As one of the strongest titles in the Xbox library, Bungie's Halo 2 has been notably absent from Microsoft's "Platinum Hits" series, which features high-selling games at reduced prices a few years after their release. Now, it seems that Halo 2 has finally gone "platinum," with the required ugly box art remix, and an expected price drop down to $19.99 USD. Said ugly box art remix was recently added to Microsoft's press site.
Currently priced at $29.99, Halo 2's inception into the Platinum Hits would certainly be a good thing in terms of price. The bad side? The slick cover art of Master Chief has been cropped to make way for all the Platinum Hits gobbledeegook, and includes a big ugly inset reminding everyone that it's the "Best Selling Xbox Game Ever." The new box also reminds players that Halo 2 is playable on 360 (provided you have a hard drive).
If you have yet to pick up this modern classic, the price drop certainly makes it a good time to reconsider a purchase. When this beauty hits brick-and-mortar shelves, though, we recommend hunting down the old-box versions and requesting the new lower price. Nothing says "uncool" like owning the "greatest hits" version.
[Update: Microsoft has confirmed the news. An official announcement is forthcoming.]
Amidst the hub-bub of the Tokyo Game Show, Microsoft has released some new statistics and numbers regarding the Xbox 360, which will have its second birthday this November. Worth noting are the stats on Xbox Live, which Microsoft reports has over 7 million subscribers so far, with 10 million anticipated by June of 2008.
According to the stats, the original Xbox's Halo 2 is still the most-played title on Xbox Live, followed by Epic's Gears of War. On Xbox Live Arcade, Aegis Wing is the most widely downloaded title, with family card classic Uno coming in second. It's clear that Microsoft considers Live to be the 360's killer app, boasting that 70% of connected console users download and play XBLA games. In terms of social networking, Microsoft is proud to have 2.6 million text and voice messages sent over their service every day, and claims that the average Live Gold user has 23 friends listed. It's no MySpace, but maybe that's a good thing...
Warning, video language is not remotely safe for work, small children, or people operating heavy machinery.
Ladies and gentlemen, Master Chief is back. This time he's in for a double whammy, learning that The Arbiter taped over his movies with episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond, and finding out that the Halo 3 beta has expired. Poor Master Chief.
He tries to soothe the pain with some Halo 2 action, and also serves up today's video in the process. It's not quite as good as the original (not enough Master Chief laughing lolololololololololz), but it'll kill some time between now and the release of the retail version, which looms ever closer.
An adventurous and skillful modder has managed to turn a Wii remote into an Xbox 360 controller with middleware help from the PS2 control scheme -- it's as if all the console makers are working in harmony for this one hack. Try humming this to the tune of "Dem Bones" (actually, don't, because we're not even going to try to fit the rhyme scheme):
The Xbox 360 is connected to the XFPS PS2 to 360 adapter
... which is connected to a big black box Microcontroller "with custom firmware emulating a PS2 controller"
... which is connected to a Samsung Q1 PC with custom Wii remote firmware
... which is connected via Bluetooth to the Wii remote itself.
Full details of the process can be found here. A video demonstration is embedded after the break that not only shows the control scheme work with Halo 2 but also the thought put into making it a comfortable and viable control scheme (such as anti-acceleration and smoothing algorithms).
A Halo 2 tournament occuring at a Chicago area library has sparked some criticism, according to Daily Herald. Dr. David Walsh of the National Institute on Media and the Family (NIMF) has taken issue with the permission slip that does "not spell out" that the shooter is rated M by the ESRB.
"I think it borders on irresponsibility for a public library to sponsor an activity for kids as young as 12 that the industry itself has said is for adults," he said.
The library's director Marilyn Genther stands by its tournament, which was recommend by the library's teen council, saying it's the responsibility of their parents to know what their kids are doing. Said teen director Rose Allen, "I've talked to a number of parents who thanked me for having the tournament. They said their son now wants to come to the library." Maybe it should be mentioned on the permission slip that Halo 2 is rated M, but compared to other M-rated games, it could be a lot worse. The tournament is scheduled for Sunday at the Mount Prospect Public Library.
Beating Falling Leaf to the punch, members of the hacking group Razor1911 have managed to hack the Vista-only Shadowrun to work on Windows XP, the Inquirer reports. The crack, weighing in at less than 5 MB, reportedly removes the need for DirectX 10. (No, we're not linking to it -- you can find it yourself.)
With the crack, you can only play single-player against bots or multiplayer LAN games. Falling Leaf, who has stated they will be providing free code for those who purchase the game on Amazon via their pre-order page, still estimates cracks for Vista-only Shadowrun and Halo 2 by "late July."
Microsoft, for lack of better explanation, sent Shadowrun out to die last month. Not only was it released during the Halo 3 Beta, but on the same day as the considerably more anticipated racer, Forza Motorsport 2. And while it's too early to decide whether the suicide mission was a success or not (depending on how you look at it), Circuit City is dumping their Vista copies of Shadowrun for "free," as long as you don't mind it piggy-backing Halo 2 Vista for $39.99.
Shadowrun, like an episode of Ugly Betty, is proof that underneath it all is something worth getting to know, but not something worth getting for more than $20. Still, judging from reviews, this could be a way to get folks to spend their money, officially, on the much debated Halo 2 Vista port.
Regardless of whichever way you see it: $40 bucks for Halo 2 Vista or a free copy of Shadowrun, there seems to be a loser somewhere in this scenario.
Falling Leaf Studios is mad as hell and not going to take it anymore. What has caused them ire? Microsoft making Halo 2 and ShadowrunVista-only. So they decided to make them XP-compatible.
The company is promising that if you buy one of the games through Amazon via the links on their page, then they will send you for free their initial release of compatibility software that will let you"run these Windows Vista titles on Windows XP," they claim.
Said Falling Leaf Systems CEO Brian Thomason, "first [Microsoft] claim that it was impossible to implement DirectX 10 compatibility atop Windows XP, and now they also want us to believe that they couldn't successfully launch two DirectX 9 based titles on XP either. We plan to expose both theories as patently false."
We're not sure if the software will work as planned, or how Microsoft might try to prevent the games from going online. The expected shipment date is "within a few months," according to their press release; the pre-order page estimates late July.
Another week, another batch of games to steal your time and money in exchange for a few moments of fun. We love it. The big news comes from two magic words under the PC release list: Halo 2. After several delays, including the most recent one involving nudity, Vista owners can finally get their Halo on.
Adventure gamers also have something to celebrate this week, as Secrets of Atlantis is hitting the PC in just a few days. Finally, Surf's Up is ready to make a huge splash, drenching every console with its fishy movie tie-in stench.
Read on for a few dozen other excuses to play hooky.
Whoops! So, Halo 2missedboth of its Vista release dates, also missing the opportunity to be called the first Games for Windows Live-enabled title (that honor now belongs to Shadowrun). Their first excuse was the relatively banal: we need to "make some improvements to the install experience and address other technical issues." Their newest excuse? Oh, it's much juicier than that. According to GameDaily BIZ, this second delay was due to "an unfortunate, obscure content error which includes partial nudity." Oh yeah, cue the chanting monks, we're imagining some Hot Coffee style minigames with Master Chief and the Arbiter.
Microsoft has updated the packaging and is making a patch available at Halo2.com to remove the content in question. Future releases will have the content removed. What was the content? Do you really want to know? According to the ESRB: "a photograph of an individual showing his bare backside to the user when a particular error occurs." Oh Microsoft, you could have made this so much more scandalous if you only tried harder.
After a long wait, Halo2 is coming to Windows Vista-equipped PCs June 8 in Europe; the North American version, which was originally pushed back to May 22 but obviously missed that mark, will arrive May 31. The game will retail for £34.99 / $49.99, respectively.
When reached for comment, a spokesperson for Microsoft said, "Halo 2 for Windows Vista did not release to retailers on May 22, as previously announced and will now ship from manufacturers on May 31. Shadowrun will be the first game to debut the highly anticipated Games for Windows – LIVE system on May 29. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused our customers."
PC gamers have been waiting over two and a half years for Halo 2 to break free from its console chains. Xbox 360 users are currently enjoying the Halo 3 beta. Those who did not get into the beta can check out our sister site Xbox 360 Fanboy for extensive beta coverage.
It's May 8th. Today marks the anniversary of Ghandi's 21-day fast and VE Day, the births of luminaries like Saul Bass and Edmund Wilson, and (to a somewhat lesser extent) the planned release of Halo 2 for Windows Vista. Unfortunately, that date is ... well, it's today and Halo 2 is not in our weekly round-up of new games releases signifying its absence on retailers yearning shelves. The rationale: Microsoft needed to "make some improvements to the install experience and address other technical issues."
The new release date is May 22nd, which of course marks the seventeenth anniversary of the release of the Windows 3.0 operating system. Now there's some corporate synergy for you! But what about May 16th ... what happens on May 16th again? Ah, Pierce Brosnan's birthday. We knew it was important.
You know about the Red Bull Flugtag, right? Chances are you've probably seen a commercial for it on TV, watching as hapless inventors and goofballs try to make their man-made craft soar through the air.
Well, you Halo fans will have a reason to watch if the voting goes your way. One special craft vying for the wild card spot at the Nashville Flugtag is the Halo 2 GhostBike. Get over there and vote for it, and watch that baby take some sweet jumps. Plasma cannons appear to be optional, let's hope he removed 'em for flight.
They even have a pretty addictive little Flash game on their website where you can try your hand at flying.
A brief update for those of you fidgeting with downloading the Halo 2 Blastacular maps: You can stop cursing the screen, put down the mallet, and quietly pick up the controller to try one. more. time. to get those little buggers off of Microsoft's uncooperative servers and onto your yearning Xbox. Bungie explains what the problems were but, to be honest, we weren't listening. We were busy pondering their promise to "accelerate the maps' introduction into matchmaking."
It's been a long, hard week, baby. Why don't you slip off your shoes, get comfortable and fire up that Xbox 360. Did you know there were new maps for Halo 2released this week? Ah, of course you did. I know you've been coursing your way through every orifice, understanding the finer points of each arena and I appreciate that.
Well, I just wanted you to know that tonight, we're going to the break of dawn, baby. It's just you, me, and thousands of our friends doing it at the same time. It's an Xbox All-Nighter and it's all about Halo 2. That's right. So bring a rocket launcher and don't forget to leave your cash on the night stand. Those maps still cost money, you know.
As one of the strongest titles in the Xbox library, Bungie's Halo 2 has been notably absent from Microsoft's "Platinum Hits" series, which features high-selling games at reduced prices a few years after their release. Now, it seems that Halo 2 has finally gone "platinum," with the required ugly box art remix, and an expected price drop down to $19.99 USD. Said ugly box art remix was recently added to Microsoft's press site.
_thumbnail.jpg "i am 8-bit: 2008")
