Speculation over a major announcement which Microsoft has pledged to make on November 15th, the second anniversary of the Xbox launch date, points to the launch of a new version of Halo with Xbox Live support.
A number of different rumours have circulated regarding the announcement, including the rather unlikely possibility that the launch of Halo 2 - currently scheduled for 2004 - might actually be pulled forward to Christmas.
However, a member of the Bungie development team moved to quash such rumours, stating that "I can confirm with absolute certainty that Halo 2 is NOT coming out in 2003," going on to question what "possible benefit" there would be in a launch shrouded in such secrecy.
What does seem entirely possible, however, is another rumour circulating about the announcement - namely that on November 15th Microsoft will roll out a new version of Halo, branded as Halo Deluxe Edition, which will feature online multiplayer capabilities over Xbox Live for the first time.
This speculation gains credibility from the appearance of a Prima Official Strategy Guide for Halo Deluxe Edition on the publishing company's website, with a launch date of December 2003 - an embarrassing mistake by Prima if they turn out to have blown Microsoft's surprise, but surely a pointer that MS has something Halo-related in the works.
An online version of Halo would make sense. The game already enjoys significant popularity online through the unofficial Xbox Connect tunnelling software, which fools Halo into believing that other systems on the Internet are actually on a LAN with it, but this connection can be unreliable and laggy at times. The launch of Deluxe Edition - which would presumably arrive at a budget price point - would also be a perfect opportunity for Microsoft to bundle a demo of Halo 2, building anticipation of its biggest 2004 title even further.
News source: Gamesindustry.biz
A number of different rumours have circulated regarding the announcement, including the rather unlikely possibility that the launch of Halo 2 - currently scheduled for 2004 - might actually be pulled forward to Christmas.
However, a member of the Bungie development team moved to quash such rumours, stating that "I can confirm with absolute certainty that Halo 2 is NOT coming out in 2003," going on to question what "possible benefit" there would be in a launch shrouded in such secrecy.
What does seem entirely possible, however, is another rumour circulating about the announcement - namely that on November 15th Microsoft will roll out a new version of Halo, branded as Halo Deluxe Edition, which will feature online multiplayer capabilities over Xbox Live for the first time.
This speculation gains credibility from the appearance of a Prima Official Strategy Guide for Halo Deluxe Edition on the publishing company's website, with a launch date of December 2003 - an embarrassing mistake by Prima if they turn out to have blown Microsoft's surprise, but surely a pointer that MS has something Halo-related in the works.
An online version of Halo would make sense. The game already enjoys significant popularity online through the unofficial Xbox Connect tunnelling software, which fools Halo into believing that other systems on the Internet are actually on a LAN with it, but this connection can be unreliable and laggy at times. The launch of Deluxe Edition - which would presumably arrive at a budget price point - would also be a perfect opportunity for Microsoft to bundle a demo of Halo 2, building anticipation of its biggest 2004 title even further.
News source: Gamesindustry.biz
Features:
- Automatic & Manual Chapter Setting
- Real-time Graphic Scrubber
- DVD Special Features Support
- Automatic DVD Disc & Jacket Label Generator
- Automatic CD/DVD Disc Jewel Case Label Generator
- Hardware Video Capture Support
- Real-Time MPEG 1 and 2 Encoder
- Integrated Burner Support
- VCD Creation
Ridiculous that they didn't update Halo to include Live! MP support as soon as the service launched.
Ridiculous that the damn game still sits on the shelf for $49. Hmm, hasn't it sold enough copies to graduate to the Platinum Hits $19.99 status yet?
Ridiculous that Microsoft will charge people ANOTHER $49 to buy the Live enabled version of Halo, when it should be a free download for Live! customers when they log into Live with their original Halo disk in the drive.
Grrrr......
B
If the game sells and you can get people to buy them at full retail, why lower the price?
http://www.xboxlink.co.uk
halos crap now, get the pc version if u wanna play online
Read and comprehend, grasshopper.
Though that doesn't make much sense as the game's been out for 2 years...
Oh well thought I'd try and be a naysayer.
EDIT: HA HA I WAS RIGHT
Last edited by 5253 on 13 Nov 2003 - 20:08
if they released demos via live i think i'd resubscribe
thats something MS needs to figure out but sadly they got to make money somwere from the xbox if its not the console they are making money off of
I think it is money well worth spent as it keeps a decent service like that going. MS wanted everything central, easier on the developers as they do not have to worry about the possibility of having to have their own game servers.
I've got a cable modem and for whatever reason it always seems to lag and has rubber-banding issues all the time... I bet on LAN it'd be tight, but over the net it seems to suck hardcore (from just a netcode perspective atleast).
Ya man, i definitely feel the same way. I've even played it on a lan with about 6 people and it still lags big time. While playing on a lan, we've also noticed that sometimes when it appears you are shooting someone else (their sheild lights up) doesnt necessarily mean they actually got hit. We found that really annoying and actually stopped playing Halo. Unless they release some patches to fix this, I won't be touching Halo for a while.
http://gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?section_name=ret&aid=2556
Go check http://halo.bungie.org for additional proof. Bugine said it so themselves.
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