Halo 2 Available on the Net

syberanarchy writes "Gamespot reports that Halo 2 has already been leaked to the internet via French newsgroups and P2P networks, almost a month before release! Any chance this bombshell move could force MS/Bungie to push up the release date?" See also gamesindustry.biz and The Register.

Bittorrent...

[Anonymous Coward]

Yep, I've seen a bittorrent for the PAL version of Halo 2 already. I don't think that'll ever work for people of the USA, but it might be a cause to move Europe's release dates up.

As for me, I'm buying it anyway- I want the limited edition copy with the metal case and behind the scenes DVD.

Re:Up the release? Nah.

[truz24]

dvd burner, modded xbox, its a dvd9 release of the game meaning it won't fit on a regular dvd5 dvd. So if you don't have a DVD9 burner(which most people don't at this point) you have to either copy it onto your XBox or find someone that has a DVD9 burner.

BBC article also

[hereschenes]

Here. [bbc.co.uk]

Re:Up the release? Nah.

[bo0ork]

Halo.2.DVD5.Kit.READNFO.XBOX-iND

This little kit automatically will Make The Halo 2 DVD9 into a DVD5. all you do is extract all the files to where you have diff-hl2.iso and then click halo2dvd5.bat - it will unpack the ISO, Remove 1 movie [attractions] and Repack it to make it a DVD5..it also removes dashupdate.xbe.

then simply burn Halo2_DVD5.iso!

the next question, why? Because im sure some credit whoring group would come along, and release a Rip of it calling it a DVD5..

so why let some credit whores release another 4.3gb, when ive done whats needed in 30kb? =)

on another note.

Hey GGS, is this Rip 'Xbox-Live Compatible' too? ;)

make sure you have a bit of free drive space, it needs a temp dir [which it removes afterwards] to do its work.

Get it from here

[Anonymous Coward]

http://66.90.75.92/suprnova//torrents/2787/Halo_2_ DVD9_PAL_XBOXDVD-DiFFUSiON.torrent [66.90.75.92]

This is simply untrue

[Killjoy_NL]

"It should be noted that players who download the game illegally could face a maximum penalty of $100,000 per infringement for copyright violations."

In the Netherlands at least it's legal to download, but illegal to upload stuff like this.

I'd like to see them try to extradite an infringer. :P

Re:So?

[FinestLittleSpace]

actually, they will... you just have to disable the mod chip.

Re:They deserve it

[Yolegoman]

They have not once pushed the date back. Every rumor about release dates, aside from the official one at E3 2004, were just that, rumors. Mostly ones generated by gaming sites and whatnot.

As for trailers, you're nuts. Of course they want to tease us. It's called marketting.

Re:Bittorrent...

[alatesystems]

It has English subtitles.

Re:This is simply untrue

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, it should be noted that downloading software is also illegal under dutch law. (it has a special clause for it in the law).

Downloading music is not illegal in .nl.

Are you stupid? Or never actually bought a game?

[SmallFurryCreature]

The game has gone gold. What this means that the game as it will be sold in the box in the shop is ready for publication.

This doesn't mean the game is completly finished. For instance localization, translating to different languages. Age verification. Box cover printed. Manual translated and printed. And of course the game image created and cd's pressed.

Then all the parts got to come together and be shipped all over the place.

This all takes time and the real potential of delay. Say you discover that the final image your ready to press has a flaw. Have to do it all over again. Then telling the audience that, sorry it gonna be delayed 2 days is impossible. All those ads "on sale on XXXX-XX-XX" will be wrong.

Just because a game is ready for sale does not mean it is immidiatly in a shop.

Re:Bittorrent...

[Raven15]

Agreed. Halo single player is fun (and the primary reason I personally play), but the original Halo's longevity is from the multiplayer. It would be nice if Bungie/MS would take the view that this is just going to create some user-based hype in the long run.

Re:Bittorrent...

[alset_tech]

Rather, they will buy legit copies of Halo 2, and pay the developers the respect, and money, that they deserve for producing such an awesome game. People who steal from Bungie are not true Halo fans.

Not intended as a troll, and though offtopic, I believe this to be an important and defining trait among many in the /. community, deserving attention.

Music can't be stolen, but software can. Why?