Quote:
| Originally posted by ShogunAssassin The word from GameStop corporate is that Halo 2 will probably be a Christmas release and quite possible be delayed until early 2005. June is looking as likely as a Jan De Bont film not sucking. |
Looks like Bungie is catching a little of the Valve Software disease…
Yeah, I hear from people that it’s gonna be Christmastime.
If it’s June 1st, then i’m Dolly Parton.
Quote:
| Originally posted by ShogunAssassin The word from GameStop corporate is that Halo 2 will probably be a Christmas release and quite possible be delayed until early 2005. June is looking as likely as a Jan De Bont film not sucking. |
Seriously, I could just fucking cry.
Godfuckdamnshit.
And holy shit, Shogun, you manage a GameStop?
Small world.
At least I won’t have to worry about college work when this bad boy comes out.
I was wondering just the other day when I would find the time to play it.
Still, now I won’t have the abundance of people to defeat in Halo 2 in person (living in a dorm and all). I will just have to wait to kill you all on XBOX Live.
So what’s coming out first?
A) Halo 2
B) Half-Life 2
C) Gigli 2
D) Duke Nukem Forever
E) The Melting of the Polar Ice Caps
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| Originally posted by Micah Robinson So what’s coming out first? A) Halo 2 B) Half-Life 2 C) Gigli 2 D) Duke Nukem Forever E) The Melting of the Polar Ice Caps |
Classic, Micah.
A) Probably the only one I can remotely think of as coming out sooner than it’s counterparts.
B) “I’m telling you guys it’s this year - 2003. No, wait. Now it’s 2004…but I can’t exactly tell you when it’s coming. Nada. Hey, did I mention somebody stole part of our game because I left my computer on one night while surfing MILFHunter.com?” - Gabe Newell, Valve Software
C) It better. We need more lesbian assassins - only more lesbians and less Ben Affleck.
D) HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA
E) Sadly, I think we’ll be playing or seeing the other four in 10 feet of water.
I’ve seen the release dates for nearly every anticipated 2004 game slip into oblivion or get pushed out far enough into the year to not matter. Aside from Ninja Gaiden, I can’t think of any game I’m interested in that’s actually going to get released before summer. That’s pretty weak considering I own three consoles that are supposedly in heavy competition with each other.
There’s a good chance you might not be playing Ninja Gaiden for awhile, either.
Bungie is really shooting themselves in the foot here. Christmas 2004 will make the game exactly two years late, which is a hell of a long time to ask consumers to wait (Jesus, can you imagine the outcry if Jackson’s Return of the King had gotten pushed back two years?). And while getting all the bugs ironed out and pumping up the graphics is admirable, they need to realize that they’re not directly competing with other console shooters…Halo 2 is gonna be compared to Half-Life 2 and Doom 3 by every gaming publication on the planet. Beating them out of the gate would have been a nice way to earn some prestige and accolades, and since we’re all starving for a good shooter, it probably would have boosted sales, too. As good as H2 will be, there’s no way that it can graphically compete with Doom 3 or Half-Life 2.
I couldn’t say that Bungie is making a mistake by taking the time to make sure Halo 2 is as good as they want it to be, but I think they jumped gun by showcasing the game when it wasn’t anywhere near complete. It seems to be happening more and more. I wonder how many games that got pimped at E3 last year will actually be on shelves before the next one.
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| Originally posted by Slater As good as H2 will be, there’s no way that it can graphically compete with Doom 3 or Half-Life 2. |
It won’t even be on par with Unreal Tournament 2003. I don’t think it needs to be, graphically-speaking. The area where it needs to be compete with those games in is in the immersiveness of the single-player experience. We all know multiplayer will rock, but will the scripted moments, level design, and “Oh, $!#!” moments be on par with the ones in those other games.
If they’re taking the time to get that right, then I understand. You have to, no matter how long it takes. It’d be way more damaging to Microsoft and Bungie if Halo 2 came out, say, last December (already a long wait between the two games) and nothing was improved except for polygon counts and new vehicles. The same repetitive level design sets in, the scripted sequences are a simple knockoff of the last game, and it feels like a retread. Now, the Halo franchise is in decline, Microsoft loses their golden calf, and a lot of people are unhappy as hell.
Well, the game has been scored for several months now, and scripted events are usually the first things that are designed and built (and then the rest of the level is built around those scripts), so I doubt those are the problems. The single player game is probably finished, or at least close to it. My guess is these “revolutionary” new online modes just aren’t working, either due to some bad planning or simply too many bugs and glitches. And if that’s the case…fuck it, just give me Slayer and Capture the Flag and release the bastard already.
But yeah, I see your point. Microsoft can’t afford to flub this one. But at some point, you’ve got to stop rearranging the textures and trying to up the bump-mapping and just release the thing already.
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| Originally posted by Slater There’s a good chance you might not be playing Ninja Gaiden for awhile, either. |
Actually, with each passing day NINJA GAIDEN’s February release date looks more and more promising.
But, of course, anything can happen.
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| Originally posted by Carl Cunningham Actually, with each passing day NINJA GAIDEN’s February release date looks more and more promising. But, of course, anything can happen. |
Hey, I hope you’re right. I’ve read in a bunch of different places that some publications were given the game to review (like EGM, who apparently even wrote their review), only to have it taken back by Tecmo for more retooling. But I’ll be a happy bastard if I get some Ninja action to tide me over until Splinter Cell 2 arrives.
I was talking to the XBOX rep today. Yeah, it’s definitely gonna be Christmas-ish.
And as for Ninja Gaiden…you can count on February…late Feb.
Looks like a “fall” release, according to Bungie.net:
Well, fall is better than Christmas, I guess. This still sucks dick, though.
That screenshot is gorgeous, though. The absence of any Elites is a little noticeable…wonder if the “Chiefs versus Elites” rumors were bogus, or if they’re just deliberately hiding them until E3?
Looks good. it’ll be torture, but I can wait.
The rumors of a holiday release seemed to have a sour “if you’re lucky” flavor to them, so it’s good to know that they’re confident it’ll hit in 2004. Downside being a Fall release date could be as late as late December.
Maybe I m alone in this, but there are a SLEW of games I’m looking forward to as much as HALO 2, so I can wait.