Xbox Live termination ends in a consolation goodie bag for Halo 2 owners
By Vlad Savov 
posted March 5th 2010 10:12AM
posted March 5th 2010 10:12AM
posted March 5th 2010 10:12AM
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meh. dont really play many of these anyway
@cnote1287
How about users like "LiveStrong7" that didn't renew their XBOX Live account for another year because support for Halo2 was going away? Why not toss them an extra three months too so they can enjoy Halo2 up until the last minute of the game's life.
April 15. Dont forget to do your taxes.
its not about the games man... its about the dashboard... I just used it as a skype to play on PS3 because we alll know they don't have xgame chat... what to doooo.. hmmm
@cnote1287 i mean who plays xbox these daya anyways? noone.
The people who are really dedicated will just write up a program to achieve long distance system link over the internet P2P.
PS2 players have been doing it for years. Welcome to the club.
At least they offered something, EA should take note and stop just pulling the servers and giving all its customers a big FU.
@CarliT
And for games that aren't very old.
@CarliT Yeah, but how else would they sell Madden 2011 if they didn't pull online support for Madden 200X-2010? It's not like they are selling anything other than a rehashed game with updated rosters and new virtually meaningless features.
its a nice gesture, really. theres no doubt that theres sill some hardcore halo 2 diehards who are crushed by MS terminating live for xbox1.
i think it shows that they feel bad that they have to do it, but have no choice since supporting the first xbox really is holding the rest of the system back.
@cwalters74
same, I haven't had an email so I'm guessing no?
How do they separate the "Avid Halo 2 fans" from "The guy that played Halo 2 a few times with a friend when he misplaced his disc booklet and only had that one game?" I would certainly like some gratis Live Points...
@ghostmachine418
I don't think that they should have to sift through all game users to see who deserves more than the other in the first place. The fact they are giving anything at all is something.
@Duke
I'm not implying that I deserve something for nothing. I am honestly curious about the method by which they separate the "Avid Fans" from the "Non-Avid fans"
@ghostmachine418 Ain't your gamertag recording your every step/award/achievement you'd ever made in such games? or are those only 360's features? —I'm not an user, but I think I read that somewhere.
@Boolean22
Right. I know about the achievement system, though Xbox 1 games show up with none. Their phrase "Avid Halo 2 fan". I want to know what qualifies that, if anything. Is there a number somewhere that says that? You played 10K online multiplayer games of Halo 2 sine you got it. You're an avid fan. That guy only played 500. He is not an avid fan. You spent X hours playing. That is less than the minimum number required to be an avid fan.
Something like that.
Better than just pulling the plug, kudo's to MS.
Yeah it's amazing that they are offering anything at all! Even still, however, some people expect endless support for ancient software, and seem incapable of understanding that the world has moved on.
How do we claim this?
And will they discriminate since I used to play Halo 2 every night and day then stopped for the last couple years?
Do you need a certain playtime in a certain period?
@alexnessie
I just checked my email, and it says to claim it you need to check your xbox messages and they will send you an email about the halo reach beta sometime in the near future. I only played halo 2 about once, and decided i sucked. so im pretty sure they dont descriminate. if you played halo 2 on your 360, then today is a good day my friend
@Marijuana
Thanks mate, yeah I did play it on my 360, I have the DLC to prove it!
And this is why user run dedicated servers should be included with every game. It shouldn't be up to Microsoft to say that I can't play my game anymore. I understand them saying "Yeah, we aren't going to run the server that lists servers anymore, move along", but they are completely killing a large portion of a lot of games and highlighting a huge problem with the closed nature online games have taken over the past few years. I can still boot up practically all of my 90's FPS and play online with my friends if I feel so inclined(and assuming there is still hardware/software that can play it).
It just bothers me that so many people are completely OK with a developer being able to pull the plug on old stuff when they feel they want to. I understand that there are technical issues that are forcing this, but it shows a complete lack of foresight on Microsoft's side, as well as a lack of empathy for those who still play these games. You can't tell me that there isn't a way to allow old XBoxs on XBL with these new changes. How about a simple version check on the client requesting connection and using the old tech if it is an XBox(while only giving the 100 most contacted or logged in friends)? That way people who don't want more than 100 friends, or at least don't need it, can keep their old games up and running.
@(Unverified)
Halo 2 for the PC allows dedicated servers, just play that.
@(Unverified)
Actually there is software that will turn the system link into an online multiplayer of sorts. I used it with my Xbox when I didn't have Xbox Live. I forget what its called exactly, but Halo 2 fans could switch to that service to continue gaming.
@LJKelley xboxconnect and/or xlink kai
@LJKelley Kali
@LJKelley
XBCONNECT.com
if only i hadn't modded my xbox...
@calvin8714 hahahaha
I wonder if playing halo2 on pc will get me the points lol
Kudos to MS. But I do want to point out that if this was Sony or Apple DC'ing a service the MS fanbois would have been spamming the Hell out of the post.
I can't halo anymore. It's too slow compared to MW2. Always finding myself trying to run. Halo had a good run but it's not for me anymore. I do miss the Halo parties with 4 TV's and 16 friends all yelling at eachother playing 4 hour long CTF matches. The good ol days!!!
@Mtmrob
What do you mean its too slow? It is much more fast paced than MW2.
Wow, at first when I read the part about "We realize you're an avid Halo 2 fan" I thought it was a joke/fake. There must be a lot of people they think are gonna have a meltdown if they went as far as to address this specifically...
How about the idea of having an open community with open standards..? Why is any special support needed at all, other than to exclude users and help sell more Microsoft product..?
Invite to the halo reach beta and 3 extra months is quite awesome to be honest.
so when and how will we receive these bonuses?
This never happened to Starcraft. Good reason to never buy a console that only provides limited multi-player options.
Does anyone see a vicious pattern here for the future of games,video and all online content across multiple platforms? IE.Iphone Apps being pulled ? GAMERS should be worried!
Empathy, lol. This is corporates business at work.
Vote with your wallets people.
@iPaul
you'd think they'd be worried, wouldn't you? it looks like they know how to take their medicine. i just hope it doesn't set a broader precedent.
First Halo 2 is only 5 years old it isn't ancient! Second Reach Beta and 3 Free Months! I didn't have to buy ODST (Crap Game) to get the Reach Beta? What a slap in the face to the ODST buyers of the world. Finally I bet they release this on 4/20.
@spodee AFTERTHOUGHT: Can you still play the original PS2 SOCOM online?
Microsoft isn't completely reliant on Halo or anything...why not just call it the "Halo Playing Machine that Breaks All The Time" (HPMTBATT)
Better yet, open source the v1 Live server tech so that people can setup their own servers post-mortem.
This would also require the ability to choose your "Live" server in the game though.
I miss the Halo 2 days!
Not to sound ungrateful...but would it had hurt them to give them a full year free?
How do you get that?
Does this go for everyone who has Halo 2? I have it but I have almost never played it online, do I still get this?
@Aaronneyer
Fairly certain you have to play it....like now. With only an hour left, better get your ass off the computer and over to the xbox.