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First Person Shooters (Games) PC Games (Games) XBox (Games) Entertainment Games

Halo PC Goes Gold, Producer Quizzed 68

Posted by simoniker from the round-glowing-feeling-in-stomach dept.
Scorpion_1169 writes "According to Bungie.org, Microsoft/Gearbox's long-awaited version of Halo for the PC has gone gold, and is scheduled to hit store shelves on September 30th." There's also an interview with Bungie producer Michel Bastien over at Bungie.net, answering questions such as who might have leaked a Beta version of Halo online ("Nah, we don't know who it was. It really sucks because this build was not the most glorious build we've put together"), and the existence of easter eggs ("Like the Xbox game, you want to play through 'The Maw' on Legendary. We've got a couple of well-kept surprises, which, hopefully, we can roll out in the future...")
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Halo PC Goes Gold, Producer Quizzed More

Halo PC Goes Gold, Producer Quizzed

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  • I guess I'm slow...
    How does it "go gold" before it hits the shelves??

    • Re:Gold? (Score:3, Informative)

      by PainKilleR-CE ( 597083 )
      In terms of software (for both computers and consoles) the term 'go gold' refers to the 'gold master' from which all retail discs are duplicated (well, more accurately, discs are made from the master which are used to make the retail discs).

      In other words, software can't hit the shelves until it's gone gold. Usually, depending on the time it takes for duplication and shipping, it'll hit the shelves 1-2 weeks after it goes gold.

      As for terms related to number of sales, those are pretty arbitrary, depending

    • Re:Gold? (Score:5, Informative)

      by Goldsmith ( 561202 ) on Monday September 15, 2003 @01:46PM (#6966386)
      "Go gold" refers to the production of a master CD of the program from which all other versions are copied. The master CD is usually gold foil (instead of the normal aluminum).

  • This is the world of Mac gaming.. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Dutchmaan ( 442553 ) on Monday September 15, 2003 @01:54PM (#6966463) Homepage
    Being a former mac gamer, this is exactly what PC game developers did to the mac platform... and I don't need to tell you the state of mac gaming these days in respect to the number of titles available.

    It isn't all that surprising to me that Halo PC has been released roughly three? years after the Xbox version was released, when Halo2 is almost done for XBox.

    While MS isn't really trying to kill of PC gaming, it's surely depriving it of a good dose of oxygen..as far as MS game titles are concerned.

    I'm not fearing for PC gaming yet, but it seems that there is more pressure to switch to a console these days..

    This post is of course IMHO.

    • Re:This is the world of Mac gaming.. (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Dot.Com.CEO ( 624226 ) * on Monday September 15, 2003 @02:10PM (#6966641)
      Half Life 2

      Doom 3

      Deusex 2

      Jedi Academy

      Homeworld 2

      Call of duty

      I can name twice as many games that are coming out on the PC - games that are not only good, but are eagerly expected and they are coming out in the next 6 months. Xbox owners are looking forward to Halo 2, PS2 GT4 and a few other first rate games, and Gamecube owners are waiting for a miracle. Owning everything on the list, I am sincere when I say that there is NOTHING coming close to the choice PC owners will have in the next 6 months. Saying that MS is "depriving PC gaming of oxygen" is ridiculous - as a matter of fact Microsoft publish themselves some of the best strategy games. Just because a console's flagship title does not appear on the PC does not mean PC as a gaming platform is doomed - it means the company publishing it has its own plans and priorities. I mean, what next, saying PC gaming is doomed because Mario Sunshine will not appear on the PC?

      • Gamecube owners are waiting for a miracle

        Pass some of that crack your smoking. Sure, its a good time to be a PC gamer if your a huge FPS fan (which I am, but only on the PC mind you), but the little box has some excellent games coming out soon. Billy Hatcher, Viewtiful Joe, Rogue Squadren III, Havest Moon, FF:CC, and many others.

        Some are saying Nintendo is dying. Personally, I am pumped about all the new games that is coming out for my favorite system.
      • PCs are good for first person shooters and real time strategy games. Also somewhat for RPGs. That's it. PlayStation 2 seems to be a much better choice for RPGs though.

        Give up the Nintendo is dying bit. Their profit is higher than Sony's. It's also higher than Microsoft's entire gaming division's income. Yes, more of Nintendo's profit is from the GameBoy than from the GameCube, but the GameCube is still profitable.

        As to GameCube, where have you been? Soul Calibur 2 and F-Zero GX just came out 2 weeks ago.
        • There is one FPS i know coming for 'cube soon: XIII Which is gonna rock the house on all platforms, but I'm planning on getting PC myself (as for reasons stated above by other people.) Also wasn't there a Jedi Knight II 'cube version?
      • Doom 3, Deus Ex 2, and Jedi Academy are all coming out for Xbox. HL2 is also Ibelieve. Don't forget Knight of the Old Republic is a couple months old on Xbox.;)
    • Not to be a mac basher or anything but this is hardly the same thing. Apple just doesn't have the market share to make it attractive to publish games for it.

      The PC on the other hand has proven itself as a large enough market to make games for. In fact the x-box is a pc. Anyway look at some of the games coming out on both console and PC. Generally the PC version is superior if you like stuff like mods and high-res graphics. But I guess it all depends on what kind of game you like wich platform you buy or ev

      • I'm not exactly a fan of Microsoft, but I think you're missing something here. First of all, *as you said*, it's a beta. A downloaded, incomplete, officially disavoved beta. Crikeys, man.

        You mentioned the graphics being a problem. Has it occurred to you that those might be *beta* textures, mostly untouched by the graphics department? Because that was the first thought that popped into *my* head. Having seen betas of other games- and, yes, even ports from one system to another- I think it's rather safe for me to say that this is a common practice. Engine comes first. Pretty graphics come later, since they increase loading time before final optimization.

        AI was also not near completion when that beta was leaked, from what I've heard- so you should be pleasantly surprised when it comes out.

        The level design in the original Halo was spotty sometimes, I agree- that's why I didn't play the game for the single player environment. There were some designs that were somewhat interesting, but the campaign wasn't exactly the game's most shining moment.

        If I remember correctly, the first level in the X-box version also had some cooperative action going on. I can't be sure from what you're saying whether it was a substantive change or not- guess I'll just have to wait until the game comes out.

        If you can afford to buy it, buy it or don't play it. Obviously you've made up your mind about the game beforehand, so don't play it when it comes out. Play one of the "real games" you're so excited about and keep comparing to an unreleasable beta.

        Bungie *started* development on the PC, yes. Then came the Microsoft deal, and yes, they did sell out. It's part of the game industry. Microsoft used the title very, very successfully to sell the X-box, and people bought into it. Tough cookies. If you don't like it, again, don't play it. Don't give the rest of us some sanctimonious bullshit about that somehow justifying your piracy. It doesn't.
        • 3 point I would like to make.

          First point

          First I didn't say it justified it. It justifies it for me. I have a very big collection of paid for games. Probably a couple of hundred and that is just from the CD era. the diskette bought games got lost in a move.

          I easily bought 2-3 games a month, I made the money and I had the time. I have however grown fedup with current game makers. I used to get nice thick manuals with seperate hint-cards for the controls. I used to get games that actually seemed tested. W

        • Bungie started development on the Mac. Minotaur, Pathways into Darkness, the Marathon series, those came out exclusively for the Mac. Yes, M2 was released for Windows 95, but it was clearly an afterthought. Bungie was a Mac games company, and one of the best, before the Evil Empire decided they wanted them on their side...

          Dan Aris

    • While MS isn't really trying to kill of PC gaming, it's surely depriving it of a good dose of oxygen..as far as MS game titles are concerned.

      I think last portion of your post (which I have bolded) is the most important. MS has never really been known for their computer games. (I seem to remember some crappy underwater shooter game that my father bought, kinda like Abyss meets Tempest or something.) Ensemble has really been the only MS developer that has made an impact (that I can name off the top of m
    • "While MS isn't really trying to kill of PC gaming, it's surely depriving it of a good dose of oxygen..as far as MS game titles are concerned."

      ??

      Games like Halo are a dime a dozen. Very saturated market there. At least in this case, it was moved to a console where the quality was consistent, and Bungie reaped the rewards of millions of copies sold. At best they might have gotten a million or two on PC.

      I guess what I'm saying is I'm not sure what your complaint is. I'd rather play Halo on the XBOX w

      • At least in this case, it was moved to a console where the quality was consistent, and Bungie reaped the rewards of millions of copies sold. At best they might have gotten a million or two on PC.

        I guess you don't remember what the original plan was for Halo, (and recall it was demoed at the Macworld Expo, alongside Steve Jobs, I forget which year!). Halo was to be released, if I recall correctly, simultaneously for Mac, PC, and PS2. Or if not simultaneously, then first for Mac, then for PC and PS2 ver

        • "And don't try to tell me you think that people wouldn't have bought it for PS2. I would have; it was one of the reasons I bought one."

          I find that questionable. The PS2 has limitations that would have watered down that game significantly. But, if they were to do a decent job, I could see you being quite happy with it.

          "So it would have had the consistency of consoles, the flexibility of PCs (both Wintel and Mac), and the early, unencumbered release it deserved. Until M$ bought Bungie and decided that t

          • I find that questionable. The PS2 has limitations that would have watered down that game significantly. But, if they were to do a decent job, I could see you being quite happy with it.

            Ah. So not only is the PS2 somehow significantly inferior to the XBox (I don't know the relative specs, but I'm quite sure it wouldn't make that big a difference), but for some reason, less people would have bought it if they didn't have to buy a new console to play it...yeah. I'm sure that's what would have happened.

            I h

            • "Ah. So not only is the PS2 somehow significantly inferior to the XBox (I don't know the relative specs, but I'm quite sure it wouldn't make that big a difference), but for some reason, less people would have bought it if they didn't have to buy a new console to play it...yeah. I'm sure that's what would have happened."

              Actually, the PS2 does have a nasty bottleneck. It has something like 4 megs of video RAM. This RAM not only has to store the frame buffer (something like 1.2 megs for that alone) and it

              • It seems that we shall have to agree to disagree on most of this, since you have a pessimistic view of how Halo would have been received had Bungie not been bought by Microsoft. However, there is still one issue I feel the need to clarify.

                Frankly, if you're going to boycott Microsoft over Halo, then you need to boycott Sony over Final Fantasy

                [etc]

                I think you misunderstood me. I am not boycotting over exclusivity; I have no problem with exclusivity as such. I actually very much enjoy the Final Fantasy

                • "It seems that we shall have to agree to disagree on most of this..."

                  Agreed.

                  "...since you have a pessimistic view of how Halo would have been received had Bungie not been bought by Microsoft. "

                  I'm not sure pessimism is the term I'd use. Bear in mind that I've been monitoring the game industry for a long time now. Though I haven't played Halo (which you may fault me for if you like) I have heard a great deal of comments about it. It seems as though the interesting part of the game is its graphics.

  • Good, but... (Score:1, Flamebait)

    by feidaykin ( 158035 )
    I've never played Halo. I don't own an xbox. I don't own a single console, and if I were going to get one, xbox would be last on my list.

    I'll probably get this game just to see why xbox fans think it is worth getting an xbox for, however...

    Why did Microsoft force Bungie to sit on the PC release for so long? I'm surprised they didn't wait until Halo 2 had been out for a while, just to make this release even more pointless.

    I suppose it does help xbox sales when there is no PC version, but... I wou

    • Re:Good, but... (Score:4, Funny)

      by PeteyG ( 203921 ) on Monday September 15, 2003 @02:23PM (#6966771) Homepage Journal
      Why did Microsoft force Bungie to sit on the PC release for so long? I'm surprised they didn't wait until Halo 2 had been out for a while, just to make this release even more pointless.

      It was pretty sad. I watched my PC gamer buddy, who was a huge fan of Marathon back when he had a Mac, follow Halo from the time it was announced. When it looked like it was going to be a Mac game, he thought about getting a new Mac. And when Microsoft did the money thing and made it an X-Box exclusive... guess who shelled out for the console and just one game?

      Shame on MS for taking advantage of my poor fanboy friend like that.
    • Any of you moderators care to explain why this is flamebait? I am sure it is much easier to mod me down into oblivion. In case you didn't notice, I had a valid point.

      Anyway, please fill me in.

      I think perhaps a lot of folks from Microsoft have mod points these days...

  • http://www.macworld.com/1999/07/bc/18halo/
    • Halo wasn't stolen from the PC. It was stolen from the Mac. Along with one of the best developers of Mac-first games, which is what Bungie WAS. I own all three Marathons, I know. When they displayed the first Halo promo at the MacWorld '99 keynote I was in ecstasy. Later when I read that Bungie had sold out to Microsoft I thought it was some kind of bad joke. It wasn't. Now, 3 years after Halo was supposed to be released for Mac (and PC) they're finally fulfilling their promise. No doubt it will be
  • For the record, Halo is still in development for the Mac. Go to http://halo.bungie.org for all pertinant info.

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