When Microsoft bought Bungie, killed the (working) Macintosh Halo game in order to create an Xbox version for use as their premiere launch title, I decided to never own an Xbox... and I never have. Looking forward to purchasing the PS5 (especially with the updated VR system).
For all their aesthetically pleasing designs, Sony really didn't do a good job with the asymmetric look of the optical drive PS5. Ah well, still not an Xbox. :-)
I think that MS acquiring Bungie / Halo instead of Apple was the right thing, considering how well MS is doing with XBox and how slow Apple have been in the gaming market.
I wasn't suggesting Apple should have purchased Bungie... Just that Microsoft should not have. There were (and are) plenty of Windows gaming companies who's purchase would not have impacted the Macintosh gaming market.
I was incorrect on the year Microsoft acquired Bungie. It was 2000, not 2009 (I have no idea how I got that wrong). Think of the Macintosh gaming world in those days... and shudder.
Like I posted before, the success of XBox and Halo makes me think it was the right choice. You mention about other gaming companies, but I don't think there were other companies at the time with the resources MS had to invest in completing Halo, specially when you consider the financial issues Bungie had at that time.
I had no idea Bungie was in a dire financial situation... None at all. Halo (for the Mac) was largely complete with a working demo. I would rather have seen a company like Blizzard purchase Bungie and create another excellent franchise with (equal) support for both Macintosh and PC.
My real gripe was not in the acquisition by Microsoft, it was that Microsoft delayed the Macintosh release (for years) solely to have a real showstopper of a game which could only be played on the Xbox.
When Microsoft bought Bungie, killed the (working) Macintosh Halo game in order to create an Xbox version for use as their premiere launch title, I decided to never own an Xbox... and I never have. Looking forward to purchasing the PS5 (especially with the updated VR system).
For all their aesthetically pleasing designs, Sony really didn't do a good job with the asymmetric look of the optical drive PS5. Ah well, still not an Xbox. :-)
I think that MS acquiring Bungie / Halo instead of Apple was the right thing, considering how well MS is doing with XBox and how slow Apple have been in the gaming market.
I wasn't suggesting Apple should have purchased Bungie... Just that Microsoft should not have. There were (and are) plenty of Windows gaming companies who's purchase would not have impacted the Macintosh gaming market.
I was incorrect on the year Microsoft acquired Bungie. It was 2000, not 2009 (I have no idea how I got that wrong). Think of the Macintosh gaming world in those days... and shudder.
Like I posted before, the success of XBox and Halo makes me think it was the right choice. You mention about other gaming companies, but I don't think there were other companies at the time with the resources MS had to invest in completing Halo, specially when you consider the financial issues Bungie had at that time.
I had no idea Bungie was in a dire financial situation... None at all. Halo (for the Mac) was largely complete with a working demo. I would rather have seen a company like Blizzard purchase Bungie and create another excellent franchise with (equal) support for both Macintosh and PC.
My real gripe was not in the acquisition by Microsoft, it was that Microsoft delayed the Macintosh release (for years) solely to have a real showstopper of a game which could only be played on the Xbox.
Are you sure it was mostly complete? I thought it wasn’t even an FPS at that point, and very little level design had been done. I think it’s pretty clear that if Halo had been released as originally planned (for Mac and Windows btw) it probably wouldn’t have been half the game it turned out to be. It may well have been a good game, but Microsoft injected resources and turned it into a flagship franchise. Sour grapes won’t get you anywhere.
When Microsoft bought Bungie, killed the (working) Macintosh Halo game in order to create an Xbox version for use as their premiere launch title, I decided to never own an Xbox... and I never have. Looking forward to purchasing the PS5 (especially with the updated VR system).
For all their aesthetically pleasing designs, Sony really didn't do a good job with the asymmetric look of the optical drive PS5. Ah well, still not an Xbox. :-)
I think that MS acquiring Bungie / Halo instead of Apple was the right thing, considering how well MS is doing with XBox and how slow Apple have been in the gaming market.
I wasn't suggesting Apple should have purchased Bungie... Just that Microsoft should not have. There were (and are) plenty of Windows gaming companies who's purchase would not have impacted the Macintosh gaming market.
I was incorrect on the year Microsoft acquired Bungie. It was 2000, not 2009 (I have no idea how I got that wrong). Think of the Macintosh gaming world in those days... and shudder.
Like I posted before, the success of XBox and Halo makes me think it was the right choice. You mention about other gaming companies, but I don't think there were other companies at the time with the resources MS had to invest in completing Halo, specially when you consider the financial issues Bungie had at that time.
I had no idea Bungie was in a dire financial situation... None at all. Halo (for the Mac) was largely complete with a working demo. I would rather have seen a company like Blizzard purchase Bungie and create another excellent franchise with (equal) support for both Macintosh and PC.
My real gripe was not in the acquisition by Microsoft, it was that Microsoft delayed the Macintosh release (for years) solely to have a real showstopper of a game which could only be played on the Xbox.
Are you sure it was mostly complete? I thought it wasn’t even an FPS at that point, and very little level design had been done. I think it’s pretty clear that if Halo had been released as originally planned (for Mac and Windows btw) it probably wouldn’t have been half the game it turned out to be. It may well have been a good game, but Microsoft injected resources and turned it into a flagship franchise. Sour grapes won’t get you anywhere.
Am I sure? No. I didn't have any inside knowledge. What I remember is a real-time rendered first person perspective (Macintosh) demo being showed at... some event, with word that it was largely (80%-90%) complete. Yes, Macintosh and Windows... Macintosh first, with Windows to follow. Of course it was 20-ish years ago and my memory has been wrong many a time. Could it have been hyped? Certainly - again, I have no direct knowledge of the companies inner workings. I only met the two of them once (MacWorld Boston) when they released PiD. Were they on the verge of insolvency? Maybe, although I have never heard they were having financial difficulties.
Sour Grapes? Not really. I did end up getting the game (even if several years later) so I don't see how that fits.
When Microsoft bought Bungie, killed the (working) Macintosh Halo game in order to create an Xbox version for use as their premiere launch title, I decided to never own an Xbox... and I never have. Looking forward to purchasing the PS5 (especially with the updated VR system).
For all their aesthetically pleasing designs, Sony really didn't do a good job with the asymmetric look of the optical drive PS5. Ah well, still not an Xbox. :-)
I think that MS acquiring Bungie / Halo instead of Apple was the right thing, considering how well MS is doing with XBox and how slow Apple have been in the gaming market.
I wasn't suggesting Apple should have purchased Bungie... Just that Microsoft should not have. There were (and are) plenty of Windows gaming companies who's purchase would not have impacted the Macintosh gaming market.
I was incorrect on the year Microsoft acquired Bungie. It was 2000, not 2009 (I have no idea how I got that wrong). Think of the Macintosh gaming world in those days... and shudder.
Like I posted before, the success of XBox and Halo makes me think it was the right choice. You mention about other gaming companies, but I don't think there were other companies at the time with the resources MS had to invest in completing Halo, specially when you consider the financial issues Bungie had at that time.
I had no idea Bungie was in a dire financial situation... None at all. Halo (for the Mac) was largely complete with a working demo. I would rather have seen a company like Blizzard purchase Bungie and create another excellent franchise with (equal) support for both Macintosh and PC.
My real gripe was not in the acquisition by Microsoft, it was that Microsoft delayed the Macintosh release (for years) solely to have a real showstopper of a game which could only be played on the Xbox.
There are some articles explaining that Bungie had major bug issues with Myth II, and had a recall, which impacted their financials. I understand what you said with a company like Blizzard acquiring Bungie, and releasing for both platforms. But I also understand why Bungie went with MS, considering that in 2002 Blizzard revenues were $786M while MS was ar $28B. We will never know what would happened if other company, as Blizzard, had acquire Bungie. What is clear is that going with MS was an excellent decision.
Now we see MS moving to multiples platforms, including iOS, with GamesPass / XBox Cloud Gaming. I hope to see it expand to macOS too.
When Microsoft bought Bungie, killed the (working) Macintosh Halo game in order to create an Xbox version for use as their premiere launch title, I decided to never own an Xbox... and I never have. Looking forward to purchasing the PS5 (especially with the updated VR system).
For all their aesthetically pleasing designs, Sony really didn't do a good job with the asymmetric look of the optical drive PS5. Ah well, still not an Xbox. :-)
I think that MS acquiring Bungie / Halo instead of Apple was the right thing, considering how well MS is doing with XBox and how slow Apple have been in the gaming market.
I wasn't suggesting Apple should have purchased Bungie... Just that Microsoft should not have. There were (and are) plenty of Windows gaming companies who's purchase would not have impacted the Macintosh gaming market.
I was incorrect on the year Microsoft acquired Bungie. It was 2000, not 2009 (I have no idea how I got that wrong). Think of the Macintosh gaming world in those days... and shudder.
Like I posted before, the success of XBox and Halo makes me think it was the right choice. You mention about other gaming companies, but I don't think there were other companies at the time with the resources MS had to invest in completing Halo, specially when you consider the financial issues Bungie had at that time.
I had no idea Bungie was in a dire financial situation... None at all. Halo (for the Mac) was largely complete with a working demo. I would rather have seen a company like Blizzard purchase Bungie and create another excellent franchise with (equal) support for both Macintosh and PC.
My real gripe was not in the acquisition by Microsoft, it was that Microsoft delayed the Macintosh release (for years) solely to have a real showstopper of a game which could only be played on the Xbox.
Are you sure it was mostly complete? I thought it wasn’t even an FPS at that point, and very little level design had been done. I think it’s pretty clear that if Halo had been released as originally planned (for Mac and Windows btw) it probably wouldn’t have been half the game it turned out to be. It may well have been a good game, but Microsoft injected resources and turned it into a flagship franchise. Sour grapes won’t get you anywhere.
Am I sure? No. I didn't have any inside knowledge. What I remember is a real-time rendered first person perspective (Macintosh) demo being showed at... some event, with word that it was largely (80%-90%) complete. Yes, Macintosh and Windows... Macintosh first, with Windows to follow. Of course it was 20-ish years ago and my memory has been wrong many a time. Could it have been hyped? Certainly - again, I have no direct knowledge of the companies inner workings. I only met the two of them once (MacWorld Boston) when they released PiD. Were they on the verge of insolvency? Maybe, although I have never heard they were having financial difficulties.
Sour Grapes? Not really. I did end up getting the game (even if several years later) so I don't see how that fits.
I think you remember the demo at MacWorld:
It wasn't a playable demo, most of it was more of a cut scene, and it was third person. If there's something later then I'm not aware of it.
The Xbox trailer a year later was still making it look like a third person title, and it still looked pretty rough around the edges, a far cry from the finished product:
I think if Bungie were having financial difficulties, it would have been because of Oni. The Myth games were awesome and built a cult following on the Windows side (us Mac users were already a cult ) but in my opinion the major reason for that was the Fear and Loathing tools for building levels and skins. Their next release was Oni, which was a beautiful, beautiful game - but to create levels Bungie used a commercial tool aimed at architects that was priced at multiple thousands of dollars. That dried up a lot of the interest in the game (from memory, we sold three copies in total - in a small town, but still...).
So it hurt at the time when MS held up the Mac release to make Xbox desirable, but I agree that the resources made available led to the game being even better than most of us imagined when it was first being talked about.
[edit]From memory, Bungie sold up for about US$250 million - huge money for the time, and well-earned.
Comments
My real gripe was not in the acquisition by Microsoft, it was that Microsoft delayed the Macintosh release (for years) solely to have a real showstopper of a game which could only be played on the Xbox.
Could it have been hyped? Certainly - again, I have no direct knowledge of the companies inner workings. I only met the two of them once (MacWorld Boston) when they released PiD.
Were they on the verge of insolvency? Maybe, although I have never heard they were having financial difficulties.
Sour Grapes? Not really. I did end up getting the game (even if several years later) so I don't see how that fits.
Now we see MS moving to multiples platforms, including iOS, with GamesPass / XBox Cloud Gaming. I hope to see it expand to macOS too.
It wasn't a playable demo, most of it was more of a cut scene, and it was third person. If there's something later then I'm not aware of it.
So it hurt at the time when MS held up the Mac release to make Xbox desirable, but I agree that the resources made available led to the game being even better than most of us imagined when it was first being talked about.
[edit]From memory, Bungie sold up for about US$250 million - huge money for the time, and well-earned.