Retailers forecast Halo 2 PC slip

By Robert Purchese Published 4 May, 2007

Microsoft looks other way.

Microsoft was unable to comment this morning on rumours that Halo 2 Vista has slipped a week.

It was speaking in the aftermath of several leading retailers changing their listings for the game. European dates shifted from 18th to 25th May, and American schedules went from 8th to 23rd May.

Although it's far from concrete evidence, it's unusual for a retailer to be wrong this close to launch, or to switch away from the publisher-announced release date without reason.

Halo 2 Vista is a PC remake of the phenomenally successful Xbox title from 2004. It will feature new maps and an editor to create your own, as well as some graphical spit-shine and other tweaked bits and pieces.

It'll only be playable on the new Windows Vista, but will support Live Anywhere and have its own unique achievements to unlock.

Head over to our Halo 2 Vista gamepage for the entire shakedown.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (30) Latest comment 5 years ago

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  • TwistidChimp #1 5 years ago

    I still reckon they're going to sell about 10 copies. It was bad enough on the 360 2 years ago, the multiplayer was obviously great, but how on earth is it going to compete with all the pc games, both single and multiplayer that are launching near the same time ?

  • lennon #2 5 years ago

    Are you serious?

  • skillian #3 5 years ago

    Same week as Quake Wars then. Good luck Halo.

  • Whizzo #4 5 years ago

    10 copies is pushing it I think.

    Halo2 Vista, such a waste of time even the guys who work for the Official Games For Windows magazine make jokes about it.

  • BadBoyBonner #5 5 years ago

    Agreed - Halo 1 on the original Xbox linked up to my projector and Dolby digital setup was a joy to behold at the time (over 6 years ago!!) and thought the game (library-aside) was amazing.

    Halo 2 - equally as good story, better cut scenes (great voice of John Hurt) but the single player game felt less compelling (as Master Chief at least) and the ending was somewhat lacking.

    Vista Halo 2 will leave most cold, and is certainly not a system/OS seller. In fact staring a massive system hit in the face rather than the touted performance increase will put most off for a good while yet I would imagine.

    And if Crysis looks almost as good in DX9 form as DX10, then I can not see it making that much impact (edit - i.e. increase in Vista sales) – apart from providing lovely screen shot comparisons.
    Edited by 1 at 04/05/07 @ 11:09

  • Eldritch #6 5 years ago

    What would my PC need a slip for, especially a Halo 2 one?

  • sickpuppysoftware #7 5 years ago

    The meh-o-meter just went into meltdown

  • rudedudejude #8 5 years ago

    It's just a marketing ploy to sell more copies of Vista because it's doing so awful.

  • insincere_dave #9 5 years ago

    This reminds me a lot of game I played a couple of years ago on Xbox. I can't remember its name for the life of me though.

  • Darren #10 5 years ago

    I can't imagine many PC owners going ga-ga over a near three year old console port somehow no matter how good the game is. The fact that it only runs on Windows Vista also restricts potential sales massively, particularly as I think Vista sucks for games (I'm a dual booting PC user with both XP and Vista).

    I predict the game will be a moderate hit at best but for most it's surely too little, too late. The Halo 3 beta is just two weeks away and the full game is out this November on the 360 so why bother?

  • Talha #11 5 years ago

    Apart from the fact that it is a two years old game, it STILL looks two years old - or make that about 5, given the tech of original XBox.

    Anything can 'require' DX 10 - using it is entirely another story. It is regrettable that MS would place their hope on such a been-there-done-that prospect. I think a DX10 patch for Flight Simulator X would have been far more successful, also attracting many console gamers.

  • cellar_door #12 5 years ago

    I probably would have picked this up if it had been XP too. Vista exclusive means not a chance in hell.

    I still think this will sell. Wasn't there news of this going gold some time ago or am I thinking of something else.

    Edit : Yep, http://ww w.neowin.net/index.php?act=view...
    Edited by 1 at 04/05/07 @ 12:26

  • skillian #13 5 years ago

    I expect it to be hacked onto Windows XP, and downloaded many more times than it is bought.

  • TwistidChimp #14 5 years ago

    hehe, well the 10 copies comment was a bit of an exageration. I think it will sell moderatley, but if MS are hoping this is going to be some kind of Vista seller, I think they'l be massivley dissapointed. Dont get me wrong, I loved the original Halo, but 2 utterly failed to bowl me over, and that was years ago. I fail to see how it can compete in any way with upcoming pc games like Crysis, Quake Wars, or TF2.

  • mkreku #15 5 years ago

    I wonder if they kept the co-op this time? That was the real killer for Halo on the PC.

  • GitSomE_UK #16 5 years ago

    Lol @ sickpuppy

  • quantumsheep #17 5 years ago

    Yep - it's slipped to the 25th according to an ad for it in MCV this morning.

    But really, does anyone care?

    (having said that I may play it on the 360 this weekend, just in preparation for Halo 3 ;) )

  • skillian #18 5 years ago

    I wonder if they kept the co-op this time? That was the real killer for Halo on the PC.

    No, apparently the co-op mode has disappeared.

  • TwistidChimp #19 5 years ago

    Are you serious o_O

    How can they possibly have had to remove co-op ffs !? They've been making this port for years and its not even going to be as good as the xbox version ?

  • JediMasterMalik #20 5 years ago

    There's really no excuse for it slipping, hell there's no reason for it to be so late anyway.

  • skillian #21 5 years ago

    Vista only but no DX10 features.

    +No co-op, God knows why.

    +Auto-aim for pad-users in multiplayer.

    =Game can suck my balls.

    edit: forgot all that godawful Windows Live stuff too.

    Edited by 1 at 04/05/07 @ 15:22

  • smelly #22 5 years ago

    @lennon: I agree with him

    Halo 2 was a VERY average game, compared to fps games on the pc market you're easily looking at a 4/10 game maximum

  • yagisencho #23 5 years ago

    I never bothered playing it to completion on XBox. Came fairly close when playing it on 360 though. No reason whatsoever to pick up the PC version.

  • immateriaux #24 5 years ago

    The release of Vista itself was a real damp squib type of event but it will look like a Millenium Meltdown compared to the Halo 2 release ... Lord, I almost feel asleep off the chair just trying to type Halo 2 .... Has to be the the game release to garner the most indifferent response in gamers ever ... Should update Wikipedia on that point actually.

  • Vandrius #25 5 years ago

    Mmm... Quake Wars and TF2.

    *blinks*

    Hay-low? What is this... thing?

  • The-Bodybuilder #26 5 years ago

    I'm sure the PC boys will be GUTTED hearing this.

  • subtlesnake #27 5 years ago

    Split screen co-op is problematic on the PC, and even if they did it, how many people would take advantage? A tiny proportion of the game's userbase I suspect.

  • suzakuseven #28 5 years ago

    So add LAN co-op? Seems like a no-brainer. But then, I doubt anyone's really interested in this for PC so it's probably not worth the effort.

  • smelly #29 5 years ago

    >Split screen co-op is problematic on the PC,

    No it's not. Dont talk nonsense.

    The only problem is how to plug in the 2nd mouse and keyboard.

  • bdc #30 5 years ago

    And where would one put such a second mouse and keyboard? It's not practical.