Halo on DS?!?!

[agbulls]

While trolling digg this morning, I came across weird stories as usual. Usually they are game related but totally illegitimate b.s from unknown sites. You know the type..."Sega releasing Dreamcast 2!"

However, Matt Casimisima from IGN (their resident Nintendo fanboy :)) wrote a bizarre blog yesterday that I really feel is worth pointing out. Here's the copy first, then the link:

Amazingly, the ill-fated DS version of the title plays remarkably well. Think Metroid Prime Hunters but with a Halo facelift. I had the opportunity to run through the beginning beach area and noted while playing that it looked like Xbox Halo except on DS, it was running fast, and the control was responsive. The trademark Halo music even played out of the tiny speakers of Nintendo's handheld. It is really, truly a damned shame that certain publishers couldn't make this happen because it would have undoubtedly been a huge hit and would have only furthered the popularity of DS and the Halo franchise.

Now that DS is enjoying a clear lead over PSP and the Halo franchise is bigger than ever, I'd like to see this game-that-could-have-been actually come to exist on the retail market. It's too good of an idea and the execution is too impressive to let it collect dust in the forgotten cabinet of a publisher's vaporware library.

Would you buy Halo on DS?

http://blogs.ign.com/Matt-IGN/2007/01/04/42284/p2

What do you guys think? Is Matt pulling our legs? This sounds believable. But i just can't believe a dev house would go that far into production without Microsoft's full backing. Hmmm...

[Ed Oscuro]

No, he's not pulling our shinbones:

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/07/07/news_6128695.html

[cyberfluxor]

That's pretty cool but I'm not much of a Halo fan. It'd have to be real clean and smooth for me to buy it. However an Unreal game would be sweet.

[agbulls]

Fan of the series or not, Matt made it sound like the game played great. Incredibly disappointing that we will never see it. Not even a video reel! :(

[suckerpunch5]

Wait. So you mean to tell me that there is an actual cart out there, with at least some sort of ROM on it that will play Halo on the DS? wow. Please, let that esccape into the wild somehow. That would be really cool.

I'm skepitcal though. I mean, I really believe the IGN guy, he seems like the person who would know. But how is it possible for the DS to run Xbox caliber software. Surely the DS doesn't have that much horsepower? I love my DS, but honestly. It must be seriously pared down graphically.

Can you imagine 16 person capture the flag played wirelessly with friends on the DS? Although, I would be a little worried about the control scheme. Definitely a cool rumor though.

[Melf]

Part of Halo's charm has always been the presentation, and I can't imagine what a Halo game would look like in DS 3D. Unless they were able to perfom some SERIOUS programming, better they save it for systems with more power.

[WiseSalesman]

Very interesting, however I've never played an FPS on the DS where I didn't absolutely detest the control scheme.

[jcalder8]

I'm not a fan of Halo but as a gamer I think this would have been great for everyone. Halo on DS would have been great for sales for everyone. Also it might have opened the door for more cross-overs. I wonder if Nintendo backed out of something which is why Halo didn't come out.

[agbulls]

Very interesting, however I've never played an FPS on the DS where I didn't absolutely detest the control scheme.

Well, lets just say the Metroid Prime control scheme was less than appealing. And that is coming from someone who rarely complains about that kinda stuff. I just couldn't adjust, and I've finished every Metroid (except Prime 2) thats been released.

Maybe there is still hope for this game yet. Who knows? It sure would further screw the PSP. And we know Microsoft has gotta like that.

[heybtbm]

Part of Halo's charm has always been the presentation, and I can't imagine what a Halo game would look like in DS 3D. Unless they were able to perfom some SERIOUS programming, better they save it for systems with more power.

Agreed 100%. Let's wait for a handheld system with the proper control scheme and graphical power. The scraping of DS Halo is probably a blessing in disguise.

[agbulls]

Agreed 100%. Let's wait for a handheld system with the proper control scheme and graphical power. The scraping of DS Halo is probably a blessing in disguise.

Did you read the blog from Matt? He made it sound like none of those potential problems were evident at all--even in alpha form.

[Richter Belmount]

Thing about halo was it was a good game ,(but not amazing)
What impressed me with halo was the presentation and the balanced fighting in multiplayer. I think this game should come out on the ds , it would be cool to see nintendo and microsoft back each other up.

[Wavelflack]

What a clever bit of spin. By using the readers' assumptions, he managed to disguise the ultimate truth. For instance, he states "I had the opportunity to run through the beginning beach area", which sounds promising. However, consider this sentence:

"I'm going to run through my shopping list."

This means that "run through" is merely a different way of saying "accessed", and does not necessarily indicate action.

"noted while playing that it looked like Xbox Halo except on DS" fails to note which part of the game he was "playing". In this case, he is actually comparing fonts being used on the menu screen.

All of this brings us to the final, ultimate truth:

Halo DS is a text adventure.