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No Halo 3 For 360 Launch
Gamespot's Rumor Control column this week covers the usual half-truths, and mentions in specific that Halo 3 will not be a launch title for the 360. This despite some hopeful fan exclamations prompted by an ordering page slip-up. From the article: "On Monday, the site posted a page that seemed to indicate that the most anticipated game for the Xbox 360 would be a surprise launch title. The posting, coupled with the fact Wal-Mart is letting you pick Halo 3 as one of the games in its Xbox 360 bundles, had would-be Master Chiefs more hysterical than a pack of Grunts on the run. However, a sneak November release would go against all logic, especially considering the very existence of the game was revealed by Bill Gates talking about how it would parry the PlayStation 3 launch."
The write-up itself says that conventional wisdom held that Halo 3 wasn't going to be a launch title. This would be like me posting an article that gnomes don't actually run our computers after thinking that maybe gnomes do run our computers. I guess someone is getting antsy waiting for the new Escapist to go up.
The first article on the list is kinda interesting, I thought some PS2 games already supported USB keyboards and mice, so the PS3 supporting them would'nt be that surprsing, if the USB ports are still there.
(Phantasy Star Online on the Xbox and Gamecube also supported keyboards).
In other news, everyone has known that Halo 3 won't be an Xbox 360 launch title for months.
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My feeling is that most games released at console launch are half-baked; the launch deadline can be really tough o the developers. I hesitate to purchase any game released at launch, and see no reason to change now.
Please, take your sweet time and make the game the best you can!
"Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
I think the Halo 3 delay might be very damaging to the launch. How do deal with the pre-orders, for one. The series is very popular, and it would be much better as a group. However, if they are going to use it to combat the PS3, I'm not entirely sure they'll have the market base they need by then. I'm guessing they'll try to fill in that gap with the Quake 4 launch, but without a keyboard and mouse, what's the point.
I'm going to go with the Penny Arcade review name so far: Xbox Three Shitty.
Gonzo Granzeau
"Nothing the god of biomechanics wouldn't let you into heaven for.." -Roy Batty
"... especially considering the very existence of the game was revealed by Bill Gates talking about how it would parry the PlayStation 3 launch."
I thought it was revealed by the giant "PREORDER HALO 3 NOW" banner that pops up when you beat the "final" boss in Halo 2. How could anyone follow up such a finale? Perhaps with the real ending!
Seriously, Halo 2 was un-fucking-finished. The only people who won't admit it are fanboys. I'd like to think it's a joke that you don't get the preorder screen when you beat the game on legendary, but seriously...
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Internet Explorer (n): Another bug -- that is, a feature that can't be turned off -- in Windows.
Personally, I have no issue with waiting a bit longer. Halo 2 was rushed by some accounts and it shows. Don't get me wrong, it was a fantastic game, but there were issues they could've fixed given a bit of extra time. I'd like to see them do Halo 3 right the first time. Halo 2 isn't even a year old folks, and people are complaining about it being delayed a few months? Have some patience for Christ's sake. Good things come to those who wait.
As someone who was underwhelmed by Halos 1 & 2, and who has no plans of buying an XBox 360, let me be the first to say: *Yawn*
The more months Quake 4 has to grab an audience the better.
Not trying to troll, but I greatly prefer Quake to Halo when it comes to Action/Arcade FPS titles, and I feel like I might have a lot more company (and therefore people to play against, both online and at friends' houses) if people were exposed to more than just the de-facto standard in FPSs.
Many of us feel that Halo is a pretty deeply flawed imitation of the shooters than preceded it, that happened to explode in popularity thanks to being in the right place (consoles) at the right time (arrival of network play and serious 3d on the consoles, and the transition of gaming into the mainstream).
I'm sure Halo 3 will have a huge audience (I'll probably buy it). But more diversity in the FPS marketplace can only be good for all of us. Nobody wants Halo to become the next Madden.
A surprise announcement of Halo 3 at launch would be a pretty bad marketing move. Here we are, two months from launch, with many pre-orders already "locked and loaded", so to speak. Many stores are no longer committing to pre-orders (EB and GameStop in my area), so it wouldn't help sales until after launch. So, why kick the game out at launch? At best, Halo 3 would canabilize the sales of other bits of software, rather than generating new sales. People would switch their pre-reserves. Bad news for Quake 4, CoD 2, Condemned, etc. Also, Microsoft would have to get the advertising engine rolling pretty quickly. Finally, Bungie itself won't confirm that they're even WORKING on the title: "Bando asks, Frankie, why all the coyness re: Halo 3? We all know the "project" you and the rest of the crew at Bungie are all working on is called Halo 3 and it is going to be released the same day the PS3 is released. Come on, fess up! :)
Har. Well, for one thing, we haven't announced what our next project is going to be. And for another, you really think Ken Kutaragi is going to call up and say, "Hey, Frankie, here's a heads up - the PS3 will be available on September 14th, 200X. So now you have a schedule to work to." Because, like, he probably won't do that.
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be a surprise??
Think about it. A large part of the 360's sales are going to be from people upgrading from the original Xbox, and they're going to want to bring their games over, since backward-compatibility has been announced as a feature...but only for "the top titles" at launch. And Halo 2 is the topmost of those "top titles"; it's been most-played game on Xbox Live practically since Day One. If the 360 can't run Halo 2 perfectly, there's going to be a lot of consoles getting returned, and later, not purchased.
So it would behoove Bungie and MS to spend whatever time it takes to make sure it's perfect, and then, once the heat's off, get busy on Halo 3 in all its next-generation glory. There's enough other native-360 launch titles to keep people busy for awhile.
Be who you are...and be it in style!