Halo 2 holdouts still playing online MP

Deserved or not, many gamers like to label themselves as being "hardcore." Few could dispute that label applies to the Halo 2 players who, two weeks after Microsoft pulled the plug on the original Xbox Live, are still playing the sci-fi shooter.

According to a post on the official Bungie forums, the dozen players have not turned off their original Xboxes since Microsoft's official shutdown deadline on April 14. While the game giant extended that deadline to the following day, it apparently cannot kick off the original Halo 2 players as long as they remain online and in a custom game.

Halo 2 holdout Joe Campbell summed it up thusly: "Throughout the past week, a small group of dedicated Halo 2 players kept their Xboxes on so that they could enjoy the game for a while longer. (As long as we don't turn off our Xboxes, or lose connection, we can stay online. Our Xboxes have been on for nearly 14 days straight!) Each day the amount of people decreased, at a rapid rate."

As of 11:46 a.m. PDT on April 28, 12 players remained online: Agent Windex, APACHE N4SIR, sherlok 1 Rob2D, z0mbie stench, Lord Odysseus11, xxMAKDADYxx, H2o Shoagie, xxBooker Dxx, DirtyCajun, AForeignObject, and HiredN00bs.