Halo: The Master Chief Collection coming to Xbox One this year, collects Halos 1-4

[Xerxes]

ODST and Reach are some of the best games in the series though, it'd be a shame if they ignored them.

Of course, doing a "HD remake" of a game that's only a few years old is just strange. H2A I'm expecting, but H4A?

It does seem odd but considering the X1 has no backwards compatibility, it's not like people can buy the original and play it (unless they already own a X360). The game is beautiful how it is to be honest, been replaying bit of it in recent months, even just cleaning the textures up a little and bumping the resolution up to 1080p is all it really needs to be honest (Y)

[George P Global Moderator]

It does seem odd but considering the X1 has no backwards compatibility, it's not like people can buy the original and play it (unless they already own a X360). The game is beautiful how it is to be honest, been replaying bit of it in recent months, even just cleaning the textures up a little and bumping the resolution up to 1080p is all it really needs to be honest (Y)

 

From the way they talked about it, H3 and H4 aren't getting anything other than resolution and framerate bumps while H2A gets new textures etc. 

[HawkMan]

I enjoyed both ODST and Reach but to me they are essentially the same games with different characters.

 

1. Do a bunch of random tasks

2. Oh wait... now you have to take this package and deliver it "over there".

 

:/

Reach had a very weak story compared to what they could do with the lore.

 

Well if you don't care about the story, all fps games are the same

[BajiRav]

Well if you don't care about the story, all fps games are the same

 

How did you make out from my post that I don't care about the story? :/ I actually care about Halo lore and was disappointed by bungie's lazy narrative in those games (IMO).

[Emn1ty]

How did you make out from my post that I don't care about the story? :/ I actually care about Halo lore and was disappointed by bungie's lazy narrative in those games (IMO).

 

I'll disagree with ODST, it was one of their best games because it was very different and had a simple narrative with lots of plot easter eggs along the way. But Bungie really dropped the ball (lore wise) with Reach. The campaign wasn't bad, but it didn't fit at all with established lore. And to be honest, the story has been going downhill for a while.

 

Anyways, back to the topic at hand after watching the video for Halo 2 Anniversary I'm really, really looking forward to it. I hope their updated graphics don't hurt the multiplayer maps but I will be very glad to see they're keeping the original gameplay. And I certainly hope most if not all the maps make a comback (and gametypes).

[Jose_49]

From the way they talked about it, H3 and H4 aren't getting anything other than resolution and framerate bumps while H2A gets new textures etc. 

Who knows if they used compressed textures on the 360, and will look better on  Xbox One....

[Houtei]

its funny cause I loved halo 1 then halo 2.  When reach came out i played it through and beat it bu for some reason i really wasnt having that much fun it just felt like i was forcing myself to finish.   I liked reach but at the same time i felt like a lot of it messed up the story and lore of the halo series.  I liked halo 3 but not as good as 1 or 2.   I still have not played halo 4 but its been so long since i played halo im actually excited about it coming to xbox one.  Its kind of like a new game for me.   Ever since ODST though ive been really burned out feeling towards halo.  

 

Also the multiplayer I have never really cared for since halo 2.   Except Coop which i ALWAYS play through campaign on coop

[HawkMan]

Who knows if they used compressed textures on the 360, and will look better on  Xbox One....

 

You use compressed textures on everything, high end 8Gig Vram gaming PC's included. games haven't used uncompressed textures since some of the first proper GPU cards started supporting native in memory compressed textures. 

[Jose_49]

You use compressed textures on everything, high end 8Gig Vram gaming PC's included. games haven't used uncompressed textures since some of the first proper GPU cards started supporting native in memory compressed textures. 

Heheh. Thanks for stopping my FUD.

 

Now. Maybe they will be able to load more objects to the field and improve texture resolution.

[HawkMan]

They possibly could, but the textures are probably made in the res they are used in H3 and 4. As for view distance. then you start stepping into the realm of "are we changing how the game is shown if we do this or..."

 

Most likely they'll just be plain up renders, with the GUI remade for 1080. 

 

After all how much work are they going to put into it. it's 4 games for $60. 

[The_Decryptor Veteran]

Yeah, 3 and 4 would just get a resolution and FPS bump, the textures are already high res compared to 1 & 2.

Of course, in 10 years time when we're all playing 4k @ 60fps games on our Xbox Two and PS5, then we could see a HD remake.

[neoadorable]

ODST was my favourite in the series for the reasons you just noted. I really hope they give ODST and Reach it's own bundle.

 

Right next to Halo 3 as my favorite. Loved the atmosphere, Nathan Fillion is always great, and the story was solid, plus it had phenomenal music. It was an excellent game, still remember going to Toys R Us the day it came out cause it was convenient and being surprised there was no one else buying it and that they had a ton of copies. For Reach lined up with a couple thousand people all day for a copy...weird how things work.

Yeah, 3 and 4 would just get a resolution and FPS bump, the textures are already high res compared to 1 & 2.

Of course, in 10 years time when we're all playing 4k @ 60fps games on our Xbox Two and PS5, then we could see a HD remake.

 

You mean five years in this case :D

If we're lucky...to hear Sony and MS talk about it, it's not certain they even want to make more consoles - sorry, i sound like Michael Pachter now

[George P Global Moderator]

With them both using more standard hardware (though there's still custom parts in there as well) they could release a new system faster and probably keep backwards compatibility this time around.   As long as we're talking x86 not changing then I don't see why anything has to break.  Just use faster CPUs and GPUs and call it a day, if we see a XB2 and PS5 in 5 years instead of 8 years then I wouldn't be surprised.

 

R&D costs would be on the low side if little changes IMO.

[Emn1ty]

With them both using more standard hardware (though there's still custom parts in there as well) they could release a new system faster and probably keep backwards compatibility this time around.   As long as we're talking x86 not changing then I don't see why anything has to break.  Just use faster CPUs and GPUs and call it a day, if we see a XB2 and PS5 in 5 years instead of 8 years then I wouldn't be surprised.

 

R&D costs would be on the low side if little changes IMO.

 

This depends heavily on the GPU/CPU manufacturers and whether or not they change up their technology in the future. Things like the Bulldozers may cause issues. It's not always as simple as just upgrading to the new ones.

[neoadorable]

With them both using more standard hardware (though there's still custom parts in there as well) they could release a new system faster and probably keep backwards compatibility this time around.   As long as we're talking x86 not changing then I don't see why anything has to break.  Just use faster CPUs and GPUs and call it a day, if we see a XB2 and PS5 in 5 years instead of 8 years then I wouldn't be surprised.

 

R&D costs would be on the low side if little changes IMO.

 

Ideally that would be the case, and i'd even go for every 3 years though that would be pushing it considering what gamers are used to by now. We cannot have another 8 year cycle, that was great but at the same time very detrimental and held things back. It also affects the new cycle so you get stuff like Watch Dogs on X1, which is clearly the 360 version run through the DX11 blender for ten minutes. I hope there will be more consoles, but have to agree with Emnity on this one heh heh, it's not always as simple as just swapping the main components. They will still want something to distinguish the experiences from each other and from other platforms, which means a new UI, OS, etc. I think it's doable, but the signals are quite clear that people are thinking about a more remote-computing based approach.

[spenser.d]

Ideally that would be the case, and i'd even go for every 3 years though that would be pushing it considering what gamers are used to by now. We cannot have another 8 year cycle, that was great but at the same time very detrimental and held things back. It also affects the new cycle so you get stuff like Watch Dogs on X1, which is clearly the 360 version run through the DX11 blender for ten minutes. I hope there will be more consoles, but have to agree with Emnity on this one heh heh, it's not always as simple as just swapping the main components. They will still want something to distinguish the experiences from each other and from other platforms, which means a new UI, OS, etc. I think it's doable, but the signals are quite clear that people are thinking about a more remote-computing based approach.

I actually prefer the longer life span. A shorter life isn't going to prevent the Watchdogs thing you mention for some games. That always happens. I prefer not to spend $400 on a new beast every 4 or 5 years. If I did, I'd just be a PC gamer.

[neoadorable]

I actually prefer the longer life span. A shorter life isn't going to prevent the Watchdogs thing you mention for some games. That always happens. I prefer not to spend $400 on a new beast every 4 or 5 years. If I did, I'd just be a PC gamer.

 

Of course, completely understand you. I don't mind buying new hardware if i can afford it, which is far from a given. And there's no guarantee that hastily upgraded games won't happen even with shorter lifespans. But shorter cycles may minimize this problem, as developers won't get too comfy. At this point you have entire studios that can do a 360 game in their sleep, basically. Overall, i've always preferred shorter cycles, and have always been a console and computer/PC gamer. But i understand not everyone wants this.

[Anthony Tosie Veteran]

Yeah, 3 and 4 would just get a resolution and FPS bump, the textures are already high res compared to 1 & 2.

Of course, in 10 years time when we're all playing 4k @ 60fps games on our Xbox Two and PS5, then we could see a HD remake.

In a recent GameStop video, 343 said there will be some other improvements, such as lighting.

[The_Decryptor Veteran]

In a recent GameStop video, 343 said there will be some other improvements, such as lighting.

 

Cool, we're much better at lighting these days than we used too. 

With them both using more standard hardware (though there's still custom parts in there as well) they could release a new system faster and probably keep backwards compatibility this time around.   As long as we're talking x86 not changing then I don't see why anything has to break.  Just use faster CPUs and GPUs and call it a day, if we see a XB2 and PS5 in 5 years instead of 8 years then I wouldn't be surprised.

 

R&D costs would be on the low side if little changes IMO.

I don't think x86 will mean anything for gamers or backwards compat (etc.), it also won't make porting to PC easier like some people have claimed (Mainly because games these days aren't written in assembler, they're written in C/C++ with scripting thrown in, it'll easily run on ARM/x86/PPC/etc.)

Last gen all consoles ran PPC, the 360, Wii and PS3 all used IBM cores (Even if the PS3 had a highly customised variant), that really matters is how the hardware functions and how closely tired to the hardware/console OS the games are. Linux, OS X and Windows all run on x86, and all 3 have different APIs to access the hardware, etc.

[BajiRav]

This answered a lot of my questions (discovered on reddit)

 

[The_Decryptor Veteran]

Halo PC maps! I loved Death Island.

Might have to give Spartan Ops another go, was unplayable on the 360 for me and articuno1au.

[Emn1ty]

Welp, I'm getting an X1

[Unrealistic]

This bundle is truly amazing for any Halo fan.

Polygon has a great interview with Frank that describes the bundle/process even more than this graphic.

[+Matthew S. Subscriber²]

#PreOrdered

[Alladaskill17]

Really hope all achievements are single player or co-op, which wouldn't be Microsoft-like for Halo and MP achievements but considering all DLC ever is included maybe a 4000/4000 will be possible!