Halo PC Goes Gold, Producer Quizzed

Scorpion_1169 writes "According to Bungie.org, Microsoft/Gearbox's long-awaited version of Halo for the PC has gone gold, and is scheduled to hit store shelves on September 30th." There's also an interview with Bungie producer Michel Bastien over at Bungie.net, answering questions such as who might have leaked a Beta version of Halo online ("Nah, we don't know who it was. It really sucks because this build was not the most glorious build we've put together"), and the existence of easter eggs ("Like the Xbox game, you want to play through 'The Maw' on Legendary. We've got a couple of well-kept surprises, which, hopefully, we can roll out in the future...")

Comments

Yawn

[Anonymous Coward]

Let me know when it's gone plaid.

Re:Yawn

[Anonymous Coward]

hahaha, a moderator with no Schwartz. Who would have guessed?

Why ... ?

[JM Apocalypse]

I don't understand why anybody would want to play Halo for PC. It is already a 2-year-old game, and there are many games that have much greater game-play than Halo.

In my opinion, Halo is much better on the XBOX.

Re:Why ... ?

[pyrros]

The fact that you have probably not played halo PC notwithstanding, I'd take my mouse and keyboard over a joystick any day. Add in internet play and possible mods, and I think that it's worth taking a look at if you don't have an xbox.

Of course, HL2 also being set for september 30 won't help halo-pc one bit.

Re:Why ... ?

[Richard Allen]

Believe it or not, JM, but not everybody has an X-Box.

Re:Why ... ?

[JM Apocalypse]

WHAT?!

When did this happen?

Re:Why ... ?

[kryptoknight]

A great game is still good even after two years or more. I will definately get Halo for the PC eventhough I already have it for the xbox. Why?

- The mouse and keyboard provides finer precision and control over the aiming assistance of the xbox control.
- The multiplayer/system-link is quite fun on the xbox already. It will be even better playing against the diverse skill levels and players on the 'net. Also you don't have the problem of screenscaping, look at the other person screen to know where they're at and using it to your advantage, since each person has their own screen instead of divided into 4 quadrants.
- Better graphics quality. I can turn up the resolution higher than the xbox quality and turn on more anti-aliasing and antisotropic filtering to my liking.

Re:Why ... ?

[JM Apocalypse]

I fail to understand why my comment is "flamebait" ... I was expressing an opinion, and if you disagree with it, then just ignore my comment.

In my opinion, Halo is not a very good game by todays standards. This is worsened by the fact that Halo 2 is coming out, and with all of these re-releases, new aspects of the game are added that may possibly ruin Halo 2. This is just a gimmick to get the XBOX customers to pay $50 more to see the new "features" of Halo.

When I played Halo, I basically played it for little more than a week, until I had beat the game on Legendary (which I have). Then, after that was done, I just stopped playing it. The original Halo was good the first time you played it, but then nothing new happened, the game could not be expanded. Yes, you can play multiplayer, but that's only good if you have someone to play multiplayer with.

You have to remember that the only version that Halo is released for PC was to make a profit, just when the original XBOX sales are going to die out. If you are too poor to afford a $180 XBOX, then how are you going to afford a computer that is powerful enough to play the game. And, why on earth would anybody want to play a game using a keyboard? From my personal experience, game-play is much better with the use of a game-pad, which lets you better control your gaming experience and get much more involved in the game, instead of trying to remember where the Y key is, and in the process, accidentally launching a few grenades at yourself.

If you really want to experience Halo, the way it is meant to be, just stop complaining and buy a copy of the XBOX version. An added bonus is that you won't have to wait another 2-3 years for the PC version of Halo 2 to be released.

-fin-

Re:Why ... ?

[Anonymous Coward]

"...game-play is much better with the use of a game-pad, which lets you better control your gaming experience and get much more involved in the game..."

HAW HAW HAW HAW HA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!! You poor bastard...

Re:Why ... ?

[StocDred]

2 years old? Didn't Steve Jobs originally unveil Halo at MacWorld Expo 1996?

Re:Why ... ?

[kryptoknight]

Quick someone mod this as flamebait too! ;-) lol.

"This is just a gimmick to get the XBOX customers to pay $50 more to see the new "features" of Halo."
This is not a grimmick. Bungie wouldn't have team up with Valve, another developing house known for its multiplayer pc successes, if it was not committed to making Halo better on the PC especially the multiplayer aspects.

"until I had beat the game on Legendary (which I have). Then, after that was done, I just stopped playing it."
The replayibility of Halo is in it's multiplayer and cooperative play. If after you beat legendary mode you let it collect dust then you haven't enjoyed Halo to its fullest.

"If you are too poor to afford a $180 XBOX, then how are you going to afford a computer that is powerful enough to play the game"
This is the slashdot gaming section. Most of us probably already have powerful computers that can handle that, although a linux or mac port of Halo would be nice. Who knows that might be the next step.

"game-play is much better with the use of a game-pad, which lets you better control your gaming experience and get much more involved in the game, instead of trying to remember where the Y key is, and in the process, accidentally launching a few grenades at yourself." Another misinformed comment. Every gamer knows that FPS and RTS games are more playable on PC. In fact for Halo on the xbox, aiming assistance is on by default to compensate for the xbox controller.

"If you really want to experience Halo, the way it is meant to be, just stop complaining and buy a copy of the XBOX version."
If you think playing through legendary Halo by yourself and beating it are all there is to Halo, You sir should not get Halo for the PC.

Re:Why ... ?

[actor_au]

I would like to second that.

HAHAHA HAHA HAHAHAHA.

Console Morons, the keyboard mouse combination is in about three ways superiour off the top of my head and several more that are so blindingly obvious that I can't be farked typing them in

A proviso: this is for FPS games, Most other types of Console games the Gamepad is very useful (Splinter Cell allowing you to pick locks and run/walk based on how far along you had the joystick was very good I haven't played enough other Consol games to get other examples).

More Keys(in Quake3 some people have workarounds that allow keys to bound to perform Rocket Jump, in a Consol it takes at least 3 seconds to select new weapon, aim down, jump and fire).

Full use of every finger(My left pinky is crouch(CRTL), on a gamepad it and my ring fingers are used to stop the thing falling to its doom) more control, more adaptations and better overall results..

No conflicting joysticks, I have 106 keys, one mouse, you have(X-Box here I think this is right) Two Joysticks, one D-pad six Buttons, two triggers. How in gods name can any human being live with such an insane, complex, convoluted setup? Press down on the second Joystick to Jump(Unreal Champions) I was running foward, suddenly I'm in the air...WTF You have a Jump key for a reason... to jump not accidently brush it whilst looking around..

Note: The Y key is Here "Y"
Note2: I've been away too long.

Re:Why ... ?

[gangien]

although a linux or mac port of Halo would be nice. Who knows that might be the next step.

There will be a mac port

Re:Why ... ?

[JonathanBoyd]

No, Jobs wasn't even back at Apple then. It was several years later. There was a demo shown in 99 and I think there was info released about it in 98, though I'm not entirely sure if it was that early.

Re:Why ... ?

[Planesdragon]

I'd take my mouse and keyboard over a joystick any day.

So would I--but after playing Halo enough to get used to the controls (about an hour), I must say that the X-box dual-stick controller is a better choice.

Gold?

[LazyBoy]

I guess I'm slow...
How does it "go gold" before it hits the shelves??

Re:Gold?

[PainKilleR-CE]

In terms of software (for both computers and consoles) the term 'go gold' refers to the 'gold master' from which all retail discs are duplicated (well, more accurately, discs are made from the master which are used to make the retail discs).

In other words, software can't hit the shelves until it's gone gold. Usually, depending on the time it takes for duplication and shipping, it'll hit the shelves 1-2 weeks after it goes gold.

As for terms related to number of sales, those are pretty arbitrary, depending on platform and sometimes the publisher.

Re:Gold?

[Goldsmith]

"Go gold" refers to the production of a master CD of the program from which all other versions are copied. The master CD is usually gold foil (instead of the normal aluminum).

Re:Gold?

[u-238]

"Going Gold" has also become somewhat of an idom refering to almost any complete project (say a half life mod) that has been completed, compiled, and is about to be spread across varios means of mass distribute

Re:Gold?

[Anonymous Coward]

Ha! Doom III has already gone platinum on preorders alone!

(j/k)

I would love to play Halo PC

[PeteyG]

Because I avoid consoles whenever humanly possible, and I've wanted to play Halo since the last millenium.

But seriously, they aren't going to charge full price for it, are they? That would be the ultimate insult, to charge $50.00 for a frickin' two year old game.

Re:I would love to play Halo PC

[PainKilleR-CE]

You think that's an insult? How about the fact that they're still charging $50 for the XBox version? At least they've expanded the PC version a bit.

Re:I would love to play Halo PC

[Anonymous Coward]

Why do you avoid consoles?

Re:I would love to play Halo PC

[snubber1]

I used to avoid consoles like the plague, until I realized that I was missing out on such a wealth of gaming to be enjoyed without constant upgrades or hassles often associated with getting crap to run.

Re:I would love to play Halo PC

[Anonymous Coward]

Check out the link in that guy's user profile - he also avoids women, the act of being cool, and showers. Typical...

Re:I would love to play Halo PC

[PeteyG]

I mentioned that I avoid them when humanly possible. There are many console-only games that aren't humanly possible for me to stay away from!

Re:I would love to play Halo PC

[PeteyG]

Because I don't like the controllers or the display.

That's about it, really. It has little to do with the quality of the games.

Re:I would love to play Halo PC

[PeteyG]

That IS pretty harsh. Microsoft isn't into giving discounts for old software, I guess. Like, WinXP still retails for like a hundred, even though it's two years old.

Re:I would love to play Halo PC

[PeteyG]

YOU'RE typical.

Re:I would love to play Halo PC

[Hassman]

Dude, its 35 dollars at best buy... At least it was this weekend.

Re:I would love to play Halo PC

[PainKilleR-CE]

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=1051806 595741&skuId=4225706&type=product&cmp=%20% 20

Doesn't mean much if the list price is still $49.99 (as the above link said when I was there a few moments ago).

Most places are still selling it for that because it's still selling. MS isn't going to drop it to the 'Platinum Hits' games until Halo 2 comes out, more than likely.

That being said, I bought the game the same day I bought my XBox, so it has little effect on me.

Re:I would love to play Halo PC

[Anonymous Coward]

Holy backpedal, Batman!

Re:I would love to play Halo PC

[Anonymous Coward]

Sure thing Petey!

Hey, when was the last time you went on a date with a woman?

Re:I would love to play Halo PC

[Anonvmous Coward]

"But seriously, they aren't going to charge full price for it, are they? That would be the ultimate insult, to charge $50.00 for a frickin' two year old game."

I think this is a valid point, not sure why it was modded as flamebait.

Unless they did something to upgrade this game for the 2 year lag, then I agree with what he said. It's reasonable to assume that the majority of people playing Halo on an XBOX has a PC that could also play the game. Why not give them a reason to buy the game twice? Either make it cheap or offer a reasonable upgrade to it.

Re:I would love to play Halo PC

[PeteyG]

Why don't you ask your mom?

Oh wait, she's still asleep at MY place. I didn't want to disturb her when I got up for work this morning.

Re:I would love to play Halo PC

[Anonymous Coward]

Mom jokes - those sure are funny. I love it when lowly undergrads talk shit. You people are less than niggers and you think you're intelligent. Guess what - you're not. And you didn't get up for work this morning, you got up to suck cock.

FAGGOT NIGGER JEW.

This is the world of Mac gaming..

[Dutchmaan]

Being a former mac gamer, this is exactly what PC game developers did to the mac platform... and I don't need to tell you the state of mac gaming these days in respect to the number of titles available.

It isn't all that surprising to me that Halo PC has been released roughly three? years after the Xbox version was released, when Halo2 is almost done for XBox.

While MS isn't really trying to kill of PC gaming, it's surely depriving it of a good dose of oxygen..as far as MS game titles are concerned.

I'm not fearing for PC gaming yet, but it seems that there is more pressure to switch to a console these days..

This post is of course IMHO.

Re:This is the world of Mac gaming..

[Dot.Com.CEO]

Half Life 2

Doom 3

Deusex 2

Jedi Academy

Homeworld 2

Call of duty

I can name twice as many games that are coming out on the PC - games that are not only good, but are eagerly expected and they are coming out in the next 6 months. Xbox owners are looking forward to Halo 2, PS2 GT4 and a few other first rate games, and Gamecube owners are waiting for a miracle. Owning everything on the list, I am sincere when I say that there is NOTHING coming close to the choice PC owners will have in the next 6 months. Saying that MS is "depriving PC gaming of oxygen" is ridiculous - as a matter of fact Microsoft publish themselves some of the best strategy games. Just because a console's flagship title does not appear on the PC does not mean PC as a gaming platform is doomed - it means the company publishing it has its own plans and priorities. I mean, what next, saying PC gaming is doomed because Mario Sunshine will not appear on the PC?

Re:This is the world of Mac gaming..

[SmallFurryCreature]

Not to be a mac basher or anything but this is hardly the same thing. Apple just doesn't have the market share to make it attractive to publish games for it.

The PC on the other hand has proven itself as a large enough market to make games for. In fact the x-box is a pc. Anyway look at some of the games coming out on both console and PC. Generally the PC version is superior if you like stuff like mods and high-res graphics. But I guess it all depends on what kind of game you like wich platform you buy or even if you gotta own several.

However on to Halo the game stolen from the pc.

Having been one of the naughty people who played with the beta I can't say I have been to impressed. Yes this was a beta so I can forgive the bugs. Just that an awfull lot of the features of the game seem like they weren't all that had when it first came out.

The indoor levels are frankly boring and suffer from extremly bland graphics. The difficulty level seems soly to depend on how many bullets the enemies can soak up. Personally I am getting fed up with FPS were the enemies can soak up anti-armor missles, come on give us AI, not idiotic hitpoints. Despite the fact that AI works and you have vehicles to many levels are still, walk alone into a maze and fight your way in and out again. BORING! espcially when the levels are so bland.

On the positive side, for once you are not alone. First level is a running fight with plenty of other soldiers fighting. There is a nice if short beach assault and you really feel that your fellow soldiers are fighting with you. The AI is also not bad. I like sticking grenades to the enemy.

It is not a bad game but I think it would have been an "also ran" when it first was supposed to be out. Now all it can hope is that it hits the shelfs before the real PC games like Deus Ex 2, doom3 and Half Life 2 come out. Only if it is first does it stand any chance.

Oh well bungie sold out. This will be one of the games I have absolutely no bad feelings about pirating, just like any Gathering of Developer game (1 whole year for a mafia patch!!!!!), they fucked up.

Now lets see how badly valve is going to loose its karma.

Re:This is the world of Mac gaming..

[fireduck]

While MS isn't really trying to kill of PC gaming, it's surely depriving it of a good dose of oxygen..as far as MS game titles are concerned.

I think last portion of your post (which I have bolded) is the most important. MS has never really been known for their computer games. (I seem to remember some crappy underwater shooter game that my father bought, kinda like Abyss meets Tempest or something.) Ensemble has really been the only MS developer that has made an impact (that I can name off the top of my head) and they are PC only (that i know of). Bungie doesn't count, as they haven't released a PC game under MS yet. True, Halo was to be the killer FPS and having it go Xbox exclusive for several years was a bit of a disappointment for PC-only gamers. But it was more of a slight dent in the PC gamers world, rather than a full blown loss.

The day that Blizzard, iD, Valve, Sid Meier and Will Wright stop making games for the PC is the day that one needs to buy a console.

Re:This is the world of Mac gaming..

[Anonvmous Coward]

"While MS isn't really trying to kill of PC gaming, it's surely depriving it of a good dose of oxygen..as far as MS game titles are concerned."

??

Games like Halo are a dime a dozen. Very saturated market there. At least in this case, it was moved to a console where the quality was consistent, and Bungie reaped the rewards of millions of copies sold. At best they might have gotten a million or two on PC.

I guess what I'm saying is I'm not sure what your complaint is. I'd rather play Halo on the XBOX with their online service where the playing field is more or less level, then have some git playing with the transparent walls driver.

Re:This is the world of Mac gaming..

[captainktainer]

I'm not exactly a fan of Microsoft, but I think you're missing something here. First of all, *as you said*, it's a beta. A downloaded, incomplete, officially disavoved beta. Crikeys, man.

You mentioned the graphics being a problem. Has it occurred to you that those might be *beta* textures, mostly untouched by the graphics department? Because that was the first thought that popped into *my* head. Having seen betas of other games- and, yes, even ports from one system to another- I think it's rather safe for me to say that this is a common practice. Engine comes first. Pretty graphics come later, since they increase loading time before final optimization.

AI was also not near completion when that beta was leaked, from what I've heard- so you should be pleasantly surprised when it comes out.

The level design in the original Halo was spotty sometimes, I agree- that's why I didn't play the game for the single player environment. There were some designs that were somewhat interesting, but the campaign wasn't exactly the game's most shining moment.

If I remember correctly, the first level in the X-box version also had some cooperative action going on. I can't be sure from what you're saying whether it was a substantive change or not- guess I'll just have to wait until the game comes out.

If you can afford to buy it, buy it or don't play it. Obviously you've made up your mind about the game beforehand, so don't play it when it comes out. Play one of the "real games" you're so excited about and keep comparing to an unreleasable beta.

Bungie *started* development on the PC, yes. Then came the Microsoft deal, and yes, they did sell out. It's part of the game industry. Microsoft used the title very, very successfully to sell the X-box, and people bought into it. Tough cookies. If you don't like it, again, don't play it. Don't give the rest of us some sanctimonious bullshit about that somehow justifying your piracy. It doesn't.

Re:This is the world of Mac gaming..

[Gr33nNight]

Gamecube owners are waiting for a miracle

Pass some of that crack your smoking. Sure, its a good time to be a PC gamer if your a huge FPS fan (which I am, but only on the PC mind you), but the little box has some excellent games coming out soon. Billy Hatcher, Viewtiful Joe, Rogue Squadren III, Havest Moon, FF:CC, and many others.

Some are saying Nintendo is dying. Personally, I am pumped about all the new games that is coming out for my favorite system.

Re:This is the world of Mac gaming..

[edwdig]

PCs are good for first person shooters and real time strategy games. Also somewhat for RPGs. That's it. PlayStation 2 seems to be a much better choice for RPGs though.

Give up the Nintendo is dying bit. Their profit is higher than Sony's. It's also higher than Microsoft's entire gaming division's income. Yes, more of Nintendo's profit is from the GameBoy than from the GameCube, but the GameCube is still profitable.

As to GameCube, where have you been? Soul Calibur 2 and F-Zero GX just came out 2 weeks ago. Coming up soon are Vieutiful Joe, Rogue Squadron 3, Mario Kart, Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, Starfox Armada and plenty more. If all you play is FPS games, then I guess you'll be disappointed as their aren't many of them coming out for GameCube. But if that's all you play, why are you even looking at consoles anyway?

Re:This is the world of Mac gaming..

[rhuntley12]

Doom 3, Deus Ex 2, and Jedi Academy are all coming out for Xbox. HL2 is also Ibelieve. Don't forget Knight of the Old Republic is a couple months old on Xbox.;)

Re:This is the world of Mac gaming..

[Dot.Com.CEO]

Yes, but does that mean that PC gaming is dying?

Re:This is the world of Mac gaming..

[Anonymous Coward]

Not in the least. Just that alot of the big hits coming out on PC are also coming out on the console.

Re:This is the world of Mac gaming..

[SmallFurryCreature]

3 point I would like to make.

First point

First I didn't say it justified it. It justifies it for me. I have a very big collection of paid for games. Probably a couple of hundred and that is just from the CD era. the diskette bought games got lost in a move.

I easily bought 2-3 games a month, I made the money and I had the time. I have however grown fedup with current game makers. I used to get nice thick manuals with seperate hint-cards for the controls. I used to get games that actually seemed tested. When bugs were of the nature. If you do that and that move and that and that point without having done that, you will need to reload. Not oops we said we had tested the game with force feedback wheels but we lied and we are going to take a year to bloody fix it.

Mafia for me was a real turning point. No more I say. As I live in europe we always been getting the short end of the stick. I already learned to ignore those little postcard wich ask you to register with postage paid, in america. Nor do we quality for any price draws/rebates/special offers.

I will now only buy games from companies that have threated me right in the past. Papyrus (racing games), Bioware are the big exception from whom I will still buy games. Most of the others have screwed me over to much.

So why not simply not play their games? Yeah like that is going to make a difference. They simply blaim any loss in sales on piracy anyway. May as well prove them right.

Complain to them directly? Ha. Been tried. They don't listen I am trying to make them feel.

Second point

As for the comments about the Halo being a beta so I can't judge its graphics yet. Mmmm, I did say this didn't I? I was talking about the general level design. Not textures. The ship level just seemed very boring and old in design. None of the WOW look at that! factor that every other FPS seems to want to achieve.

They may optimize the engine but they are not going to remake the maps. Textures can increase in size but they are not going to make entiryly new art. Sound quality may increase, but they are not going to rewrite the story. That is what betas are for. To give you a pretty good idea of what the final game is going to be like. And it is going to be like this, "great if it had come out when it was supposed to, to little to late".

So I can just ignore this game, sadly that is not how I or many others work. We have been hyped about this for years now. I am going to take a look at it. Probably play it through in a couple of hours and then never touch it again. I am not going to pay money for this and that is going to make me feel good, make me feel like I am sticking it to the "man", and I can spend the money on a company that doesn't try to rip me off. Deus Ex2 Half-Life 2 and Doom3 are getting my money instead. (oh and yes I do have legal copies off the prequels to these games even doom)

So spare me the holier then thou attitude.

Third point

Microsoft used the title very, very successfully to sell the X-box, and people bought into it. No they didn't. The x-box has bombed. They wanted to compete with the PS2, they are competing with the gamecube. What they wanted was for all the PC fans who had been looking forward to this hyped product to give up their expensive PC's and buy an x-box. It didn't work. Fuck them we said we will just play different games. MS has for years made good money of gamers and it screwed them over to promote a new article. You know what might have worked? A dual release. Then PC owners could have modded the game and via Live MS could have then given this free content to the x-box people. Double your pleasure. They did not do this. They wanted us to buy windows machines and consoles. Double their income. (oh and yeah I did use to buy all the versions of MS-Dos. Until windowns 95 Extra pack came out. Another 100bucks to add screensavers? Fuck you.

So I call them wrong for wanting to ripp me off. Me pirating their software is wrong. Well guess what, in my b

Re:This is the world of Mac gaming..

[shoptroll]

There is one FPS i know coming for 'cube soon: XIII Which is gonna rock the house on all platforms, but I'm planning on getting PC myself (as for reasons stated above by other people.) Also wasn't there a Jedi Knight II 'cube version?

Good, but...

[feidaykin]

I've never played Halo. I don't own an xbox. I don't own a single console, and if I were going to get one, xbox would be last on my list.

I'll probably get this game just to see why xbox fans think it is worth getting an xbox for, however...

Why did Microsoft force Bungie to sit on the PC release for so long? I'm surprised they didn't wait until Halo 2 had been out for a while, just to make this release even more pointless.

I suppose it does help xbox sales when there is no PC version, but... I would assume it would help sales of Windows in a small way, since I'm sure a lot of die-hard Halo fans might buy a new PC for the game if the one they have is past its prime.

So apparently, Microsoft cares a lot about trying to make a profit on the xbox.

That's my take on it anyway... what do the rest of you think?

Re:Good, but...

[PeteyG]

Why did Microsoft force Bungie to sit on the PC release for so long? I'm surprised they didn't wait until Halo 2 had been out for a while, just to make this release even more pointless.

It was pretty sad. I watched my PC gamer buddy, who was a huge fan of Marathon back when he had a Mac, follow Halo from the time it was announced. When it looked like it was going to be a Mac game, he thought about getting a new Mac. And when Microsoft did the money thing and made it an X-Box exclusive... guess who shelled out for the console and just one game?

Shame on MS for taking advantage of my poor fanboy friend like that.

Halo 2 beta

[Anonymous Coward]

I saw that Halo beta, very smooth. (thanks *cough* bit *cough* torrent.. ) And yes, it will totally rock for the PC. I already have a Halo lan party setup for it, and will be buying my copy the day it comes out.

I thought about if I should mention if I downloaded a beta, but then I am buying the game for the Lan Party, so its no different than a demo version.

Humm, maybe I better post ANON.

SIW.

Because!

[Anonymous Coward]

The PC version of Halo is the equivalent of that little rock that hit Earth 65 million years ago and wiped out 95% of the species. Except this time the fat and dumb dinosaurs of the PC gaming world know it's coming. And they are scared. For the same reasons that 16,000 fans voted (in a single day) Halo 2 as the FPS game they are most looking forward to and for the same reason that Halo earned 48 "best of show" or "game of the year" awards Halo PC is going to reorganize the evolutionary process with a little shock therapy.

The PC version of Halo will offer everything you love about the multiplayer aspect of the game. Plus more new weapons, new vehicles, new maps, and new settings that you can shake a SPNKr at. Not resting on its laurels of being the best multiplayer console game in history the PC version is introducing a few extra multiplayer goodies that will drastically alter the aspect of the game like: a Warthog with a rocket-launcher, the Banshee, a flame thrower, the Fuel Rod Gun, and the Shade Turret among other items.

www.cobaltnova.com ==> PC Halo League

You Windows gamers have it soooo hard...

[hraefn]

http://www.macworld.com/1999/07/bc/18halo/

Gamecube

[Anonymous Coward]

Gamecube owners are not "waiting for a miracle". There is already a *LOT* of good titles on the Gamecube. The problem is too many other lame assed xbox and ps2 fan boys don't realize that.

Mac port still in development

[Scorpion_1169]

For the record, Halo is still in development for the Mac. Go to http://halo.bungie.org for all pertinant info.

No doubt...

[cryptochrome]

Halo wasn't stolen from the PC. It was stolen from the Mac. Along with one of the best developers of Mac-first games, which is what Bungie WAS. I own all three Marathons, I know. When they displayed the first Halo promo at the MacWorld '99 keynote I was in ecstasy. Later when I read that Bungie had sold out to Microsoft I thought it was some kind of bad joke. It wasn't. Now, 3 years after Halo was supposed to be released for Mac (and PC) they're finally fulfilling their promise. No doubt it will be the last of Bungie I ever see.

flamebait?

[feidaykin]

Any of you moderators care to explain why this is flamebait? I am sure it is much easier to mod me down into oblivion. In case you didn't notice, I had a valid point.

Anyway, please fill me in.

I think perhaps a lot of folks from Microsoft have mod points these days...

Gearbox != Valve

[DeadScreenSky]

Just a simple correction:
Valve has nothing to do with any version of Halo, period. Gearbox, who has worked with Valve, is handling the PC port.

Re:Gearbox != Valve

[kryptoknight]

woops You are correct. I was downloading the Valve Steam update for Halflife while posting this and hence I confused Gearbox with Valve :-). If you watch the intros to a few of the HL mods like cs, I think there's both Valve and Gearbox intros.

Re:Gearbox != Valve

[DeadScreenSky]

I can certainly understand your confusion. Gearbox hasn't really done anything of note other than HL addons and the like. :P

Just a point of clarification...

[danaris]

Bungie started development on the Mac. Minotaur, Pathways into Darkness, the Marathon series, those came out exclusively for the Mac. Yes, M2 was released for Windows 95, but it was clearly an afterthought. Bungie was a Mac games company, and one of the best, before the Evil Empire decided they wanted them on their side...

Dan Aris

Hmm...who needs a history lesson?

[danaris]

At least in this case, it was moved to a console where the quality was consistent, and Bungie reaped the rewards of millions of copies sold. At best they might have gotten a million or two on PC.

I guess you don't remember what the original plan was for Halo, (and recall it was demoed at the Macworld Expo, alongside Steve Jobs, I forget which year!). Halo was to be released, if I recall correctly, simultaneously for Mac, PC, and PS2. Or if not simultaneously, then first for Mac, then for PC and PS2 very soon after. And don't try to tell me you think that people wouldn't have bought it for PS2. I would have; it was one of the reasons I bought one.

Whoops! Guess I got gypped....

So it would have had the consistency of consoles, the flexibility of PCs (both Wintel and Mac), and the early, unencumbered release it deserved. Until M$ bought Bungie and decided that they wanted to push the XBox.

Dan Aris

Re:Hmm...who needs a history lesson?

[Anonvmous Coward]

"And don't try to tell me you think that people wouldn't have bought it for PS2. I would have; it was one of the reasons I bought one."

I find that questionable. The PS2 has limitations that would have watered down that game significantly. But, if they were to do a decent job, I could see you being quite happy with it.

"So it would have had the consistency of consoles, the flexibility of PCs (both Wintel and Mac), and the early, unencumbered release it deserved. Until M$ bought Bungie and decided that they wanted to push the XBox."

I hope you realize that Sony is guilty of this stuff, a lot more so than Microsoft. Square? Rare? Etc.

Encumbered? Give me a break! That game would not have sold well on the PC. Even if by some miracle it did, there's still the matter that it would have done several times better on the XBOX. It's not encumbered by Microsoft, they got themselves a golden opportunity. Halo is the must have game for XBOX. It would have been another ho-hum-did-it-before title on the PC that would have been lucky to sell half a million units.

Exclusivity is a fact of life in game consoles. It is not something Microsoft invented. Nor were they being particularly evil in doing so. Bungie's doing quite well and they have a new game in the works.

You can only buy games if the companies who make them are successful.

Re:Hmm...who needs a history lesson?

[danaris]

I find that questionable. The PS2 has limitations that would have watered down that game significantly. But, if they were to do a decent job, I could see you being quite happy with it.

Ah. So not only is the PS2 somehow significantly inferior to the XBox (I don't know the relative specs, but I'm quite sure it wouldn't make that big a difference), but for some reason, less people would have bought it if they didn't have to buy a new console to play it...yeah. I'm sure that's what would have happened.

I hope you realize that Sony is guilty of this stuff, a lot more so than Microsoft. Square? Rare? Etc.

Huh?? Last I checked, Sony didn't own Square; as a matter of fact, they just merged with Enix, another very successful RPG-maker, to form Square-Enix. This way, Square doesn't even need Sony to publish their titles in North America the way they used to. And it was Microsoft, not Sony, that bought Rare.

So who has Sony bought lately? I haven't been paying much attention, but I think I would have noticed if they'd bought anyone big.

Encumbered? Give me a break! That game would not have sold well on the PC.

See above. Why, given both major commercial OSes and the most popular console of the current generation, do you think that Halo would have sold fewer titles than on the XBox, which, again, most people had to buy just to play Halo??? And there's also the fact that various people, including me, wouldn't buy the XBox because we're boycotting M$ (and please don't start arguing about that; I am boycotting, and others are too, and it's a totally separate issue. In fact, I'm still not sure I'll buy Halo, even when it comes out for the Mac). I doubt as many people are boycotting Sony, or Bungie.

Halo is the must have game for XBOX. It would have been another ho-hum-did-it-before title on the PC that would have been lucky to sell half a million units.

Halo is only the "must-have" title for XBox because the XBox really didn't do well, and has very few games of its caliber. And, once again, you are discounting the PS2 sales entirely. (I agree that if it were Mac-exclusive, it wouldn't have had nearly the audience it would need to sell better, as much as I like the Mac).

It seems to me that you somehow need to justify Halo's XBox exclusivity. I realize that "exclusivity is a fact of life," but Halo wasn't originally going to be exclusive to anything, and I, for the reasons I have stated, believe that it would have done better if the original plan had been followed.

Dan Aris

Re:Hmm...who needs a history lesson?

[Anonvmous Coward]

"Ah. So not only is the PS2 somehow significantly inferior to the XBox (I don't know the relative specs, but I'm quite sure it wouldn't make that big a difference), but for some reason, less people would have bought it if they didn't have to buy a new console to play it...yeah. I'm sure that's what would have happened."

Actually, the PS2 does have a nasty bottleneck. It has something like 4 megs of video RAM. This RAM not only has to store the frame buffer (something like 1.2 megs for that alone) and it has to store the textures for that frame. Ever noticed that games on the PS2 look fuzzy, like low res? That's because they halve the vertical resolution so they can put that memory towards textures. This causes softness in the image. The Dreamcast was an inferior machine to the PS2 (it came out a year or two earlier), but side by side its graphics were clearer than the PS2's.

Halo is very texture heavy. Worse yet, it uses a lot of the graphics features that the XBOX has built into the hardware, the PS2's 'emotion processor' would have to do all that. Some shortcuts would most assuredly have to be taken to get a decent of Halo ported over.

"Huh?? Last I checked, Sony didn't own Square; as a matter of fact, they just merged with Enix, another very successful RPG-maker, to form Square-Enix. This way, Square doesn't even need Sony to publish their titles in North America the way they used to. And it was Microsoft, not Sony, that bought Rare."

Never said that Sony owned Square, though I guess I can see how you read that from my Rare comment. They did have exclusive access to Square in the PS1 days. Wanna play Final Fantasy 7 or 8? Sure, if you own a PS1. (Note: these were later ported to PC.)

"So who has Sony bought lately? I haven't been paying much attention, but I think I would have noticed if they'd bought anyone big."

I was talking about title exclusivity, and Sony's done a lot of that. Crash Bandicoot comes to mind. Go have a peek at Google. Sony's done it a lot. Nintendo's done it a lot. Sega's done it a lot. Etc. Microsoft's not done anything new here.

" do you think that Halo would have sold fewer titles than on the XBox, "

There's reason to believe either way. On one hand, PS2 has a lot more customers than the XBOX. On the other hand, the PS2 has a much much larger library than the XBOX. Halo would have fallen into a crack.

" And there's also the fact that various people, including me, wouldn't buy the XBox because we're boycotting M$"

I got news for ya, there ain't enough of you to even show up on Microsoft's radar. Frankly, if you're going to boycott Microsoft over Halo, then you need to boycott Sony over Final Fantasy, Sega over Jet Grind Radio, and Nintendo over Rogue Squadron.

"Halo is only the "must-have" title for XBox because the XBox really didn't do well, and has very few games of its caliber."

Agreed.

"And, once again, you are discounting the PS2 sales entirely."

I'm not discounting them, I just don't think Halo would have done all that well on the PS2. There's a very simple reason why: PS2 doesn't come with an ethernet port. What good is that game without on-line play? Also, don't forget that Sony's got far too many good games under its belt for Halo to be considered anything but mediochre.

"It seems to me that you somehow need to justify Halo's XBox exclusivity. "

For the record, I don't own an XBOX. I don't want one. Even if I had one, Halo wouldn't get a second look from me. I have no motivation to justify Halo's exclusivity other than I think Bungie would have tanked otherwise. So many game companies produce a game and then fall under because they weren't successful enough. Frankly, as my next job could very well come from the game industry, I want game companies to be successful. Halo would not have done very well on the PC. It might have done okay o

Re:Hmm...who needs a history lesson?

[danaris]

It seems that we shall have to agree to disagree on most of this, since you have a pessimistic view of how Halo would have been received had Bungie not been bought by Microsoft. However, there is still one issue I feel the need to clarify.

Frankly, if you're going to boycott Microsoft over Halo, then you need to boycott Sony over Final Fantasy [etc]

I think you misunderstood me. I am not boycotting over exclusivity; I have no problem with exclusivity as such. I actually very much enjoy the Final Fantasy series, which was the other reason I bought my PS2, and I am happy to know that it will remain on the PS2 for the foreseeable future (ie, FFXII).

No, my problem is with Microsoft's business practices, their general evilness. You are entitled to your own opinion of them; however, I would encourage you to consider boycotting, too, since they have engaged in many activities that would be considered anticompetitive even after being found to be an illegal monopoly. (Please don't start an argument about this; this is the way I read the facts, and you won't change my mind, and if you believe otherwise, I know I won't change your belief either)

But, as I said, it appears that we have differing premises on this argument, so further debate is likely fruitless.

Dan Aris

Re:Hmm...who needs a history lesson?

[Anonvmous Coward]

"It seems that we shall have to agree to disagree on most of this..."

Agreed.

"...since you have a pessimistic view of how Halo would have been received had Bungie not been bought by Microsoft. "

I'm not sure pessimism is the term I'd use. Bear in mind that I've been monitoring the game industry for a long time now. Though I haven't played Halo (which you may fault me for if you like) I have heard a great deal of comments about it. It seems as though the interesting part of the game is its graphics. That's as deep as I personally have seen it. It's not particularly innovative otherwise. Worse, it's a genre that has been done to death on PC. On the PS2, it would be graphically inferior (significantly) than on the PC or the XBOX, so a lot of that appeal disappears. If you can give me a strong reason why Halo would have been popular otherwise, I woulud be all ears.

"You are entitled to your own opinion of them; however, I would encourage you to consider boycotting, too, since they have engaged in many activities that would be considered anticompetitive even after being found to be an illegal monopoly."

I have my own dealings with Microsoft. They have products I will not buy. However, I'm not going to boycot every single product that Microsoft makes. That's just stupid. I won't buy Office because it calls home to unlock itself, but I'm happy to buy a Microsoft Optical mouse. Why? Because I want to reward Microsoft for bringing a great product into the market, and punish them for doing something stupid like the locking mechanism with Office.

Would I boycot Microsoft by not buying an XBOX? Again, no, it's stupid. MS's game division is not only a barely connected arm of Microsoft, but it's laughable to think they're trying anything anti-competitive here. All they've done so far is make a game machine here. They're not locking you into buying. They're not trying to make it do more than just play games. They've made a game system and they hope to profit from it in the same way Sony did with the PS1.

I'm not saying boycotting Microsoft is stupid, but I do feel very strongly that if you're going to take action, be effective. If Microsoft's not doing any wrong with the XBOX, then why boycot it? You hurt the developers trying to get started in this industry, but Microsoft barely feels it.

Trust me when I say, you're better off doing what you can to encourage Microsoft to do the right thing. They're not going to notice you boycotting them, but they will notice when you do things like buy optical mice.

Your call. I'm not going to pretend I'm more enlightened than you. All I ask is an ear, not obedience.

"But, as I said, it appears that we have differing premises on this argument, so further debate is likely fruitless."

It'd be far less fruitless if your reasoning was less tainted by "MS is evil" and better structured around "here's a strong reason why I think Halo would have done well."

Funny thing is, we'd be in total agreement if we were talking about Final Fantasy 7 instead of Halo. That was an interesting game that would have been successful on any platform except PC.