unforum

[DM]

Considering that Microsoft has not even announced the NextBox yet, if Bungie and Microsoft get their behinds into gear I would think that we could see a Halo 3 and NextBox release around the fourth quater, 2005 or early 2006. If Microsoft are planning the NextBox, they will have it at the next E3 event, where they should announce the release date. If I'm not mistaken, the next E3 isn't for a while.

If Bungie does anything the way they did with Halo 2, they can use the ideals of Halo 2 to make Halo 3 in no time. They are obviously the type of game company to really push a console to its limits, so if they use Halo 2 as a template, I could see Halo 3 getting done in no time and looking far more different. In my opinion, they would be crazy not to make a Halo 3. They really turned off a lot of their fans with Halo 2's ending, and going onto a new game would be marketing suicide. They are going to have to work hard to get those fans back, and only by making Halo 3 extra pretty and with a LONGER storyline than Halo 2 can they redeem themselves. Making a new Myst game or something just wouldn't do that.

I think they have to accept the fact that Halo is a game they are going to be stuck with for a long time. Hopefully not like Final Fantasy (Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Final Fantasy, but Halo 17 just doesn't have the same ring to it) but for the long run-Halo 7 being the end of the series.

Still, for me, I think all hope for an expansion is lost. Given what has been said, the way they ended Halo 2 (it was a very convenient place to end it.), and how close the NextBox is to being released/announced, it's obvious that a Halo 3 is going to have to be in order. Unless, of course, Microsoft wants to try at making Blinx the unofficial representative of the XBOX again. *Shudder*

[mattat]

Just to chip in my two cents - I can see another option for the way things will pan out.

1. Downloadable content being simply multiplayer maps - This would make sense in that not everyone has live, and it would be odd for Bungie to limit completing the story for those who have access to live. I know that people could get the extra levels from OXM, but this still doesn't reach everyone, - imagine if you missed the edition of the magazine.

2. No expansion pack - I just can't see Bungie releasing a 'pay for' expansion pack a la Rainbow Six or Ghost Recon. It would leave them open to charges of rushing out Halo 2, or profiteering from fans making them pay twice for a full game, which is effectively what it would be without enough significant extras.

3. Halo 3 NOT being a launch title, but replaced by something else - This is where my suggestions get a bit weird, but stay with me. Microsoft own two first class development teams, Bungie and Rare. Rare have been very quiet this generation - Conker Reloaded notwithstanding. Ok Kameo is being worked on, but I would strongly suspect that somewhere within Rare, a Perfect Dark sequel is being worked on. They still own the IP, but releasing it on X-box would cause substantial competition with Halo, something Microsoft would be loathe to do.

Instead it would make sense to let Rare work on Perfect Dark for a couple of years in secret, with no need to produce another killer FPS on this generation, and bring it out as the launch FPS on Xbox Next.

This would leave Bungie to pursue another title (possibly Marathon or original project) for launch, and then swing into Halo 3 after the launch hype has gone down and the xbox2 is beginning to drop in price, dragging in more and more users.

All wild spec of course - but there you go.

[ubersaurus]

Rare is working on Perfect Dark Zero on Xbox, but they have no release date. Being Rare, it probably won't come out for like 5789376 years.

[weephun]

[water10]

The waiting is certainly the hardest part!! But at least, we have awesome multiplayer to keep us entertained for a while!

[DM]

If I remember correctly, Franky completely hacked up any ideas of Halo 2 campaign downloadable content.

However, what he said in that quote was intruiging when I read it on Bungie.net, they want a good story, and yet they leave Halo 2 on such a cliffhanger intentionally? I wouldn't even call it a cliffhanger, it was an abrupt ending to what could have been a very long, amazing storyline. They don't have plans for Halo 3, but they just end Halo 2 on such a cliffhanger, only to NOT make a third and make even more money? I am worried that Bungie has let all this popularity go to their head, this isn't like them. Hell, a better ending would have been to let Halo 05 activate and all life in the galaxy gets wiped out, they did THAT before, and at least in that case we know not to expect another sequal any time soon!

[NSA]

I still harbor some faint hope that they have a giant ACE up their sleeve.. and will let it pounce on us... sometime soon.

But.. when reality returns, I begin to realize this may be it for now. Sigh.

Still a great universe though, gives us losers more time to go through the books/audio (ilb!)/etc over and over again formulating whats really going on!

[thebruce]

I believe the cult following of the Halo universe may get as bad popular as the Star Trek fiction following...

imagine people writing stories and novels all based in the Halo universe from fans desperate for more storytelling, from angles of civilians to frontline battles with the covenant, territory fights with forerunner tech as the coveted prize... colony flood infestations, to government conspiracies... there's so much potential for storytelling - outside of gaming - that this Haloverse should not die with the end of Halo 2, whether or not there's a followup game...

[ubersaurus]

[NSA]

While re-reading the novelization of the first Halo game, aka "Halo: the FLOOD!" (emphasis mine!) I had to chance to pick up on a lot more of Guilty Spark's dialog, since I was busy killing people when I played through the game initially. One thing stood out as pretty interesting:

"The installation was specifically built to study and contain the Flood. Their survival as a race was dependent upon it. I am grateful to see that some of them survived to reproduce. "

Now, this COULD imply that the Flood's survival as a race was dependant on the Halos, since perhaps the Flood would not know when to stop killing and would thus eventually consume all the food available and die out on its own. However, since he is talking to the Master Chief I believe the Forerunners built the Halo's to find a way to finally beat the Flood. 343 saying that some of "THEM" survived to reproduce leads me to believe he knows Master Chief is human, and thus a descendent of the Forerunners.

Of course, this is all SPEC, since Bungie has been known for giving false clues. But with the ending of Halo 2, it seems likely that the humans are somehow connected to the Forerunners. Which would give creedance to ubersaurs's idea that the Prophets are merle trying to maintain their grip on power.

One thing that does bother me about the Human/Forerunner connection is that the Halo's we're fired some 100,000+ years ago, which is a long time. In that time the human/forerunner race had to (a) lose all its technology and knowledge, and (b) evolve/not evolve enough to still be recognizable. So either the Forerunner fled to Earth and remained in Cryostasis for a while, or perhaps our human race is the 2nd time this form of life evolved? Sigh. So many questions!

[NSA]

Also, sidenote:

I think the sheer complexity of the Haloverse lends itself mighty well to producing mad-raving fans.. akin to Star Wars/Trek/Gate. With the books, and games, and various other ways of giving us data, Bungie has crafted a fully realized and "real" alternate dimension for us to lose ourselves in.

I for one am happy for that But I do hope they dont just leave it here ... its always nice to get some more "official" input along the way. Unless its like Star Wars.. and the eventual input was far worse than the original data... but I digress..

[DM]

The Halo universe is definitely something that Bungie needs to hold close, because it's going to make them a lot of money in the future... as long as they don't end their future games so abruptly, that is.

[NSA]

[ubersaurus]

Don't forget that with the Elites out of the picture, no one in the covenant is more powerful then the prophets now. I dont' think they were betrayed for letting Regret die-I think they were betrayed because they respected the Humans for their combat prowess, and wanted to get them into the Covenant(or at the least, the SPARTANs). Regret's death was just an excuse.

[Dewback]

I'm not bothering to read all of this so if I'm repeating anyone sue me.


According to the limited edition DVD:

Bungie screwed around too much because they were "Lamez0rs"
Bungie nears their deadlines and realize.. ZOMg we havent even made the game yet.
Bungie thinks. Ah hell we're gonna have to cut the game off early. Like say...halfway.


They don't say that exactly. They say it over 5 minutes worth of lame ass dialouge.


Basically they screwed around since "Halo 2 was going to be a huge success no matter what"
Then it came time for them to do work and they realized they didnt have jack done.


AKA Frank's "we did it intentionally" is BS