Word is spreading pretty quick about Microsoft making "the greatest benefit to the Xbox Live community."  Xbox Live support ended for the original Xbox when the 360 was launched, however you could still play Xbox original games on your Xbox 360.  Microsoft even took it a step further by offering Xbox Originals in the marketplace allowing you to purchase and download original games and play games like Halo 2 on Xbox Live.  On April 15th, that will be a thing of the past.  Here's the official announement from Microsoft.

It's a real pisser if you purchased Halo 2 via XBL marketplace to play online or you plan on buying it in the future.  Microsoft says to keep an eye on your XBL messages and your email inbox for further details.  Perhaps an alternative is in store for Halo 2 fans?  Will they update certain games to work on the current XBL framework?

Bungie, however, seems to confirm the writing on the wall when they are announcing a gaming event on April 14th where Bungie staff will play Halo 2 online.  It sounds like it'll be an emotional night for them.  No details in what's going to go down, but mark your calendars as it's sure to be a night to remember.

I'm left asking on question: is this a benchmark for how long we can expect Microsoft to support service on our games?  Seriously?  Halo 2 came to the Xbox only 5 years ago.  I have PC games laying around nearly 10 years old that I can still play online.  A while back, there was a massively-multiplayer PC game called Earth and Beyond that shared the fate Halo 2 will soon meet.  Today, open development of a reverse-engineered server is an active project for the diehard fans of E&B.  Hopefully someone will tackle something like that and issue a mod for original Xboxes or Xbox 360s.

I'll speak for many of our members and say they and myself will be participating in the final night of Halo 2.  It's the best way we can send off the game and give closure as we say: Rest in peace, Halo 2.