Video Game Bash #7: Microsoft Exclusives

My last weekly Video Game Bash was in May. Sorry to anyone who kept wondering when the next one would be posted. I was tired of bashing games, so I took a very long, very unnecessary break. I'm back with Video Game Bash #7:

I hate how Microsoft throws words like "Only on XBOX" out without any meaning behind them. It was a marketting ploy, a good one at that. Sure, Halo was exclusive to the Xbox, but it didn't stay that way, not even for a very long time, and it wasn't brought to PC via an emulator, either!

Wait, I have to revert what I said, "and it wasn't brought to PC via an emulator," to "and it was coming to the PC via hackers until Microsoft decided to port the game to Windows Vista."

I mention this because of a now abandoned project, CXBX, which was planned to convert Xbox XBE files to Windows EXE files. It was something Microsoft didn't like, because they want money above anything else, and Halo was probably already planned to be ported eventually... so Microsoft completely disregarded the exclusiveness of Halo on the Xbox and brought us a slightly improved Halo for PC, which also had an optional modding studio called Halo: Custom Edition.

Thanks, Bungie. I bought Halo for my Xbox, when it was brand new, and I never saw any new content for it; these PC players got frequent updates and a huge modding community with an official level editor! Why can't I have the new features, too?!

This didn't end with Halo. No, this continued through Halo 2. Once Halo PC was released, Xbox got a bit of a consolation prize, Halo 2. It sure was great... for a few hours. Unfortunitely, Halo 2 didn't have a level editor, but it did look better and have greatly improved weapon assortment. Also, the vehicles were breakable, stealable, and boostable, wait, isn't that the same as stealing?

Anyway, I bought Halo 2 on its release date, just so I could be one of the cool guys for a short while. I even got the Limited Edition version of the game, which really didn't offer anything special other than the neat case. After that, I realized I didn't like the campaign. I was really only playing a multiplayer fragfest. I already had that from Unreal!

Moving along, I kept hoping for Live updates to fall in my lap, since Halo 2 was able to be played online, but I didn't pay for Xbox Live. No way! I had XLink Kai. This is where Halo 2 shined. For hours, every single day, I would chat with 6-15 other players in the matches, and some mysterious ghost character would show up. He would appear, disappear, he never walked, he even threw grenades backwards and always stuck someone. It was freaky, but I was a geek, so I knew something fishy was going on. I got into the modding community and learned all I could about softmodding my console, just to modify Halo 2. I was really inspired, I know.

Long story short, I modded Halo 2 (even made a few Halo 3 style weapons), but it was very difficult and nowhere near what you got to accomplish with Halo: Custom Edition. After a while of being bored of Halo 2, even after modding it, an expansion pack (the Multiplayer Map Pack) was released both on Live as a download and in retail stores as a DVD with some rather dull video content as a bonus. It was pretty neat, but it didn't entertain me at all, because it was pretty much just for multiplayer matches and didn't even offer any interesting gameplay changes; no new weapons or anything!

Once Halo 3 was announced, all Halo 2 players shit their pants at the thought of how awesome it probably wouldn't be. However, it was the driving force in Xbox 360 sales, and I can't argue that Halo 3 is bad, because it is actually quite awesome. The point of my saying this is simply: I don't have a Xbox 360, so I was actually happy to hear that Halo 2 was coming to PC. Unfortunitely, it was being made specifically for Windows Vista, which is the biggest pile of shit I ever saw... and I see a lot of shit.

Moving on, Halo 2 was no longer an exclusive to the Xbox, and the PC version got a built-in level editor. (Bungie was kind enough to supply two new maps to the Xbox version, Derelict and Hang 'Em High. Yes, Halo 1 conversions. Sad, isn't it?) Halo 3 got a built-in item-placement engine called Forge, which everyone considers as a level editor. I can't help but wonder whether or not Halo 3 will be released for PC in the next couple years, and, if it is released for PC, I'm sure it will have a level editor, as well.

The moral of this drastically long story is: Don't trust Microsoft.
Oh and the only advice you should take from this post is that the Halo series isn't "Only on XBOX" and Halo is even the most likely Xbox game to be successfully played through an emulator.

Hope you enjoy all the goodies hidden in this post. See ya!