So Microsoft are dropping Xbox Live support for original Xbox games from April 15. At first I figured this meant they weren't going to sell digital copies of them via the online store. Gamespots article doesn't really say whether or not that is the case. What it does make clear after reading it is that if you currently play an original Xbox game online, you won't be able to do so after that date. I decided to scroll down and read some comments. Some people seem really upset about this. Personally I never owned an Xbox. I borrowed Halo 1 & 2 from a friend to play them on the 360, but didn't play them online as I had no interest in the online, even if I knew I was able to play it (which I probably couldn't as I didn't have Gold). Check these comments out.

1. Plain and simple, it's happening, and they need to just give the affected players a buttload of free credits. The end.

2. this is crap. i have a hundred original xbox games, and out of those, at least a quarter of them are both compatible with my 360 AND live-enabled. that's 25 games that i won't be able to fully enjoy. thanks for rewarding me for my loyalty, micro$oft.

3. I think I'm gonna trade in my 360 for a ps3 now.

4. I agree. There should be refunds. There's no expiration date printed on the games and i don't believe this was mentioned in the terms of service agreement. Or is it?

5. Only reason I can see for them to terminate the service is to get more butts into Halo 3 or MW2. Underhanded at best.

That's a collection of responses from the article (some paraphrased or part of) and that's just from the latest page. Really? I think these are just a little silly.

1. I will give this one a sliver of credibility, because presumably there may be some people that have only an Xbox that may have paid for a year in advance to use the service specifically for games only for that console. Of course if that is the case, what are they going to get free credits towards? Otherwise, Microsoft doesn't owe these people anything.

2. Were you currently enjoying those 25 games online on a regular basis? My gut feeling says no. Perhaps they would like to reward you for your loyalty by improving the Xbox Live service, and introduce features they can't while supporting Legacy Xbox.

3. What? So you can have a system that doesn't support the previous generation at all, online or offline? Logic fail.

4. When a game is released, publishers aren't going to know exactly how long they are going to support their game for if they control their own servers, but no doubt the legalese in the manual will tell you that they can pull support whenever they want. If they don't control their own servers, then they have no say at all. Which takes us away from individual games, and on to the service itself. I'm not going to read the terms of service. I don't need to. There will be a proviso indicating they can pull this support, or make other changes to Xbox Live whenever they want. You agreed to these terms of service when you signed up.

5. I'm pretty sure they want to make changes to Xbox Live that support for the Legacy Xbox prevents them from doing. Assuming that dropping live support for a handful of games that might currently be played is intent to make those gamers purchase different games to generate profit is tenuous at best.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying sucked in to anyone who has been enjoying these games online regularly, or even irregularly, because this option has been removed. But for most, even if you have the games, it's an option that I'm guessing has gone relatively unused since the current generation have been on the market. This is the flaw for games that have an online portion; the online portion eventually dies. It's going to happen to 360 games and PS3 games too eventually. I think everyone knows that if online is the portion of the game that you want to play, you are best off doing it within the first few years of a title launch, if not the first few months.

When you buy a game, you do buy it on the premise of value, and that can include an online portion. But if they ever take that online portion away from you, no matter how soon after release, I'd be checking those terms and conditions before making an official complaint.