Want a bigger friends list? Stop playing Halo 2 online!

by Ben Gilbert on Aug 10th 2009 7:00PM

Speaking to G4 late last week, a "high-level Microsoft source" said that the real reason Microsoft hasn't upped the friends list limit on 360 thus far has more to do with people still playing Halo 2 on Xbox than limitations of its current console. Reportedly, the source says that Microsoft is still undecided on when to finally pull the plug and add a feature gamers have been requesting for a long time now.

The company has made it clear in the past that it would like to implement the feature, even going so far as to explain to us at CES 2009 that "original Xbox games were coded to be limited to 100 friends and that limit was brought into the current generation." According to G4's source, the shuttering of Halo 2's online could come after Halo 3: ODST drops this September, giving Microsoft two Halo titles to offer on the Xbox 360. The source also contends that the real decision to keep Halo 2 online is in the hands of gamers. What say you, gamers?!

Should Microsoft kill Halo 2 online support in favor of more Xbox 360 friends?
Yes, kill it this minute!	5558 (48.6%)
No, I'm still playing Halo 2! Stop the killing!	2663 (23.3%)
I don't want excuses, I just want more friends on my 360.	3223 (28.2%)

[Via Shacknews]

Source

Tags: bungie, friends-list, g4, halo, halo-2, halo-3-odst, halo2, microsoft, xbox, Xbox-360, xbox-live

Reader Comments (130)

I actually pop in Halo 2 from time to time just to play the campaign and the sweet MP maps but I really wouldn't mind them pulling the plug.

Hell, Sega pulled the plug on SegaNet and I was forced to get a broadband connection and an Xbox :'(

@ Markez: Cheating on H2 is just as bad as ever.

I wish I were able to group my friends, so that I don't have to remember why they're on my friends list in the first place.

I don't play Halo 2, but I selected "No, I'm still playing Halo 2! Stop the killing!" because I definitely do not want Microsoft to kill support for older games.

I don't play Xbox, because I'm not a toolbox.

It's been the next great thing for too long. It's annoying now.

So I just laugh at these people who will type books in response to this.

I don't like video-games much anymore.

There's a troll in our midst...

Why are you even reading this blog???

Hi there, Mr. "I don't like video-games much anymore" Anthony, and welcome to our little video-games blog.

Get off of here pussy!

@Durden

I occasionally come here anyway to look at the iPhone things featured at this site.

I used to be a big Xbox fan but I'm not anymore, and so will most of the people marking my comments down, Unless you want to be that exact person for the rest of your life, of course, the bigger better things will be arriving in a few years anyway... Don't get too attached now.

*Record Scratch*

you know, it is possible to be a "gamer" and actually have a life at the same time.

You got marked down because you're fucking retarded, not because everyone is an xbox fanboy.

SPY SAPPIN' MAH SENTRY!!!

shouldnt you guys have linked or "Sourced" the actual story instead of a story of a story? You know, give Patrick Klepek some hits for the story...the guy that actually wrote the story? That would have made a lot more sense, no?

http://g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/698157/TheFeed.html?utm_source=g4tv&utm_medium=twitterblog&utm_campaign=so-0907-twitterthefeed-698157&cmpid=so-0907-twitterthefeed-698157

Give post-Techtv merge G4 credit?

lulz.

Umm, the source link goes to G4TV while the Via link goes to Shacknews, showing both the original source AND the source that the author discovered the story from. There's also a link to G4 in the story...

you are correct, Courtney,
My apologies Joystiq.

I could have swore i clicked the source link but it looks like i did in fact click the "via" link.

why do you need more then 100 friends...
You only ever play with 4-6 of them at one time...
the rest are just their...

Umm We @ VGEvo.com tend to play games like Killzone 2 with 32 People at a time....wanna try that again??

They better not shut down Halo 2. I love going back to every once in a while.

To the people who have a maxed out friends list: How many of those 100 people do you play with on a regular basis? Exactly.

is it MY Fault I like Halo 2 better than Halo 3 still???

They better hope ODST is better

can't they just release all the Halo 2 maps as Downloadable Content for Halo 3 and then pull the plug? I can hardly see a difference in the engine between the two games anyway.

there's a lot of difference between the two, stuff like auto aim, melee damage, lunge distances, effective weapon range and all that jazz. But still, it's like not wanting L4D2 because the old guy is a black basketball coach instead of Bill

Those still playing Halo 2 can just pick up Halo 2. It doesn't take a super computer to run.

Halo 2 for PC*

this exactly.

Killing off Halo 2 online is like going

Oh Modern Warfare 2 is out ok than, no one will ever need to play Modern Warfare 1 again. It's dumb some people enjoy the older games since they find the newer versions added to much or something. (I know plenty of people who still play Gears 1 and really dislike gears 2).

You can't tell them to get with the times and play the new version of the game, that's the same as telling someone to forget about the 80's transformers and GI Joes because of the new movies.

Just because a newer version comes out doesn't make the older version worthless.

Yea man...Halo 2 is SOOOOOOOOOOO Much better than Halo 3....not just to me but obviously the thousands of others that still play it

Most of the people voting to kill it have probably never played Halo 2 online. The online is still better than a lot of recent releases. It just sounds like a poor excuse, I mean how hard could it be to change the size of a friends list? And besides, who honestly plays or even communicates with those 100 different people?

Halo 2 is the only reason? Yeah, right. Microsoft has already shown how little they care about the original Xbox and it's support. If that was the actual reason than it would have been dead for a while now.

I can say while I don't play Halo 2 there is no need to kill it off so people can have more than 100 friends.

100 is a fine number.

Since I doubt anyone here even plays with all 100 of there friends everyday.
I have about 50 and even that is to much for me especially when there are people never on and such.

There has to be a technical way around this.

I don't see why a patch couldn't be made for Halo 2.

i think i played halo 2 waaaay to much. halo 3 was great but i think i was just halo'd out.. but its been a while so im ready for ODST

.i am truly shocked that halo2's community is still that strong. well i say if people are having fun with it let it live.

dont people still play counter strike??

Sir, I still play CS 1.6 and 1.3. Aswell as Team Fortress Classic.

woah you truely are hardcore! i havnt touched counter strike in years!!

team fortress classic is great\ that should be on LIVE and PSN!!

Counter-Strike is the god of all that is FPS [haha]. I do not play CS 1.6, I am not that old-school, but I still play CS:S which is actual not that old.

I selected the "no more excuses" option, because that's all it is.

Hey Microsoft, here's your solution, free of charge.

Step 1: Create a new parameter for your friends. You can select which ones are your "top 100"

Step 2: Update the existing Friends List function calls (the ones all Xbox 1 games use) to only act on and return friends from the "top 100".

Step 3: Create a new set of Friends List functions that allow access on all friends (more than 100), and update the 360 to use those functions instead of the old ones.

+1 for coming up with an obvious solution to the problem.

The only real question would be how current 360 games handle friends, and if changing the current method to also include a "top 100" would in any way affect these games. I'm guessing not, since most of them use the built in dashboard features from what I've seen, but still...

i still play halo 2 once in a while but idk friends list is fine to me i dont think ill ever get over 100...

Oh yeah. Step 4: PROFIT!!!

I don't care, i'm happy with my ten friends i have at the mo

The poll choices are bullshit. Having said that, 100 friends is more than enough for the majority. I say leave Halo 2 alone.

WTF? Fuck you Joystiq! Halo 2 is a gods game! I will never stop playing it!

separate the xbox and 360 servers and let players toggle back and forth depending on the game they are playing.

Why not patch that in halo 2? problem solved!

Could the tiff between Bungie and MS get any more pettier?

Now MS are blaming a the lack of a feature that most people don't want on a single game? A game developed by a studio that just happens to have publicly cut itself off from the mothership.

Sure, MS, sure.

It's like watching a divorced couple sligging mud at each other at friends' dinner parties.

Maybe Microsoft and Bungie could offer a "Halo 2" DLC pack for ODST (or Halo 3) that includes all the levels, weapons, playlists, etc. It would be essentially Halo 2 with the Halo 3/ODST look. It wouldn't be given away for free, in fact, considering how many levels would be included, it could be the most expensive DLC pack to date. The levels would be treated like Cold Storage/Lockout, in that they are simply graphic updates with no design differences. The weapons can be tweaked to be as they were in Halo 2 when played within the "Halo 2" Playlists. I understand this would be a huge undertaking, but I think it would pay off. This would allow Microsoft to finally pull that plug on Halo 2.

I don't think they should shut down Halo 2's servers. Halo 2 was one of the best console games I ever played online to this date. And there is a reason people still play it online. It actually has good online.

Halo is such a piss poor game. It's like a slew of kids get their first taste of a FPS and just stuck with it.

To their credit, my first RPG was Final Fantasy VII and I still love it, regardless of the fact that it is indeed overrated. Halo isn't TERRIBLE, like Daikatana terrible...

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Want a bigger friends list? Stop playing Halo 2 online!

Reader Comments (130)

Posted: Aug 10th 2009 7:23PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Aug 10th 2009 7:23PM tabicat said

Posted: Aug 10th 2009 7:26PM APV said

Posted: Aug 10th 2009 7:27PM MarkezJM said

Posted: Aug 10th 2009 7:28PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Aug 10th 2009 7:38PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Aug 10th 2009 7:38PM Ruinkind said

Posted: Aug 10th 2009 8:44PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Aug 10th 2009 9:11PM APV said

Posted: Aug 10th 2009 9:17PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Aug 10th 2009 9:29PM MarkezJM said

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Posted: Aug 10th 2009 11:34PM Freddie Mercury said

Posted: Aug 10th 2009 7:28PM urbantek said

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Posted: Aug 10th 2009 7:39PM Courtney said

Posted: Aug 10th 2009 7:52PM urbantek said

Posted: Aug 10th 2009 7:32PM Radical Dylan said

Posted: Aug 10th 2009 7:43PM Chris DPSN AggieCEO XBLThe Aggi said

Posted: Aug 10th 2009 7:38PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Aug 10th 2009 7:42PM Chris DPSN AggieCEO XBLThe Aggi said

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