Xbox Live For Original Xbox Games Shutting Down 307
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."
Re:Punish Them (Score:2, Interesting)
I, for one, will gladly accept those consequences since for me they are more than outweighed by the benefits of having things as easy as possible while the game is supported. No drivers, no installation woes, no licensing issues - it all just works out of the box. If that means that after a couple of years the product is no longer supported, so be it. Disposable income I have, but free time to do things I enjoy I don't have enough of.
PC Gaming is coming back in style (Score:3, Interesting)
Xbox Live is cornerstone of Social Networking? (Score:1, Interesting)
From the announcement [gamerscoreblog.com], XBox's live director takes hyperbole of one's achievements to a new level:
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.
Netflix, Facebook, and Twitter would never have happened without XBox live? Really?
Replayability and licensing (Score:4, Interesting)
As an avid gamer, I hate the way modern games are moving away from the old model of pay once, play forever, and moving toward licensing. It may not be called licensing by the producers, but that's exactly what it is. How many of us still enjoy a nostalgic game of Donkey Kong, or Super Mario Bros.? I'm sure there is still a group of gamers out there who enjoy a multiplayer game of Quake or Command and Conquer.
Ten years from now, a few friends would like to play a game of Halo 2, but they won't be able to. Just last year, I sank a good 30 hours into the original Sid Mier's(sp?) Colonization, like I have been doing since 1996. I don't know the details about Xbox Live, or Halo 2, but if the game requires a centralized Live server for multiplayer functionality, then it simply won't work. In effect, you are only licensing a portion of the game for a certain period of time. Sure, you can code your own server from scratch, like the Star Wars Galaxies fans have done, but that still eliminates 90% of the fans who will one day want to replay the game that they loved.
HA HA HA Serves you suckers right! (Score:4, Interesting)
Just another reason to buy a computer.
I will admit I too had an Xbox. I long ago let the subscription expire. At one point I had to make the decision: Buy a new console (likely the 360) or spend more and get a new computer. I am 100% glad I sent it on a new computer.
It was just last week that Sony announced that "hey guess what? Even though you bought the PS3 thinking online networking would be free, well not anymore suckas!".
Now MS is saying they are shutting down service for old hardware, making many games pretty useless (as they were sold as online games with limited single player options).
That's the problem with consoles, they (MS and Sony, and Nintendo) own everything. They can do whatever they please. Don't like it? Too bad. Your option is to buy the other guys console, who is going to screw you just as much.
So buy or upgrade your computer where you can actually own your own stuff, and join in the big boy games.
Also there are less 12 year old shouting profanities at you (notice I only said less, you can only do so much!) and generally being asshats.
Re:Take it a step further (Score:3, Interesting)
Does it mean I miss out on some of the latest and greatest games? Sure! But there are also a surprising number of games companies that do treat me like a valued customer and do produce software the just installs itself quietly in a single directory and lets you get on with things. I buy their products, sometimes because I just -have- to have the thing they've sold, and sometimes just to check out their latest work and to support a company that makes things I like.
Re:Replayability and licensing (Score:1, Interesting)
DOSbox is pretty cool.
Games aren't just technology, they are art. Technology becomes obsolete, art does not.
Re:Well... (Score:3, Interesting)
Thank you sweet merciful lady of chaos. I used to play Tribes all the time, and wasn't aware you could do this. Wonder if there are still any Shifter servers running...
Re:Well... (Score:3, Interesting)
I would actually rather rent games, but that's because I consider them disposable except for maybe the super classics. I don't have any need to "own" licenses for music, games, television shows, or software. I pay for some in each category because there's no way to always rent.
I think a lot of the reason we pay for games, movies, and music is because we want them to run on a variety of devices, and the only way to do that is with a physical copy or DRM. But, for me, I think it makes more financial sense to rent instead of own. I can listen to the old songs that I enjoy, along with approximately 750 new songs every month (~8 songs/hour, 6 hours per workday, 4 days a week, 4 weeks a month). If I want to watch a movie, I can rent it and it will be at my house in 2 days, or I can probably rent it online included in my Netflix, find it on Amazon, or worst case just go down to redbox.
about time! (Score:2, Interesting)