Did you ever wonder why The Xbox 360 didn't have more than a 100 friend capacity? Well, it's because of Bungie's Halo 2. Microsoft has the capability of having more than 100 people per friends list, but the original Xbox's LIVE is standing in it's way. But they can't just cut off the LIVE for the Xbox seeing as thousands of people still play the ever popular Halo 2 online. So really, it's mainly up to the gamers discretion on whether or not they should cut the power on the original Xbox's LIVE to make room for a larger friends list.

Microsoft has never issued a fully satisfying answer about why Xbox Live, almost four years after the launch of Xbox 360, cannot support more than 100 friends. The company has blamed it on technical obstacles related to the original Xbox Live architecture. It's simpler than that. The real reason you can't have more than 100 friends on Xbox Live is because of Bungie. Specifically, Halo 2.

The continued community support behind Halo 2 is the only reason Microsoft hasn't ditched the lingering ancient Xbox Live architecture, a high-level Microsoft source confirmed to me late last week.

The original Xbox Live was not designed to support more than 100 friends. That's no problem for the Xbox 360 incarnation. Allowing players to add more than 100 friends on Xbox 360 is not a real technical challenge for Microsoft, but it requires ending support for the still-popular shooter. It's not as simple as issuing a patch for Halo 2, or else Microsoft would have released one ages ago.

Looking at Major Nelson's weekly Xbox Live activity lists, the Halo 2 connection should have been obvious a long time ago. Halo 2 is always the most played original Xbox title, suggesting a healthy community still enjoying Master Chief's second adventure online, despite the existence of Halo 3 on Xbox 360. What's keeping them playing? It doesn't matter, it only matters that they are.

InnerDemon via g4tv.com »