Microsoft Uses Gifts to Make Up for Halo 2's End

[Dahemo]

I suppose a kick in the balls can be made tolerable if you give the recipient of the kick roses money and chocolate at the same time.

But it still hurts like a mother f***er.

I'm sorry, but I just don't understand this point of view, you genuinely find losing the multiplayer of a great game wrenchingly painful? I'm 23 and I own plenty of games which are no longer multiplayer supported, games I put plenty of time into, but I'm not hurt by the loss of them. I would love to boot up Tribes again and have a ten aside jetpack rumble, but the day I found the servers down I wasn't hurt, I just moved on.

Microsoft are generally a class act, I've had to deal with them a couple of times and they'll bend over backwards to help, providing great customer service and satisfaction, so it doesn't surprise me that they've done this for the fans. But these days there are plenty of good games with well supported multiplayer, it's nowhere near as painful as the game not working. Anyone feeling genuinely wronged by this is very foolish.

For whoever suggested that they are still original Xbox owners, some of them may be, but in reality most will be 360 owners who snubbed Halo 3 and wanted "the better game" to be supported indefinitely. I have much more sympathy for original Xbox owners, as they will lose the best multiplayer available to them, but still, there are other games, newer consoles. I think a sense of perspective is desperately needed in this debate...

 

[DigitalSushi]

Can't the primitive Halo 2 network code piggy back the Halo Reach servers?

Yes yes yes, I know it was advanced for its time, but like in todays bandwith chewing internet Halo 2's net code while not as efficient for its day probably hasn't got such a high workload?.

I don't know. I do remember the Escapist running an article about how the reason you can't have more than 100 friends on live is because of Halo 2 though.

Ohhhh, really? I'd love to find out more, to the GoogleMobil!

http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/59918
http://g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/698157/the-real-reason-you-cant-have-more-than-100-xbox-live-friends----halo-2.html

holy Microsoft conspiracy CD-R man! your right! *pounds fist into palm*

Getting players off of Halo 2 onto Reach?, it would explain Reaches bombastic multiplayer trailer.

money grab. hard core money grab. They don't care if people are playing halo 2. What they care about is them not playing Halo 3 or odst.
makes perfect sense, it's just a dick move.

MS's been doing this for years.

I'm with this guy.

Heed your own avatar.

 

[AgentChunk]

Since the reason we can't have more than a hundred friend on xbox live is somehow linked to them still supporting Halo 2 ,do you think this means we will be able to have more than a hundred friends or are they still going to keep it at a hundred?

 

[sabercrusader]

I just realized i may never be able to play a capture the flag game on Blood Gulch ever again

there may just may be blood gultch on reach.........i mean spatans vs elites would be fun there......

OT:i do like that they appreciate the game that basicly created xbox live and the people who played it.

 

[Orcus The Ultimate]

i'm a fan of Halo 2 myself! where's my Halo Reach Beta Test for the Ps3 ?

 

[Roboto]

Are they taking down Live PC support as well? The column was eerily silent on that point.

That's because if you are a PC gamer, you are already above Halo and Microsoft knows this from sales figures. Go play a cool game like dragon age or Crysis

 

[Skratt]

This must be a fundamental difference in PC gamers and console gamers. To actually hear someone say "It's about time to let it go" when referring to a game that someone else plays is...odd...to say the least.

I mean people still play Starcraft & Counter Strike 1.6 online and those games have been out for how long now? To my knowledge neither are still supported by developers (I could be wrong) but people love playing it just the same.

Makes me a proud non-owner of an Xbox or Xbox 360 to read stories like this. If I still like or loved playing an older online game, I'd hate to all of a sudden not be able to.

 

[SomeGuyNamedKy]

I just got my email yesterday and my code today, but the best part is that I have Halo 2 Vista with dedicated server support. Oh yeah...

 

[Eagle Est1986]

I remember Microsoft saying before that the only reason your friends list is limited to 100 is because Halo 2 was. I think the framework for the current Xbox Live is based off the old Halo 2 model. Apparently if they want to make any further steps with it, they need to stop supporting original Xbox games. Personally I don't see this as a bad thing and I'm really not a fan of Xbox Live.

 

[Snotnarok]

It's about time they did this. No offence to the players but it was keeping microsoft from updating xbox live more. while I'm all for Classic games, there's a sequel to this and as I gathered it's identical if not better so whhyyyy are you playing this? Yes I play Doom 1 still but I don't still look for multiplayer servers.

 

[ddq5]

Isn't it a little late to make up for the cliffhanger ending?
Oh wait, that Halo 2 end.
Awkward...

 

[linkblade91]

I don't like Halo, but that was pretty nice of Microsoft. I guess they're not entirely a soulless, scheming corporation out for money. I suppose 99% IS less than 100%...lol

 

[StonkThis]

If I were to start playing the halo 2 online right now... You think I could get those gifts? I want that damn beta.

 

[Snowalker]

Wow...so Microsoft is doing something nice for it's loyal fans?

I'm shocked! They see us people! WE'RE PEOPLE TO THEM EVERYONE!

I gotta say though, that is nice, but if they're still playing Halo 2, I doubt they have a 360, since I'm sure they didn't updgrade to 3 for a reason...

Well, you do know Halo 2 and Halo 3 play a little differently, so you know, they might just enjoy Halo 2 a little more

 

[(whitty name here)]

I know, I got the message today. I'll miss Halo 2, it was better than Halo 3 and ODST.
I do appreciate the 400 M$ points and three months of live.

 

[Lamppenkeyboard]

Microsoft seems so benevolent. Just like an electronic mother Teresa.

Of course, Halo 2 players get a goodie bag, but what do i get for having one of the early deffective 360's? Jack and no warranty.

And Jack just left town


Seriously MS, do you expect me to pay MONEY? For a REPLACEMENT?!

 

[Flatliner74]

Great customer service, even if it may cause a few people to upgrade. Nothing wrong with a lose-win-win situation really. And if Bungie is worth their salt, they'll take a cue from Sony and re-release Halo 1 and 2 in HD with full Next gen XBL support, a la God of War 1 & 2.

What say you, Bungie?