Note to mods: I wasn't sure where to put this so if it's a problem please close and move the thread. There are just so many X-Box 360 threads at the moment that I was concerned that this would get overlooked in all of the confusion. Thanks in advance.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/05...s_6124592.html

Halo 3 parrying PlayStation 3 launch

Time quotes Bill Gates saying Sony's next-gen console will "walk into" the Xbox 360 follow-up to the best-selling sci-fi shooter.

For months, the Web was rife with rumors that Microsoft would ship the sequel to Halo 2 for the Xbox 360 simultaneously with the launch of the PlayStation 3. Now, that has been confirmed--by none other than Bill Gates himself.

In next week's issue of Time Magazine--which features Gates holding the Xbox 360 on the cover--Gates mentioned plans for the release of the much-anticipated follow-up to the best-selling console shooter. In a parenthetical sidebar in the article, Time says the following:

"Note to the hard-core faithful: the next version of Halo will not, repeat not, be ready in time for the launch of Xbox 360. It will be part of the all-important second wave next spring. 'It's perfect,' Gates says, radiant with bloodlust. 'The day Sony launches [the new PlayStation], and they walk right into Halo 3.'"

While Microsoft reps were not available for comment as of press time, Gates' comments appear to confirm the theory that Microsoft will release Halo 3 either simultaneously or near the release of Sony's next-gen console. It also marks further official confirmation that a third Halo is indeed in the works, and will be released for the Xbox 360.

Although such statements might be interpreted as grandstanding, such a maneuver definitely would have an impact. Halo 2 sold over 6.5 million copies to date, and is credited with doubling the subscriber base of Xbox Live from around 750,000 to over 1.5 million. It is also credited by industry-watchers as one of the main reasons for boosting sales of the original Xbox last holiday season.

By Tor Thorsen -- GameSpot

Not too much of a surprise. I figured that Microsoft might go this route but what is surprising is that the PS3 will launch in the spring? When was the last console to do this? Super NES arrived in the summer and I believe that the Saturn or Dreamcast might of as well. But this breaks with the current trend of a holiday season release.

I guess we'll find out in a few hours when E3 gets under way. Does this mean Halo 3 will be shown? I imagine so.

360 on the cover of Time? This is news? Well, I guess Time is more of a high scale version of People magazine with some politics thrown in for good measure.

wow.... bill gates is making a bold move..... it might be the best move yet.

Its already been talked about in the other thread. Not a bold move as Sony will will swamping the market with Top Tier games for the PS2 and PSP (along with the release of the non-Value Pack PSP) around the Xbox360 launch. Its been done throughout gaming history and is a common marketing technique (MGS2 came out the same week as Xbox).

For me personally, i don't play Halo so i don't really care. PS3...all depends on what games are available for launch. Man...pity Halo 3 developers under pressure to come out with that game by that time.

I'm pretty sure the Dreamcast launched 9-9-99.

I was thinking the same thing. That's a lot of pressure to deliver a title that will supposedly put a dent in Sony's armor.

I will probably buy both!

I don't care much about Halo 3, but I do like the move as it should force Sony to have some games worth playing at Launch this time.

This is a common practice. I doubt it will effect PS3 sales much. If anything people that want both will simply buy both.

And there you have it.
Most of us knew this would happen. It was just a matter of time until we found out which game it was going to be to "try" and spoil Sony's party.

I wonder how long Bungie has been working on Halo 3 (assuming they are the ones developing it, although I don't see why they would bastardize their only child to someone else).

Microsoft is out to kick some ass this round. Poor Sony; some Japanese manager type is probably committing Hari-Kari right now.

I wouldn't go that far. I'm sure Sony is taking notice, but Halo 1 and 2 didn't threaten the PS2, obviously, so I'd doubt they're committing Hari-Kari just yet.

I think that its the Halo 3 developers that wants to commit sucide!!

MS just better hope the PS3 doesn't launch with GTA.

Totally agree.

I think people are overestimating Halo's popularity here.

And the fact that die-hard Halo fans (the one's who would buy a console for Halo) will already have a 360 by then, so it's not really going to sway them to get a 360 and not a PS3.

At worst, it will sway somone to put off buying a PS3 for a couple months.

i heard rummor Sony plan release PS3 in 2005 by the same time XBOX 360

I heard the same rumor but I highly doubt that it's true, although I really hope it is.

Yeah, people buy $50 games all the time - if a person wanted that and a PS3 I don't see buying both to be a big deal. If on the other hand they had a bunch of triple A titles waiting to be released at this time that might put a slight damper on things. But a game just doesn't have that "new toy effect" the same way new hardware does.

Knowing when Halo 3 comes out may just make some fans of that series wait until that comes out to buy the system (if 2.5 isn't enough).

It's probably more of an attack on advertising mind share and store space than anything else. Really an attempt to dilute the PS3 message.

I don't know, i think they got a head start on Halo 3 by cutting some game off of Halo 2. I thin Microsoft forced them to that so they would have the game out on time.

Just curious(rather i can't remember), did Halo 2 not got push back a year?
I cannot remember if thats the case or not.

I don't see where this is going to hurt Sony. First of all, this is the 3rd game in the series and it would have to be MAJORLY innovative to get die-hards to convert from Sony to XBox. Second of all, it is only one game. Sure, a big title release, but still...

GTA: San Andreas was the 5th in a series, so I don't think it being a sequel matters.

It isn't intended to pick up converts, my take is that it is a distraction for the current 360 owners so they don't go pick up a PS3. It is a good strategy.

Pick up Halo 3 for $50 and turn around a week later to spend $400+ on a new system and a couple games? Nah.

I highly doubt that Halo 3 will hurt the PS3 launch much at all. A new console launch is a much bigger deal than any game on a rival console. If the PS3 is really that much more powerful than the Xbox 360, then even the biggest xbox game isn't going to hurt Sony at all. Besides this was a strategy that was widely expected. Sony isn't worried about that, there's plenty of other things to worry about (especially if they really are rushing up the development time for the new console.
Besides isn't the Xbox 360 like 120 times more powerful than the PS3


I read the article last night. The seemed more interested in the machine's design and non-game Live applications than the gaming potential. It sounds like they think the Xbox really didn't sell well in Japan because it was big and ugly and was too large for tiny Japanese apartments (rather than not having enough Japanese developers and Japanese-style RPGs, adventure games and character-based platformers which is what I always thought). Obviously the design was very important to the team and it does look cool. Love the two-toned LED on the front cover of the cover. As far as the new Live functionality, it might be cool (chatting to friends while watching TV is a neat idea; using your gaming console for video conferencing I don't see as a selling point, though). I like being able to rip directly from your ipod to the HD. They strongly hint at least some degree of backward compatibility, which would be nice.

Anyway, it should be interesting to see how Sony counters this week...

I don't think it will take alot of sales away from PS3. Microsoft just wants to steal some thunder from them. I think both consoles will be successful.


wlj