Farewell to Re-Volt
Published November 9, 2007 (This article was originally published January 8, 2003.)
It is now time to bid farewell to our old friend Re-Volt. This simple RC racer was the very first Live-enabled game in North America, and continues to be the game of choice for launching Xbox Live in new regions. It was a great little game, and it served us well. Re-Volt was a real workhorse for Xbox Live. Before it was even ready to see the light of day in the Technical Beta, it was being used to demo the Live Service to Microsoft execs and the Press. The game may not have been polished, but Re-Volt still managed to get the message across of what we were trying to do, and how very cool the service was going to be.
"Not sure how much longer Re-Volt will be supported! Could today be the last day? C'mon all you beta testers, let's go for another spin in the Botanical Garden..." —posted by Spudboy in the Xbox Live Forums
From the first moment that people here at Xbox strapped on prototype communicators and popped in the first Re-Volt discs, we knew we had something extremely cool. The hallways were filled with the sounds of smack talk, screeching tires, and revving engines. Who would have thought you could take a simple RC racing game, add online competition and voice communication, and come up with a completely different, completely compelling game?
Penny Butler, Program Manager for the Technical Beta remembers, "After weeks of harassing J [Allard] to get online with his beta kit and play some Re-Volt, he finally complied. He swung by my office with his eyes on fire. 'Oh my God, this is FUN!' Well, duh. Oh yeah … J also got his butt kicked by some 13 year old in California."
And though we know Re-Volt was not a perfect game, we all owe it a debt of gratitude. Because all those great Live features that you know and love today were first tested with Re-Volt. But now its time has come to an end. If you spent any time racing a little car through the supermarket or over the decks of a sinking ship, talking trash and trying like anything to cross the finish line first, consider yourself lucky.
From all the beta testers and gamers who took it for a spin, thanks Re-Volt. You will be missed.
