Server shutdowns: GWFL Marketplace 8-22!/GWFL 7-1-2014!/Burnout Revenge back up!

January 15th Update:

January 19, 2013 -- Online Services Shutdown

• Trenches II for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch

January 14, 2013 -- Online Services Shutdown

• The Sims 2 for PC/MAC and TheSims2.com

January 11, 2013 -- Online Services Shutdown

• FIFA Soccer 11 for PC, PS3, Wii & Xbox 360
• FIFA Soccer 11 Ultimate Team for PS3 & Xbox 360
• Madden NFL 11 for PS3, Wii & Xbox 360
• Madden NFL 11 Ultimate Team for PS3 & Xbox 360
• NBA JAM for PS3 & Xbox 360
• NBA LIVE 10 for PS3 & Xbox 360
• NCAA Football 11 for PS3 & Xbox 360
• NHL 11 for PS3 & Xbox 360
• NHL 11 Ultimate Team for PS3 & Xbox 360

January 3, 2013 -- Online Services Shutdown

• FIFA Manager 11 for PC

10-1 Update:

November 1, 2012 -- Online Services Shutdown

• The Sims 3 Pets for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360

9-11 Update: EA Closures for Tiger Woods 11:





October 11, 2012 -- Online Services Shutdown

• EA SPORTS PGA TOUR Golf Challenge for Facebook
• Tee Shot Live for iPhone and iPod Touch
• Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 11 for PlayStation 3, Wii and Xbox 360

9-5 again: Did some more digging and found that there is another closure in a few days: Phantasy Star Universe servers will close September 7th 2012. This does not affect the achievements from the main game, just all of the achievements from the now free DLC. You must have a paid subscription to play the DLC, but any active subs will be refunded in a prorated fashion.


9-5: Taking this straight from Trueachievements.com where I read this article, props to litepink (who may also be a CAG?). I didn't think Atari had control of its own servers like this...

Atari has revealed that the online severs for Test Drive Unlimited will be going out of commission on September 29th, 2012. This leaves you with about three and a half weeks to participate in multiplayer races and obtain the game’s several online only achievements. Those achievements are:


The MULTIPLAYER VIC. - LEVEL 1 achievement in Test Drive Unlimited worth 21 pointsTake 3 victories in multiplayer races. Only RANKED MATCHES are counted.



The MULTIPLAYER VIC. - LEVEL 2 achievement in Test Drive Unlimited worth 48 pointsTake 15 victories in multiplayer races. Only RANKED MATCHES are counted.



The MULTIPLAYER VIC. - LEVEL 3 achievement in Test Drive Unlimited worth 75 pointsTake 30 victories in multiplayer races. Only RANKED MATCHES are counted.



The SHARING CUSTOM CHALLENGES achievement in Test Drive Unlimited worth 21 pointsShare 3 custom challenges in the Drive-Ins.



The CUSTOM CHALLENGE VICTORIES achievement in Test Drive Unlimited worth 27 pointsTake 2 victories in the custom challenges of the Drive-Ins.



The CLUB MEMBER achievement in Test Drive Unlimited worth 15 pointsCreate a Club or become a member of an existing Club.



The CLUB RACE VICTORIES achievement in Test Drive Unlimited worth 30 pointsTake 3 victories in Inter-Club races.



The TRADE achievement in Test Drive Unlimited worth 14 pointsBuy or sell a vehicle from/to another member on TRADE.



There are several other achievements that are obtainable online but can be accomplished in single player as well; the above achievements require an online connection and therefore will be unobtainable at the end of the month.

Test Drive Unlimited was originally released six years ago in September 2006. Test Drive Unlimited 2 was released in February 2011, and will be unaffected by this server closure.

Click to expand...

BURNOUT REVENGE SERVERS ARE CURRENTLY BACK UP!!!!!!!!!!!!! No word on why the reversal or for how long, but there was a big signature campaign. Maybe it worked?

NBA2k11 servers went down July 30th. Ranked games are still possible.

April Update:

Last word on NBA2k11, originally slated for shutdown in October, was that it would be shut down in April. No word since then, but 2k11 is still consistently around the 19th most played game every week in the numbers.














April 30, 2012 -- Online Services Shutdown

• Hasbro Family Game Night for PlayStation 3 (PSN) and Xbox 360 (XBLA)
• Apparently, there's only one affected achievement which is to win a game of scrabble online.

April 13th Shutdown

Burnout Revenge
- Create
- EA Sports Active 2
- The Godfather II (This has no online achievements)
- EA Sports MMA
- Need for Speed: ProStreet
- The Saboteur (This has no online achievements)
- Spare Parts


December 6, 2011 Online Service Shutdown

• FIFA 10 for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
• FIFA 10 Ultimate Team for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
• 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360

October 20, 2011 Online Service Shutdown
EA SPORTS™ MMA (Live Broadcast Feature only) for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360

UPDATE 7-13
August 11th, 2011 Server Shutdown:

Army of Two for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
Army of Two Demo for Xbox 360
Battlefield 2142 Demo for PC
Battlefield 2: Modern Combat for Xbox 360
Battlefield 2: Modern Combat Demo for Xbox 360
Medal of Honor Airborne for PlayStation Portable
Medal of Honor Heroes 2 for PlayStation Portable and Wii
NASCAR 09 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 (North America)
NCAA Basketball 10 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
NCAA Football 10 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
Need for Speed Most Wanted for PC and Xbox 360
Need for Speed Undercover for PlayStation Portable
Skate for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 for PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 Demo for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360

October 1, 2011 Online Service Shutdown

Madden NFL 10 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
NHL 10 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360


UPDATE 1-6:
Mar 1, 2011 Online Service Shutdown
Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 09 for Wii

Feb 8, 2011 Online Service Shutdown
FIFA 07 for Xbox 360
FIFA 08 for PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii
FIFA 09 for PC, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii
FIFA 09 Ultimate Team for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
FIFA Street 3 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
EA SPORTS FIFA Manager 10 for PC

EA SPORTS Fight Night Round 3 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
Madden 09 for PlayStation Portable (all regions), PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii
Madden 10 for PlayStation Portable (all regions), PlayStation 2 and Wii
NBA LIVE 08 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
NBA LIVE 09 for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii
NCAA Basketball 08 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
NCAA Basketball 09 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
NCAA Football 07 for Xbox 360
NCAA Football 08 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
NCAA Football 09 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
NCAA Football 10 for PlayStation 2
NFL Head Coach 09 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
NHL 08 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
NHL 09 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 09 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
UEFA EURO 2008 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
2010 FIFA World Cup for PlayStation Portable and Wii
2010 FIFA World Cup Demo for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360


UPDATE 12-11: Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth II servers will shut down on 1/11/11 for 360. EA's rights to the series are over as someone else is making the new games and has the exclusive rights. Supposedly, shutdown was originally set or 12/31/10, but EA listed the 360 shutdown on the PC page and legally they have to give thirty days notice. All PC iterations lose servers on 12/31 still. Thanks to GLOCKGLOCK for the heads up. The official notice from EA:

Our licensing deal with Middle-earth Enterprises has expired, forcing us to shutdown the online services for The Lord of the Rings™ games. We hope you have enjoyed playing these games online and appreciate your patronage. There's still time for one last epic tower rush!
If you have further questions about your account or the shut down of these services, please visit http://support.ea.com.
Thank you,
Electronic Arts
Dec 31, 2010 Online Service Shutdown

The Lord of the Rings™, The Battle for Middle-earth™ for PC
The Lord of the Rings™, The Battle for Middle-earth™ II for PC
The Lord of the Rings™, The Battle for Middle-earth™ II, The Rise of the Witch-king™ for PC

Jan 11, 2011 Online Service Shutdown

The Lord of the Rings™, The Battle for Middle-earth™ II for Xbox 360
The Lord of the Rings™, The Battle for Middle-earth™ II, The Rise of the Witch-king™ for Xbox 360


Most achievements affected are pretty easily attainable with the only difficult two being one where you have to beat a player ranked 20 places higher than you on the leaderboards and a zero point one where you lose to a player ranked 20 places lower than you. Apparently, the problem is that only the top 10,000 players are on the leaderboards. I don't know how long it would take to get on the leaderboards and then find a person higher than you. The rest are just getting 1 or 10 wins in different game types:

• The Hobbit and the Troll
• Capture them all!!!
• King of Kings
• My Heroes are better than yours
• Entrepreneur of Middle-earth
• General
• Capture and Hold
• King of the Hill!
• My Heroes!!!!
• Middle-earth Financier
• Sergeant
• Try a tutorial
• In need of a lesson

Just a note, apparently the most achievement points one can earn in this game is 705 for some reason. Also, the Rise of the Witch King is also listed for 360, but as far as I can tell it never came out for 360.

Since EA is the main reason for this thread, here's a link to server closure announcements:

http://www.ea.com/2/service-updates

UPDATE 4-16: Tiger Woods 07 and 08 lose servers on May 11th. Thanks to GlockGlock for the heads up and online achievement info!

Tiger Woods 07
High Roller - 15 - Make 25 online wagers
Getting the Hang of it - 15 - Win 5 online matches
Play in 5 online Tournaments - 20 - This is already glitched and unachievable

Tiger Woods 08
Anchor Man - 10 - Create and Play a 4-player Online Match (you must host to get this)
Reality Star - 35 - Play and beat a challenge in each of the Free Style, Long Drive, 9 and 18 Hole Showdown channels
Zapper - 10 - Post in each of the Free Style, Long Drive, 9 and 18 Hole Showdown channels
EA SPORTS GamerNet 1000 - 35 - Obtain 1000 producer points on EA Sports GamerNet
EA SPORTS GamerNet 5000 - 75 - Obtain 5000 producer points on EA Sports GamerNet

Click to expand...

UPDATE 2-5:

Microsoft has announced that Xbox Live functionality (ie, playing games online) for ALL original Xbox games will end on April 15. This includes playing online portions of games of original xbox games on original xboxes, playing online portions of BC original titles on a BC 360, or playing online portions of Xbox Originals on a 360. Just to be clear: BC games and Xbox Originals will still play on 360s, only their online components are affected.

Click to expand...

UPDATE 2-15 thanks to GlockGlock:
March 16, 2010 Online Service Shutdown by EA

Def Jam for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
Online Achievements
Godfather for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 - No actual online
Lord of the Rings: Conquest for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
Online Achievements

Simpsons for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 - No actual online


UPDATE 2-7:

The following is an important update regarding online service for Skate...aka OG Skate or Skate 1.
Servers for the skate.Reel feature will be shut down on March 1st, 2010. After this date, you may continue to play the game online but no longer able to capture video clips and upload them to the skate.Reel galleries, both in-game and on the skate website.
All of us at EA would like to thank you for your valued participation in our online gaming community and hope that your enthusiasm for Skate extends to Skate 2 and the upcoming Skate 3.
If you have further questions about your account or the shut down of these services, please visit http://support.ea.com.

Click to expand...

As many already know EA is shutting down servers on several mostly older sports games on Feb 2nd and then more on Feb 9th. I know it's been discussed some in the Achievements thread, but with as much discussion about lots of other games as well I kinda thought that these games would be overlooked by those that don't check that thread. Anyway, I have some of these that I haven't gotten to yet as I have a big cheap backlog and Bioshock takes precedence over Facebreaker. However, I'd like to experience some of these games online and unlock the achievements that will forever be unavailable due to lack of support. Please post here if you are looking for people to play these games with these last few weeks.


From EA with 360 games highlighted:

Online Service Updates


Below is a revised listing of games whose servers will be shut down on the indicated dates. Madden NFL 09 for PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Wii and Xbox 360 was incorrectly listed, and servers for this title WILL NOT be shut down on April 6, 2010 as previously outlined.

We sincerely apologize for the confusion.

As background information, the shutdowns scheduled for February 2010 represent 0.3% of our peak online usage. Despite some people’s perception, there is a lot of behind-the-scenes work involved with keeping these older games up and running. We would rather our hard-working engineering and IT staff focus on keeping a positive experience for the other 99% of customers playing our more popular games. These decisions to retire games is never easy. The EA development teams and operational staff pour their hearts into these games almost as much as the customers playing them and it is hard to see one retired. We hope you have gotten many hours of enjoyment out of the games and we appreciate your ongoing patronage.
If you have further questions about your account or the shut down of these services, please visit http://support.ea.com.
Thank you,
Electronic Arts

February 9, 2010 Online Service Shutdown
FIFA 07 for PC
Madden 07 for Xbox 360
Madden 08 for PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PC, Wii and Xbox 360
NHL® 08 for PC
Tiger Woods PGA TOUR® 07 for PC
UEFA Champions League™ 07 for PC

February 2, 2010 Online Service Shutdown
Facebreaker for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3
Fantasy Football 09 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3
March Madness 07 for Xbox 360
NBA LIVE 07 for PlayStation Portable and Xbox 360
NBA Street (2007) for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
NFL Tour for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
NHL® 07 for PlayStation Portable and Xbox 360
UEFA Champions League 07 for Xbox 360
Games for other systems shut down on Feb 2

Spoiler

FIFA 07 for PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 2
Fight Night Round 3 for PlayStation 2
NBA LIVE 08 for PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and Wii
NBA LIVE 09 for Wii (Europe only)
NCAA® Football for 08 PlayStation 2
NCAA® Football for 09 PlayStation 2
NASCAR® 08 for PlayStation 2
NASCAR® 09 for PlayStation 2
NASCAR® 09 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 (Europe Only)

Previously Shut Down Online Service

Spoiler

Arena Football for PlayStation 2 and Xbox
Arena Football™: Road to Glory for PlayStation 2
Armies of Exigo for PC
Burnout Revenge for PlayStation 2 and Xbox
Burnout™ Dominator for PlayStation Portable
FIFA 07 for PlayStation Portable (Asia only) and Xbox
FIFA Soccer 06 for PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Xbox and Xbox 360
FIFA Soccer 2005 for PC, PlayStation 2 and Xbox FIFA World Cup 2006 for PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Xbox and Xbox 360
Fight Night Round 2 for PlayStation 2 and Xbox
Fight Night Round 3 for PlayStation Portable and Xbox
Goldeneye: Rogue Agent for Nintendo Game Cube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox
Madden NFL 05 for PC, PlayStation 2 and Xbox
Madden NFL 06 for PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Xbox and Xbox 360
Madden NFL 07 for PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable and Xbox
Madden NFL 08 for PlayStation Portable and Xbox
Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects for PlayStation 2 and Xbox
Medal of Honor Pacific Assault™ for PC
Medal of Honor Rising Sun for PlayStation 2
MVP Baseball™ 2005 for PC, PlayStation 2 and Xbox
MVP™ 07 NCAA® Baseball for PlayStation 2 and Xbox
NASCAR® 2005: Chase for the Cup™ for PC, PlayStation 2 and Xbox
NASCAR® 06: Total Team Control for PlayStation 2 and Xbox
NASCAR® 07 for PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox and Xbox 360
NASCAR® 08 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
NBA Live 05 for PlayStation 2
NBA Live 06 for PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Xbox and Xbox 360
NBA Live 07 for PC, PlayStation 2 and Xbox
NBA Live 08 for PC
NBA Live 2005 for PC and Xbox
NBA Street V3 for PlayStation 2 and Xbox
NCAA® Football 2005 for PlayStation 2 and Xbox NCAA® Football 2006 for PlayStation 2 and Xbox NCAA® Football 07 for PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and Xbox
NCAA® Football 08 for Xbox
NCAA® March Madness 06 for PlayStation 2 and Xbox
NCAA® March Madness® 07 for PlayStation 2 and Xbox
NCAA® March Madness™ 2005 for PlayStation 2 and Xbox
Need for Speed Most Wanted for PlayStation Portable and Xbox
Need for Speed Underground for PlayStation 2
Need for Speed Underground 2 for PC, PlayStation 2 and Xbox
NFL Head Coach for PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox
NFL Street 2: Unleashed for PlayStation 2 and Xbox
NFL Street 3 for PlayStation 2
NHL® 2005 for PC, PlayStation 2 and Xbox
NHL® 06 for PC, PlayStation 2 and Xbox
NHL® 07 for PC, PlayStation 2 and Xbox
NHL® 08 for PlayStation 2
Tiger Woods PGA TOUR® 2005 for PC, PlayStation 2 and Xbox
Tiger Woods PGA TOUR® 06 for PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox and Xbox 360
Tiger Woods PGA TOUR® 07 for PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable (all territories) and Xbox
Tiger Woods PGA TOUR® 08 for PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable
TimeSplitters 3: Future Perfect for Xbox and PlayStation 2
Total Club Manager 06 for PlayStation 2
UEFA Champions League™ 2004-2005 for PC, PlayStation 2 and Xbox
UEFA Champions League™ 2006-2007 for PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable (all territories)

Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 08- The Daily Tournament feature is currently out of service for an indefinite period of time, but Play Now and Session Matches remain active.

Click to expand...

Sega has shutdown the servers for Chromehounds.

Click to expand...

Hmm, I have Madden 08 on the 360 (I bought it when Circuit City had the sales paper error) and have never played it online. Oh well.

EA is doing this to make money

u should put down the online Achievements for each game

As long as they notify people ahead of time I really don't care if they shut down servers for old games, especially if nobody is playing them. Microsoft gave up the power to keep servers running indefinitely when it allowed EA to host its own servers.

What really gets me is their new tactic where some achievements are only available during the current season and become unachievable without warning. For example the "Game of the Week" achievement in NBA Live 09 is no longer achievable because of this.

Since this game is on the list I figured it was a good chance to remind everyone of the NBA Live 07 event this Sunday:

NBA Live 07 servers are going down for good on February 2nd. There are 1000s of people stuck with 900gs on this game due to the final achievement "Play NBA Live 07 while 1000 people are online". The major achievement websites (www.x360a.org and www.trueachievements.com ) are making one final push to get this before the shutdown. Here are the details:

NBA LIVE 07 RALLY - SUNDAY JANUARY 31ST @

7PM: Central Europe (GMT +1)
6PM: UK (GMT)
1PM: US Eastern (GMT -5)
Noon: US Central (GMT -6)
11AM : US Mountain (GMT -7)
10AM : US Western (GMT -8)

You can get this game for $3.99 at GS/EB. It is a very easy 1000 points and with the help of the xbox community we should be able to get enough people online to get this pain in the ass achievement for everyone.

So please go out and get your copy today! Pass the word to all your friends even if they are not achievement whores or even if they already were lucky enough to get this achievement in past attempts by x360a. If you have multiple boxes, please pick up copies for all of them. Remember if you get this at EB/GS you can return it within the 7 day return window, so there should be no excuses! Put this image and link in your signature on this and other forums and if you are a member of other forums that are unaware of this, please start posting it! I have also updated the thread title to reflect the event. See everyone on Sunday!

Edit: The link below has all the info you need on how to get into a lobby, just in case you have never played the game before.

I'll be boosting for NBA Street and FaceBreaker all today. Hit me up?

[quote name='starmask2k3']u should put down the online Achievements for each game[/QUOTE]The thought had crossed my mind, but I'm way too busy. I barely had time to check the games I do have. Anyone who wants to is encouraged to post a list. I know Madden 08 doesn't have any. Well, 99% sure, my list is at home.

[quote name='jonathanp']I'll be boosting for NBA Street and FaceBreaker all today. Hit me up?[/QUOTE]I can't play until 8 or 9ish PM Eastern most nights and can play until 1AM EST or so. If you're online around then I'm down.

GLOCKGLOCK - Even though I'm a NBA2k guy I think I'll pick up a cheap NBA 07 to join the masses and I wouldn't have known about it if not for your thread. Going by GS to pick up Williams Pinball anyway. Good work on the thread.

EDITTED: Meant 08 as GLOCKGLOCK pointed out.

[quote name='starmask2k3']u should put down the online Achievements for each game[/QUOTE]

From what I can remember off the top of my head:

Madden 07 - 1 (Play a Live Opponent)

Madden 08 - None

Facebreaker - 8 (Win 50 ranked, win 25 Ranked, win 10 Ranked, win 1 Ranked, win 1 ranked match with Photo Game Face boxer, Upload a Video, Download a Photo Game Face boxer, Upload a Photo Game Face Boxer + a number that can be done vs. CPU, but are much easier with a boosting buddy.

Fantasy Football 09 - I'm pretty sure these are all unachievable at this point as EA shut down their fantasy football site before this season

March Madness 07 - 4 (Upload Roster, Ranked Custom Match, Unranked Custom Match, Ranked Challenge)

NBA LIVE 07 - 4 (1000 Players Online, Online Multiplayer co-op, Challenge an Online user/Ranked, Play and finish a Ranked Match)

NBA Street aka Homecourt - 2 (Win 10 Consecutive games Online, Play 10 Games Online)

NFL Tour - None

NHL® 07 - 1 (Win Ranked Game)

UEFA Champions League 07 - 3 (Win a Ranked Game, Trade a Card online and Buy a Card online)

Feel free to update the list with more data if you'd like. I think they posted a full list on X360a.org, but the site appears to be down.

Homecourt has 2, Play 10 games online and 10 game Win Streak Online.

I'd advise boosting these.

[quote name='benjamouth']Homecourt has 2, Play 10 games online and 10 game Win Streak Online.

I'd advise boosting these.[/QUOTE]Win 10 in a row seems pretty tough. Picked up NBA 07 for the Thousand CAG March!

Really this seems like just another way to push the newest year of each sports series. I don't know how their server situation is set up but you can't tell me that they couldn't just reduce the number of servers supporting the old games, or even introduce dynamic servers that could handle the compiled demand across several older games.

[quote name='Filbert']Really this seems like just another way to push the newest year of each sports series. I don't know how their server situation is set up but you can't tell me that they couldn't just reduce the number of servers supporting the old games, or even introduce dynamic servers that could handle the compiled demand across several older games.[/QUOTE]
its more on making money

Why would a person buy their latest title knowing that the servers will eventually get shut down, doesn't seem like good buisnes on thier side.

[quote name='Jay']Why would a person buy their latest title knowing that the servers will eventually get shut down, doesn't seem like good buisnes on thier side.[/QUOTE]

Because they probably (rightly) assume that the person who buys and plays Madden 10 online now won't still be playing it in 2-3 years once Madden 11,12,13 are out.

I'm not saying that it doesn't suck that EA is doing this , but you have to figure the amount of people this is going to effect is pretty minimal , especially for the yearly sports titles. For more niche games such as Facebreaker , Fight Night , NASCAR , ect. I could see this being more upsetting but I'm also sure EA evaluates those differently.

There's a difference between people regularly playing an old game online, and those same people believing that the permanence of that online option was part of what they paid for. Just because nobody is playing doesn't mean nobody cares.

[quote name='starmask2k3']its more on making money[/QUOTE]

Yea, EA just announced that they will post record profits in Q1 of 2010 because they switched 0.3% of their servers from old sports games to new sports games...

Look, I wish servers never got shut down so that we could always play games, but nothing is permanent. Read the T&C when you sign into the ea servers and there is no guarantee for lifetime online play for any game. If they shut it down, so be it, as long as they give ample notice. Microsoft could have forced EAs hand back in the day, but they acquiesced and let EA control their own servers in order to get EA to allow online play via XBL on the original xbox so unfortunately this is where we are with things.

Regardless, I really don't think anyone plays these games enough for it to matter much. And while it is a business tactic for EA to try to encourage people to buy new games (remember EA is a business, the goal is to make money and provide an adequate return for their shareholders) how many people are still stuck on Madden 07? And if they are and it gets shut down what are they going to do? Go and drop $60 on a new copy of Madden 10 or go to GS/EB and pick up an older version on the cheap, and that puts zero dollars in EAs pockets.

I better get my March Madness 07 achievements done before then. I think there's only like 2-3 online ones. One involves uploading a roster, which appears to not be working

I think there should be some kind of patch for games that lose server support that unlocks all online achievements. I know I'll probably be in the minority on this but it's something companies should consider.

[quote name='Kevlar281']I think there should be some kind of patch for games that lose server support that unlocks all online achievements. I know I'll probably be in the minority on this but it's something companies should consider.[/QUOTE]

I'd like to see an end to achievements based on online play full stop. Especially ones that rely on Ranked matches.

It's just an attempt to get more people online, if your game is good enough people will play it online regardless (see MW 1 +2, Halo 3 etc).

And people who do go into online games just for achievements probably aren't playing properly anyway.

Why do people expect a company to operate servers for old games that almost no one plays? I severely doubt the Madden 08 community is bursting with activity. Hell, even a game like NBA Street Homecourt, which has no successor, was a pain in the ass to get a game going with. It might be a little easier now that people are rushing to try and get the achievements, but a year ago, there was no one...ever.

[quote name='Kevlar281']I think there should be some kind of patch for games that lose server support that unlocks all online achievements. I know I'll probably be in the minority on this but it's something companies should consider.[/QUOTE]

I don't think they'll ever do this, especially since MS is now making a habit of policing gamerscore. Personally I dont want them to just randomly "give" out achievements that people did not earn due to server shutdowns. If you want the achievements, go out and earn them either legit or by boosting. There are plenty of achievement whores out there on trueachievements.com and x360a.org who are willing to help.

[quote name='benjamouth']I'd like to see an end to achievements based on online play full stop. Especially ones that rely on Ranked matches.

It's just an attempt to get more people online, if your game is good enough people will play it online regardless (see MW 1 +2, Halo 3 etc).

And people who do go into online games just for achievements probably aren't playing properly anyway.[/QUOTE]

I would definitely be for no online achievements or at least no ranked achievements. But you know how it is, most achievement lists are just copies or re-hashes of other games. EA seems to like to duplicate things often, especially on the sports games. I think NCAA basketball 09 & 10 have the exact same lists across the board. Including play 75?!??! ranked games. WTF.


[quote name='bigdaddybruce44']Why do people expect a company to operate servers for old games that almost no one plays? I severely doubt the Madden 08 community is bursting with activity. Hell, even a game like NBA Street Homecourt, which has no successor, was a pain in the ass to get a game going with. It might be a little easier now that people are rushing to try and get the achievements, but a year ago, there was no one...ever.[/QUOTE]

Yea, that is why I don't make a big deal about these shutdowns. Nobody is playing these titles legit any longer. People have had plenty of time to get their achievements in these games and EA gave everyone over a month's notice prior to shutdown. According to EA these games are taking up 0.3% of their average bandwidth and most are more than 2 years old.

not sure why achievement is a big deal as there are games where you can't get every AP due to glitch

[quote name='GLOCKGLOCK']...According to EA these games are taking up 0.3% of their average bandwidth and most are more than 2 years old.[/QUOTE]

Exactly, they are hardly taking up any bandwidth, and by extension the server amount can be pared down to meet demand. As the number of players decreases so can the money they spend on servers, but shutting it down completely is purely to push newer titles.

Like I said before, I'm sure servers can be set up to host multiple low-demand games dynamically.

I don't know about you, but when I see "online multiplayer 2" listed as a feature on the back of my copy of Madden 08 I see that as part of what I paid for. Who cares if I haven't used it yet, I may feel like it later. Plus, I have no intention of buying any newer football games, if I ever feel like playing one I'll return to '08. I can't be the only one who thinks that way.

if i pay 4 dollars a month, i want some kind of online system. how is it that i have to pay for xbox live when 95% of xboxs community play three things halo/gear/MW2

excuse me while i play unreal tournament 1999 with 5000 people and with unlimited FREE content

[quote name='GLOCKGLOCK']Yea, that is why I don't make a big deal about these shutdowns. Nobody is playing these titles legit any longer. People have had plenty of time to get their achievements in these games and EA gave everyone over a month's notice prior to shutdown. According to EA these games are taking up 0.3% of their average bandwidth and most are more than 2 years old.[/QUOTE]I agree with this because I realize that nobody is playing some of these games. . .

[quote name='Filbert']Exactly, they are hardly taking up any bandwidth, and by extension the server amount can be pared down to meet demand. As the number of players decreases so can the money they spend on servers, but shutting it down completely is purely to push newer titles.

Like I said before, I'm sure servers can be set up to host multiple low-demand games dynamically.

I don't know about you, but when I see "online multiplayer 2" listed as a feature on the back of my copy of Madden 08 I see that as part of what I paid for. Who cares if I haven't used it yet, I may feel like it later. Plus, I have no intention of buying any newer football games, if I ever feel like playing one I'll return to '08. I can't be the only one who thinks that way.[/QUOTE]. . . but I agree here because it seems like a low cost way to address the situation. . .

[quote name='timesplitt']if i pay 4 dollars a month, i want some kind of online system. how is it that i have to pay for xbox live when 95% of xboxs community play three things halo/gear/MW2[/QUOTE]. . . however, the clincher might be part of this point. If I PAY for online service and I PAY for a game I expect full functionality. As this continues older games will begin to be a big problem for people who are not aware of closed servers when they buy, say Chromehounds, and go home to play only to find that they can't even play online, which from what I understand was the best part of CHromehounds. I'm more ok with older sports games getting the axe, but I think they should be three or more years older as alot of poeple don't upgrade EVERY year so give people time. I'm surprised CH got the boot, although Sega is smaller than EA and it's an older game, but it seems like people still played it some and it's not like a sequel is out that everyone has moved on to.

Except for Facebreaker which is a little different sports game and pretty recent compared to some others, the rest don't bother me too much. However, it makes me wonder what's next? Mercs 2? LoTR Conquest? As a CAG I've got a big backlog of older games and now I wonder how many of them will get shut down soon.

Anyway, I'm going to be playing Facebreaker, NBA Street HC and NBA 07 until the end to get those APs so FR JDawgg77 if you want to play.

[quote name='Filbert']Exactly, they are hardly taking up any bandwidth, and by extension the server amount can be pared down to meet demand. As the number of players decreases so can the money they spend on servers, but shutting it down completely is purely to push newer titles.

Like I said before, I'm sure servers can be set up to host multiple low-demand games dynamically.

I don't know about you, but when I see "online multiplayer 2" listed as a feature on the back of my copy of Madden 08 I see that as part of what I paid for. Who cares if I haven't used it yet, I may feel like it later. Plus, I have no intention of buying any newer football games, if I ever feel like playing one I'll return to '08. I can't be the only one who thinks that way.
[/QUOTE]

How many new titles do you think they will sell by shutting out 0.3% of their total bandwidth? People will just move on to another low cost option instead of plunking down $60 for Madden 11.

The last part of your statement is what makes me laugh about this whole thing. I'm willing to bet most of the people bitching about these server shutdowns don't even play the mentioned games online. They just feel that they are entitled to lifetime support on everything. Unfortunately that isn't how things work especially with yearly sports releases. For the most part, if you don't use it, you lose it. People move on to new games and companies have compelling reasons to shut down the servers. Sure they could partition part of a server for Madden 07 Madden 08 and other games, but its alot cheaper to just dedicate it all to one game. So this is what you have. I wouldn't be surprised to see EA shutting down servers for other games throughout this year. I really feel this is just the start of things.


[quote name='jdawgg76']. . . however, the clincher might be part of this point. If I PAY for online service and I PAY for a game I expect full functionality. As this continues older games will begin to be a big problem for people who are not aware of closed servers when they buy, say Chromehounds, and go home to play only to find that they can't even play online, which from what I understand was the best part of CHromehounds. I'm more ok with older sports games getting the axe, but I think they should be three or more years older as alot of poeple don't upgrade EVERY year so give people time. I'm surprised CH got the boot, although Sega is smaller than EA and it's an older game, but it seems like people still played it some and it's not like a sequel is out that everyone has moved on to.

Except for Facebreaker which is a little different sports game and pretty recent compared to some others, the rest don't bother me too much. However, it makes me wonder what's next? Mercs 2? LoTR Conquest? As a CAG I've got a big backlog of older games and now I wonder how many of them will get shut down soon.

Anyway, I'm going to be playing Facebreaker, NBA Street HC and NBA 07 until the end to get those APs so FR JDawgg77 if you want to play.[/QUOTE]

Well EA is taking down the online for these games on the PSN too so I'm not sure your argument about paying for Live is valid in this case. If Microsoft controlled the servers that is one thing, but they don't with EA. Sony and MS let EA control the servers for their games so this is inevitably what happens. Read the terms and conditions for any of these services and nowhere does it imply that you will be able to play these games forever online. I agree it sucks to do something like this, but it is the reality with EA so I suggest knocking out the online achievements early for all EA games or risk being left out.

Not sure how Chromehounds ended up dying. It did still had a pretty robust community, but I'm guessing the nature of the game made it more difficult to host since it was a dynamic ongoing war that everyone online was competing in. Actually when they announced the server shutdown it became very shitty though because everyone flocked to the game to try to get the online achievements out of the way since over 800 of the 1000 points are online. The die hard legit players hated the fact that the achievement whores started playing so their goal was to basically grief everyone and try to stop people from boosting. It was just really ugly in the end. Tons of in-fighting between groups. As soon as a Squad got out a secret weapon to boost for Valors the legit players would focus on taking down the territory in order to shut everyone out.

[quote name='GLOCKGLOCK']How many new titles do you think they will sell by shutting out 0.3% of their total bandwidth?...[/QUOTE]

And by extension, how much money do you think they'll save by cutting off only 0.3% of their total bandwidth and server load?

At this point it's not about the money; it's about public relations. Shutting down the servers for these games isn't doing their image any favors.

[quote name='GLOCKGLOCK']. . . I really feel this is just the start of things.[/QUOTE]Agreed. We might need a permanent thread listing games that no longer have online components anymore.
[quote name='GLOCKGLOCK']Well EA is taking down the online for these games on the PSN too so I'm not sure your argument about paying for Live is valid in this case. If Microsoft controlled the servers that is one thing, but they don't with EA. Sony and MS let EA control the servers for their games so this is inevitably what happens. Read the terms and conditions for any of these services and nowhere does it imply that you will be able to play these games forever online. I agree it sucks to do something like this, but it is the reality with EA so I suggest knocking out the online achievements early for all EA games or risk being left out.[/QUOTE]Sure, that argument would only be valid for the 360 players and not PS3 gamers and realistically only to a point because once a game gets so old and never played online it really is time to cut it off. I expect to see more games dropping out as time goes on. Wow at some of the nonsports last gen games getting cut off, but I don't know how many people play last gen Burnout Revenge online anymore. Or current gen Burnout Revenge for that matter.

Bummer about Chromehounds. Wonder if all the Facebreaker players will get pissed at us.

[quote name='Filbert']And by extension, how much money do you think they'll save by cutting off only 0.3% of their total bandwidth and server load?

At this point it's not about the money; it's about public relations. Shutting down the servers for these games isn't doing their image any favors.[/QUOTE]

Yea, at this point EA is in the power position and they really do not care about their public image. Their hardcore customers buy Madden every year regardless of what minimal improvements have been made. Same goes for their other yearly titles. Those type of customers probably don't even know that servers are being shutdown and even if they did they probably would not care.

The fact that you or anyone else was still playing Madden 07/08 instead of buying Madden 09/10/11 proves to them that you aren't in their core customer group so it makes it that much easier for them to shut these old games down and move on.

Somewhat changing the subject. I decided to look at all the EA games when they announced these server shutdowns and they still have some games up from 2006/2007 including Battlefield Modern Combat 2, Burnout Revenge and LotR Battle for Middle earth. Don't be surprised if those ones are gone sometime this year.

Well, if you're going to look at the box, right under the features, EA tells you quite clearly that they reserve the right to discontinue online features. They've always done this when they are the ones controlling online play. I remember it from when I use to play Madden online with the PS2. This is not some big surprise. EA's always done this. If anything, get annoyed at Microsoft for handing over control to EA.

There's no point in committing resources, no matter how insignificant, into a dead title. Right now, I'm sure there are people online with these games, desperately trying to get the last achievements. But before this announcement, do you really think anyone was playing? So, even if you could fire up that copy of Madden 08, you'd probably be waiting a long time to actually find someone to play.

Yeah, I am working on my last achievement for Dirt1 (drive 1000 miles in career) and tried online for the heck of it and there was noone on at all. Course it had poor structure for head2head racing.

My favorite EA closing servers moment is when they got control of NFL2k5's servers when they got the ESPN deal and immediately shut them down. Bet they were itching for that as there was still alot of activity on the PS2 and xbox servers even though it was 3-4 years later.

There's 1000+ in NBA 07 lobbies. Get there quick if you need that achievement. I still need the other three NBA 07 online achievements and about thirty wins in Facebreaker if anyone needs those and wants to play/boost. Not a big booster, but since they're shutting down the servers before I got around to playing these (FB & NBA HC, I got NBA 07 to help reach 1,000) I'm down with it.

set my alarm for 12:15 and woke up and turned off alarm and went back to bed forgetting about this.. dammit

Update: Microsoft has announced that Xbox Live support for ALL original Xbox games will end on April 15. I take it that this includes the ability to download DLC so I for one will have to redownload the DLC for Splinter Cell onto my newly acquired OG Xbox. This shutdown is for all original xbox games including BC games playable on 360s AND Xbox Originals purchased on 360s. Reminds me that I still haven't played Doom 3 co-op.

Just to clarify, you can still play your BC XBox 1 games on the 360, but their Live functionality will be gone.

I bet you'll also be signed out of Live when you start one up.

Did I read right that original xbox titles that were bought on the 360 marketplace ie fable, halo will lose support? That doesn't seem right. I understand ending BC support by not bringing on new games but games purchased on the 360 still should be supported.

[quote name='MSUHitman']Just to clarify, you can still play your BC XBox 1 games on the 360, but their Live functionality will be gone.

I bet you'll also be signed out of Live when you start one up.[/QUOTE]Right, sorry if that was unclear, but when I typed Xbox Live support I was referring to being able to play online and download DLC (most likely).

[quote name='kklems']Did I read right that original xbox titles that were bought on the 360 marketplace ie fable, halo will lose support? That doesn't seem right. I understand ending BC support by not bringing on new games but games purchased on the 360 still should be supported.[/QUOTE]Once again sorry if that was unclear. No more online play for BC or originals or on the original xbox and most likely no more DLC downloading ability. I would think that BC game updates to enable BC compatability on the 360 would still work, but this has not been addressed yet.

The following is an important update regarding online service for Skate...aka OG Skate or Skate 1.
Servers for the skate.Reel feature will be shut down on March 1st, 2010. After this date, you may continue to play the game online but no longer able to capture video clips and upload them to the skate.Reel galleries, both in-game and on the skate website.
All of us at EA would like to thank you for your valued participation in our online gaming community and hope that your enthusiasm for Skate extends to Skate 2 and the upcoming Skate 3.
If you have further questions about your account or the shut down of these services, please visit http://support.ea.com.

Click to expand...

Here we go again. So if anone needs help on skate Celebrity (the onlne achievement that really needs boosting at this point) I will help out and hopefully get the favor returned.

I'll do that once my E74 is fixed.

i am down for
Madden 08

Guess what. I'm downloading the Halo 2 maps onto my replacement OG Xbox right now. Don't know if DLC for other games is working, but strike while the iron is hot.

More EA servers going down! Like I posted earlier in the thread, they are shutting down games left and right in 2010:

March 16, 2010 Online Service Shutdown

Def Jam for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
Godfather for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
Lord of the Rings: Conquest for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
Simpsons for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360



Online Achievement info:
Def Jam - 8 for 315gs (an additional 15 for 185gs can be done solo or online, but are alot easier to just boost while you are going for your 200 wins)
Godfather - None
LotR Conquest - 10 for 310gs
Simpsons - None

That sucks for LOTR Conquest. Def Jam was horrible. Godfather and Simpsons had online components other than EA spying on what you're playing?

Damn, LotR was just a little over a year old. I know it sucked, but still.

[quote name='GLOCKGLOCK']More EA servers going down! Like I posted earlier in the thread, they are shutting down games left and right in 2010:

March 16, 2010 Online Service Shutdown

Def Jam for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
Godfather for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
Lord of the Rings: Conquest for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
Simpsons for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360



Online Achievement info:
Def Jam - 8 for 315gs (an additional 15 for 185gs can be done solo or online, but are alot easier to just boost while you are going for your 200 wins)
Godfather - None
LotR Conquest - 10 for 310gs
Simpsons - None[/QUOTE]


I knew that if NBA Street was going down that Def Jam: ICON was going down. Hopefully I can start boosting Def Jam and the skate achievements this weekend so I can focus on other games that I know won't go offline anytime soon.

Thanks, Glock. Added to the OP. Bad time for me to be missing my 360 with an e74. Hopefully, it comes back soon. Seems like the choices of which game to play in my backlog is starting to get decided for me by EA.

[quote name='bigdaddybruce44']Damn, LotR was just a little over a year old. I know it sucked, but still.[/QUOTE]Wasn't Facebreaker just a little over a year old? And Def Jam isn't that old is it? What sucked about LoTR? I played the first three levels solo and it seemed ok, but not as epic as it should be since it was mp style of play.

Seriously, WTF. Some of these games haven't been out that long. EA.

Anyway, I still have my $10 Target Clearance copy of LOTR Conquest. Who wants to boost? PM me.

Hopefully my 360 gets back from MS in time to boost DJ, LOTRC and Skate.reel.