Halo 2 gamers face Vista upgrade...

T

Terra

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Link: BBC NEWS

Halo fans will have to upgrade their computer if they want to follow Master Chief's adventures on the PC.
Microsoft has announced that the PC version of Halo 2 will only work on the new version of Windows called Vista.

The decision could make it expensive for many to play the game if they have to buy the new version of Windows and extra hardware for their PC.

Microsoft has given no definite release date for Vista but it is expected to be available by the end of 2006.

Power play

Deciding to make the best-selling Halo 2 Xbox game a Vista-only title is likely driven by Microsoft's desire to get people upgrading to the new version of the Windows.

Minimum specifications for Vista (formerly called Longhorn) will be released in the summer but information gathered from reviews of pre-release versions have given clues about its hunger for computer power.

With Vista, Microsoft has made big changes to the way it handles graphics. Unlike other versions of Windows, it will need an advanced video card to get the most out of it.

It is also likely to demand a lot of computer memory and a sizeable hard drive. While these requirements are likely to be met by dedicated players who want to get the most out of games, many less keen players could struggle to comply.

The decision to make only a Vista version of the best-selling Halo 2 game could significantly stunt the game's appeal.

The Vista edition of Halo 2 will offer single and multi-player versions of the game, extra maps from add-on packs as well as software tools to create new places to play.

To date Microsoft has sold more than 14.5 million copies of the Halo games. Players have also racked up more than 600 million hours of multiplayer Halo gaming on the Xbox Live service.
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I guess the first game requiring DX10 on the PC is revealed...

Terra - and M$ can sell some more copies of "Vista"
 
already posted.



this seems really dumb too. ms has to recode the whole game for dx 10. plus its an old game, and not that graphicly intensive.
 
i thinkits a great idea to release Halo 2 for PC, i know i would buy it, EXCEPT for the fact that u HAVE to have Vista, and i am NOT getting that for at least a year after it comes out, if not more, and i would have upgrade my comp considerably, so i guess count me out, Microsoft just lost another cosomer...............
 
Halo isn't exactly a ground breaking FPS for the PC anyway. With a plethora of FPS's on the market, why would anyone even want Halo for the PC?
 
Sînt@x said:
Halo isn't exactly a ground breaking FPS for the PC anyway. With a plethora of FPS's on the market, why would anyone even want Halo for the PC?
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With that philosophy, we'd be missing 80% of current games on the market. I mean, if you've played Wolfenstein 3D, haven't you in effect played Half-life 2? ;)

In all seriousness, it's minor innovations and story that make for a good game nowadays. Halo has an enjoyable story, much better than Doom or Quake and easily on par with Half-Life. I hope F.E.A.R. comes out for the X360 soon.
 
LunaticPuma said:
In all seriousness, it's minor innovations and story that make for a good game nowadays. Halo has an enjoyable story, much better than Doom or Quake and easily on par with Half-Life.
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can i buy some pot from you?
 
Microsoft seems determined to bone any Halo game that comes to PC....


Veiled attempt to get people to buy more Xboxes perhaps?

jk
 
Nah if you read up DX10 is FAR FAR superiour to DX9x so it'll be a VERY nice upgrade indeed. Don't knock it because its Halo out the gates ....
 
I just don't care about halo 2 coming to pc, some old used up fps that is played out.. there are so many other high quality fps's made specifically for pc that are out now and coming out soon, and not some lame port.. no way in hell i'm going to upgrade to vista just to play halo 2.. <mandatory eye roll> :rolleyes:
 
theNoid said:
Nah if you read up DX10 is FAR FAR superiour to DX9x so it'll be a VERY nice upgrade indeed. Don't knock it because its Halo out the gates ....
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How exactly will there be an upgrade? This isnt halo3, this is just a port.
 
Martyr said:
How exactly will there be an upgrade? This isnt halo3, this is just a port.
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Know that for sure? There are no real details on the title other than it's Halo 2. They've yet to announce features, let alone screenshots of whatever engine it will be running.
 
it'll be a straight port. I doubt they'll spend the extra time upgrading the game. There is the possibility that they will use the meshes from Halo 3, but i doubt it. That would make Halo 3 on xbox look less impressive if Halo2 looked just as good on PC. So my money's on a straight port. As for the Vista issue. Why would you bother? unless you're upgrading to Vista anyway, it would be cheaper to buy an XBOX with Halo2.

DX10 will come out for XP anyway. So it cant be because the game relies on that.
 
CKMorpheus said:
I don't mind, I was gonna upgrade to Vista anyway.
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Yea I don't get all the fuss? I mean, probably more than half the people on here are using amd64 processors too. Don't you want a OS that finally uses your cpu's full potential and isn't beta?
 
Skirrow said:
. As for the Vista issue. Why would you bother? unless you're upgrading to Vista anyway, it would be cheaper to buy an XBOX with Halo2.

DX10 will come out for XP anyway. So it cant be because the game relies on that.
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OEM versions of vista if any indication of how OEM xp prices are. It'll only be $100.
 
Martyr said:
How exactly will there be an upgrade? This isnt halo3, this is just a port.
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Actually it sounds like it might be MS's new poster child for DX 10. I think they'll rework the whole thing.
 
Terra said:
Link: BBC NEWS



I guess the first game requiring DX10 on the PC is revealed...

Terra - and M$ can sell some more copies of "Vista"
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Is Crysis a game or just a game engine? I beleive it was announced first and also requires dx10.
 
daemionsos said:
Is Crysis a game or just a game engine? I beleive it was announced first and also requires dx10.
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Crysis is a game, but it wont come out for probly a year or so.......
 
Play Halo on the XBox.
wait and see if there will be a DX 10 edition for XP, if not then we'll all have to upgrade to Vista anyway in order to enjoy the graphics. Unfortunately we'll then need new GPUs to use the DX10......it's only money, I guess.
My question is how will the "old games" look on Vista.......like FEAR, Q4,Splinter Cell, etc.
 
magoo said:
Play Halo on the XBox.
wait and see if there will be a DX 10 edition for XP, if not then we'll all have to upgrade to Vista anyway in order to enjoy the graphics. Unfortunately we'll then need new GPUs to use the DX10......it's only money, I guess.
My question is how will the "old games" look on Vista.......like FEAR, Q4,Splinter Cell, etc.
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how do your old 95/98 games look on xp?

the same
 
I applaud you guys for keeping this thread civil, especially LunaticPuma for stonewalling Bazylik. I had to laugh. I still am enthralled with Halo's story. The music, the moments, they send shivers up my spine. I still won't forget the first time I popped Halo 2 Limited Edition into my XBox 360; I nearly broke down, but...uhh...I didn't. ;) I play Halo PC all the time and ever since Halo 2 came out for the Xbox I have been asking the same question, over and over: when will it come to the PC? When will I be able to play it with a keyboard and mouse? When will I get to play multiplayer Halo 2 with my friends, for free? I nearly had a heart attack when I finally got my answer two days ago.
 
So what can Vista do for gaming that XP and 64bit XP cant? What will Vista gaming enhance for Microsoft besides a larger pocketbook?
 
sethmo said:
So what can Vista do for gaming that XP and 64bit XP cant? What will Vista gaming enhance for Microsoft besides a larger pocketbook?
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I'm not an OS expert but for one it'll be incorperating DX10, which is in fact leaps and bounds better then DX9. Everything in Vista is 3d, including all the menu systems for just tabbing/browing around. 2D menu'ing has been completely removed and MS has stated that Vista is the first OS built from the ground up to fully support 3d affects and gaming.

You should read up on it, its very tantilizing.
 
Obi_Kwiet said:
Actually it sounds like it might be MS's new poster child for DX 10. I think they'll rework the whole thing.
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I agree. What's the point of making it Vista only if its not gowing to be a DX10 showcase?
 
M4rk said:
I applaud you guys for keeping this thread civil, especially LunaticPuma for stonewalling Bazylik. I had to laugh. I still am enthralled with Halo's story. The music, the moments, they send shivers up my spine. I still won't forget the first time I popped Halo 2 Limited Edition into my XBox 360; I nearly broke down, but...uhh...I didn't. ;) I play Halo PC all the time and ever since Halo 2 came out for the Xbox I have been asking the same question, over and over: when will it come to the PC? When will I be able to play it with a keyboard and mouse? When will I get to play multiplayer Halo 2 with my friends, for free? I nearly had a heart attack when I finally got my answer two days ago.
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Hey M4rk, I have Halo2 but never bothered to play more than a half hour. Don't you find that it just takes for ever to turn in the game? That was my impression. It felt like a 180 degree turn took like a whole second or two...also...my other big gripe is that the weapons take up way too much screen space. I've played Halo (Xbox version) all the way through a few times...but I've barely touched Halo 2. Maybe I should give it a second chance.
 
You know, I could easily see M$ doing this. Think about it: Halo 2 was one of the most sucessful games ever (copies sold). If they took it, implemented some killer DX10 stuff, and then said "you have to buy Vista to run this," all the 12-year-olds would get their parents rushing to Best Buy for Vista. Nothing is more annoying than a whiney kid, and M$ could very well be using them to sell Vista.

Hey, everyone's entitled to a theory :p
 
I have a feeling the game will be nearly a straight port content wise minus some additions to multiplayer maybe. Since they are pushing it with Vista, Bungie might have a few tricks up their sleeve as far as graphics and visual effects. If it's simply a straight port without any tweaking, I will be disappointed in Bungie. MS is good at money grubbing, but Bungie is good about releasing quality product when it's under their control. I can't see them releasing a 2 year old game without touching it at all for PC.
 
LunaticPuma said:
I have a feeling the game will be nearly a straight port content wise minus some additions to multiplayer maybe. Since they are pushing it with Vista, Bungie might have a few tricks up their sleeve as far as graphics and visual effects. If it's simply a straight port without any tweaking, I will be disappointed in Bungie. MS is good at money grubbing, but Bungie is good about releasing quality product when it's under their control. I can't see them releasing a 2 year old game without touching it at all for PC.
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Ahem, Bungie itself is not releasing Halo 2 PC. They are working "very closely" with some other group (unknown name) to get it ready for the PC. Don't believe me? Check Bungie.net!

But back to Halo 2. We're working with another team at MS to make this not only happen, but happen in a super-sweet radical fashion. To that end, we're going to be helping with a lot of aspects, but don't worry, we are not doing the actual coding work &#8211; we're too busy with ONP (Our Next Project). In fact, a lot of you spotted the job postings at Bungie.net asking for, "programmers who are awesome at programming Halo 2 Xbox to work on a PC," and other subtle clues.
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Oh wait, they have some new news. Lemme read...

GOOD LORD, I HAVE to quote it! :eek:

Yesterday's announcement that we were porting Halo 2 to Windows Vista went exactly as we'd imagined. Much wailing and gnashing of teeth and the reaction was exactly like we'd broken a promise to make Halo 2 for Windows XP. Of course, remember that the day before the announcement, there was no PC version at all, and we had not announced any version whatsoever. So mathematically at least, the Vista version was a 100% improvement.
Some folks of course were happy, but happy people on the internet are WEIRD EXCEPTIONS. The internet is fueled solely by rage.
But we're not idiots and we're not jerks. We realize that the underlying sentiment here, is that there are a lot of XP (and Mac) users out there, who feel like something has been wafted under their nose and then snatched away. Well, that's simply not our intention. We want as many people to enjoy as good a version of our game as possible, but the fact remains that when Microsoft publishes Halo 2 for PC &#8211; it will have released its new, bigger, better operating system and our game will take full advantage of that fact, and Microsoft will take full advantage of our game.
This will be less of an issue a couple of years from now, when Vista adoption is the norm rather than the new, frightening thing. Not to keep selling you on the idea that Vista is cool &#8211; that's your decision to make later, but I have to tell you, I've played with the beta, and I currently use a Windows Media Center with my 360 &#8211; the idea of combining the strengths of those two OSs is a dream come true for my home theater setup.
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But wait, there's MORE!

On the novel front, we had our last story meeting with Eric Nylund, who will almost certainly be delivering a thrilling new Halo novel in the near to mid future. His story outline is fantastic, thrilling stuff and he's already well into the process of writing it. We are in the lucky position of seeing it grow and evolve into what I predict will be another NY Times bestseller.

The funny thing is, 10 to 15 thousand words into the novel, and the hardest few words are the title. Eric is still mulling a few alternatives. We tried to help and Eric said all my suggestions were "interesting." I am glad he appreciated these gems and look forward to seeing which one he for sure picks:
Attack of Awesome
Superalien Space Horrorfiends
Oh Teh Noes!!117
Galaxy Rawk
Project Awesome
Fangtasm!
March of the Intellibots

I have to say that Shishka's "Master Chief and the Dark Secret of Space" fills me with shivery excitement too.
AND I just saw another novel outline, from a yet-to-be-revealed author (think Joyce, Tolkien, Homer), so awesome and secret that I had to wear a diaper to read it. A man-diaper.
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Another Halo book?! Finally! My box set was getting lonely!
 
You know what would be nicer than a new book? It'd be great if the game storyline had half the detail as one of the books.

That is the most frustrating thing about the Halo franchise...they're not even coming close to providing the detail that the Halo book had (AFAIK, one was out before the game). They explain everything about the origin of the Spartans and their armor, not to mention the training of the Master Chief himself. I've only read one (The Fall of Reach) because they're a bit embarassing to read, but there was a lot of information that could have easily been worked into the game.

These stories obviously aren't Pulitzer material, but they're a great departure from the bland shit that I have to read for class (v. Let's overanalyze books and warp the themes in a way that would disgust the author). Why not draw from the universe that the author has created? All the work is done; just integrate it into the games.

oneils said:
Hey M4rk, I have Halo2 but never bothered to play more than a half hour. Don't you find that it just takes for ever to turn in the game? That was my impression. It felt like a 180 degree turn took like a whole second or two...
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...adjust the sensitivity.
 
M4rk suggested that too. Just never really bothered to see if the game allowed that (didin't remember seeing it in Halo 1 for Xbox). I should try it out again.
 
To be completely fair, i've owned my Xbox since it first came out and the original Halo was one of my first games and I loved playing it..... until the last third of the game which became repetative as hell.

I didn't pick up Halo 2 when it first came out and instead ended up buying it off one of my mates six months afterwards for £10.00. How many times have a played it, I can here people ask??? None, never, not even put it in my Xbox to see if it loads (I know it will load as I bought it off my mate)

I am sure that should I ever get around to playing it then I would probably enjoy playing it to a degree, but that doesn't change the fact that I have never been inspired enough to even put it in my Xbox...

Maybe I'm just being shortsighted or maybe I'm just missing something. I don't know....

My point here being that if I can't even get interested enough to play it on my Xbox, how in hell does uncle Bill expect me to shell out a load of money on a new OS just so I can buy it for the PC (and then never install it) as more inspiring and original games are out there that I would rather play first??
 
Comment to the general populous:

Halo 2 wont be the ONLY reason to buy Vista you know?? Halo 2 will most likely be a showcase (as stated before) for all the super funky cool stuff that DX10 and Vista can do in conjunction with each other. But there will be other reasons to get Vista. Such as the media capabilities and true 64bit processing etc. I also imagine that it will have much better support for multi-core CPU's/hyperthreading and what not. Personally, I am going to hobble/limp along with the PC in my sig for now and hold out doing an upgrade until Vista is out and stable for a while.
 
I am a huge fan of the Halo series. I would play at LAN partys, XBL and I even went to a few tournaments. However, I don't think Halo 2 willf do well on the PC. It is already over a year old.
 
Vista... isn't that going to be the first windows with palladium? Yeah...

PASS.

To hell with Halo 2 then. I could go on and on about how ms ruined bungie, but oh well.
Already having enough of a problem with fsckin starforce.
 
KoolDrew said:
I am a huge fan of the Halo series. I would play at LAN partys, XBL and I even went to a few tournaments. However, I don't think Halo 2 willf do well on the PC. It is already over a year old.
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See, if they were smart, they'd make it available to both platforms at the same time, as any one with a brain sees there are advantages to having the pc game vs the xbox game, and vice versa.

But no. they wait til its old. because like the rest of the console world seems to think now, pc gaming is a dead market. (AKA, we're 2nd in line for those games deemed to sell best on consoles... or the old pc games that got turned into console games... like rainbow six 4, halo, ghost recon, ect.)
 
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