Halo, Master Chief

The Halo fanbase is about to get a whole lot bigger. Today, Microsoft announced the release of <b>Halo</b> for Windows, the leading Xbox blockbuster first-person shooter. Optimized for the Windows platform and leveraging the power of Microsoft DirectX 9.0 application programming interface, <i>Halo</i> enables gamers across the globe to live the incredible sci-fi epic adventure which elevated the original Xbox edition.

Now for the first time, gamers can challenge one another online competitively or cooperatively. <i>Halo</i> for Windows supports as many as 16 players online and has a multitude of new multiplayer features. Gamers can use the all-new Rocket Launcher Warthog and flying Banshee in battles for online dominance through 19 multiplayer maps including six all-new maps.

In addition to supporting Internet play and local area networks, Microsoft has set aside dedicated servers for <i>Halo</i> to allow hoards of gamers to compete against each other in thrilling, online multiplayer games. These dedicated servers offer gamers a simple way to connect online hassle-free.

Check back soon for our in-depth hands on report!

The PC gamers should have gotten snubbed on this one, not recieved a better build of the game.

I'm kind of pissed.

Aye...well, I am sure attonement will be made with Halo 2.

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Originally Posted by bahn

In addition to supporting Internet play and local area networks, Microsoft has set aside dedicated servers for <i>Halo</i> to allow hoards of gamers to compete against each other in thrilling, online multiplayer games. These dedicated servers offer gamers a simple way to connect online hassle-free.

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Gee, that's fantastic. It'd be really nice if Microsoft put up some dedicated servers for some of the Live titles that could use it, mainly Wolfenstein - then I might be able to find 16 player games all the time. Especially considering we PAY to use it. I love what Live has done for console gaming, but Microsoft needs to get up off it's wallet on this one.

Shh, you puny console gamers know nothing of console gaming, contine to eat what we feed you and be content!
/snob

I'm happy I can play halo online legit now.

this calls for a poll. :)

Ugh! But I like them booooth! PC for killing nobodies, Xbox for killing friends!

ok. i'll add that too

Management is easy to get around with here. :)

content management, yes.

:)

I'm about to leave for work. I'll have it tonight on PC. Any of you folks wanna get together and play?

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Originally Posted by Captain Vegetable

The PC gamers should have gotten snubbed on this one, not recieved a better build of the game.

I'm kind of pissed.

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Huh? PC gamers were supposed to get it first, remember? Back when the Xbox was still Project Midway? They did get snubbed. Don't be so stupid.

AFX, so harsh. stop arguing.

Actually wasnt it supposed to be a Mac game?

Thats a super-snub. But then again Mac users should be used to it.

don't invoke AFX's wrath. he's picky about these matters :)

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Originally Posted by Captain Vegetable

The PC gamers should have gotten snubbed on this one, not recieved a better build of the game.

I'm kind of pissed.

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you really have a lot of nerve saying that. originally PC gamers were supposed to have it, but thanks to MS buying the rights, xbox got it first, but also lacked the online feature this game really needed. You could have LAN parties for it, but getting groups together wasn't the easiest thing to do and someplaces that sponser them have to be paid for BY THE HOUR!

Right here after all this time, we finally get the game with those online features and even if we lack voice chat, it's a small cost compared to the additional charges we'd be forced to pay through the nose just to keep the MS big-wigs happy for running their server. There's a big community of gamers on the PC side that would love to put together special gaming sessions and finally having that chance to do it with other players throughout the country means a great deal to us and if we get more content and custom made levels (by players), that's even more for us to be happy with!

overall you should be happy with what you got. We're finally getting what we've been waiting for and if you have a problem with that, go take it up with microsoft, I'm sure they'll be happy to hear from ya.

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Originally Posted by bahn

Aye...well, I am sure attonement will be made with Halo 2.

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let's just hope the PC build doesn't take as long.

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Originally Posted by Wildkat

Actually wasnt it supposed to be a Mac game?

Thats a super-snub. But then again Mac users should be used to it.

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OMG you're cruel! :lol:

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Originally Posted by Wildkat

Actually wasnt it supposed to be a Mac game?

Thats a super-snub. But then again Mac users should be used to it.

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Yep.

I'll be playing it tonight methinks.

Microsoft probably saved the game - it was slipping into development hell and it was supposed to be released like... way far off into the future and who the hell knew when it was getting done.

Microsoft bought Bungie, got them to finish the game (on the Xbox, yes), and now we have it on both platforms. But isn't this just a bunch of sour grapes? Who gives a fuck?

At ease, pottymouth. :lol:

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Originally Posted by sphere79

Gee, that's fantastic. It'd be really nice if Microsoft put up some dedicated servers for some of the Live titles that could use it, mainly Wolfenstein - then I might be able to find 16 player games all the time. Especially considering we PAY to use it. I love what Live has done for console gaming, but Microsoft needs to get up off it's wallet on this one.

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Its up to the company releasing the games to decide to maintain dedicated servers, not Microsoft. If you feel strongly about it, email Digital Extremes and Atari Games.

PS: Gearbox did the PC port, not Bungie. Word.

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Originally Posted by Master

Its up to the company releasing the games to decide to maintain dedicated servers, not Microsoft. If you feel strongly about it, email Digital Extremes and Atari Games.

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Ummmmm wasnt the whole point of Xbox live that MICROSOFT and not 3rd party developers would have to put up and maintain servers

you know the whole point of paying 50 bucks every year for Xbox live

plus MS controlling all the content on Xbox live
(why underground isnt on it since they dont want to have to approve every persons photo they up to neversoft through MS)
plus all the other stuff MS promised they would do with Xbox live

Hopefully they can release a patch or two to improve the performance. All the reviews I've read say it still chugs on the fastest systems at many settings. Which means that my computer doesn't have a chance.

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Originally Posted by 007bond

Hopefully they can release a patch or two to improve the performance. All the reviews I've read say it still chugs on the fastest systems at many settings. Which means that my computer doesn't have a chance.

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I have a decent system: Athelon 2600+, GEFORCE FX 5200, and a gig of RAM, and it chugs anytime I turn any of the settings other than texture quality up, so you weren't misinformed.

there's always a patch, as it comes with most pc games. :mad:

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Originally Posted by Master

Its up to the company releasing the games to decide to maintain dedicated servers, not Microsoft. If you feel strongly about it, email Digital Extremes and Atari Games.

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But Microsoft doesn't even have dedicated servers up for thier 1st party titles! And why would DE want to put up dedicated servers when Microsoft is quelling any revenue they'd get from online gaming? If I recall correctly, I think I remember Sega putting up thier own servers for Quake 3 on the Dreamcast ( at least during the games more popular days ). I think that is a cop-out, personally. IF MS is getting the money for online play, THEY should put the servers up. It's no wonder some 3rd parties are put off by Live with that attitude............

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Ummmmm wasnt the whole point of Xbox live that MICROSOFT and not 3rd party developers would have to put up and maintain servers

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They do. They put up and maintain the servers for matchmaking and finding games. Sega put up its own servers for PSO, as it requires several dedicated servers to play. Its not the job of MS to put up dedicated servers for 3rd party games when the setup the 3rd party put forth isn't adequate.

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plus MS controlling all the content on Xbox live (why underground isnt on it since they dont want to have to approve every persons photo they up to neversoft through MS) plus all the other stuff MS promised they would do with Xbox live

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You are just babbling now. There is a lot of stuff in the works for Xbox Live and it will continue to get better. I don't think anybody is in a position to gripe, as all the downloadable content to this point has been free and the service has performed great.

By the way, as far as getting revenues for online gaming, what revenues? The only online gaming revenues thus far have been Sega's for PSO. MS isn't lining their pockets with the Xbox Live fee as it costs serious money to run and maintain the matchmaking servers and to keep it all running smoothly. If 3rd party companies want to charge for something they are more than welcome. 3rd parties make the money, MS doesn't.

I think a lot of you have a huge misconception about what it costs to run something like Xbox Live.

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Originally Posted by Master

I don't think anybody is in a position to gripe...

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Actually, anyone who paid money that they worked to earn for Xbox Live has all of the rights in the world to complain about it.

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Originally Posted by Master

MS isn't lining their pockets with the Xbox Live fee as it costs serious money to run and maintain the matchmaking servers and to keep it all running smoothly.

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Microsoft is charging $50 a year for Live service. If at least 500,000 Live subscribers renew, you are looking at 25 million dollars a year, if some renew monthly that's even more annually. Even looking at the starter kits, assuming they made only $7 profit on the kit ( you have to look into manufacturing costs for package, headset, disc, distribution, retailers cut, etc. ) - that's still around 3.5 million dollars. Do you seriously expect anyone here to believe it costs Microsoft THAT MUCH MONEY to run the Live servers? Don't get me wrong, I LIKE the Xbox Live service - but I seriously expected Microsoft to be putting servers up, especially for these FPS's. Most people I know with Live like it but are pissed about the server issue. They are gonna have to put some up for Halo 2 of there will be alot of pissed off gamers........... that's for sure.

They bought a building/data center for the Live Servers. Money spent.

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Originally Posted by AFX

Actually, anyone who paid money that they worked to earn for Xbox Live has all of the rights in the world to complain about it.

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You are correct sir. Disregard my last. What I should have said is, anybody saying new cool features aren't rolling around as promised isnt keeping tabs on all the new things happening and those in development.

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Originally Posted by sphere79

Most people I know with Live like it but are pissed about the server issue. They are gonna have to put some up for Halo 2 of there will be alot of pissed off gamers........... that's for sure.

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TELL THEM. I agree it would be much better with dedicated servers, but you have to tell them that if you want them to know!

support@xbox.com

http://support.bungie.com/

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Originally Posted by Master

They do. They put up and maintain the servers for matchmaking and finding games. Sega put up its own servers for PSO, as it requires several dedicated servers to play. Its not the job of MS to put up dedicated servers for 3rd party games when the setup the 3rd party put forth isn't adequate.

You are just babbling now. There is a lot of stuff in the works for Xbox Live and it will continue to get better. I don't think anybody is in a position to gripe, as all the downloadable content to this point has been free and the service has performed great.

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No MS said they would be maintaning all servers for all games which is another reason EA wont be on Xbox live because they wanted to control and maintan the servers themselfs

and im not babbling read any article about why Neversoft is not putting Underground on Xbox live

theyve stated many times its because MS has to approve every file that is sent over Xbox Live, and they dont want to go through the hassle of having MS approve every image that people upload to neversoft to put onto their Underground models

Its all up to the guys who crunch the numbers. With a company like Bungie, I am positive they want to do anything and everything to improve the game and make it the best it can be. The crux is in the costs. If it costs too much and isn't worth it to spend LOTS of money on dedicated servers, it just isn't feasable.

Unless you want all the games to be pay to play, dedicated servers aren't something I see as being the norm until they find a way to either pick up losses on the front end of the sale, or to cut costs on the back end (server costs).

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Originally Posted by Shin Johnpv

No MS said they would be maintaning all servers for all games which is another reason EA wont be on Xbox live because they wanted to control and maintan the servers themselfs

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Find me a source on that. Its not true. First of all, you are incorrect about EA, they want to control everything. That is why they aren't on Live, though I predict they will be for the next year's release of sports games. Also, if you want to run and maintain your own servers for Xbox Live you can, they just have to be certified by the Live team. That is a fact.

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and im not babbling read any article about why Neversoft is not putting Underground on Xbox live

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I was saying you were babbling because what you wrote was hard for me to understand. I wasn't disagreeing, I just had no clue what you were trying to say.

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theyve stated many times its because MS has to approve every file that is sent over Xbox Live, and they dont want to go through the hassle of having MS approve every image that people upload to neversoft to put onto their Underground models

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MS has to approve everything for obvious reasons. Virus reasons, questionable material, copywritten material, etc. As a big corporation they have more liability. With a closed Network Service they are trying to be careful about what does and doesn't make it to the Xbox, especially because it has a hard drive and they have security concerns.

Alright, I'm about done with this topic. I'm certainly not going to see eye to eye here, and thats fine. We are all looking at it from different perspectives and we may just have to agree to disagree.

meh if i honestly felt like searching through news articles from last year and later id find the sources but MS said the whole point of paying for Xbox live was that they would be putting up dedicated servers that all games would use

im sorry but i dont see the point in paying for an Online service when all it is is a P2P solution for the majority of the games on it

you mean i get to pay 50 bucks a year so I CAN HOST some return to castlewoflenstein games YAY! so much better than doing that same thing for free on my PC

I hope I don't come off as a jerk to the console fans for saying this, but looking at how limited you guys are, belive me I'd rather have all the player-made levels, skins, mods and god knows what else is going to pop up rather then be restricted by some lousy system that only works within the limits it's restricted to.

You guys were lucky enough to get it before everyone, but sadly the best things still come to those who wait.



halo-xbox :lol:

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Originally Posted by Captain Vegetable

The PC gamers should have gotten snubbed on this one, not recieved a better build of the game.

I'm kind of pissed.

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Well.. there's no co-op in the PC version and I like playing the single player mode more on Xbox as it is. The PC version is strictly for the multiplayer in my eyes. It needs some balanceing too. Banshees are waaaaaay too effective in MP since they don't take damage like in 1 player. They're like highly manuverable guided missiles. Your only chance against one is to be lucky enough to be piloting a tank or uesing the other overpowered weapon. The Fuel Rod Gun. It's like a Rocket Launcher that's faster and easier to use (and with less discression since it's harder to kill yourself with the FRG than the RL).

Halo on PC suffers from alot of what I didn't like in MOH:AA. Blind kills/Grenade Spam. I'm also really wanting an option for the server to kick Team Killers automatically (i.e. if so-and-so "betrays" a teamate enough times in succession or assists in the killing of teamates enough times then he is kicked. Friendly Fire happens and is understandable, but it's pretty easy to spot a TK from just the system messages. That's all.

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Originally Posted by Tracer

Halo on PC suffers from alot of what I didn't like in MOH:AA. Blind kills/Grenade Spam.

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I found that to be the preferred method of choice on XBox as well, with the other 50% of kills being attributed to the sniper rifle and/or pistol. All the versions need balancing, but now there's actually a chance of at least fans taking it onto themselves to fix it like what happened with Jedi Outcast.

I didn't notice nearly as much grenade spam on the Xbox in MP. I can still say that it's not as bad as MOH is and you can adjust what and how many grenades players can get to start and how many are available to be picked up.

For instance, most every Blood Gultch (I think that's the map) match I played went as follows: People would either hang out at their base and use the sniper rifle, or if anyone tried to assault a base it turned into massive grenade spam from both teams. The people up top would spam the entrances and the people below would spam above, something that would probably be avoided if there was any way to get away from a grenade. But it worked so well there was never any need to change tactics.

It is possible to avoid such a thing by setting things up right, but it's as hard getting people to agree to that as it is to find a non-EO matchup for CvS2 online. As for MOH:AA, I never played that so I don't know the comparision.

Well, if vehicles were enabled, swarming the enemy base with 2 full warthogs (pumas) would work wonderfully against the snipers and grenades.

Problem is that neither the creature you're just making up nor the Banshee shoots over the edge well enough to do little more then turn it into a stalemate. The area damage from tanks is really the only thing I've seen to stand a chance at breaking that.

It scrambles them, and I've seen it first hand both for and against me. The Banshee isn't on the Xbox version in MP though it most certianly has area damage. I think you mean Ghost, which isn't bad but is far less threatening that a packed puma. One tactic with the ghost is to simply use it like you would use any other gun. It just so happens to give you a great melee attack and excellent runspeed and unlimited ammo (and no overheat). Switch off from it at a range in such a situation and pack a Fuel Rod Gun or Rocket Launcher. Since the opposing team is holed up in the base, it should be no problem. Then there's active camoflage and the sniper rifle. I can think of a good number of things that would work. In anycase, you can't win CTF by constantly guarding your base.