IGF 2002: Halo a no-show

Microsoft showed off a number of its upcoming games today at its inaugural International Games Festival event, but there was no sign of Halo, the first-person shooter that debuted on the Xbox console last year. Originally planned for the PC and Macintosh platforms, Halo was instead made exclusive to the Xbox when Microsoft acquired Bungie Software, Halo's developer, last year. The game received a very positive reception from Xbox owners and the press, which renewed interest in Halo among PC and Macintosh gamers. And while Microsoft recently admitted that the game is still scheduled for an eventual release on these platforms, the absence of Halo at Microsoft's event--which featured some games that won't be out for another year--suggests that a computer version of the game may be a long ways off.

Microsoft did not comment on Halo's absence, except to state that it wasn't ready to show the game just yet. Whether this is because the PC version of Halo will end up being significantly different from the console version, or whether Microsoft wishes to allow Halo to enjoy its Xbox-exclusive status for a while longer, was not disclosed.