XBox LIVE to be Discontinued for (original) XBox Consoles and Games

[6souls]

Today Microsoft's Major Nelson has announced that XBox LIVE is being discontinued for Original XBox consoles and games as of April 15, 2010.

To quote:

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.

Xbox LIVE general manager Marc Whitten has posted this http://gamerscoreblog.com/press/arch.../05/gh789.aspx to the community which provides additional context.

A Letter from Marc Whitten: Discontinuation of Xbox LIVE for Original Xbox Games

Dear Xbox LIVE Members,

On April 15 we will discontinue the Xbox LIVE service for original Xbox consoles and games, including Xbox v1 games playable on Xbox 360 and Xbox Originals. I want to start by saying this isn't a decision we made lightly, but after careful consideration, it is clear this will provide the greatest benefit to the Xbox LIVE community.

Seven years ago we laid out our vision for the connected console when we launched Xbox LIVE. We believed then that the power of the Internet to connect people would revolutionize living room entertainment. It started with amazing multiplayer games, and we've since seen that bet pay off again and again with the launches of Xbox 360, Marketplace, Netflix and powerful social features like Facebook, Twitter and Last.fm. None of this would have been possible without the success of LIVE as a multiplayer gaming network.

There's no greater example of the power of the Xbox LIVE community than the "Halo" franchise. "Halo 2" has had an amazing run on LIVE, with a dedicated community more than five years after launch and well into the next generation of consoles. It has fundamentally changed the way we play video games. And while it's difficult to see that run come to an end, the "Halo" franchise continues to act as the benchmark for multiplayer gaming in this generation, with "Halo 3," "Halo 3: ODST" and soon "Halo: Reach" on Xbox 360.

Your Xbox LIVE community has grown to 23 million strong. And as we look down the road, we'll continue to evolve the service with features and experiences that harness the full power of Xbox 360. To reach our aspiration, we need to make changes to the service that are incompatible with our original Xbox v1 games.

We will contact the Xbox LIVE members directly impacted by this change and if this includes you, I encourage you to check your LIVE messages and associated e-mail account over the coming weeks for more details and opportunities. We view you as a partner in this process.

We'll share more details soon, but in the meantime I want to assure you that the best is yet to come for Xbox LIVE. I believe we'll look back on 2010 as a landmark year in gaming and home entertainment, and I couldn't be more excited about what we have in store with "Project Natal" and LIVE. The LIVE community is the driving force behind everything we do, and it's because of the community that ground-breaking experiences on Xbox continue to be possible.

See you on LIVE,

Marc Whitten
Gamertag - Notwen
http://www.twitter.com/notwen

http://www.ps3news.com/forums/xbox-n...es-109708.html

[Akucaen]

I'm honestly shocked they supported it this long to be honest. I can't see them giving up the free money from non-360 buyers unless the original xbox overhead just simply outweighs subscriber intake [from the xbox owners.] I guess they finally hit that point.

[bebeci]

Now we can have more than 100 friends on our 360 friends' list.

http://kotaku.com/5334200/report-hal...e-friends-list

[Shojin]

DLC for original Xbox titles has also been pulled apparently, put a dent in bungie's plans to have a farewell party for Halo 2.

[Chun Liroy]

Why is the link ps3news.com? IRONY

[Atreides]

i was about to come on here to remind Star Wars KOTOR 1 owners to download the DLC Yavin Station while they still had the chance, but I guess it's too late? Might be worth checking

[Auspice]

i was about to come on here to remind Star Wars KOTOR 1 owners to download the DLC Yavin Station while they still had the chance, but I guess it's too late? Might be worth checking

I hope not, I never bothered to pick up any DLC for my XB1 games when I upgraded but now I'm going to fucking rage if I'll never have the chance.

[Shojin]

I hope not, I never bothered to pick up any DLC for my XB1 games when I upgraded but now I'm going to fucking rage if I'll never have the chance.

http://kotaku.com/5465871/dlc-remova...alo-2-farewell

Downloadable content for the original Xbox has been taken offline as Microsoft prepares to terminate the console's online support. One problem: Matchmaking restrictions require all Halo 2 DLC to play it online. That could make for a small going-away party.

[6souls]

Why is the link ps3news.com? IRONY

it's a hacker community focused primarily on the ps3, but they do occasionally report on findings for Xbox & Wii.

[ZarakiKujata]

I hope not, I never bothered to pick up any DLC for my XB1 games when I upgraded but now I'm going to fucking rage if I'll never have the chance.

just download the pc version, pretty sure it was included in the game.

[BRP]

Fuck! I just bougbt Phantom Dust too.

[Ryko]

Fuck! I just bougbt Phantom Dust too.

Tsu would have played that with you all day, fucking jersey people.

[Darus Grey]

Fuck! I just bougbt Phantom Dust too.

Fuck...I still got tons of play on my Xbox for that title alone.

Guess I'll have to actually use the xbox private networks now.

[mistmonster]

i was about to come on here to remind Star Wars KOTOR 1 owners to download the DLC Yavin Station while they still had the chance, but I guess it's too late? Might be worth checking

I always wanted to play this game but it has sat on a shelf untouched for years.... So I dusted it off tonight an placed it in my xbox360 and WAS able to download Yavin Station if anyone cares.

Of course I'm sure my xbox will probably blow up for the 4th time before I get to play it.

I didn't have to many original xbox games but any others with noteworthy DLC I should try to get?

[Cleverness]

Think Battlefront 2 has a few maps that also unlock new characters? I'm assuming that at this point they made it free. All that comes to mind atm.

[BarthelloSylph]

I fired up XBConnect this past weekend and it worked really well for Halo 2 (Not so much Halo 1). Everyone ought to switch over to that.

[fantasticdan]

I'm honestly shocked they supported it this long to be honest. I can't see them giving up the free money from non-360 buyers unless the original xbox overhead just simply outweighs subscriber intake [from the xbox owners.] I guess they finally hit that point.

What overhead? It's not like Microsoft hosts game servers or anything. The biggest expense they have is probably hosting update/patch files, and that's still practically nothing. Probably just a move to encourage more 360 console/game sales from whatever people are still playing Xbox 1 games.