Microsoft officials announced that all of the original Xbox games will lose online support as of April 15th. That means no more Halo 2 multiplayer, no more Counterstrike. I imagine there will be a large customer base that is highly upset with Microsoft and I’m sure a lot of people bought the Xbox originals to play them on-line. These online games are what propelled the Xbox to its glory over the Nintendo, Gamecube, and Sony Playstation 2. The online playability of the system far surpassed anything else with the exception of the PC.

Microsoft stated that “this chang is required to ‘evolve the service’. Microsoft requires changes that are ‘incompatible’ with the previous console’s games. – Soucrce: Joystiq

However, this could be a very good thing. Microsoft has said they are looking into extending the 100 person limit on your friends list which was actually a limitation because of Halo 2. The original XBL service could not support more than 100 friends. With such a strong following of Halo 2, Microsoft never could change the limit but now with them severing the ties, they will be free to raise the limit. Possibly even more features such as the coveted Clan List from Halo 2. I would like to see a change to be able to give people nicknames instead of seeing their gamertag that way I would always know who they are.
I will keep you posted as I learn more as to what is going on with this, but make sure you get enough of your old-school game time in. You only have a few more months before it is gone.