As someone inside the marketing machine at Microsoft, I get a lot of questions from friends and family and co-workers about stuff I just can't talk about. I really like my job, so when I'm told not to talk about confidential dates, features, or things that haven't been decided yet, I don't. This blog is not an official source of Xbox news--so I go out of my way to make sure everything I talk about has been officially announced somewhere else first.
I know there's lots of speculation of things like Halo 2 dates and features of the next Xbox. We're holding back on announcing some of those for good reasons: so we can do things in a coordinated, high-impact way (like making announcements at major trade shows), or so we have the right partners on board (with contracts signed), or (many times) because decisions haven't been made or dates haven't been locked down yet. I really wish we could communicate with complete transparency, where everything is open and candid, but when there are so many developers and suppliers and retailers and partners involved, we just can't be that random. I understand folks being frustrated, I really want to get my hands on Halo 2 myself. And from my perspective, we can't release the product soon enough! Funny thing is, if we released it too early, we'd be the ones hearing complaints about product quality.
For Halo 2 news, you can't beat watching the Bungee site. They do regular updates on Bungee.net, including a detailed weekly update that (I can guarantee you) has more news about that product than you'll see from an official press release. The weekly update gives you a behind-the-scenes look at the team working on the software, the stuff they're struggling with, the cool stuff they're playing with, and a glimpse at the progress they're making. I love that they post these updates in different fan sites every week, so those of you watching these get to visit some interesting sites.
In this week's update on Sector-7, you'll read the following:
"Jaime has been very busy, finalizing Ghost and Warthog handling so the sound guys can work with confidence. The need to make sure that sound ties in correctly with motion is obvious, and all of the sampling, including the gravel on tires recording done with the poor Subaru Outback we abused, is ready to be applied and processed. The Ghosts in particular (in my opinion) are starting to sound brilliantly "alien" and cool.
John Butkus has been animating his ass, or perhaps more properly, his elbow off. Monday and Tuesday he was going through older (Halo 2) elite/marine animations and just making sure they worked with all weapons when sitting in various vehicle passenger seats. Weird stuff happens with weapons in different scenarios, and as new ones are introduced, it's important to make sure that they look cool under all circumstances. John had a busy week, though...and probably created somewhere in the region of about 80 unique moves. His aforementioned elbow is killing me and he says, "my eyes feel like someone has thrown sand in them, but I wouldn't have it any other way."
Max Hoberman is an exercise in frenetic activity, as he explains, "Sure. I've been swimming furiously, trying to keep ahead of the enormous tidal wave bearing down on me! We got a new multiplayer map playable for the first time yesterday, though the programmers decided it was a convenient day to make some major physics changes so we didn't get a stable build to test. Since this map is dependent on big moving geometry that pretty much screwed us. Everything is fixed now, so we're going to play the map for the first time today. I'll let you know when we do."
"I've also been experimenting with a rocket warthog that tracks, fun (but deadly!) stuff. Oh, and planning for the in-game UI and HUD, something that has been a long time coming! Adrian and I are psyched and he's already started coding for it. Besides that more gobs and gobs of planning for the rest of the summer," says Max."
Since the Bungee team is very loyal to their fan base, a lot of the "official" news is announced on their website first. Back in February, I linked to the first official "timeframe" that's was announced on Bungee.net.
"So remember last year when we told you we don't announce release dates until we're confident we'll meet our deadline? Well now were confident. Halo 2 will ship in Fall, 2004. Please make a note of it.
Since you are our most important audience we wanted to tell you first. We've enjoyed your support, your patience and your loyalty, so this is the least we could do."
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