The fabled Halo DS

[dallow]

Thought this cancelled project would be interested to discuss for everyone.


Videos here:
http://blogs.ign.com/Matt-IGN/2007/10/02/67886/

http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/3739/mattbloghalods119134874zo0.jpg

[Strell]

As I said in the OTT, I imagine this got cancelled because Microsoft and Nintendo couldn't come to terms on who got what percentage of the profits. Nintendo is notorious for wanting more than they ought to really warrant.

If the game was good, it's a shame. I imagine both companies could have made lots of cash off it without the need for marketing effort.

[evilmax17]

Wow, looks a lot better than I was expecting.

There have been over 50 million DS systems sold worldwide. (http://www.tech.co.uk/home-entertainment/gaming/handhelds/news/nintendo-ds-shoots-past-50-million-mark?articleid=346391286) They could really make a lot of money if they someday choose to release it.

[Dark Slayer120]

As I said in the OTT, I imagine this got cancelled because Microsoft and Nintendo couldn't come to terms on who got what percentage of the profits. Nintendo is notorious for wanting more than they ought to really warrant.

Agreed.

[Apossum]

Would've been awesome and I agree with Strell-- I bet the negotiations were a mess.

"I want 90%!!!"

"NO-- I want 90%!!"

or MS-- "We'll let you have this, if you let us buy out your company and give us Shigeru Miyamoto, who will head up a MS game studio."

[SL4IN]

if it did come out, i'd pass on it. but it would sell alot just based on the name.

[E_G_Man]

:( Kind of stings. I was kind of hoping he would show some DS Warthog action, oh well.

[daroga]

Interesting. I wonder if, with this extra bit of exposure, it'll encourage those involved to play nice and get along. I'm not holding my breath on that though.

[Strell]

The only thing that strikes me as odd about this whole thing is that Matt made these comments about Halo DS existing a long time ago, and vowed "everyone who said it doesn't exist is gunna get pwned like a bitch" (or something to that effect).

Then nothing happens and he basically went into "Wtf are you talking about? I didn't say anything 'bout no Halo DS" mode.

Then months pass, and all of a sudden he throws up a few videos, citing - essentially - "there's a page on Wikipedia calling my credibility into question, and I totally can't, like, let that happen." I mean, really? That was the last straw? A wikipedia page that (I think he said) your brother told you about, Matt? C'mon. I'm sure there are dozens of posts out there calling you much nastier things (and I've probably written a few of 'em).

I mean poof, we've got videos, literally out of nowhere.

I'm trying to figure out why stuff would surface out of nowhere just to let Matt settle some kind of silly internets integrity battle, as if he were the one who controlled the release of this material. What would have stopped the actual developers from releasing it on their own, either to coincide with Matt's claims or just to gain some notoriety? And if they weren't the ones calling the shots and it was indeed Matt, why didn't he put 'em up when he said he would?

Just seems slightly fishy. However, I know how hard it would be to make videos, even for hoax purposes, to say nothing of getting them onto some kind of demo DS cart and the like.

Oh well.

[jer7583]

I'd miss the physics and large encounters. Although Brothers in Arms DS showed it could be done pretty well.

[evilmax17]

I would imagine that he would have had to get legal clearance before showing anything, which might have been tricky and or time-consuming.

On the other hand, why would he go through all of the trouble to pay (?) some indie team to create a Halo DS demo, over some silly Wikipedia article?

[Ugamer_X]

Am I the only one who notices how slyly they were speaking at the end of the video? It looked like they were trying to hold something back the whole time they were talking. They mentioned the game was canceled and never coming out about 10 times in the video. They mentioned how much fun it was and then threw it right in our faces because we'll never get to play it. I won't be surprised if we hear something about this title very soon -- or something related to it.

C'mon, posting this now given the major rumor that just hit yesterday?

[Apossum]

and it's popping up at the same time as rumors about Bungie and MS are floating around.

Sony announcement supposed to happen on the 12th, Nintendo has a conference on the 10th, right? and now teamxbox is saying that MS will announce something regarding Bungie by the 12th?


As usual, this will probably all add up to nothing, but it sure does look like something big will happen.


AND WHAT HAVE WE HERE:
http://www.gameinformer.com/News/Story/200710/N07.1002.1438.22348.htm

[jrutz]

Microsoft bought Bungie specifically for Halo, and with all of the recent news I wouldn't be surprised if there was a clause in their contract to basically let Bungie opt out after Halo 3. Speculating, of course, but something to think about, since Bungie really hasn't done anything other than Halo for Microsoft (Marathon XBLA was done by Freeverse, Halo Wars by Ensemble). The only thing outstanding is the WETA stuff which Bungie is really only acting as consultant.

[terribledeli]

Then months pass, and all of a sudden he throws up a few videos, citing - essentially - "there's a page on Wikipedia calling my credibility into question, and I totally can't, like, let that happen." I mean, really? That was the last straw?


That's what set me off. Something that he, or his brother if he wanted to be sly about it, could have easily changed.

It'd seem foolish to phoney up some videos and pictures just to flex some of internet muscle, but his reasoning (At least as it is written on his blog) seems odd.

[ViolentLee]

Did you know Halo was once upon a time going to be a PS2 game? There were a few screens published in Game Informer on it way back in the day.

[SynGamer]

http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/4950/mattbloghalods119134874uy0.jpg

Proof here (http://blogs.ign.com/Matt-IGN/2007/10/02/67886/).

Why someone would cancel this is beyond me...hopeully this project gets revivied.

[soccerstud652]

Looks fake...

[SynGamer]

Looks fake...

Yeah, because hands-on video of the two of them playing it is fake. Perhaps it is the graphics that resemble the Xbox Halo games pretty damn well that throws up a fake flag...:-|

[whoknows]

repost and it's real.

[evilmax17]

Did you know Halo was once upon a time going to be a PS2 game? There were a few screens published in Game Informer on it way back in the day.
Neat, never knew that.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=leRV0wv0YQA

[SynGamer]

repost and it's real.

Repost? Where? I checked the front page and didn't see anything mentioning proof that Halo DS existed...

[Strell]

All I remember is that Halo was at some point Mac exclusive.

Yes. Mac exclusive.

[whoknows]

http://cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?p=3418195#post3418195

[SynGamer]

http://cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?p=3418195#post3418195

That doesn't look like the Nintendo Gaming > DS/GBA forums though ;) :P

[ViolentLee]

Sweet video! Would've liked to hear what the Bungie dudes were saying. Of course, the PS2 graphics didn't do it many favors.

I always wonder what would've happened had Halo and Mace Griffin switched places. If Microsoft would've bought Mace, and Halo would've floundered in development for a while.

[munch]

I would buy it.

[daroga]

Was that PS2 footage? It looked a lot (in its design) like the original Mac / PC versions floating around in '99 in magazines and such.

I can remember reading about this with my roommate senior year of high school and being so excited to play it on the computer. I'd never heard the PS2 thing though till today. Just always thought it went from a Mac (timed?) exclusive to an Xbox game when MS bought Bungie.

[LinkinPrime]

Bummer that it got canceled, Halo on the go via wifi would kick ass, though I don't see how the controls would work without 2 sticks.

[Apossum]

the real question-- would we have the 360 today had MS not bought Bungie?

[anomynous]

loll, at the bungie forums everybody is claiming its a fake

[soccerstud652]

This is a gold mine, and with Viva Pinata minigames coming out for the DS, why shouldn't MS try to make some money and make all of us happy? With WIFI play, this would be unstoppable.

[mykevermin]

If you didn't know what a broken heart felt like, well...now you do.

[Strell]

If you didn't know what a broken heart felt like, well...now you do.

This is what it feels like....when doves cry.

:(

[Killer Rabbit]

Well, if those crazy rumors about Bungie breaking off from MS are true, then I imagine that this will be the first game on the new Bungie's to-do list, or at least the first DS game on the agenda. After all, they've probably just got the last alpha build of the game sitting on a disk somewhere in their offices, just waiting to be finished up and released. It's certainly cheaper to finish an alpha build than to start from scratch.

[mykevermin]

Well, if those crazy rumors about Bungie breaking off from MS are true, then I imagine that this will be the first game on the new Bungie's to-do list, or at least the first DS game on the agenda. After all, they've probably just got the last alpha build of the game sitting on a disk somewhere in their offices, just waiting to be finished up and released. It's certainly cheaper to finish an alpha build than to start from scratch.

I dunno. If one of the major reasons Bungie is leaving (I'm still skeptical, but the evidence is mounting, and Microsoft's non-answer PR response is intriguing) that they don't want to make any more Halo, then we shouldn't anticipate their next title to be Halo.

[SynGamer]

From what i heard, MS owns the rights to Halo, so Bungie can continue to make halo games for MS if they split, but Bungie can also start making their own IPs and on other consoles.

[help1]

I dunno. If one of the major reasons Bungie is leaving (I'm still skeptical, but the evidence is mounting, and Microsoft's non-answer PR response is intriguing) that they don't want to make any more Halo, then we shouldn't anticipate their next title to be Halo.
Bungie has gone on record saying that they don't want to make Halo games for the rest of their lives, and im thinking with Halo 3 and all the features they have thrown into this one, they are just about ready to wrap it up and leave.

Microsoft is notorious for this "no comment, no announcement has been made regarding this, this is pure speculation etc." stuff, so that shouldn't be surprising.

I do find it plausible that Bungie is in fact leaving because of the fact that this rumor seems so frivolous, and yet is still floating around. There must be some kernel of truth in this or someone who is proven backing this rumor.

Would it be critical to MS is Bungie left? No, not if what I am hearing is true and that they will still have some publishing rights on their next games. Also, who is to say that Bungie wants to make more FPS games? If I were to guess, Bungie probably doesn't want to make an FPS, as it will just be labeled as the next "Halo game" and probably have the same mechanics, thus be boring to develop. I think they are going for something new, an RTS maybe?

Also, MS would still have the Halo name, and with a Halo Movie and undoubtedly more Halo games even past Halo Wars, this wont hurt MS at all. They probably might want to work on their company relations though, because they have left a bad taste in Epic's mouth and with this news, companies maybe reluctant to work with them in the future.

[mykevermin]

They probably might want to work on their company relations thought, because tehy have left a bad taste in Epic's mouth

How so?

[iamthekiller]

i still think it's fake... not due to the gameplay... but how facetious and douche baggy these guys pulled themselves off.... they just seemed insincere and dishonest

[Halo05]

I think it might be from Epic wanting all the Gears of War stuff to be free and MS telling them that they have to charge money for it. However, I may be mixing up my internet videogame news from way back when.

[help1]

I think it might be from Epic wanting all the Gears of War stuff to be free and MS telling them that they have to charge money for it. However, I may be mixing up my internet videogame news from way back when.

That is on the list of grievances. Epic didnt want to nickel and dime the gamers who supported them. When MS charged for the maps, it made Epic mad, as they recieved the hate from fans who thought the maps should be free. Also, Epic was seen as a lazy developer when paired with MS because of MS' retarded certification system which takes too long. Because of this, fans felt that Epic was unneccessarily post poning the introduction of new maps, mode (annex, note it is only one new mode) and patches.

[mykevermin]

Well, Epic's previous work is stuff most gamers are very familiar with, right? So ample free content for all the various Unreals should be a crystal clear indicator of MS gumming up the process.

We'll see how Sony uses UTIII's content. I bet they charge, too (UTIII PS3 just got pushed into 2008, FWIW).

But Epic's tied into Gears of War in the 360, so they may be angry, but what does MS care? They ain't goin' anywhere.

Sorry for the OT.

[banpeikun]

the hallowed Fable DS?

[whoknows]

After watching the gameplay video's even if it did come out I wouldn't have gotten it. The controls seem as uncomfortable as Metroid Prime Hunters.

[gofishn]

A commenter on Joystiq claims its just a mod of the crappy Goldeneye DS game. Any truth to that?

[mykevermin]

That seems completely plausible.

[Apossum]

A commenter on Joystiq claims its just a mod of the crappy Goldeneye DS game. Any truth to that?


it does have the same hud and Golden Eye had dual wielding:

http://www.fuxoft.cz/tmp/blog/goldeneye_ds.jpg

[mykevermin]

Not to mention the timer and score in the upper right corner - I was wondering what in the world Halo had a timer and score for.

[Apossum]

He never mentioned the developers though-- it could have been a mock up done by someone related to EA. I don't think the IGN guy would pull something like this--the greatest semi-megaton lie with credibility in recent memory--but could he have been duped? I have no idea. I don't know anything about the DS homebrew scene or if this is possible.

[hootie]

it does have the same hud and Golden Eye had dual wielding:

http://www.fuxoft.cz/tmp/blog/goldeneye_ds.jpg

Wow, that does look incredibly similar...:-k

[LancerEvoX]

Who knows, however if its a mod, thats pretty impressive. I havent seen anything like that for a modded console game, with the exception for the GTA games.

[soccerstud652]

Even the GERA game with the Halo maps & vehicles would be sweet.

[soccerstud652]

http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/3739/mattbloghalods119134874zo0.jpg

VS.

http://www.fuxoft.cz/tmp/blog/goldeneye_ds.jpg

WE HAVE A BOOTLEG...this game was never in production.

If there was going to be a Halo DS, would they have canned it if it was going to make millions? No. They probably never made it on the DS because they do not want it to play like crap and ruin the Halo franchise...

[evilmax17]

You have to remember that the Halo DS that they showed was pretty much a prototype, alpha build, or perhaps even a proof of concept.

If you're EA, and you know that the project hasn't been fully approved, then it's fully reasonable to start out by modifying an existing product (namely Goldeneye DS). Every new game you buy doesn't get its own engine, there's a lot of code being reused.

[soccerstud652]

Max (who is evil...lol...sorry Austin Powers joke),

I doubt EA would have been the main company on a Halo game, it would have been some sort of Bungie team that was familiar with Halo.

Also, if they were working off an existing engine, for arguments sake, GERA, I highly doubt that they would change all of the levels and guns and not update the interphase to the halo shield and regeneration system and a similar kills meter on screen as it was in Halo 2.

The reason I really think this screams bootleg, is the score and time in the top right corner are the exact same from GERA. Certainly, after making a map and guns and character models, they would have updated this as well.

Eventhough it is a bootleg, I would love to play it. It looks like they did a great job engineering the model changed and the gameplay looks good. I do think it is unprofessional of IGN to publish this like they got it from a legit publisher and it was GOING to come out but was cancelled. Purley unprofessional.

[evilmax17]

Here's the thing though (not to turn this into a back and forth, but hey, it's all in good fun):

What you're talking about is easy stuff. The score, the health meter, the interface. The score display could have easily been disabled, and they could have easily changed the health. If I'm a modder and I want to create a Halo DS hoax, this is the FIRST thing that I do.

If they were going to try and concoct some scam, they wouldn't have been that sloppy. For all of the work that it would've taken to reskin the game and create new models for the warthog and such, don't you think they would have taken two seconds and disabled the score?

[soccerstud652]

Well that is what I am trying to figure out...but why would the publisher leave it in (for the same reasons you just mentioned)?

[Ruahrc]

All I remember is that Halo was at some point Mac exclusive.

Yes. Mac exclusive.

Yeah I think Halo was originally planned as a Mac-exclusive RTS game. Imagine what it would have been like had it actually come out! Ironic though that the game finally ran on PowerPC hardware via the Xbox360.

IIRC, Doom3 was also originally announced at a Mac event. Can anyone confirm on this?

Ruahrc

[ITDEFX]

wow.

I would have bought this game.

It might have been a pain in the ass to control, but it would have been fun on multiplayer mode.

[ViolentLee]

You have to remember that the Halo DS that they showed was pretty much a prototype, alpha build, or perhaps even a proof of concept.

If you're EA, and you know that the project hasn't been fully approved, then it's fully reasonable to start out by modifying an existing product (namely Goldeneye DS). Every new game you buy doesn't get its own engine, there's a lot of code being reused.Very good points, sir. Allgame.com credits EA Tiburon as GoldenEye DS' developer, but something tells me it was outsourced. Maybe that company worked on this Halo mock-up, hoping to make fat cash.

However, it's also entirely plausible someone just used some rudimentary level-building software to garage-game this thing. The world...may never know. But it is a cool little relic.

[62t]

youtube video proves the whole thing is fake

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8JTKXOStik

[Apossum]

youtube video proves the whole thing is fake

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8JTKXOStik

so basically...this guy wants the credit for all the detective work other people already did...

and still, that doesn't prove it was fake or homebrew, it just shows that whatever Halo DS is, it was built on the Rogue Agent engine. Even then, it doesn't mean EA built it-- someone could've gotten the RA engine code from someone at EA for the purpose of making a quick mock-up to present to MS and Nintendo, just to see how they react. and I think this fact shows that it wasn't Bungie (why would bungie want to use the engine from a crappy game, even if it was just a proto.)

Not all pitched games are official or meant to be released...

[dallow]

Halo DS is a tech demo based on RA engine.
Not fake.

[jer7583]

Well what is fake is how cassamasina sold it as some pre-release thing that was never finished, uber exclusive that nobody could get, and it's just a mod of the RA engine. Someone's looking red in the face.

And yes, bungie did toss around the idea of porting Halo to the PS2 when it was still a Mac project, in the same way that Cryteam tossed around the idea of porting FarCry to the PS2, only to realize the system was underpowered for what they wanted to achieve and scrapping it.

[dallow]

Well what is fake is how cassamasina sold it as some pre-release thing that was never finished, uber exclusive that nobody could get, and it's just a mod of the RA engine. Someone's looking red in the face.

And yes, bungie did toss around the idea of porting Halo to the PS2 when it was still a Mac project, in the same way that Cryteam tossed around the idea of porting FarCry to the PS2, only to realize the system was underpowered for what they wanted to achieve and scrapping it.Good thing the Wii got a port.

[zewone]

I think Matt did this for the attention and that EA or no one other developers had anything to do with it.

[soccerstud652]

I think Matt did this for the attention and that EA or no one other developers had anything to do with it.

Yup...

[jer7583]

Good thing the Wii got a port.
yeah, about that..
difference was Wii Far Cry was all ubisoft after Crytek sold the franchise. The guy from crytek mentioned Gamecube along with PS2 as platforms they tried on GFW radio last week. Ubi probably just used that for the Wii game.

[ViolentLee]

yeah, about that..
difference was Wii Far Cry was all ubisoft after Crytek sold the franchise. The guy from crytek mentioned Gamecube along with PS2 as platforms they tried on GFW radio last week. Ubi probably just used that for the Wii game.
DAMN was FarCry Wii an awful, putrid, vile game!

[daroga]

That's pretty cool with the Rogue Agent tie-in.

I'd love to find out the real history behind this. Was GERA outsourced to another company that also mocked-up this game to pitch for Microsoft? Did EA themselves for some reason try to get in the already-hectic Microsoft/Nintendo pool? Did someone just mod the GERA rom to get it working? Can I summarize 4 pages of discussion with a few questions?

[zewone]

What pisses me off is that we'll never be truly able to know if Matt was lying, because I don't believe any developer will own up to this.

The only way we would know is if Matt feels guilty enough to admit it (which will never happen).

[Apossum]

What pisses me off is that we'll never be truly able to know if Matt was lying, because I don't believe any developer will own up to this.

The only way we would know is if Matt feels guilty enough to admit it (which will never happen).


Greatest mystery since Deep Throat broke Watergate to Woodward and Bernstein!

[Strell]

Ahh, the missed opportunity of being able to teabag someone through touch.

[daroga]

Ahh, the missed opportunity of being able to teabag someone through touch.I hate you.

[Strell]

No you don't.

Shadduppa you face.

[-Never4ever-]

Did you know Halo was once upon a time going to be a PS2 game? There were a few screens published in Game Informer on it way back in the day.

Heh, I was just remember that. Can't find the old preview though.:bomb:

[ViolentLee]

Heh, I was just remember that. Can't find the old preview though.:bomb:
It was a tiny photophile, if memory serves. I think it may have been in an issue before the redesign, so it had the staple binding -- but I'm not positive.

[zerowing]

I told a Halo 2 fanatic back when the DS launched that the DS could do first person shooters and I would be surprised if Halo DS wasn't made. We argued over controls and I just showed him Metroid Prime Hunters and he was instantly sold. Little did I know that this would pop up almost 3 years later.

I kind of hope its real because Microsoft and Nintendo cooperatiing would be awesome for both companies and fans alike. In fact I would confidently say I would purchase this, I'm not even a big fan of Halo (I like other FPS lots more). I hope this really does come out somehow.

[evilmax17]

Straight from Bungie's mouth. It's real.
Kotaku: The whole Halo on the DS rumor just doesn’t want to die, do you see that in the cards?

Brian Jarrard: This rumor has been circulating for a while and as you know we even saw some real life screens and assets this week. Ultimately it’s up to Microsoft to decide if and when they take Halo to a different platform. That particular demo was in fact created and I believe it was an unsolicited pitch a long time ago but nothing ever came of it.
http://kotaku.com/gaming/feature/bungie-owns-bungie-the-qa-307656.php

[Strell]

Mmmm. To me it's "real" in the same sense Chrono Trigger 3D is real.

I mean I guess that includes actual code/art/production being done, but as a game, it'll never surface in a playable form.

At least, for now it's not. All that recent ballyhooed stuff with Bungie might indicate otherwise later on.

[Rozz]

This looks like it'd be fun online :D