Halo 2 coming to PCs; Vista Required

Diego Diaz 9 Feb, 2006 at 3:53pm ET Article published in Tech

Yes, that’s right! Halo 2 is coming to the PC, PCs that run Windows Vista only. Bungie, the original developer of Halo 2, also announced that the PC version will also have new features, such as a map creation mode.

If PC users are having trouble deciding whether to move over to Windows Vista, Microsoft’s next-generation operating system, when it is released later this year, the fact that the fate of the Earth depends on it may tip the scales. Microsoft Game Studios today announced that it is developing Halo 2 for the PC.

The game will be only for Vista, and it’s being developed in partnership with the franchise’s original developer, Bungie Studios. The PC version will include Halo 2, the bonus maps that came in the Multiplayer Map Pack, and the ability to “build, create, and customize their own multiplayer levels.” No release date or other details have been announced.

Source: GameSpot

Comments

9 Feb 2006 ~ 5:18pm Enverex Nice, so not only do we have to wait months/years after things are relased on consoles before it comes to PCs, we now need to unneccesarily upgrade our OSs because MS has their hands in game companies pockets again, yay. Time to boot back into Linux.
9 Feb 2006 ~ 5:22pm EMT That title was exciting... until I read the second half
9 Feb 2006 ~ 7:29pm Thrax I'm not excited. Halo 1 for PC was a porting debacle.
9 Feb 2006 ~ 8:30pm pseudonym Yeah, whoopee. Could care less, with XBox Live and Halo2 no need to mess around on the computer. Halo2 reallly wasn't that special anyways.
9 Feb 2006 ~ 9:20pm Garg Heh, they think Halo can sell operating systems like it can consoles. Cute.
9 Feb 2006 ~ 10:47pm my thoughts exactly^
10 Feb 2006 ~ 12:33am Winga Bill will do anything to turn a buck. Got to hand it to the man.
Still it really sux. Halo was one of my favourite games.
10 Feb 2006 ~ 3:41am bothered If they don't sell any PC games they'll abandon that ruse. It's up to us, the public, to decide if they get away with it.
10 Feb 2006 ~ 8:19am Armo

Thrax wrote:

I'm not excited. Halo 1 for PC was a porting debacle.
10 Feb 2006 ~ 8:41am RWB I'm with Thrax as well, when I read this the first thing I thought of was how well Halo ran on Windows after being ported. I mean does it stillr un like crap? I never bought it, nor do I plan on buying Halo 2 for PC.

I already have it for XBOX anyways.
10 Feb 2006 ~ 9:37am Enverex I couldn't give a crap about Halo 2 as the first one was crap and I expect nothing more of the second one, it is if they start trying to pull this on other games that I do want to play that concerns me.
10 Feb 2006 ~ 10:34am drasnor They very nearly sold me a console for MechAssault. Where have all the MechWarrior games gone? I might buy Vista through my school but I'm probably not going to install it anytime soon.

-drasnor
10 Feb 2006 ~ 10:41am muddocktor

bothered wrote:

If they don't sell any PC games they'll abandon that ruse. It's up to us, the public, to decide if they get away with it.

That's exactly my thoughts about this too. Plus, how long do you think it will be before someone figures a way around this crap and hacks it to run on XP?
10 Feb 2006 ~ 11:27am Animal for the price of halo 2 and windows vista you could probably have several xbox's and a nice lot of decent games, not a hard choice..
10 Feb 2006 ~ 12:06pm Enverex

bothered wrote:

If they don't sell any PC games they'll abandon that ruse. It's up to us, the public, to decide if they get away with it.

Not true, they'll sell enough through "fanboys" and "well, it's not that bad I suppose" people to make it worth it for them.
10 Feb 2006 ~ 12:09pm bothered Well that means they DO sell them, doesn't it?
10 Feb 2006 ~ 1:28pm RWB I might buy Vista when it comes out, but it better not have a bunch of problems running current programs I swear to God I will use evry power in me to flood their call center with my banter!
10 Feb 2006 ~ 5:24pm Enverex

bothered wrote:

Well that means they DO sell them, doesn't it?

Yes, it means they sell them regardless of what those of us with minds decide, i.e. Joe Public being us, not Joe Fanboy and Joe Dumbass.
11 Feb 2006 ~ 3:19am PirateNinja /me walks out of a dark room and scratches his head

Whats Halo?

/me returns to the Beef Jerky and Doom2 Boom Boom Room TM
12 Feb 2006 ~ 6:42pm V-P

Gargoyle wrote:

Heh, they think Halo can sell operating systems like it can consoles. Cute.

.....great thinkers of 2006.... mee too... i hate halo anyways. i dont sway with the wind
13 Feb 2006 ~ 6:51pm TheSmJ If all you guys hate Halo ports, why are you even posting in this thread?
13 Feb 2006 ~ 10:12pm Thrax Firstly, it's a serious technical concern. The previous Halo port was unplayably bad. Secondly, this technique sets a dangerous precedent.
13 Feb 2006 ~ 10:58pm TheSmJ The previous Halo port worked great on my previous system (which still had the TI4600 as I recall).

As for Microsoft pushing Bungie to make this a Vista-only port, I can't see how this would suprise anyone.
13 Feb 2006 ~ 11:02pm primesuspect Halo ran great on my system. It also rocked.

I love how everybody pretends that they're not going to all be using Vista two years from now. Yeah, hi, we're all still using Win98SE cause that rocked too
13 Feb 2006 ~ 11:18pm Garg I just don't think Halo will sell copies of an OS like it sold Xboxes.

Then again, I've always thought of Halo as the FPS game for people who didn't have computers.
13 Feb 2006 ~ 11:24pm muddocktor Prime, I'm still running Win2K Pro on several computers with no plans to upgrade them any time soon. The other machines have XP (either home or Pro) and I'm perfectly happy with the way they run. I haven't seen any feature of Vista so far that is a "must have". Now if I could get a copy of OSX for my computer I'd be on it like white on rice, just so I could see what all you macheads are bragging about. But I won't if I have to buy my hardware from them also. Been there, done that, not going there again.
13 Feb 2006 ~ 11:53pm profdlp I will buy Vista once SP1 is released. I may buy Halo 2 when I see it in the bargain bin.
14 Feb 2006 ~ 2:29am TheSmJ I remember the people still running DOS back in the Win 98SE days. Needless to say they were forced to change over eventually. There comes a point when you can't keep an up to date machine and still expect drivers to be available for a 10 year old OS.
14 Feb 2006 ~ 2:55am bothered

Thrax wrote:

this technique sets a dangerous precedent.

That's why I posted. If it works for them this time we'll be seeing more of it.
14 Feb 2006 ~ 9:46am Garg

TheSmJ wrote:

I remember the people still running DOS back in the Win 98SE days. Needless to say they were forced to change over eventually. There comes a point when you can't keep an up to date machine and still expect drivers to be available for a 10 year old OS.

By the time I switch to Vista, Halo 4 will be on Xbox, and the release date for the PC port of Halo 3 will still be pending