Microsoft has announced that it has ended all support for the original Xbox, the first gaming console created by the company. Production of the platform was discontinued soon after the Xbox 360 was launched but Microsoft offered support to those who had bought the original machine. Now, the out of warranty services have been ended.

Microsoft posted a statement which says that “On March 2, 2009, service repairs for Original Xbox video game systems for which the Warranty has expired will no longer be available. Any other technical support, documents, and content, however, will continue to be available to all our customers. Although Microsoft is ending repair services for the Original Xbox, an upgrade program and support will be maintained for Original Xbox consoles that are still under Warranty.” So, it seems that if you have one of the now officially “dead” consoles, you can at least contact Microsoft in order to get a brand new Xbox 360. Be prepared to pay a price difference, although Microsoft has not said how much.

In the approximately 50 months it was on sale, the original Xbox managed to sell around 25 million units all over the world. This figure was surpassed in November 2008 by the Xbox 360, showing that the current gaming console from Microsoft is stronger than the first one. Sony is continuing to sell the PlayStation 2, a gaming console which is a contemporary of the Xbox, and the platform still attracts a significant number of buyers each month. The reason for its popularity is probably the big videogame library that players can get at significantly discounted prices.

At the moment, the Xbox 360 from Microsoft is selling better than the PlayStation 3 from Sony. Of course, both consoles are dwarfed in sales by the Nintendo Wii, which is aimed at a larger audience.