Surprise! Mattrick says Bungie working on new Halo game

by Christopher Grant { Jul 16th 2008 at 5:16AM }

In an interview with MTV News, Xbox bossman Don Mattrick confirmed that Bungie was indeed working on a new Halo game for Microsoft Game Studios. Asked to clarify if this project was either Ensemble Studios' upcoming Halo Wars or the still mysterious Peter Jackson Halo Chronicles project, Mattrick said neither. Evidently, this would be another Halo game. We know, you're shocked.

The real question is: Is Mattrick talking about the long-rumored Halo Recon Advanced Warfighter title or the recently teased game whose announcement was unceremoniously canceled? Or perhaps those two are one and the same? Regardless, Mattrick wasn't sharing that info; he quickly changed the subject.

Tags: Bungie, Don-Mattrick, E3-2008, Halo

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

tc @ Jul 16th 2008 5:19AM

no bandicoots?

TheOverlord#2 can has Animals Crossing? @ Jul 16th 2008 11:38AM

Crash Bandicoot Blue

Sledgehammer44mm @ Jul 16th 2008 5:26AM

Good news! All good things.

Parsnipzilla @ Jul 16th 2008 5:36AM

Crash Team Halo!

A Pissed-off English Gamer @ Jul 16th 2008 5:37AM

Man, those guys have been working on the same game for-fucking-ever. And now we hear the shocking news that they're still working on it (as in the, Halo projects in general). I hope they're planning on doing something at least slightly innovative, cus there wasn't a tremendous amount different between Halo 2 and 3, so if the same's true for 4 we'll just have an over-priced graphics overhaul on our hands... Again.

Wise Guy @ Jul 16th 2008 9:10AM

You must have been one of the ones that quit Halo 3 too early to see it had much better features, games, and replay value over Halo 2. If a graphics overhaul is all you saw... you obviously weren't into it in the first place.

Deatharea @ Jul 16th 2008 10:26AM

I stuck around for that stuff....and wasn't to impressed.

Imaginationland Warrior @ Jul 16th 2008 10:31AM

Yeah Wise Guy, the single player was to put it nicely, dull.

Vcize @ Jul 16th 2008 10:45AM

Bungie has released 3 Halo games.

Infinity Ward has released how many Call of Duty games? Yet, no one will be "OMG do something else!" when the next iteration of that by them is announced.

Jakka @ Jul 16th 2008 11:53AM

@ Vcize

Especially that each Halo game was far different compared to how similar CoD series is.

Tiptup300 @ Jul 16th 2008 12:45PM

The halo games are obviously toned down for the mainstream audience. Read the books, you'll have a great time!

J-rock @ Jul 16th 2008 6:33PM

To me, halo 3 was nothing but a huge graphics haul with an entirely new story to follow...

Which... I think.. if we start crunching numbers and getting into technicalities, makes it an entirely new game? Worthy of 60 bucks?

Ghostbuddy @ Jul 16th 2008 6:04AM

Where did my other comment go?

Bungie is working on more then one project, atleast two.

I don't think this was the one to be announced.

And to that other guy. Take a chill pill. Seriously. Don't like Halo. Find get over it. But don't spaz out like some one killed your dog. They worked hard on the game. Its not fair to exaggerate the facts to that extreme, when you consider all the long nights they had to work at crunch time. Don't like it, that fine. Say so if it makes you feel better, but leave it at that.

ComicShaman @ Jul 16th 2008 9:23AM

You think they're working on a couple other projects? Well, maybe they hired a bunch of new people. Bungie does many things very well, but producing games quickly is not one of them. They have a hard enough time hitting deadlines while they're only working on one thing. I can't see that getting any better if they start multitasking.

GenBanks @ Jul 16th 2008 7:04AM

First though, where is Halo 3 for PC?

DangerMouse @ Jul 16th 2008 9:52AM

Probably another exclusive for Windows 7.

GenBanks @ Jul 16th 2008 9:54AM

Yeah, they seem to wait until each Halo game is totally unexciting before they release them on PC.

AlwaysOn @ Jul 16th 2008 7:21AM

I know that in the past MS had a show callex x06 and what not depending on the year, is that show still alive? I think it was a euro show so if that is still alive this year maybe they kept Bungies game to show it off there?

BMErdin @ Jul 16th 2008 7:36AM

LEGO Halo!

Vcize @ Jul 16th 2008 10:43AM

That would be awesome.

Worst April Fool's joke ever :(

gamesrule_0 @ Aug 6th 2008 10:40AM

Lego Halo is real. No Joke!

killploki @ Jul 16th 2008 7:51AM

i thought i remembered hearing something a while ago about the studio breaking into two groups, one was to continue working on the halo franchise while the other half was going to create new games.....anyone else hear of this?

Rawnblade @ Jul 16th 2008 7:54AM

This e3 is just another underwhelming disappointment after the next.

Duke @ Jul 16th 2008 9:48AM

How does this comment fit in? The guy says they are making another Halo game, and this is where you point out that it was all a bunch of disappointments? Great attitude you have there.

Deatharea @ Jul 16th 2008 10:28AM

I agree, very disappointing

TheOverlord#2 can has Animals Crossing? @ Jul 16th 2008 11:35AM

Well, I just try not to look at it that way and be happy with what we get.
(Hey! A Rock Puppy! http://www.gaiaonline.com/p/theoverlord2)

Levi @ Jul 16th 2008 8:37AM

What kind of weird portmanteau name is Mattrick? It's like Matthew and Patrick joined together as one. If the saying "don't trust anyone who's last name is also a first name" is true, watch out for this guy!

marcel @ Jul 16th 2008 8:42AM

good times e3 rules

Wise Guy @ Jul 16th 2008 9:10AM

Why does everyone hate on Halo 3 so much comparing it to a Halo 2.5??? Those who trash talk it and talk about only slightly prettier graphics, nothings changed... blah blah blah... never really stuck with it, found it too hard, or are die hard PC shooter fans. I'm still hooked on Halo 3 after almost a year. New maps, playlists, online stats, forge, theater... all those things add longevity and replay to the game and keeps me coming back. WHAT ABOUT ALL THE ANNOYING TRASH TALKERS???? You'll find that in any game and you can mute individuals or everyone.. so that's just another excuse to hate. This game is still fun. Anyone that says otherwise was never really into the series or prefers something more accessible like COD4. Speaking of which... there's a series that earns praises and has never done anything drastically different over previous installments!!

tc @ Jul 16th 2008 9:29AM

"Anyone that says otherwise was never really into the series"

That's simply not true. It's very evident that many people who enjoyed the previous titles did not find Halo 3 as amazing as you claim. You wouldn't even be making that rant if there were no people in that category.

chris @ Jul 16th 2008 9:50AM

I definitely agree. It seems the internet trend lately has been to hate on Halo games, but really they're good, solid games who have a very long playability. They're not as real looking as some games, but Bungie never intended them to be. Five or six years after first picking up a Halo game, I still get those "Oh, shit!" moments when playing matchmaking.

Also, this whole lack of announcement was a huge bummer. Maybe, if they are being stonewalled by Microsoft, Bungie will conveniently "let something slip"?

Vcize @ Jul 16th 2008 10:50AM

TC, the vast majority of people that hate on Halo 3 for being too similar to Halo 2 fall into two categories:

1. They were never really into the Halo franchise, but use it as an excuse to hate on the game because it's popular. "Enjoy your Haloz 2.5 LOLZ!!"

2. They were casually into the series, and played Halo 2 for a month or so and didn't were looking for a totally different game out of Halo 3.

Sure there are exceptions, but most real fans of games don't want sequels that completely redefine the way the game plays, otherwise they wouldn't have been fans of the original game in the first place. Halo 3 had PLENTY of changes from Halo 2 for a sequel, it's not like it was R6V2 we're talking here.

Think of it this way. How many hardcore CoD4 fans do you think would rather see some totally new sci-fi based CoD6 shooter over a pure sequel to CoD4 that keeps the same modern warfare setting and engine? The answer: Not very many, just go look in any of the blog posts that allude to the new CoD6 setting.

Vcize @ Jul 16th 2008 10:51AM

Errr, that should say "one of two categories"

Misfit Toy @ Jul 16th 2008 9:16AM

Wow, seems like a pretty casual way to release such big news.

Bryan @ Jul 16th 2008 9:41AM

*sigh*

So much for a new IP.

Bryan @ Jul 16th 2008 9:41AM

*sigh*

So much for a new IP.

Dwag @ Jul 16th 2008 9:48AM

Hopefully we have exploding body parts and blood in the next halo(not Halo 4).

shivr @ Jul 16th 2008 10:10AM

aww thats kinda sad... you'd think they'd get to work on something new now...

Jeremy @ Jul 16th 2008 10:22AM

Saw this on Digg:

"I am going to toss out a theory on this, it's more than just a new Halo game...it's also about the motion controller.

EGM magazine said it over a year ago; Bungie is working on a new Halo game that will be bundled with a motion controller, see the EGM magazine clip for yourself here: http://arcade-junkies.com/2008/07/e3-2008-set-to-bring-wii-like-gaming-to-next-gen-consoles/

Nintendo revealed their Wiimote 1:1 add-on before Microsoft's press conference. Why? Because their intel told them that Microsoft was releasing one with true 1:1 control. Nintendo eludes to the fact that they knew others would follow what they're doing several times during their press conference, saying that they can't just sit still on their success.

Microsoft also suspected that Sony was revealing a motion controller, so they thought 'let's see what Sony reveals first, and we'll reveal ours after them on Wednesday to steal back the thunder'.

Think about this last point; every single major Microsoft leak came true (Avatars, Lips, and even the 3D dashboard) accept the biggest one of them all, the motion controller."

juju187 @ Jul 16th 2008 10:30AM

why did they silence bungie?
this news was/is Gold. it's gonna sell regardless i guess...

Billy @ Jul 16th 2008 10:33AM

Wow, just what the world needs, another game in the most overhyped, piece of crap series of all time. Thanks Bungie!

Mutagenaric @ Jul 16th 2008 12:17PM

Wow, half of your recent comments are bashing Halo 3, Billy. Did it... did it molest you? Do you have some sort of mental gag-reflex against games with titles referencing angels? Seriously. I'm going to go ahead and say that Call of Duty goes into the worst series of all time, because you seem to like it. Also, faux-realism annoys me.

I don't even have Xbox Live, and I still enjoy Halo games. Yes, that includes singleplayer (split-screen co-op). Maybe I'm just easier to please than other people? That's not likely, I still can't see what there is to get excited about in Resistance 2 (Having huge bosses got old for me back during Metroid Prime 2).

Well, I'd like a more tactics-oriented Halo game, but I'd not want the fast-paced feel to leave. Hopefully, the game will include better (AKA not terrible) AI and some incentive to play as a team on multiplayer (I have PLAYED it on Xbox Live once before, and, coming from a PC online gamer, the game was fun but not very cooperative).

In conclusion, the minus button is the one on the left. Feel free to use it, I know I do!