Halo 2 Coming to Vista PCs

[bapenguin]

Microsoft has officially announced today Halo 2 is coming to the PC Platform. The kicker though? Windows Vista required.

Only for Windows Vista, "Halo 2" will offer gamers both the single-player campaign and multiplayer experience of the original, as well as the additional maps offered in the “Halo 2 Multiplayer Map Pack.” Gamers will also have the exciting opportunity to build, create and customize their own multiplayer levels.
I guess MS is really backing on gamers upgrading to Vista just for this. I don't really see it happening that much. Microsoft has said in the past that it was treating the Vista launch like a console launch. At least this is being done in house and not by a 3rd party. The Halo port was a disaster.

Full Press Release Inside (http://www.evilavatar.com/forums/showthread.php?p=196074#post196074)

Thanks Borys, Ajguy, Oddmaker, Phanto, hideouslywrinkled and RichardTowler for submitting this as well.

[bapenguin]

February 9, 2006

Master Chief Dual-Wields His Way to Windows Vista

“Halo 2,” the award-winning sequel to the instant classic “Halo: Combat Evolved” to make its PC debut on the Windows Vista platform

”Halo 2,” the game that redefined first-person combat and multiplayer action for millions of gamers worldwide, is set to explode onto PCs exclusively for Windows Vista. ”Halo 2” for Windows Vista will be developed by a dedicated Microsoft Game Studios team in partnership with Bungie Studios.

Only for Windows Vista, "Halo 2" will offer gamers both the single-player campaign and multiplayer experience of the original, as well as the additional maps offered in the “Halo 2 Multiplayer Map Pack.” Gamers will also have the exciting opportunity to build, create and customize their own multiplayer levels.

“Halo: Combat Evolved” and its sequel, “Halo 2,” have achieved phenomenal success on the Xbox video game platform as gamers around the world follow the saga of Master Chief in his battle against the Covenant forces. In 2003, the original “Halo” roared onto Windows PCs. In “Halo 2” for Windows Vista, the action picks up where the first game ended. Master Chief, with the help of a small group of marines, has destroyed the religious artifact and artificial world known as “Halo,” and is making his way back to Earth. There, he and the last surviving Earth forces will mount a titanic struggle against the marauding Covenant enemy. To date, the Halo franchise has sold more than 14.5 million games worldwide with over 600 million hours of multiplayer action logged across Microsoft’s Xbox Live online gaming service.

About Bungie Studios

Bungie Studios was founded in 1991 with two goals: to develop games that combine brilliant technology, beautiful art, intelligent stories and deep gameplay, and then sell enough of those games to achieve its real goal of total world domination. Over the past 10 years it has produced games such as the “Marathon Trilogy,” the first two “Myth” games, and the “Halo” franchise, hailed as classics by critics and gamers around the world. Released in 2004, the award winning “Halo 2” for Xbox has achieved phenomenal success and has sold more than 7.3 million units worldwide. More information on Bungie can be found at http://www.bungie.net/.

About Microsoft Game Studios

Microsoft Game Studios is a leading worldwide publisher and developer of games for the Xbox® and Xbox 360™ video game systems, the Windows® operating system and online platforms. Comprising a network of top developers, Microsoft Game Studios is committed to creating innovative and diverse games for Windows (http://www.microsoft.com/games), including such franchises as “Age of Empires®,” “Flight Simulator” and “Zoo Tycoon®;” Xbox and Xbox 360 (http://www.xbox.com), including such games as the upcoming “Gears of War” and franchises such as “Halo®,” “Fable®,” “Project Gotham Racing®” and “Forza Motorsport™”; and MSN® Games (http://www.games.msn.com), the official games channel for the MSN network and home to such hits as “Bejeweled” and “Hexic®.”

[Oddmaker]

Bah just posted this 1 minute ago :P

On topic: I hope it isnt going to be as bad as the halo 1 port :(

[Borys]

Insert BIGGEST LOL EVER here.

Name one PC gamer that cares.

[Magnanimous Gnome]

A port of Halo 2 isn't going to keep me from switching to a Mac with OSX this year, sorry MS. ;)

Will this really get anyone to update to Vista? Surely an Xbox with Halo 2 will be far cheaper. :p


P.S. 7 :o

[Varsity]

Unless it has a reason to be Vista-only (DX10 or something) I doubt any attempts to restrict it will prove much of a stumbling block.

Thanks Borys, Ajguy, Oddmaker, Phanto, hideouslywrinkled and RichardTowler for submitting this as well.Hah! :p

[goc_sin]

Insert BIGGEST LOL EVER here.

Name one PC gamer that cares.

Too true........

[Montolio]

Insert BIGGEST LOL EVER here.

Name one PC gamer that cares.

I don't know. Haven't we seen a lot people asking for just that around these parts. Wish granted...as long as you have the "right" OS.

[CrashCart]

go to my signatureReported. extra characters

[Nite_Moogle]

Yeah, this sounds about right, Halo 2 will make it out the door for Vista about the time Halo 3 hits shelves for the 360. :P

[fitbabits]

Reported. extra characters
Thanks! :)

[Frogleg Special]

Halo 2 is a little too late. As been said before, with no improvements you better buy an Xbox for this.

Want to see gamers flock to Vista? MMO Mechwarrior 5, and a Sims like game. Sadly MS will never get it. Vista will be a flop.

[Evil_SPanKY]

Definately wont be getting this game then. I have NO plans to upgrade to Vista within the next few years. Shit, I just recently (6 mos ago) built a new PC with SLI 7800's and a 22" LCD. With the whole HDMI issue, no way im dropping into Vista now.

[thecrazyd]

XBox exclusives? Fuck exclusives. Who needs them?

[bapenguin]

XBox exclusives? Fuck exclusives. Who needs them?

Hopefully this is going to be answered shortly. :)

[bapenguin]

Reported. extra characters

And banned.

[Borys]

XBox exclusives? Fuck exclusives. Who needs them?

Still one left - Ninja Gaiden.

I'd kill to play that game.

[Mrbunchypants]

I bet vista comes out with more bugs than xp. :p

As for halo 2. my bet is that some one will write a hack/patch so that you can play it on xp.

after all they did some thing like that with BF2.

[Skjef]

If they give the PC version an ending, I might check it out.

But seriously, I really don't give a flying fuck about Halo 2 PC. Especially if I have to spend $200-300 to upgrade to Vista to play it.

[Mr.Green]

So Borys, basically you submitted this news to troll on it? Convenient. ;)

I hate to break it to you but Halo sold a ton on PC and this one will as well.

[CrashCart]

And banned.Good to hear. Trolling for hits to your click game makes the baby Jesus cry.

And on-topic, I'm not sure if it's a DirectX reason (it ran on the original Xbox, should it really require DX10 on PC?) as someone suggested, but if not.. Doesn't seem like to be a great way to attract people to your new OS. An operating system license is expensive and your incentive for me to switch is Halo 2? Pass.

I've never played the game, but if I really want to play Halo 2 I'm going to go to a friend's house and fire it up, not drop 150 bucks (or however much it costs) on Windows Vista.

[crashedout]

I doubt this will affect Vista sales one way or the other. I plan of upgrading right away for the GUI and media center features but others will have to decide for themselves.

[TheKeck]

Insert BIGGEST LOL EVER here.

Name one PC gamer that cares.

Ha ha, good point.

*PC Gamer Not Caring*

UNLESS... They make it so that PC players can connect to XBox players on live and we can prove once and for all that KB/M is superior! :p

[swiftdraw]

I played HALO on PC and found is very mediocre. Because of that, and I'm about as accurate with console FPS controls as a politician is about gaming, I never liked the HALO series.

Considering the seemingly deep divisions between console gamers and PC gamers, I've no idea what Microsoft is hoping to accomplish by porting a console game to PC. PC gamers won't by Vista (among other reasons) for a ported console game and console gamers aren't about to break into PC gaming for a game they probably already have (provided they've an X-box by now.) Bah. Its their money to waste.

[Stormwatcher]

Erm, Hello???
Of course Vista will sell extremelly well. Like Windows 95 did. Like Windows XP did. Most new machines will ship out with vista, and a big lot of people will upgrade.What the hell are you thinking???
People think console business is the big dog in town... But they got nothing on OS. Bill gates has 50 billion dollars because of DOS, Windows and Office.

I do hope that the transition from XP to vista is trouble free... I hope it doesn't fuck with "older" games like before. Good thing that DX9 is a lot better than the first 6.

I also hope that the performance hit is not too bad.

[DingBat]

Just for interests sake, how was the Halo PC port "a disaster"?

I guess I should admit up front that I enjoyed the game on the PC, but never played the xbox version. The game was good enough that "a disaster" sounds like typical hyperbole.

[jacktion]

Vista is going to be a disaster for MS. People are satisfied with XP. The time and effort to install and learn a new OS is a huge problem for MS. They had a hard time getting people to switch from 2000. MS is truly... teh doomed.

[GrinR]

MS DOOM LOL

(Sorry, this just didn't require more than that...)

[GrinR]

Just for interests sake, how was the Halo PC port "a disaster"?

I guess I should admit up front that I enjoyed the game on the PC, but never played the xbox version. The game was good enough that "a disaster" sounds like typical hyperbole.

It was laggy as fuck for lots of people, and the port itself just didn't look/feel as good. Something was lost in translation from the high-effects / low res xbox version to the low-effects / high res PC.

(as usual)

[AntB]

Instead of Releasing half of a version every time, why don't they SKIP a release and release something fully finished instead of halfway done.

Release 3.1. Release 98se. Release 2000. Release Vista.

[bapenguin]

It was laggy as fuck for lots of people, and the port itself just didn't look/feel as good. Something was lost in translation from the high-effects / low res xbox version to the low-effects / high res PC.

(as usual)

^ What he said. ^

[Borys]

So Borys, basically you submitted this news to troll on it? Convenient. ;)


I'm a newsreporter.

News first, feelings distant second, even if its, very, very bad/ good news.

[killer_dk]

It was laggy as fuck for lots of people, and the port itself just didn't look/feel as good. Something was lost in translation from the high-effects / low res xbox version to the low-effects / high res PC.

(as usual)

i agree , and the frame rate was crappy even on a ATI 9800 Pro, in 2003 :eek:

[ÜberJumper]

What if Microsoft came along and said:

"Buy Windows Vista, get a copy of Halo 2 PC (DirectX 10, list of exclusive bits, etc)"?

[Schnoogs]

Thank god for MSDN subscription...Vista here I come!

[Stormwatcher]

Bah, Vista will sell even if it's crappy and buggy...

[fitbabits]

Bah, Vista will sell even if it's crappy and buggy...
Phew, for a second there I thought your post said, "Bah, PS3 will sell even if it's crappy or buggy..." Not that you'd be wrong. :rolleyes:

[total]

i agree , and the frame rate was crappy even on a ATI 9800 Pro, in 2003 :eek:

I don't know what you guys are on but it ran great on my Athlon 1800+ with a 9800 pro. Now both CPU and Vidcard was overclocked and the RAM had really low timings, but the game ran fine for me. Within the first month or so they had the latency issues resolved for most people (I never had any lag with the game, and I am just on plain jane cable). Maybe you guys were running higher resolutions, but I ran at 1024x768 (best resolution for my slightly older monitor) and it moved just fine for me. Now I'll admit that it was a buggy release (no map builder or anything, but CS: Source was released without one too) but it was ironed out pretty swiftly. I actually still play the game from time to time, and enjoy it plenty. I always hear people knocking Halo PC and wonder, "Have they even played it?"

[novicius]

To most computer shoppers (that's, what, still 90% of them), buying a new computer from Dell or wherever with "Windows" on it isn't going to affect them. They will buy Vista, businesses will follow Office onto Vista Pro, it's just the way it is.

[DirtyChimp]

Vista is going to be a disaster for MS. People are satisfied with XP. The time and effort to install and learn a new OS is a huge problem for MS. They had a hard time getting people to switch from 2000. MS is truly... teh doomed.

you were joking right?

[mightbe]

And banned.

*cackles* Defender of the Orange, Slayer of Noobz.

You made my day.

[Citizen Philip]

Oh golly! Do you hear that folks! All the DRM of Windows Vista PLUS Halo 2! Wow, that is such an awesome reason to upgrade!

I think Borys nailed this shut on the first page.

'hatever.

[total]

Oh golly! Do you hear that folks! All the DRM of Windows Vista PLUS Halo 2! Wow, that is such an awesome reason to upgrade!

I think Borys nailed this shut on the first page.

'hatever.


Hey man, if Vista makes support even easier I am all for it. I have cut my support times down to almost nothing because of XP and me not supporting ME or older MS products. Knock MS all you want, but the average techs life is a hell of a lot easier because of XP.

Honest to God, I am this close to forgetting how to manually set IRQ's in 98.

[mpsmith]

What total said. XP was a god-send, and I'm sure Vista will be just as good if not better. I think they learned their lesson with ME (even though its still probably on several million computers).

[Citizen Philip]

I agree, Vista will be better at tracking anything you download anywhere, that may or may not be yours legally as overzealous DRM software, safely guarded behind Windows access firewalls, thinks it's a good idea to shutdown your access.

So.. what are you doing with your resume? You will be outsourced to Windows: Utopia and your services will no longer be needed. Vista sounds like buying a security guard to watch over your shoulder, for the exclusive interest of the corporations.

I'll pass on that.

[Heretic Machine]

Vista will be a flop.

Are you a retarded monkey? Because I'm pretty sure that only a retarded monkey would believe that a MS OS would be a flop.

[TheKeck]

Are you a retarded monkey? Because I'm pretty sure that only a retarded monkey would believe that a MS OS would be a flop.

And what about a down syndrome armadillo?

[Montolio]

Halo 2: Upgrade Evolved

Sorry couldn't resist it.

[fitbabits]

Halo 2: Upgrade Evolved

Sorry couldn't resist it.
And yet you really should have! :rolleyes:

[ldi222]

Its going to sell well and although not announced I bet it will support a gamepad. I cant wait to get ahold of it and school the m/k guys with my 360 pad so they can make new excuses about console games, halo and FPS control.

[fitbabits]

Its going to sell well and although not announced I bet it will support a gamepad. I cant wait to get ahold of it and school the m/k guys with my 360 pad so they can make new excuses about console games, halo and FPS control.
Someone may already have mentioned this, but fear not on gamepads - the Xbox 360 pad will be compatible with all Microsoft games from this point on (and most other ones as well).

[thecrazyd]

Its going to sell well and although not announced I bet it will support a gamepad. I cant wait to get ahold of it and school the m/k guys with my 360 pad so they can make new excuses about console games, halo and FPS control.
How about you try to use it in a game made for M&KB and see how well you do?

[Zeal]

Whoopdee fuckin' doo.

[pomeroy]

BLAH BLAH KEYBOARDZ AND MOUSES.

Also...Vista just doesn't interest me at all.

Thank you, and goodnite.

[Paranoia]

Halo 2 for PC will sell very well.

[Malovech]

Its going to sell well and although not announced I bet it will support a gamepad. I cant wait to get ahold of it and school the m/k guys with my 360 pad so they can make new excuses about console games, halo and FPS control.

You are living in a dream world. I could destroy the best gamepad player a thousand times over with k/m. There is simply no comparison. It's like puting a f-18 up against a gremlin. No contest.

[Malovech]

I don't know what you guys are on but it ran great on my Athlon 1800+ with a 9800 pro. Now both CPU and Vidcard was overclocked and the RAM had really low timings, but the game ran fine for me. Within the first month or so they had the latency issues resolved for most people (I never had any lag with the game, and I am just on plain jane cable). Maybe you guys were running higher resolutions, but I ran at 1024x768 (best resolution for my slightly older monitor) and it moved just fine for me. Now I'll admit that it was a buggy release (no map builder or anything, but CS: Source was released without one too) but it was ironed out pretty swiftly. I actually still play the game from time to time, and enjoy it plenty. I always hear people knocking Halo PC and wonder, "Have they even played it?"

The real issues with that port wasn't the lag or framerate for me. It was the craptastic controls. If anyone has tried a lik-sang converter on an Xbox you already know the feeling. Like pushing your mouse around over an invisible round ball. Pathetic port.

[Sensei-X]

Apparently this time Bungie will do their own port, unlike Halo which was pretty much just slapped together as an after-thought by Gearbox.

[Wyrm]

Ugh, I was happy about the Halo 2 thing til I read the fucking windows vista part. This is bullshit.

[GoGamer.com - Jason]

Haha I was right! I called it. My sensory skills are beyond doubt! LOL

Jason

[Wyrm]

Also, I'm an avid console FPS gamer, and a PC FPS gamer, and even though I love playing FPS games on consoles, the PC wins out for control superiority. There just isnt a comparison when you can aim so much more precisely on a k/m setup. Of course, I've never been able to play an FPS on the PS2 because of how bad the controls suck. I just hate the way the controller is laid out for an FPS. The xbox controller on the other hand, has a great layout for that sort of thing.

Bleh, I hate that they are doing this vista thing though...

[Thenetcase]

you guys will all buy Vista anyways when you see how fast games are going to run on it. Apparently with the new Direct X API (which isn't called DirectX anymore) the platform will improve the way Windows runs games by 200% or more. Apparently they are already getting close on games that actually support Vista. ;) ;)

-TNC-

[ElectricMonk]

i don't see how making dx10 vista-only will help them at all
it will just slow down adoption of dx10 features as people continue to make games under dx9 for compatibility purposes

it seems like ms might be inventing reasons for people to switch to vista. i'm happy with xp. i don't want to shell out $300 for an unnecessary upgrade. unless vista truly and utterly rocks i don't see myself paying for it.

[GrinR]

You are living in a dream world. I could destroy the best gamepad player a thousand times over with k/m. There is simply no comparison. It's like puting a f-18 up against a gremlin. No contest.

You are living in a dream world. I could destroy the best k/m player a thousand times over with a gamepad. There is simply no comparison. It's like puting a f-18 up against a gremlin. No contest.


INVERSE POST: ACTIVATED!!!

form of - end of argument!

[Wyrm]

Yeah, I'm mainly concerned with the cost of that upgrade. I cannot justify paying 300 bucks to play one game a second time. I did it once already with the xbox to play the Halo games (and I found a few others I liked along the way), but I wont do it again. This will sell like ASS if they do put it out only for vista.

If vista is cool, and it costs a hundred bucks, I'll do it. But that's a dream that wont come true. :/

[Magnanimous Gnome]

Vista will of course sell, but how well is a mystery. PC sales are WAY down from even a few years ago, and MS is surely very worried about adoption rates for Vista. I wouldn't be surprised to see them entirely cut support for XP early on in an effort to get more people to switch.

Most of the earlier Windows versions did as well as they did because tons of people were buying PCs, and the versions (well the major upgrades anyway) addressed some major needs of PC users.

Vista is coming out at a time when PC sales are majorly lagging, and the OS doesn't seem to offer a whole lot that couldn't be done on XP.

P.S. 3 :D

[Frogleg Special]

You are living in a dream world. I could destroy the best k/m player a thousand times over with a gamepad. There is simply no comparison. It's like puting a f-18 up against a gremlin. No contest.


INVERSE POST: ACTIVATED!!!

form of - end of argument!

But yours is a logical fallacy. Heh.

[Zeal]

HALO 3

The Battle for Earth Begins.

::Liberty Shield::

[Frogleg Special]

Vista will of course sell, but how well is a mystery. PC sales are WAY down from even a few years ago, and MS is surely very worried about adoption rates for Vista. I wouldn't be surprised to see them entirely cut support for XP early on in an effort to get more people to switch.


If the indication of the increasing numbers of Luddites "I am content with Yahoo Messenger, Windows ME, and gaming console XboxPS360Rev oh yeah!! To hell with new PC" are true, then MS would be in trouble this time. Vista may sell many units, but will it exceed MS projection?

To sell Vista, MS have to:
1. Bind functionality of the newest version of Office with Vista.
2. Bind availability of IE 7 with Vista.
3. Bind availability of DirectX 10 with Vista.
4. Sell new, never seen before killer-app games only in Vista.

An offer that customers can't refuse. Even for the cheap luddite.

[mightbe]

Are you a retarded monkey? Because I'm pretty sure that only a retarded monkey would believe that a MS OS would be a flop.

*can't resist*
But what about Microsoft Bob?
*cackles insanely*

[Evil Avatar]

If the indication of the increasing numbers of Luddites "I am content with Yahoo Messenger, Windows ME, and gaming console XboxPS360Rev oh yeah!! To hell with new PC" are true, then MS would be in trouble this time. Vista may sell many units, but will it exceed MS projection?

All Microsoft will have to do to sell copies of Vista is what they did with Windows 95/98/ME/XP... they discontinue the discount version of the earlier product and sell the "bundled" version to computer manufacturers at a significant discount while raising the price to full retail on anyone who wants to continue to ship PC's with Windows XP.

In six months, it will be impossible to buy a new PC without Vista.

It goes like this... when you build computers you only pay like $20.00 a copy (or less) for the bundled copy of Windows XP that you throw on your computers. This is the same product the rest of us had to purchase for $175 or so at retail.

While you are doing that with Vista, you discontinue the budget $20.00 version of the earlier product so that any manufacturer who wants to bundle Windows XP with a new PC will have to pay full retail price for it.

In time, they will have moved millions of copies.

I'll just do what I did with Windows XP... I'll wait at least a year or more for them to work out all the bugs and then pick up a copy when (if?) I build a new PC.

Lucky for me, with fewer AAA PC games coming out every year I'm not in as much of a rush to upgrade any more. (Or a simple way to say it would be "With fewer id Software titles coming out every year and the quality of said id Software titles dropping..." It always seemed like it was id Software that drove my upgrading habits, but after DOOM 3, I won't be in as much of a hurry to upgrade for their next title.)

[Frogleg Special]

Lucky for me, with fewer AAA PC games coming out every year I'm not in as much of a rush to upgrade any more. (Or a simple way to say it would be "With fewer id Software titles coming out every year and the quality of said id Software titles dropping..." It always seemed like it was id Software that drove my upgrading habits, but after DOOM 3, I won't be in as much of a hurry to upgrade for their next title.)

As little as 2 AAA titles should be enough to entice gamers (maybe not you, EA). The list could be like this:

1. Mechwarrior 5, MMO
2. MMOFPS made by Epic
3. American Sims, a Sims game set in real-world USA with the help of Mappoint
4. Freelancer 2, MMO

PC gaming strength is still online, in-depth gaming and would be much apparent if PC Live is succesful. Constant aftersales fee like WOW or online buyable addons similar to what's available over Steam is needed to create AAA game.