- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
I really hate putting "official" in as a topic header, but if this thread is stickied, i think we maybe put an end the wave of posts pertaining to the question we've all been asking:
Is Halo 2 going to be released for the PC??
Im gonna take a stab at the question, but if we can all try to limit our questions to about the possibilty of Halo 2 PC to just this post, i think it would free up alot of space and on the forum. I know this is just another topic about it, but if this gets stickied (please?); my hope is that we can all sit in one thread and talk about it and draw some conclusions as apposed to asking random questions that have most likely been answered, asked, or discussed in a previous post.
now to the question....
I think its most definite that Halo 2 is gonna be released for PC. Here's why.....
1.) Microsoft LOVES Money
With the Release of Halo 2, Microsoft pulled in quite abit of cash, with the selling of the Xbox and the game alike. With preorders I believe reaching 1.5 million copies, Microsft knew that Halo 2 was gonna be a gold mine for their Xbox industry. In anticipation for this, the day Halo 2 was release, Microsoft raised the price of the Xbox to accomidate the people who were buying an Xbox for Halo 2 (a $200+ investment for just one game). Many people went and bought an Xbox for Halo 2 just as Microsoft thought and cashed in on it just as they had hoped.
But they didnt stop there....they knew that the holiday season was close and that if they announced that Halo 2 was coming out for PC....it would have taken away alot of $$ from the Xbox industry. So they decided to wait and milk the Xbox sales of Halo 2 as much as they could (and still are). My geuss is that Halo 2 is already in development for the PC and will be announced in 2005 (early, mid, or late) so that they can get as much Xbox profit as possible.
2.) Halo 2 is bottlenecked by the Xbox
Halo 2 is very much so bottlenecked preformance wise by the Xbox. I've played both Single and Multiplayer and have noticed quite a bit of chopiness in the gameplay as well as cutscenes. Its just to hot for the Xbox to fully handle. This is where the PC comes in. As we all know, the PC is the most powerful gaming console right now. It will not only play Halo 2 without slowdown, but also play it at higher levels of detail and resolution (AA and AF too) . On top of this, Halo 2 PC is something that pretty much all of the the Halo PC users want. Halo PC was very successful for the PC and microsoft did notice that. So for Halo 2 PC, microsoft will be able to draw from the existing Halo PC crowd for this game...a plus for them. Furthermore, Halo 2 has attracted quite a few newcomers attention to the series who never even played Halo. Halo 2 PC will allow them to join the crowd and buy the game (another plus for microsoft). Furthermore, some people who own Halo 2 on Xbox will probably buy Halo 2 for PC for improved gameplay, gfx, and of course some new weapons that Bungie will add for to further spice things up.
3.) Halo was originally meant for PC!!! (I think)
Although i am not sure (probably should as a mod), i think Halo was originally meant to come out for the PC first. However, Microsoft needed a flagship game for the Xbox and Halo, in all its glory, was it. Even if it wasnt originally meant for the PC, Halo 1 and 2 are made on an engine that doesnt need much of a conversion at all to PC. This allows for Microsoft to make a cheap conversion and copies of a game that will have a terrific production/profit ratio for them
All these things being said, i think its quite obvious that Halo 2 will be released for the PC. For me, Its not a question of if it will, but of when.....time will tell.