Thanks for the Memories, Xbox Live Gold
When I think of Xbox Live Gold, I think of nothing but good things. So, so many good things. Obviously, Xbox’s paid online multiplayer service carries on (albeit with the somewhat confusing Xbox Game Pass Core), but the original branding – Xbox Live Gold – is no more. I thought I’d take a few minutes to share some of the wonderful games and moments that come to mind when I think about those three words.
It starts at the beginning, back in November of 2002 (well, technically it started a little earlier than that with the Xbox Live Beta, but that’s a splitting of the hairs that’s not relevant to this column). I’d been a dedicated PC gamer for as long as online multiplayer gaming had been a thing up until I joined the staff of Official Xbox Magazine back in October of 2002. I was used to server browsers, and trying to get a decent ping on my dial-up modem with Quake 1’s QuakeWorld client.
Eventually I had a high-speed Internet connection via a cable modem, but the transition didn’t happen at the same time for everyone. As a result, some players had a leg up thanks to their high-speed connection, and others were stuck on dial-up 56k modems. Xbox Live bet (wisely) on the future, allowing only high-speed connections into Xbox’s walled garden, thus ensuring a smooth experience for everyone. Couple that with every Xbox Live kit being bundled with a chat headset and, very quickly, $50 per year for the service didn’t seem so bad.
I will always associate my most positive memories of Xbox Live Gold with a small handful of games: MechAssault, Ghost Recon, Rainbow Six 3, Links 2004, Halo 2, and 1 vs. 100.
MechAssault was a day-one launch game for Xbox Live on November 15, 2002, and boy was it fun! It stripped the simulation bits out of
Read more on ign.com
