Bungie Sad Over Original XBL Closure
As a gaming era comes to a close, Halo developer Bungie sheds a small tear.
For console gamers, it's the end of an era. The launch of the original Xbox console and its online network changed the face of console gaming. Bungie's Halo played a significant part of the evolution, proving that FPS titles can indeed be played on consoles without the need for a mouse and keyboard. The sequel, Halo 2, brought that gaming experience online, allowing fans to play head to head across the nation.
With that said, the developer is now saddened by last week's news that Microsoft is discontinuing support for the original console an its games on Xbox LIVE. As we originally reported, the service will be discontinued as of April 15. Bungie said that gamers have ten weeks left to play Halo 2 online before Microsoft pulls the plug.
"We're all saddened at the realization that an era is coming to an end but looking back, we're incredibly fortunate to have had such a great run and such strong support from our fans," the company said. "Halo 2 has been at or near the top of the Xbox LIVE charts for original games since it launched over five years ago. We're extremely thankful to everyone who has played, enjoyed and supported Halo 2 over Xbox LIVE. We've had some great fun together, including far too many humpday losses to even recount."
Bungie also added that an online bash has been scheduled for April 14. "One final farewell and one final opportunity for all of you to kick our a$$es at Halo 2," the company said. More details will be released soon on Bungie's website.
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Aww, Now im going to have to go back to COD.
Internet tunneling solutions like XLink Kai can solve the problem.
and another reason pc gaming lasts longer
granted that is if the devs don't kill off features like IW did
Diddums
...Quake 2 on PS1 and N64 proved that - both were awesome ports, back in the day. But whilst they can be "played" - it's not the same!
...Quake 2 on PS1 and N64 proved that - both were awesome ports, back in the day. But whilst they can be "played" - it's not the same!
i played through COD4 on pc, and then decided to play MW2 on xbox 360, and i have to say the experience was just so much better on pc.
Why the hell would Bungie care? Halo 1 for XBOX did not have Online Multiplayer mode and Halo 2 just plain sucked. They should've just made it easy and had a server browser (like Halo 1 PC) without doing this whole 'match making' crap. Not much of a loss there. I still play Halo 1 on PC. Halo 2 for PC is a joke. First of all, the MS Vista requirement. Secondly, lack of online players and the playability is bad. Oh and hello...why make a game for DirectX 9 when you require Vista to play it, which is DirectX 10 compatible?
i played through COD4 on pc, and then decided to play MW2 on xbox 360, and i have to say the experience was just so much better on pc.
Add to the fact that COD4 is a much better single player... but yes the pc is better
Rest In Peace!
Like I said in the original story, Microsoft has no excuse for doing it besides trying to force people to earn more money by forcing people to upgrade. There's no other valid reason for doing so. Just another addition to a long list of why console online gaming sucks and specifically why XBox Live sucks. Your $50 a year earned about 5 years of online gaming. XBox Live is a scam.
I'll re-earn a lot of respect for Bungie if they update all of the old maps as Halo 3 maps.
Maxor you're pretty angry sounding. I'm not a Miocrosoft fan. I don't own an Xbox (or a playstation or a wii, and I never will), but they have their reasons for dropping Xbox Life support. If they are to be believed, as retarded as it sounds the backwards compatibility was preventing them from fixing up their current network, allowing things like more than 100 users in a friends list.
Sounds like a programming fail, but if the only way forward os to drop the old they need to do it eventually. And yeah, I see this as an advantage of PC Gaming (at least as it has been. Dunno about these programs that rely on a central server, though that can be patched out: see Aliens Vs. Predator 2)
and another reason pc gaming lasts longergranted that is if the devs don't kill off features like IW did
+100 to that, I still occasionally play the original Medal Of Honor and Battlefield Vietnam. Plenty of people still playing those on Gamespy, etc.
Like I said in the original story, Microsoft has no excuse for doing it besides trying to force people to earn more money by forcing people to upgrade. There's no other valid reason for doing so. Just another addition to a long list of why console online gaming sucks and specifically why XBox Live sucks. Your $50 a year earned about 5 years of online gaming. XBox Live is a scam.I'll re-earn a lot of respect for Bungie if they update all of the old maps as Halo 3 maps.
The thing i like about the PC modding community is that with a game of this age that has previous releases, favorite maps from old have been updated and added into the new game.
what bungie did is what the hardcore denies. bungie dumbed down fps games on the consoles or you can also say that bungie casualized the hardcore pc fps from the pc to the console.
one can play an fps on the pc or the console with a mouse and keyboard as opposed to a controller. but why use the controller? the reason is because it's easier.
on a keyboard you have 104+ buttons. on a controller you have like 10-12 buttons. on the pc, the controls are more complex and on a controller the controls are more simplified.
what the big picture shows is that the hardcore has been played with. what is funny about the reality is that the hardcore is nothing but a puppet for the industry.
Halo 2 will be missed but all things come to an end sadly.
MAG for the ps3 is funny. sony tries to say it's something new. but people on the pc have already have these things.
if you're a pc gamer and played halo, it isn't a good game. it's a standard game. the reason why so many console gamers are so hyped about it is because fps got casualized on the consoles. fps were very bad on the consoles. the controls were wonky and if you wanted to play an fps you'd needed a pc which had complex controls schemes with the keyboard. so halo is like the wii sports for those who wanted to play fps but couldn't because of the problems mentioned above. it's like you never forget the person who first popped your cherry.
when halo came out, pc had more better games. pc had games like system shock 1 and system shock 2, duke nukem 3d and so on. so halo became famous due to the new easier interface that became accessible to those who wanted to play fps on the consoles.
in all essence, the console is nothing more but a dumbed down version of the pc. on a console, no one needs to worry about system requirements or updates or any other problem. no one has to worry about installing your own mods as the developers make the mods for you and you pay for something that can be free. even the online features of the console is simplified as one doesn't have to worry about setting up the protocol features and all that crap. the consoles became a true plug and play for pc gaming. this is why pc gaming has shrunk.