Microsoft Shutting Down Live for Original Xbox
The long-running live service for the original Xbox is coming to a close and we’ll be sad to see it go.Marc Whitten, the general manager for Xbox Live informed users of the service that Microsoft are going to discontinue Live for the original Xbox console from April. He says that the decision is down to not being able to support the original Xbox Live service while improvements are to be made to the Xbox 360 version of Live.
The underlying message I’m reading is that the cost of running the service is not profitable for Microsoft anymore and the time has come to close it down and put the money to a different use. Games such as Halo 2 still have a big user base so the discontinuation won’t be completely without complaint. It’s a shame that Microsoft have chosen to do this because I can imagine that there are still many users who will feel hard done by.
Another kick in the teeth is that Microsoft are still offering original Xbox games for download but you won’t be able to use the online features for them. I’d like Microsoft to cut the costs of the games to accomodate this because a lot of original Xbox games will no doubt have online functionality that makes the games more enjoyable.
On the plus side it is rumored that this closure will allow Microsoft to boost the friends list which is something many 360 users have been asking for. I hope that the closure of the original Xbox does lead to improvements to the current service.
After nearly 8 years of activity the gaming community say goodbye to the service that was really the first big online gaming service for home consoles. RIP Original Xbox Live.
Source: TFTS
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