Halo's Price Drop For Xbox, GameSpy Hookup For PC

Thanks to GamerFeed for the news that Bungie's Xbox FPS, Halo, has dropped in price to $29.99 effective immediately, but "is not a Platinum Hit", one of the many fruitless rumors which started after a fan-made 'TV commercial' and subsequent confusion had sites falsely reporting on Halo 2's early release. Meanwhile, GameSpy has announced a partnership with Microsoft to provide "online matchmaking, community, administrative and networking functionalities" for Microsoft's PC games over multiple years, including the just-released Windows version of Halo.

Comments

hey, that's great news!

[Malor]

Everyone knows partnering with Microsoft is suicide. It's great to see Gamespy getting into bed with them. I was soooo pissed when I paid for the client they were using last year, based on how much I'd liked the client several years ago... what a steaming pile of excrement that turned out to be. I don't usually say this sort of thing about companies, but Gamespy deserves everything Microsoft will give them.

BTW, if you're one of the two or three remaining people who hasn't already switched, check out the All Seeing Eye from UDPSoft. It's constantly updated with new games and is just generally excellent. It does exactly what it's supposed to do without all the bloatware useless crap that Gamespy shoves down your throat.

Here come the gripes

[VividU]

Halo:

- It was supposed to be on my precious Apple :(
- I don't get what the big deal is :(
- The levels suck :(
- Bungie sold out :(
- It's made by M$ so it must suck, right? :(
- Could you image how cool it would have been if they released it as originally intended :(

BOO-HOO !!!

Meanwhile (in the real world)...Halo continues to remain the best console FPS to date. It's a truly awsome & artistic game. The graphics, sound, music, story, gameplay, multiplayer all excel. Its main fault? Some repetitive levels near the end of the game.

And Halo2? Check out the preview videos. Imagine it on Xbox Live. It's gonna be great.

Microsoft Game Studios is aquiring quite the reputation.

Re:Here come the gripes

[daeley]

Microsoft Game Studios is aquiring quite the reputation.

I think you're more right using that verb than you intended.

Re:Here come the gripes

[aftk2]

And, of course, Halo and KOTOR are no longer exclusive to the Xbox. So that means the $179 paperweight near your TV is good for what, exactly?

For playing Project Gotham Racing 2, Top Spin, Sudeki, BC, Halo 2, Jade Empire and Fable? (Off the top of my head).

Re:Here come the gripes

[Have Blue]

One game does not make a game studio.

Correct. The Marathon and Myth series had already made the studio.

Re:Here come the gripes

[DeadScreenSky]

AFAIK, xBox runs directx... pcs use directx... hmmm... how long did that port take...
Contrary to popular PC gamer opinion, the Xbox is not simply a PC. It is very very good at certain things like Pixel Shaders and various memory bandwidth, and it took a long time to get it optimized for the less adept PC.

Cannot find the quote unfortunately, but Gearbox stated basically just this recently.

Xbox Anti-Fan Club Meeting!

[Babbster]

Yet another meeting has been called to order on Slashdot where people can bash the Xbox and talk about "the only good Xbox game." The fact that most of those people don't own an Xbox and/or have never played any of the other Xbox games never stops them, and it's certainly exciting to see FUD spread by someone other than Microsoft! Woot!

Crimson Skies - Great fun.
Knights of the Old Republic - Duh.
Outlaw Volleyball - Great gameplay AND Steve Carell.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The sequel's on all three but the first was fantastic and "Only on Xbox."
Rallisport Challenge - Excellent rally racing.
Splinter Cell - First on Xbox and a true system seller at the time.
Panzer Dragoon Orta - Short but just about as sweet as it gets...great art meets great gameplay.
Steel Battalion - High-priced but immersive and the best console sim experience ever.

I own, and have owned, more good Xbox games than the above but I'm not going to make this a book.

In short, declaring Halo is the only reason to own an Xbox is like saying Super Smash Brothers Melee is the only reason to own a Gamecube, or SSX is the only reason to own a PS2 - it was true once but hasn't been so for a LONG time.

Another MS "Technology" Craters -- Quelle Surprise

[ewhac]

Assuming I'm reading the press release correctly, it looks as if Micros~1 has finally admitted that DirectPlay was a complete and utter disaster, never worked right, and never was going to work right.

...So expect GameSpy 3D to get renamed DirectPlay 2,0 and get released in Longhorn.

Schwab