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Halo 2 Released
mjxg writes "Halo 2 has finally hit the shelves for hardcore fans. VNUnet speaks about the long lines and the 12:01am release that many stores participated in. Many people obtained the Limited Collector's Edition. Eventually we'll get word of the final first day sales to see if Halo 2 can top the sales charts for the year, or possibly become the most popular console game in history. It is already estimated to top the all-time opening day entertainment sales charts."
Three percent of my employer's staff (well, three out of about one hundred) took vacation today in order to play Halo 2 all night.
Now that's intense.
org.slashdot.post.SignatureNotFoundException: ewg
Maybe I played this game on the wrong day but I just didn't get it. It looked good from the outset. It had elements that reminded me of games I love like Deus Ex and Half Life. But then I got into the "Halo" world and started to get chased by a bunch of Smurfs. All of the cute little animals making noises like squeaky toys. I felt bad shooting them actually.
Who is General Failure, and why is he reading my hard disk?
a lousy Halo 2 pin..
I showed up at 11:30am and there were 400-500 people at my EB.. nuts! I had a good time talking to the guys around me for the next 2 hours. M$ representatives were there handing out goodies for all us nerds. The biggest thing they gave out was giant Halo 2 boxes which looked like garbage being given away as gifts. After they had run out of those, they distributed a Halo 2 pin to all us unfortunates...
After trading gaming tags with other guys in line (read: all male crowd), I went home and fired it up. I was hoping my lik-sang adapter mouse/keyboard adapter would be in already but it will be a while until then..
My initial impressions after 2 hours: I like it so far BUT there is nothing really new in the single player game aside from the dual weapon thing. It feels like a bit of an add-on so far but that's not a bad thing because the first one was fun.
So enjoy it when you can folks...
From Amazon UK:-
Dear Customer
Regarding your order for "Halo 2", I wanted to give you an update
on the status of this title.
We have contacted the manufacturer, and they have informed us that
The release date of this title has been delayed. They now expect this
video game will be available on the 11th of November, 2004, however
please know this may be subject to further delays.
We will keep this title on order for you unless you prefer to
cancel. As soon as we are able to obtain copies, we will dispatch your
order to you. We will also do our best to keep you informed of any
new developments as soon as we hear of them.
Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience this may cause
you. Unfortunately, release dates are often subject to change with
very little notice from manufacturer. If you prefer to cancel your order
you may do so using the "Your Account" link on our homepage.
Thanks for your patience, and we look forward to hearing from you if
we may be of any assistance.
Warmest regards,
Customer Service Department
Amazon.co.uk
By the way, the original original original trailer was shown in 1999 during Steve Jobs's keynote at Macworld. While it was being shown, that trailer was rendered, in real time, using OpenGL, on a Macintosh. It looks virtually identical to the gameplay of the 2001 XBox version. I'm still trying to find the original movie...
Take off every sig. For great justice.
It is well put, but also ignoring a significant section of XBox culture-- that which used to ride the cutting edge of PC hardware but now has other priorities that take money away from hardware upgrades. The XBox is a nice fit for that segment of people because it's a one-time hardware investment with $30 additional controllers and $50 games.
I enjoy the balance of Halo, and the vehicles. The graphics are immersive and the play paced very nicely. I enjoy the visuals in Halo, and the sound mix. It is unobtrusive and serves to suspend reality. I can no longer afford to upgrade my computer to play Half-Life 2 or Doom 3 (damn house... damn family... damn wife), but I can afford to stay up all night with my wife and kill Covenant and Flood troops! (she's as excited as I am for Halo 2, which is way cool!)
Before I am modded to the bowels of hell, I just want to say that, while many slashdotters' only expierience with FPS games has been with a keyboard and mouse, this doesn't mean that a dual joystick controller is nessessarily inferior.
The advantages of keyboard and mouse are as follows:
Can move mouse to shoot anywhere on the screen easily.
This is good, yes. But consider the disadvantages for a moment.
1) Out of mousemat error.
Sooner or later, your going run out of mousemat when your turning and will have to lift the mouse back onto the pad to continue. Meaning you'll simply stop turning while your doing this. On a DJC, you just tilt the right analouge stick right or left for continuous turning.
2) Out of fingers error.
With a keyboard and mouse, you aim with the mouse, meaning one hand, and all its fingers, can only access, 2-3 buttons.(Scrollwheels help with this a lot though) Usually these are shoot,change weapon and other. Meanwhile your other fingers, usually 2-3, are stuck on WASD for moving. If you want to crouch, reload, zoom, jump or perhaps change weapon reverse, you will need to do some keyboard gymnastics, look down, or (horror of horrors) stop moving to press other buttons. On a DJC, one thumb is used for movement, the other for aiming. Flipper pads mean four buttons are easily reachable by two more fingers, and the dpad and other buttons are acessable by a nimble other if required. Bottom line. You can keep moving while you perform on the fly weapon maitainance. DJC has a lot more buffer space for out of fingers errors.
3) Mouse Error, Error.
Most comupter mice are fairly cheap anyaway. Mice get junk in the wheels. Even optical mice glitch from time to time. Buttons sometimes get stuck, and of course hands may slip or be jostled from time to time. The average DJC is of a higher quaility than the average mouse and suffers far less from any of these problems.
4) Keyboard limitations
Open up a text editor. Press and hold E. Without letting go hold C. Now while holding, tap U. See the problem? Now try W,D and E. E will not register. Try WAQ. There are umpteen other combinations. Keyboards can't handle many multiple keydown combinations. DJC can.
OK, the disadvantage of DJCs will no doubt be blasted endlessly at me. Less precision, etc, etc.
But consider for a moment? Is a game filled with head shot hunting, rail driver packing, KBM gurus more or less fun than a game filled with DJC toting, ultra mobile, shotgun blasting, upclose and personal players?
And before you knock DJC, Try it out!! They're dirt cheap now, and are available anywhere. I know some will never budge from dogma, but if enough people follow me, then maybe I'll get more joypad support in Linux from now on.
May the Maths Be with you!
The ending is so unsatisfying you'll be screaming for Halo 3 before your controller hits the floor.
The most blatant plug for a sequel I've ever seen.
I doubt too many here will catch the reference but the first thing that popped into my head when I saw "pfft" was: "The colony has been wiped out. Phhht! Just like that."
Phhht indeed! Gone are the hallowed Bungie days of lore which held an interesting and engaging storyline high on the list of gaming interests. I guess Bungie has truly abandoned their roots for multiplayer driven, rather than story driven, games.
Aleph One, you are my savior.
Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed playing Halo and I'm sure the multiplayer is fantastic. It's just sad to see Halo storyline turn into Halo 2.
-- i am jack's amusing sig file