Well, it’s official. As of April 15th, Microsoft will be discontinuing the online Xbox Live service for the original Xbox.

My first response: Really? People still play games on the first Xbox?

In a message on the official Xbox blog, Marc Whitten wrote:

There’s no greater example of the power of the Xbox LIVE community than the “Halo” franchise. “Halo 2” has had an amazing run on LIVE, with a dedicated community more than five years after launch and well into the next generation of consoles. It has fundamentally changed the way we play video games. And while it’s difficult to see that run come to an end, the “Halo” franchise continues to act as the benchmark for multiplayer gaming in this generation, with “Halo 3,” “Halo 3: ODST” and soon “Halo: Reach” on Xbox 360.

Now normally I wouldn’t have an issue of people clinging to an old game on and old system, but in this case, the limitations of the original Xbox are actually holding the Xbox360 back in terms of what it’s capable of doing online. Interesting to see that there really was a big active community still playing games that are over 5-6 years old.

Thanks for the good times original Xbox, but stop being an anchor. It’s time to move on.