14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has just recently announced that the Xbox Live service will stop supporting the original Xbox console, as well as its games in an attempt to further evolve the system. One of the things that are expected to change will be the Xbox Live friends cap of 100, a limit that has been an issue for some time now. As such, starting with April 15, the original Xbox will have to content itself with disappearing off the radar and remain as an offline entertainment system.
One of the biggest games that got hit by this announcement was, without a doubt, Halo 2, a title that had been standing strong among the top ones of the Xbox LIVE charts for original games ever since it was launched, over five years ago. And what better way to celebrate the retirement of a glorious soldier than with one huge, last battle for the old veteran to fire off a few more rounds. Bungie is putting together a final event for the game, and while Halo 2's developer has set a date for the fragging festival, it left its details to our imagination.
"We're extremely thankful to everyone who has played, enjoyed and supported Halo 2 over Xbox LIVE," a post on the official Bungie site reads. "We've had some great fun together, including far too many humpday losses to even recount. That said, mark your calendars now – on April 14th let's all rally to go online for one last hoorah. One final farewell and one final opportunity for all of you to kick our asses at Halo 2."
This one final event, however, will most likely involve Halo 2's Xbox community, since the PC version of the game uses Games for Windows Live as a medium, so it will remain unaffected by the discontinuation of the Xbox Live support for it. The day of the event, April 14, will be the day Halo 2 stops operating online on the Xbox consoles and becomes a PC-exclusive title.