Xbox Live was born on November 15, 2002. Though it wasn’t the first online service offered by a video game console, it’s fair to say that the original Xbox was the box that popularized the concept on an industry-wide level. Hits like Project Gotham Racing 2, Phantasy Star Online, and especially Halo 2 introduced a generation of console gamers to the concept of online play, and the world of gaming has never been the same since. And though Microsoft pulled the plug on the original Xbox Live back in 2010, a team of programmers and hackers at Insignia have brought it back to life on modded Xboxes–a triumph of engineering that serves as a reminder of the importance of digital preservation.
