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PC version of Halo 2 coming - for Windows Vista
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The following comments relate to this news article:
article published on 10 February, 2006
If you are a Halo fan and would like to play the best-selling Halo 2 game on your PC, then you will be forced to upgrade your PC to Microsoft's upcoming Windows Vista operating system. The decision to make the game Vista-only is driven by the Redmond-based software company's desire to get as many people as possible upgraded to Windows Vista quickly. This could prove to be an expensive upgrade for gamers.
... [ read the full article ]
Please read the original article before posting your comments.
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LeMike
Newbie
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11. February 2006 @ 20:11 |
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600 million wated hours ! Imagine what humanity could have done with that ! [Yes, I know: made a proper job of destroying the world :) ]
Anyhow, I've been running Windows xp/64 for about six months or so now and really enjoying it. HP is tragic about issuing drivers for it, so I'm now using Brother and Konica Minolta printers. I'll admit to spending more than $400 for my PC, but, then again, serious gamers will too. I'm seeing xp/64 as the beta test for Vista, and it looks good. I can play lots of games straight in 64-bit (well, 32-bit inside the machine) which my son can't play on a 1 GHz Athlon at all !
I just skipped over to digiconcepts and priced out a system for about $1.2K that, while a little sound-light, looks very reasonable. Memory, hard drives, and all the other bits and pieces are getting very cheap, so I can hardly see people being able to complain too much !
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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11. February 2006 @ 20:49 |
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Phoenix09
You have a point but my comp runs halo 1 fine so it should run halo 2 fine since it is a Xbox game if it was a 360 then mabye you would need Vista and the multi threadyness of it.wait...XP uses multi thread 0_o
Bascily what I am sayign is this is a lame attpemt to sell vista much like buying out bungie and have Halo on the Xbox when the PC version was finished and not release for 2 years.......
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HALTRON
Member
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11. February 2006 @ 20:59 |
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"Also upgrading will utilize the power of todays newer machines" - What?
I want to utilize the power of my machine the way i see fit, not the way M$ sees fit. Also i can run all three of the games you mentioned on on high quality, but cannot run vista fully on my system as it's AGP based, as most systems are at the moment. It's gonna be at least late 2007, early 2008 before systems start to emerge that can deal with Vista easily.... That's a long time to wait for Halo 2.
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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11. February 2006 @ 21:04 |
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HALTRON
OMG Vistda aint that power hunger is it? x_x
Copyright infringement is nothing more than civil disobedience to a bad set of laws. Lets renegotiate them.
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Phoenix09
Newbie
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11. February 2006 @ 21:04 |
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I also run Windows Xp 64 with a 3200+ (2Ghz) and run Quake 4 on full settings.. the thing is as I was trying to say in my previous post, everything comes around.. I remember when people were saying the exact same things about going from 95 to 98 then 98 to ME (ME was horrible tho) then from ME or 98SE to XP. Also those running 64bit machines will not notice a heck of a diffrence in resource useage as the 64bit extentions make for a faster enviroment.
"And if you didn't know, Bungie, the real company who made this game, was sold out by M$, and it would have come out on PC when or before it came out on Xbox."
Negitive, Bungie originaly was making Halo for PC in 98 then decided to make it Mac, then bungie started going under and MS BOUGHT them out, not sold them out, and decided to put Halo onto Xbox first. Also I have a thought that MS will be adding mucho to the graphics engine and making it 64bit as well, heck even the PC version of Halo had minor graphical upgrades, better sound and higher framerates then its Xbox;s counterpart (granted it was almost identical on a 1Ghz machine)
"Bascily what I am sayign is this is a lame attpemt to sell vista much like buying out bungie and have Halo on the Xbox when the PC version was finished and not release for 2 years....... "
Heck I got a demo (video) from a 98 version of PC Gamer. The thing was in works for years. It was MS's money that made it see the light. Hey if you buy a new sports car, you decide where to drive it and who rides in it. ;)
I am not trying to be argumentitive, I just hate seeing this sudden gang mentality spring up everytime something new is coming on the corner.. Heck sometimes I wish I was still on my 286 with MS-DOS and DOSSHELL :P
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Phoenix09
Newbie
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11. February 2006 @ 21:10 |
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Haltron
Most PC's being sold now are PCI-E based and your using beta versions of Vista.. nough said.
By utilizing todays machines I am talking about things like 64bit (window Xp 32bit doesnt) and PCI-E
for example my 64bit 2Ghz runs Quake 4 at Ultra Settings with 4x AA on at 60FPS in Windows XP 64, but only high on Windows XP (32bit)
Sadly being a PC gamer means constant upgrading cause developers dont have to squeeze more out of whats there.. they know that they dont have to.. its an accept it or move on thing people.. its the way its been since day one ;)
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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11. February 2006 @ 21:10 |
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Phoenix09
Like I said you got a point but 2Ghz CPU + and a 256MB gf 6800 should handel Halko 2 fine but they just want to screw with us and make it vista only why not make it where all the fancy options work on XP..its like Quake 4 and doom 3 they made it to top heavy and thus it wont sell alot becuse most cant play it.
Altho as bad as DOom 3 was Quake 4 was worse >< uhg
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Phoenix09
Newbie
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11. February 2006 @ 21:12 |
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Zippy
Oh so true.. trust me I was pissed off myself..
It is what led to my recent upgrade from a 1.25Ghz P3 to my AMD 64 beast now..
Hell I remember upgrading my 486 33Mhz to a 66Mhz so I could play DOOM 2.. Its ID that is to blame :p
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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11. February 2006 @ 21:13 |
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grrr I ment fancy options Vista but it can run on XP ><
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Phoenix09
Newbie
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11. February 2006 @ 21:14 |
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I got that :D In fact thats how I read it :P
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Phoenix09
Newbie
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11. February 2006 @ 21:17 |
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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11. February 2006 @ 21:17 |
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ID has changed...hell even Daikatana was better/more fun that DOom 3/Quake 4.....Carmack is snorting cocaine and trying to work his techno cinima magic while the rest of them forget the core of a game is gamepaly and story.....
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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11. February 2006 @ 21:20 |
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Phoenix09
I have the vista beta DVD as downlaoded copy it dont work tho whines about missing soemthing and crashs out....I wanted to try the horror and get a preview of the horror did it with win2K and XP.
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Phoenix09
Newbie
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11. February 2006 @ 21:22 |
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Hmm I had some Alpha build fun with Longhorn eons ago.. I think I may search for a Vista Beta to try on here.. I meet all the specs very nicely ;D Again tho.. its a Beta :P
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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11. February 2006 @ 21:27 |
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aaww nuts I got everythign but the CPU I ahve a 2.4GHZ barton XP 3000+ 400FSB LOL
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Phoenix09
Newbie
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11. February 2006 @ 21:29 |
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yeah, I am thinking those be beta specs too.. and you know betas are hooors. I have a feeling final compatibilty will be much higher.. with at least higher spec AMD XPs and P4's being added to that list.
I hope :p
As it stands I hope my Vista machine will be able to network with my XP slug. But I think we maybe starting to hijack this :S
I say all the power to them.. it may make me mad. But hell everything these days do. Freaking getting too old :P
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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11. February 2006 @ 21:30 |
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I wonder if they force to thos CPUs XP had soem stupid thign that kept you from running it on some older systems,it ran fine on a 400MHZ adm 6 128MB ramm *L* aklil slow but fine *L*
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Phoenix09
Newbie
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11. February 2006 @ 21:32 |
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PM'd you.. dont want to hijack it over to just a Vista discussion ;)
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Ghostdog
Senior Member
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12. February 2006 @ 00:09 |
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Not really the first time they´ve pulled something like this. Age Of Empires 3 (the single player at least) runs fine on Windows 2000, but it´s a pain to install since Ensemble Studios and Microsoft try to prevent it. There´s absolutely no reason to keep people who paid for Win2000 from playing AOE3, except to begin forcing the general transition of users to XP.
I wonder what the EC would think about this...
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HALTRON
Member
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12. February 2006 @ 00:56 |
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Forget the basic requirements, it's the recommended requirements that you want to pay attention to such as:
"A video card with more than 256MB RAM, 2GB of DDR3 memory and a S-ATA 2 hard drive."
More: http://www.apcstart.com/teched/pivot/entry.php?id=6
Plus don't forget about the anti-piracy measures put into Vista.
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t.grey
Suspended due to non-functional email address
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12. February 2006 @ 04:14 |
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what it all comes down to ...are you going to spend money to upgrade .just to spend money for another game. its not worth it .i think ill get rid of my xbox also
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igounfaze
Newbie
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12. February 2006 @ 05:37 |
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I just read every post. Interesting points. I have to say that I can understand upgrading computers as a gamer. I have the current desknote because I not only wanted to play, but NEEDED to play the new GTA's. My old one didn't give me the visibility I wanted; and poof: new desknote!
Then I was a straight WinME fanatic. I am one of the very few that think WinME was awesome for gaiming and video play. Not one crash ever, and drivers seemed to always be at the ready no matter what the game. Use word, and bam; BSOD! Never understood that.
I still made the transition over to WinXP Pro. Changed all my settings to classic and became very happy with its functionalities.
But that's just it. Thinking of Vista now. I have to buy a whole other machine just to run the OS. But then I am also going to be playing games, surfing, and other things at the same time. I know that with the new OS more games will be formated to Vista settings (like the PSP's constant software upgrades - not being able to play newer games with the old versions).
*ranting* What I mean is this: When I chose to upgrade my desknote. I CHOSE IT! There is no more "I" with what M$ is doing. Yeah, I know they will make Vista backwards compatible [if they didn't, I see huge problems ahead] but they have how many WinXP users? To how many Halo 1 PC users?
The proper thing to do would be NOT to strongarm your customers. Make the Halo 2 Vista ready, but also current standards acceptable. That way you reach all of your current customers; and still entice them to the upgrade.
Can anyone really disagree with that?
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Phoenix09
Newbie
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12. February 2006 @ 09:23 |
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igounfaze
You are totally correct. Halo 2 should be Vista ready but XP useable
Now that I think of it I never got a BSOD in ME either if I was playing games, but any other kind of app I was always getting em.. should have been called Windows 98 Gamer.
Haltron.
Again that list was for the BETA version of a program. You have to understand that Beta's are generally unstable on what will be the min. Also some 3rd party source isnt going to have jack right until MS releases the full specs or they have a VISTA retail copy on the machine. Even then.. XP was so RAM hungry when it first came out and didnt use RAM very nice, after SP1 it did and thats when I finally made a full upgrade from 98SE. As for Anti-Piracy.. name one that hasnt been broken within days. :S
My recomendations.. If you have a 939 mobo get a new 64bit proc.. cheapest ones cost about $170CAD, you will love the diffrence and you will be ready. If you dont have a 939, get a cheap Asus A8N-E mobo about $120 CAD, then just stick it in the case you have now. Aside from being "Vista Ready" You will also have speed increases across the board and be happier for it.
You will have to upgrade sometime.. might as well start looking now.. heck you can probably get both those parts for under $250 if you look around online.
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HALTRON
Member
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12. February 2006 @ 11:17 |
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No offense Phoenix09, but i think your missing the point.
For a start its a strategist from within Microsoft that stated those specs, this is not third party speculation.
secondly, as you yourself stated before, new versions of windows are released looking to utilise the new power that exists in the hardware market at the given time, but looking at Vista if i want a PC to play Quake 4 or FEAR at the same frame rate as with WinXP i'm gonna need a higher spec video card simply due to the space and power that the WPF will occupy.... by the time we reach a level where the space that the WPF occupies becomes negligible (or close to), then i'll upgrade, because i don't want to sacrifice resources in the name of functionalities that i don't want. The WPF is just one example of many new features such as superfetch - ongoing defragmentation, but what does that mean for performance if this is attempted whilst im encoding video with huge multimedia files? I know that some of these features can be turned off but does'nt that defeat the purpose of upgrading - just to play Halo2! (M$ rip-off, this is a financially driven decision, not technological)
No, i'll wait a few years....
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 13. February 2006 @ 06:06
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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12. February 2006 @ 11:20 |
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MMM I know vista also has DMR or whatever digi rights scheme they come up with I guess as bloated and evil as it is I would be better off either building a comp for vista only or wait a year for all the cracks and "fixs" to come out 0_o
I am still rooting some group figures out how to make DX10 for DX9 or figures out Halo 2 realy uses DX9 or soemthing of the like *L*
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