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Halo For The Game Boy Advance A Possibility?
etoychest writes "To be honest, I venture over to IGN.com about as often as I find myself in the all-natural food section at the local supermarket. That is, next to never. Still, occasionally some information does leak out of the site that makes you wonder if there is a reason to go back. This time, thanks to our friends over on the Penny-Arcade forums, I was made aware of a tidbit tucked away in the current IGN Pocket mailbag, as written by Craig Harris: 'Well, this was something that I've known for months about, but was literally sworn to secrecy by the people involved (just like many OTHER things I know but can't say). But since it's been mentioned in another publication, I can confirm that, yes, Halo is in the works for the GBA. That's all I can say, on risk of having my fingernails ripped off with a bottle opener.'" But are we sure they're not talking about this GBA Halo? Update: 06/12 12:05 GMT by S : There's a rather definitive official denial of this rumor over at Bungie.net.
This has apparently been dismissed as a false rumor from Bungie themselves.
I don't know, Metal Gear Solid took the move to the GBC pretty well, and this is more powerful hardware.
No advanced first person shooter for the game boy will ever exist, just like they didn't exist on the super nintendo. Sniping would be impossible, the z-axis would be horribly crippled with no analog stick, and the aiming would just be nightmarish. That said, I may have believed this if the rumor had been "a 2-d sidescrolling version of Halo is in the works for the GBA."
schild
editor, f13.net
I would. My comp isn't the greatest, but it runs Quake 3 nicely. If it were just a bit faster, I would buy the Halo PC version, just for the hell of it.
Don't eat me
So assuming this does actually come out - what on earth on they going to axe to make it fit the GBA? I would be inclined to say it most certainly won't have cooperative multiplayer, and with any luck they will make sure to eliminate a level or two....
Oh wait, that would be an improvement. Can't have any of that as it goes to a non-xbox platform.
You should take a look at the GBA versions of Splinter Cell and Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow.
Think franchise instead of port.
"It is our blasphemy which has made us great, and will sustain us, and which the gods secretly admire in us." - Zelazny
1. In case you haven't noticed, MSFT *IS* making gameboy games - through Rare. As a matter of fact, I've heard (can't say for sure) that Rare has made/is making more titles for the GBA than for the x-box...
:)
2. Gameboys are the single best selling video game system. You think they sold a lot of copies of GTA3? Mario laughs at that market share.
3. While there are FPS on the GBA, most 'ports' are just converstions of characters and themes, rather than the exact game. Think of it just as a regular GBA game with Halo slapped on the title
4. MSFT games division has to make money somehow
These pretzels are making me thirsty.
So long as its confined to Doom/Duke Nukem 3D style autoaiming on the verticle axis, it's doable. Unfortunately, the maker of the James Bond FPS games on the GBA seemed to overlook this fact.
the rare gba games where in developtment before m$ bought them out. there will be no more after them. sorry ninty fanboys m$ isnt going to save you. they either devour or conquer. they dont partner with the compition.
Just to dispute your points:
1. Microsoft also now owns Rare which is happily developing for the GBA.
2. I'm the Xbox's exact demographic (well, right age and gender). I have a GBA SP, a PS2, and a Gamecube. I don't have an Xbox.
3. You could play early FPSes with the arrow keys, if I'm not entirely mistaken.
"There is no time, sir, at which ties do not matter," Jeeves, (Jeeves and the Impending Doom)
Just to dispute your disputations of my points, or something like that.
1. Rare had already been in the process of developing GBA games so MS did not immediately pull the plug on them. They're still happily developing for the GBA but once they've completed their current projects, do you honestly believe MS is going to encourage them to take on more?
2. I have a GBA and a PS2, and I too am in their exact demographic. But neither of us are Xbox owners so it's irrelevant what we have. The majority of people who have Xboxes are, to put it extremely bluntly, casual gamers and are uninterested in GBA titles.
3. You can play Halo with the arrow keys, too. Do you want to, though...?
Yes, but Metal Gear was a game whose gameplay was flushed out on the NES*, a system not very much more powerful than the GBC. Halo, however, relies upon the third dimension. Could you imagine the charging guns, dramatic landscapes, etc, etc working on a 2D plane with vision limited to 7 or 8 character widths? It *could* be done, but it would be a dramatic reinvisioning of the franchise with as little to do with Halo's current gameplay as Mario Sunshine does to Sonic Advance.
*actually, it was a computer system from the time before the NES, but I don't remember offhand which one.
The ______ Agenda
actually, it was a computer system from the time before the NES, but I don't remember offhand which one.
The MSX, perhaps?
for the duke nukem advance game, the default controlls are dpad for looking around moving forward, triggers for strafe, and A and B for jump and shoot... however, I think the best control option (and one that makes it almost as good as halo controls) are:
dpad for strafing/moving forward/back.
a and b for turning.
triggers for shoot and jump.
makes it almost as good as a console fps.
They're still happily developing for the GBA but once they've completed their current projects, do you honestly believe MS is going to encourage them to take on more?
Why not? The GBA is not a direct competitor to the XBox, and MS doesn't plan to enter the portable market (yet). That said, and since a GBA game can be developed very cheaply (compared to a console game) and can be very profitable (due to its user base), not developing more GBA games would be a very stupid move for Microsoft.
But the same could be said for the DS and it seems pretty clear that they're not developing for that platform...
1. MSFT is finishing the games that Rare already had in development.
:)
2. I fail to see what relevance this has to my original point. Do you think that the average Xbox owner / Halo freak has or wants a GBA?
3. This is your only point that makes sense.
4. Well, granted, so does this one.
Metal Gear originated on the MSX2. The two original Metal Gear games were works of absolute genius - and completely in 2D. The "Solid" part of the title of the Playstation game was there to indicate the move to 3D, and should really have been dropped for the GBC conversion...
Not only that, but the GBA/DS will be going up against Sony, which is probably Microsoft's biggest competitor (at least in the US) in the whole "Console Wars" thing.
The enemy of their enemy...
As a huge fan of the xbox version I am very happy to hear that this is most likely a false rumor - as much as I love Halo I just can't see what they could do with it on the GBA.
:D
We would likely either get something like Wolf 3D or a side-scroller like Splinter Cell, neither of which really sound that appealing.
However one thought that struck me was that if they wanted to, they could go in an entirely different direction with the handheld version. After reading the Halo books (they are better than you would think) and noticing the focus the books have on space battle between human and covenant ships, it got me to thinking that a Halo game similar to Escape Velocity could be pretty cool.
EV is a very fun game, and you could prolly recreate something pretty close to it on a handheld. Anyways, just a thought
Oh, and to the submitter of this story, you really come across as a little lame with your huge disclaimer... You realise that more than half of your story was you telling us that you don't like IGN? Either you or the editor should have chopped that.
- Who is possibly excited about playing whatever dim shadow of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater could be crammed into an NGage?
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- Goodbye forever!
McDick, you're fantastic. Keep it up, the world needs more lovely quotes from you. And please start using the word "haterade" again. It adds a touch of class to your "anti-hater" hate posts.
Please wait 5 years before posting to Slashdot ever again. You are in need of higher education (and/or medication).
When thinking about a suitable way of porting Halo to GBA I couldn't help but think of something similar to Advance Wars, using more stuff from the novels, and not just attempting to port an FPS which clearly wouldn't look any good at all.
Strange as it may sound I'm glad they didn't manage to pack any more power into the GBA.... limiting it to roughly what the SNES was capable off meant it was a firm base for 2D, and tough to even attempt anything better.
Um, hello? Contra/Super Contra? Wasn't this kinda halo with no flood?
That's funny. You assume that Microsoft's handheld would be the best to own, without any basis whatsoever.
I love Microsoft fanboys like you. You make retards look like Rhodes scholars. I bet your guardian angel works overtime, oh special son of dim light.
In Japan, the game was called Metal Gear Ghost Babel, as can be seen here:
n ese/index.html
http://www.konamijpn.com/products/ghostbabel/japa
It were the stupid market people who changed the title. Shame on them, always changing covers, titles or, even worse, content, to make games "more suitable" for the western market.
That's funny. You assume that Microsoft's handheld would be the best to own, without any basis whatsoever.
Whatever it would have been, it would have been better than a Gameboy, GBA or GBDS.
I love Microsoft fanboys like you. You make retards look like Rhodes scholars. I bet your guardian angel works overtime, oh special son of dim light.
And how's that? You're a retard.
HALO is an XBox game. Therefore a portable based on XBox tech would be the best port platform, ne?
Or is that too big of a stretch to fit your tiny brain around.
Ofcourse I also said that PSP would be the better than GBDS, or didn't you read the subject title either?
PSP outguns the DS in every way.
(You may now call me a Sony fanboy if you'd like, dumbass)
Shame about the denial, this would have been rather fun sitting on the tube round london blasting some aliens
Business Voyeur
Lovely! I've hurt your feelings, and earned an explanation. Now we can all think about it, nod our heads, and agree that AC has beaten AC in a match of wits.
So, I recant. Yes folks, Xboy will be so fucking awesome because it'll be based on "Xbox tech." How could I have been so blind not to see that? Must have been my tiny, retarded brain, NE?
Do these words soothe you, sir? Please let me know, because I can offer them to you for free. I'll also stop refuting your poor logic if it'll calm you down. Just ask.
Don't read that tripe if you value your IQ level. The worse that you could do then reading their inane forum drivel is to read their retarded comic.