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Microsoft shutting down Xbox Live for original Xbox games

By Peter Smith  14 comments

February 05, 2010, 7:56 AM — Microsoft's General Manager for Xbox Live, Marc "Notwen" Whitten, has announced that as of April 15th, 2010 Microsoft will be shutting down its Xbox Live service for the original Xbox and its games. This includes original Xbox games being played via the Xbox 360. No reason was offered beyond a vague "this will provide the greatest benefit to the Xbox LIVE community." Cold comfort for those of you who still enjoy playing Xbox titles like Halo 2 with your friends. The announcement does hint at some form of restitution for those affected, saying "I encourage you to check your LIVE messages and associated e-mail account over the coming weeks for more details and opportunities." Discounts on upgrade, perhaps?

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Xbox's Larry "Major Nelso" Hyrb provides a little bit more detail on his blog:

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.

What these new features and experiences are is anyone's guess for now, but Microsoft's X10 event starts next Thursday, February 11th, 2010. Perhaps all will be revealed then.

Xbox Live for the original Xbox launched in 2002, a year after the launch of the Xbox hardware. When Microsoft launched the Xbox 360 in 2005 it immediately stopped offering the original Xbox. Cutting off service to a device last sold in 2005 is reasonable, but Microsoft continues to sell "Xbox Originals" via direct download; shutting down service for these games seems controversial. Microsoft takes customer loyalty pretty seriously, so maybe they'll issue some kind of refund offer to recent purchasers of games that are impacted? We should find out more soon.

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Peter Smith writes about personal technology for ITworld.

14 comments

    Anonymous 2 years ago
    This means that MS will be able to up the number of friends you can have on your list, it was capped due to halo2 (and other xbox v1 games).
    Flag comment  |  Permalink Reply
    Anonymous 2 years ago in reply to Anonymous
    They'll probably be able to add a lot of new features they couldn't before because the original xbox connections on the system. There are probably security holes being plugged with the new update, hopefully we will see less modding/cheating and it being cracked down on faster. Some people act like they won't be able to play XBox originals altogether. It's just the xbox live service for original xbox games. You still can play them on Xbox Connect and other free online services if you really want to.
    Flag comment  |  Permalink Reply
    Anonymous 2 years ago
    M$' OS' have so much backward compatibility they are bloated beyond reason. Sounds like they are about to put a policy in place to prevent that from holding them back as far as XBL goes. I'm suspecting this may be a very good idea. we'll see.
    Flag comment  |  Permalink Reply
    Anonymous 2 years ago in reply to Anonymous
    Backwards compatibility is what makes Windows, Windows. It would not be there if people didn't want it. Linux also has tons backwards compatibility. Practically the only "big" OS that that doesn't emphasize it is OSX. If Windows is running too slow then stick to XP or upgrade. Computers and components are cheap as hell now with the exception of some brands.How exactly would maintaining some of the original Xbox Live infrastructure be holding them back? I doubt the resources dedicated to it at this point are anything close to Live for the 360. Why defend a decision to remove features for paying customers? This is simply a decision to coax people into buying a 360 and new games.
    Flag comment  |  Permalink Reply
    Anonymous 2 years ago
    before the shutdown they should release all original xbox Content for free download!
    Flag comment  |  Permalink Reply
    Anonymous 2 years ago
    OK, so you and 10 other people still want to play your old crappy game, the rest of us would rather move forward to a better system and technical advancement.Oh and who wouldn't want to expand to more demographics? Are there no kids games for PC? Xbox has been incredibly successful, and did what no other company could do in the console market. When they first started Sony laughed, now I bet they are crying...So when Windows doesnt support your old POS PC game are you going to keep around a box 5 times bigger then a console, with XP on just to play BZTank (whatever that is). So you are mad because Microsoft is doing what the mass majority would prefer.
    Flag comment  |  Permalink Reply
    Anonymous 2 years ago in reply to Anonymous
    For starters those 10 others represent buying dollars for MS. If MS burns them too bad, they will probably move to Sony or whatever Apple might have up their sleeve in a few years. As a business, and as a model, you cater to your customers. MS has a way about burning their customers.I dont disagree with MS about killing off the old Xbox, but if they want to keep those users, which are more than 10, you schmuck, they need to make sure they make an effort to transition those users to an xbox360 rather than snubbing them and letting Sony take their money. This also isnt a matter of an old crappy dos game you idiot. Some of these games are less than 6 years old. Its a bold decision, but probably, business wise, probably the right one. You have to phase out old products eventually. They just need to tread lightly on how they payback those users.
    Flag comment  |  Permalink Reply
    Anonymous 2 years ago in reply to Anonymous
    Do you?Congrats, you're paying $70/year to do what now?My Trillian XML file that contains alias names, service info, and text structures to remain human readable has 650+ users and is 65k. Make it a closed binary source, and cuts 'em down by 10 fold at least. You're saying that XBOX1 couldn't spare 10kb RAM? OH WAIT, that's right... the 360's 64MB memory stick is what, $50? I guess memory *IS* at a premium there!And oh, you might want to check up on VMWare and other related products, not to mention the likes of DOSBOX and such. I'm fairly sure if I wanted to, I could play any old games and apps with this rig *IF I SO CHOOSE*.You no longer have a choice.But then you don't really care anyway. You like paying for an $1,000 console that will eventually be a single player box 5 years after it's discontinued. That's, assuming of course, your console survives for 10 years. Good luck with that if you bought your console within the first 3 years of launch when MS decided that the RROD was your fault. Are you on your 3rd or 4th breakdown yet? I hope your consoles not more than 3 years old, since it'll be going out of warranty.Hey look! I can be a fanboy and insult people's decisions too! =)
    Flag comment  |  Permalink Reply
    Anonymous 2 years ago in reply to Anonymous
    "Microsoft is doing what the mass majority would prefer."First, is this actually a fact? Do the "mass majority" prefer to not play Xbox games on Live? Do you have any numbers supporting this? Just because Microsoft is shutting down doesn't mean it wasn't popular. "So when Windows doesnt support your old POS PC game are you going to keep around a box 5 times bigger then a console, with XP on just to play BZTank (whatever that is)"Why not? Why couldn't he keep around a old XP PC just for a few supported games? It's easier and almost cheaper to just buy a whole new computer than to try to upgrade an old one and buy Windows 7. Besides, at least you're guarantee every game or program made in the last 10 years will work on XP. Oh I'm sure the day will come when we look fondly on XP as we do on DOS but that's several years away, and you'll know it when hardware manufacturers stop making drivers for XP. I think this is a foolish move for Microsoft and wish they'd be honest. The Xbox 360 was released just 5 years ago, and the Xbox wasn't discontinued until late 2006 and the final Xbox game was released August 2008http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XboxSo that means there's easily people with 4 and 5 year old Xbox consoles and 2 year old games looking at Microsoft saying "WTF?! I just bought this thing!". If you bought your computer brand new in 2006 and Microsoft said "hey you can't have internet anymore after April, go buy a new system!" I'd imagine you'd be pretty upset.
    Flag comment  |  Permalink Reply
    Anonymous 2 years ago in reply to Anonymous
    I can see both points being made. Yes, PC games always will have a server somewhere to play on. For me, some games are better on the PC, others on a console. That asside, Microsoft has a business to run. The name of the game for any business is proffit. In other words, it boils down to the numbers. Microsoft has to look at how much revenue is being generated by legacy XBox Live players in relation to the ammount of money being spent to maintain the back end of the legacy XBox Live servers and infrastructure. I'm sure by now, with the cost of the 360 down in price and the plethora of used consoles on the market, the legacy service is reaching a point of being a money looser than a money maker.I'm guessing, by the comment from MS telling users to watch the messages, that they will offer some kind of "decent" coupon to purchase a 360 or perhaps discounted membership to XBox Live for the 360.A few years down the road, I'm sure MS will release a new console and again, will eventually be faced with the decision of not IF, but WHEN to close down Live service for the 360. 'tis the circle of life my friends...
    Flag comment  |  Permalink Reply
    Anonymous 2 years ago
    FYI, it's Marc with a C
    Flag comment  |  Permalink Reply
    pasmith
    pasmith 2 years ago in reply to Anonymous
    Oops, my mistake. Fixed.
    Flag comment  |  Permalink Reply
    Anonymous 2 years ago
    When I buy a game like Battlefront and Battlefront II, I want it to be something I can always go back to and enjoy with other like minded gamers and friends. I can think of many invested hard core lifelong folks like Steel Battalion players. You see, consoles do not live on like PC and Open source projects do. I can still use my PC to find hardcore Tribes players and BZTank players who have -and will always have the ability to play these forever- they will change and adapt and will always find life somewhere. Consoles go away. Their manufacturers loose interest. I became a Xbox live Gold member for the first time with the 360 and discovered how fun my old Xbox games were and to be honest I typically play the older games online more than the newer ones. Casual gamers who enjoy the nostalgia of popping in an old game and playing online will end up dropping Xbox live and sticking with the free internet PC model instead. Any enterprising lawyers out there? Come to think of it I haven't turned my 360 on in weeks and have invested almost all of my gaming time into BZTank on my old 1.6Ghz XP/Linux PC - sure the graphics suck but fun isn't always about the flash and glitz. Microsoft is a business that shows no loyalty to old timers. they are going after the squeeky 14 year old market now. They are seduced by the flash and glitz. I have played the Wii more than this overbloted heater... It was fun for a while but I've learned my lesson.
    Flag comment  |  Permalink Reply
    Anonymous 2 years ago in reply to Anonymous
    Xbox Live is a service. A PC or an Xbox is a platform. Playing a game on the PC does not prevent this sort of thing from happening to you. Companies take old servers down all the time, like EA has been doing. And not every PC game lets you create your own server. Don't confuse service with platform.
    Flag comment  |  Permalink Reply

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