I played Xbox Live for around 14 months before Halo 2 launched. Before Halo 2, Xbox Live "enabled" games were mostly limited to Optimatch style custom game servers browsers, without matchmaking, trueskill, advanced stat tracking, host migration, skill ranks, DLC or regular updates. Arguably the most popular and revolutionary franchise on Xbox Live before Halo 2 was Rainbow Six (3/Black Arrow). These games introduced a clan/squad system that involved skill based tournament play. They had ELO and stat tracking (KD ratio, ELO rating, playtime etc). Then just before Halo 2 hit, Xbox Live 3.0 was launched, which included a whole host of new features. These comfortably coincided with Halo 2's new friends list, clan system and message system. When Halo 2 launched, Xbox Live exploded in popularity. Halo 2 was a massive catalyst in the creation of a seamless online gaming experience for millions of gamers worldwide. It integrated and refined features that were previously fragmented or poorly implemented in other games. It made perfect use of peer to peer hosted matchmaking and host migration (which really inspired the next generation of games to take on a similar model - *ahem* Call of Duty, Gears *ahem*. Ranked matchmaking made the Xbox a viable alternative for people that wanted something similar to the competitive thrill that PC gaming offered. Would I be so bold as to say that Bungie established Xbox Live (as many other hardcore Halo fans would argue)? No. The Halo franchise didn't establish Xbox Live. There were many moderately successful games on Xbox Live before Halo 2 launched (Rainbow Six, Project Gotham 2, Crimson Skies, Counter Strike - and more). But it's definitely fair to say that without Halo 2 - or Bungie, Xbox Live would be a [i]very[/i] different place today, if it existed at all. Xbox Live was a fledgling gaming service propped up by a computing giant that was inexperienced in the realm of console gaming. Today it is arguably one of the biggest, most accessible and most successful gaming communities on the planet... Bungie definitely helped lay the foundations of the Xbox Live service we all know and love today. And for that I am grateful.