Halo 3 will ship when Bungie's ready - Bill Gates

By Tom Bramwell Published 10 January, 2006

Plus, 360 webcam due in 2006.

Bill Gates says he doesn't have any idea when Halo 3 will be released, claiming that it's up to Bungie.

The Microsoft chairman once commented that Sony would "walk right into Halo 3" when they launched PlayStation 3, drawing a lot of attention in the process. Former Xbox chief Robbie Bach had later claimed his comments were more "philosophical" in nature, but now it seems we have the real answer: it was "speculation", judging by Gates' reaction to the question posed by technology blog Engadget during the Consumer Electronics Show.

Asked whether Halo 3 would launch around the time of PS3, Gates replied, "No, I have to make sure that any speculation I did about that is -- it's up to the team when they want to ship that, and they're going to take their time to make that a super great product. So even we don't know when that will come out. That's one of many games that are just phenomenal that are in the works, but it's up to the artists to do it when they feel good about it."

Gates also had a couple of other 360-related comments for Engadget. He rejected suggestions that the introduction of an external HD-DVD drive would fragment the userbase, claiming, "There's no fragmentation here. The developers are creating games that run on the DVD-9 format that's in every Xbox, and whatever we do with the drive, they'll all be upwards compatible with that," and even going onto clarify the "whatever we do" comment by adding, "the HD-DVD is a peripheral, that's a nice option for our users".

He also spoke about the Xbox webcam, about which relatively little's been said in the last year. It'll launch in 2006, Gates said, "as well [as] some of the connections to the PC on the communication side so you can text message between PC and Xbox".

Finally, Gates said he expected "a substantially higher [market] share in this generation than we had last generation," and declined to speculate on how many units the 360 would sell beyond the 4.5 to 5.5 million Microsoft's hoping to do before the end of June.

On a related note, claims supposedly backed by a Financial Times article that Microsoft had dropped its previous 2.75 to 3 million unit shipment target for the first 90 days have been debunked; GameSpot made contact with the article's author who said that while Microsoft executive Peter Moore had dodged a direct question about it, he hadn't actually confirmed that the new target for June was a tacit admission of a failure to live up to the previous one.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000. Follow him on Twitter.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (35) Latest comment 6 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • attep #1 6 years ago

    With H2 facing so many problems on live when using a 360 it would be nice to see this as soon as possible. However I think m$ won't force bungie to release it (unlike bizarre and PGR3).

  • Eldritch #2 6 years ago

    Several lessons to be learnt here:

    When you're the richest man on this planet, you may...

    1. ...say things like "super great" without people laughing at you and saying, how cute you are.

    2. ...refer to yourself as "we".

    3. ...finally reveal, that all the phenomenal games for Xbox 360 are still in the works, admitting that you've released the boring ones first.

    4. ...refer to Xbox owners as "users".

    5. ...reveal the most exciting innovation in years: text messaging between Xbox and PC.

    These are truly exciting times for users all over the world! \o/

  • Carlo #3 6 years ago

    "The developers are creating games that run on the DVD-9 format that's in every Xbox, and whatever we do with the drive, they'll all be upwards compatible with that"

    HD-DVD or BD will be 'internal' and 'default' in future versions then... ?

  • Blerk #4 6 years ago

    Upwards compatible? So he's basically saying that the games will be compatible with any future 360, not that any 360 will be compatible with any future games. So that internal HD-DVD might yet come to pass, eh?

    Way to slip up, Bill! :-)

  • megastar #5 6 years ago

    "reveal the most exciting innovation in years: text messaging between Xbox and PC".

    Eldritch: Youre kidding right?

  • Eldritch #6 6 years ago

    Yup, I am, but Bill isn't, I'm afraid.

  • attep #7 6 years ago

    It's not a bad idea - just kinda pointless - unless pc gamers in a few years can join in to the xbl arena and vice versa

  • megastar #8 6 years ago

    ok, sorry you can never tell on here - some people DO get excited about shit like that.

  • Eldritch #9 6 years ago

    Like those camera phones. Or cameras with MP3 players.

  • #10 6 years ago

    This is all bullshit... The interviewer had to do a lot of talking for Bill to slip in that this HD-DVD drive is just a peripheral.

    Despite th'fact that they'd never split up th'fan-base by making use of th'HD-DVD drive for th'games (as we can already see that every 360 game must run on th'so-called "core system";), Bill is trying to say that th'HD-DVD drive is a peripheral in such a way as to make it SEEM like it'll have an impact on th'games!

    Seriously, anyone who gives a shit about HD-DVD'll just get a PS3 instead!!! It'll've a superior (in th'sense that it seems inevitable that BLU-ray will become th'industry standard) HD-DVD device from th'word "go", and no need for th'extra clutter...

  • morriss #11 6 years ago

    Who'd've thought this comments page would be 90% full of fanboys talking up the PS3 - a product they haven't even seen?

    Clever chaps. Clever.
    Edited by morriss at 10/01/06 @ 11:00

  • Eldritch #12 6 years ago

    Does owning a Sony TV and a MiniDisc Walkman make me a fanboy?

  • morriss #13 6 years ago

    I said 90% ;)

  • Tweakmonkey #14 6 years ago

    Halo 3 is probably already done, but is being held back until there are more PS3 details available.

  • freedumb #15 6 years ago

    But in all honesty, does he really believe that the release of halo 3, however great it is, is going to impact on sales of the playstation 3. You could relese the ps3 with no games, and just demos, it would still sell more units than halo 3.

    in fact you could releas packets of poo, labelled 'Sony PS3' and it would still sell more.
    Edited by freedumb at 10/01/06 @ 11:40

  • Darren #16 6 years ago

    I bet Halo 3 doesn't come until Christmas... Christmas 2007 that is...

  • Tweakmonkey #17 6 years ago

    If the PS2 is poo then what does that make Xbox? ;-)

  • Tweakmonkey #18 6 years ago

    I can tell that you're not much of a gamer then.

  • BartonFink #19 6 years ago

    Seriously, anyone who gives a shit about HD-DVD'll just get a PS3 instead!!! It'll've a superior (in th'sense that it seems inevitable that BLU-ray will become th'industry standard) HD-DVD device from th'word "go", and no need for th'extra clutter...

    Well seemingly it will be the consumer who will decide the fate of HD DVD or Blu-Ray.
    Anybody serious about HD content would buy a proper player anyway and when we get to standalone we have a world of difference in pricing. Blu-Ray players being a lot more expensive than their HD DVD counterparts, both able to deliver the same content (granted Blu-Ray has more capacity). I wonder what the consumer will go for? Hmmm.


    VHS and Betamax anybody ;)

    I do believe Blu-Ray is the better format I am just becoming less and less convinced it will be the standard.
    Edited by BartonFink at 10/01/06 @ 13:27

  • Tweakmonkey #20 6 years ago

    Yeah that's right, not knowing me at all, you can make that assumption.

    Well if you think it's all about hardware specs then you've got a big surprise coming ;-)

  • davyuk #21 6 years ago

    @morriss - You actually accounted for 50% of all PS3 comments by that one post in the thread. Funny how anti-sony people have an odd paranoia...

    @the interview - It was painfully obvious that, unless it happened by pure coincidence, Halo 3 would NOT conflict with the PS3 launch. Bungie will never be locked down to any date unless they are 99.9% sure they can make the target. So being locked down to an indefinate time frame was ridiculously unlikely.

    Furthermore, the original threat by Bill was laughable considering any conflict between PS3 and Halo 3 would not affect either parties - XBox owners/Halo fans would be picking up Halo 3, and Sony fans would be picking up a PS3. And, if like me, you're a gaming fan with money to waste, you'll be picking up both.




  • morriss #22 6 years ago

    Anti Sony? Stop presuming, mate. I'm not anti Sony at all. I'm anti people talking about a product that doesn't exist yet as though they own it and have played on it. I'm anti console war. I'm anti people like mis-interpreting what I say ;)
    Edited by morriss at 10/01/06 @ 13:53

  • Cloudane #23 6 years ago

    I hope Bungie forgets about the multi-player/online side of Halo 3 for the moment and actually make up for the disappointing campaign mode in Halo 2 please.

  • Xerx3s #24 6 years ago

    "But in all honesty, does he really believe that the release of halo 3, however great it is, is going to impact on sales of the playstation 3. You could relese the ps3 with no games, and just demos, it would still sell more units than halo 3."

    Considering that h2 sold alot of units (over 7m i believe?), it might suppress the ps3 sales. But the sad truth is that your right. It might be an absolute shite machine & have no games whatsoever, but it will still outsell any other console.

    "And, if like me, you're a gaming fan with money to waste, you'll be picking up both. " ^_^ I will most likely do the same. If sony can finally learn how to make a controller & release some propper games. Perhaps even an original shooter thats actually worth playing?

  • captainrentboy #25 6 years ago

    I like the way you all make snide,bitchy comments to eachother on here but think just because you put this ;) at the end of your sentance it makes it all good again,way to go cunts........;)

  • Tweakmonkey #26 6 years ago

    I'm just joking you knob jockey ;-)

  • trevd72 #27 6 years ago

    halo in a COD2 on 360 mould would rock. halo 2 campaign was dissapointing possible crap and the last half of halo killed the experience. on the other hand COD2 was fab all of the way through.

    you could easily have three campaigns inter-crossing. let me be a producer on the game and see what i come up with when paid to be imaginative.

  • davyuk #28 6 years ago

    Sorry morriss, but you were only 1 of 2 people that had mentioned the PS3 at that point. So the '90% full of fanboys' comment made me think you were anti-Sony. Easy mistake really...

  • tengu #29 6 years ago

    "in fact you could releas packets of poo, labelled 'Sony PS3' and it would still sell more."

    You've got a point here. It DID work with 'Sony PS2' after all ;-)"


    "At least I have the good manners not to comment on a console I have no interest in."

    /Rolls eyes
    Edited by tengu at 10/01/06 @ 18:47

  • tenma #30 6 years ago

    ;)


    ;)



    ;)




    ;|

  • Jimmymd2 #31 6 years ago

    It comes down to this...in Africa I'd have to give away 12.5% of my salary every month if I wanted a broadband connection...that's how expensive a broadband connection is here...so while I'd love to get an XBOX360 I just can't afford the broadband connection...

    Another thing is that Sony brought the PS2 to our country while Microsoft never bothered with the original XBOX...even though I wanted the original XBOX more than the PS2 (just hype at that point I guess)...so I had to settle for a PS2.

    Anyway, I now have about 25-30 PS2 games that are supposed to be compatible with the PS3 when it releases...a much better option for me especially if it already includes a high-capacity optical drive.

    Don't get me wrong though...after reading through various forums about the experiences people have had on the XBOX360 Live I've considered actually giving up on food so that I can afford that broadband connection instead for an XBOX360!

  • Rambaldi #32 6 years ago

    Anyone who loves shooters and who has played Halo 1/2 knows that the 360 is worth the entry fee alone for Halo 3. Forget HD, forget storage capacity, love games, love online muliplayer :)

  • reality_cheque #33 6 years ago

    @Jimmymd: Not that I was thinking of moving to Africa, but now I feel the need to smuggle some broadband-refugees into the UK. Surely lack of broadband access is against the Geneva convention?

    Get yourself a really long cable and some signal boosters and I'll let you plug into my router ;)

  • lagizztic #34 6 years ago

    L ook is it not obvious that Halo3 Will ship the same exact time as Metal Gear Solid 4 it's a no brainer. Why release it during the launch of ps3 when you can wait till the competitions major game come's out! Also for anyone who believes the ps3 is going to blow the xbox360 out of the water I guess hasn't played kingkong yet nor seen the new full auto demo yet ? Look ps fan boys the xbox360 is here right now and just testing the waters right now! The ps3 wont be shipped in North America till the end of 2006 and wont look much diffrent then xbox 360 games.

    Sorry to burst bubbles
    later,ray

  • BartonFink #35 6 years ago

    surely you mean The ps3 wont be shipped in North America till the end of 2006 and won't look much different than xbox games. :)