Microsoft once again will make the total lifespan of the original Xbox a bit shorter with the news that the company is moving to pull the plug on Xbox Live online play for the original Xbox. While many complained that the longevity of the original Xbox was never that long to begin with, Microsoft has been slowly moving players toward upgrading to the Xbox 360 for a while now.

The company announced that there will be no additional software development for the console in 2008 and then announced that as of March of 2009 they would be ending support on the console. Now those Xbox owners who are still using the first generation console to play on Xbox Live will find that as of April 15th, Microsoft will be shutting down all of the servers that support the play of first generation Xbox titles over Xbox Live.

According to our sources (that seem to be verified as accurate from a variety of online sources) the decision to shut down Xbox Live support for the first generation Xbox has not been an easy one for Microsoft, as many players are still playing games such as Halo 2 on the console or by playing the games using the Xbox 360 in emulation mode over Xbox Live. Our sources claim that all first-generation Xbox title online play using Xbox Live on the 360 system in emulation mode will also be coming to an end as a part of this move. Owners of the first-generation Xbox will still be able to play titles in single player or local multiplayer modes, but nothing more.

The biggest reason for the decision to disable support on the first generation Xbox consoles has to do with upcoming changes and enhancements to Xbox Live that will not be compatible with the first generation Xbox. It is unknown if it is actually a lack of compatibility or an unwillingness to invest development dollars in upgrading the Xbox Live support on the first generation Xbox. From the whispers we hear, however, it is likely that Microsoft has no desire to invest development dollars in a console that they already consider to be dead.

This move further pushes first generation Xbox owners to upgrade. Still, it will be sad to see some of our favorites like Halo 2, Crimson Skies and Star Wars Battlefront from the original Xbox come to an end online. We have to bid farewell to these titles, as they have been some of our personal online favorites for a long time.