Wonder what it is they're adding to Live that made them boot original Xbox support? A bigger friends list, perhaps?

http://kotaku.com/5464818/microsoft-...over-xbox-live

[Eviltaco64]

Unofficial servers could pop up. I just wonder how they'd bypass the games connecting to Xbox Live.

[Brainy142]

Simple, us xlink (lan over the internets)

[Eviltaco64]

Simple, us xlink (lan over the internets)

That cuts a lot of games that don't have LAN/system link support offline, though.

At least the most popular (Halo) games are still online-capable.

[symbal]

There's still a chance they bring it back with games on demand service.