Halo 2 Vista delayed again

[UPDATE] Bungie PC shooter release date pushed back to May 31; copies hit store shelves regardless.

While diehard Halo fans are likely neck-deep in the Xbox 360 Halo 3 beta, some of them might have emerged from their man-cannon-grav-lift-and-bubble-shield-induced stupor long enough to notice that the Windows Vista edition of Halo 2 has yet to show up in stores.

Halo 2 was originally set for release on the PC May 8, but Microsoft pushed it back a couple of weeks "to make some improvements to the install experience and address other technical issues." It had been expected to ship to stores Tuesday, but when it didn't show, Microsoft came out with news of another delay, but with no explanation for it.

"Halo 2 for Windows Vista did not release to retailers on May 22, as previously announced, and will now ship from manufacturers on May 31," a Microsoft representative said. "Shadowrun will be the first game to debut the highly anticipated Games for Windows Live system on May 29. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused our customers."

[UPDATE] While Halo 2 Vista was officially delayed, that hasn't stopped some stores from selling it. GameSpot has purchased a copy from a Circuit City location, and the retail chain's Web site lists it as currently shipping and available for in-store pickup. As of press time, Microsoft representatives had not returned a request for comment.

265 Comments

  • jogunther

    Posted May 28, 2007 11:01 pm PT

    Lol svitas. Your lack of english skills is only outwayed by your knowledge of computer's.

  • hovan316

    Posted May 28, 2007 4:58 pm PT

    It will take time for Vista, just like any other OS...people have to be patient...you'll see, in 2 years from now, almost everybody will start having Vista on their PCs
    Anyhow, SP1 for vista is suppose to come end of this year...that's when I'll be installing mine (Dual boot with XP obviously)

  • kappareign

    Posted May 28, 2007 11:11 am PT

    how can they make improvements to the installer if the game is already boxed and shipped...?

  • Chi-You-Man

    Posted May 27, 2007 12:43 am PT

    Ugh i hate all of this negative feeling about vista, i think people are just jumpong on the Band Wagon in saying its bad. I have had vista ultimate for over 6 months now. People say games are not compatable, well all of the games i have have worked so far and some of them date back to 1996.

  • svitas

    Posted May 26, 2007 2:25 pm PT

    CaptCaveMan you have to understand something a bad os or a bad drivers. Witch you are tallikng about is a bad drivers. A new one came 2 day ago and put about 10fps rate up in vista.

  • CaptCaveMan

    Posted May 26, 2007 8:16 am PT

    True Vista is a bad OS.. I have a P4 2.66ghz with 600watts of power running a Nvidia 6800gt AGP & its a old dell 4600 but i get up to 80-94 fps+ running HL2 DOOM3 OR COD 1,2,& UO...
    My mates have much much bigger rigs, with Nvidia8800gtx IntelĀ® Core 2 ect but they have VISTA and only get same fps as my old rig running XP home..So not a chance im going to put a bad OS on my pc,to play a ok game?? come on GRAW 2

  • dmish82

    Posted May 26, 2007 7:42 am PT

    Does anyone even own or care about Vista?

  • Hipac

    Posted May 25, 2007 7:14 pm PT

    haha iam in Australia and i got it 4 days ago...haha because harvy norman werent told that they were to hold them bak...haha..iam having fun tho at microsofts mistakes..lol

  • xtermin8er93

    Posted May 25, 2007 6:43 pm PT

    Just face it, it won't be out until 2008.

  • Rupes

    Posted May 25, 2007 2:45 pm PT

    Well it will obviously do as well as the original Halo did on pc. They could have brought it out so long ago, but they're slackers and now noone cares cause we can just play number 3. Its funny that circuit city is still selling it, take that microshaft!

  • ahyumifan

    Posted May 25, 2007 2:19 pm PT

    i'm seeing bad reviews over lots of other places.. I'm little worried.

  • mark_1313_13

    Posted May 25, 2007 1:44 pm PT

    Too bad bungie isn't the one porting it. A group hired by Microsoft named "Hired Gun" is converting it.

  • cr1tter

    Posted May 25, 2007 1:39 pm PT

    Good Grief.

    I cannot believe there are actually people anxious for a 3 year old game to port to a new unstable OS.

    Halo is a mediocre shooter franchise anyways.

    So many better games on the PC. Why waste the time or money.

  • prioritymail

    Posted May 25, 2007 1:28 pm PT

    Ha, ha.

    This may be a precursor to the release of halo 3, dont expect bungie to follow deadlines.

  • mark_1313_13

    Posted May 25, 2007 11:57 am PT

    There was another reason suggested at h2vista forums. http://www.h2vista.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2749
    There was some "nudity" somewhere in the tool set because the format inwhich it compiles to is named "*.ASS". There was an update for this alrady for those who already bought it.

  • redxwarriorxxx

    Posted May 25, 2007 11:51 am PT

    gamez-elite
    lol. A real man of genius

  • gamez-elite

    Posted May 25, 2007 10:44 am PT

    a336061 :

    Woot, there goes the one-word-vocabulary idiot again. There's always one. I love that you can see right through what everyone else was fooled by. You go, you hate that game for no reason. Power to the people!!

    It's great that a game that is played by so many and that will be bought by millions has been branded for what it is by you. You show them you know what is what. Or... or maybe you could realise that there are people playing it for a reason? Maybe? No? Ok.

  • a336061

    Posted May 25, 2007 10:04 am PT

    Halo 3 is nothing special at all... as for halo 2 for pc, besides a graphics upgrade, it'll be the same boring garbage experience... enjoy it

  • andrew_ribbons

    Posted May 25, 2007 9:57 am PT

    I don't see why people think that Vista is an upgrade to your PC RIG. It's an upgrade to your PC, as it's the catalyst to run games that look photo-realistic, in the future. It is NOT an upgrade to your hardware, so expecting a framerate BOOST is just stupid. DX10 does boost framerates to running the same level of graphics as DX9 and has increased the roof-space to improve visuals further.

  • adolfogomez

    Posted May 25, 2007 9:07 am PT

    the 40 mill sold include everyone who bought a PC from OCT to Dec in 2006 and got a free vista upgrade after Feb 2007... If thats the case I bought 7 copies of vista (5 laptops for work and 2 OEM for home).

    The laptops (with 1 gig of ram) ran slower on vista and the billing software would hang on every other boot so all 5 are still on XP... and as for my home, I already posted that story yesterday

    @Svitas

    True,... by the end of the year (SP1 is out in Oct rumer has it, and a few DX10 games could be out) so people could feel diff about vista (including myself)

  • svitas

    Posted May 25, 2007 8:54 am PT

    You know what I don't care any more what all of you think. Well if you are not happy with vista so what use xp. I have try vista is better then xp if you go a little into vista sistem and change some options. So you believe what you want but if I will ask you the sam at the end of this years your answer would be different.

  • elrod92

    Posted May 25, 2007 8:38 am PT

    *producing smoke signals from far away*
    Svitas, windows me was an epic disaster. Everyone was happy with 98( at least when the service pack was out). Me was an attempt to make some easy dough out of the "end of the millennium trend" that had every ceo running back then. Fast forward to present time. Vista sales are bad. The majority is by pre-installed copies on new pcs. Retail sales are dwindling and only the barrage of A-list games will give Vista the much desired boost in sales(hopefully the first service pack will be out by then). 40 mil copies is nothing. The big buck is earned through corporate contracts and presently there is none. Crytek and Epic HAVE to jump on the bandwagon. Don't exclude the sensitive corporate relationships from your reasoning. Just do the math. And the thing about IBM. Svitas come on.... DO YOUR RESEARCH for the love of whatever you believe in....

  • adolfogomez

    Posted May 25, 2007 8:37 am PT

    Never heard of someone "upgrading" their gaming rig so that it can run the same games (with the same graphics) "a little slower"

  • malmeid2

    Posted May 25, 2007 8:35 am PT

    pwned.

  • jakinja

    Posted May 25, 2007 8:30 am PT

    As for minnimum specs making a difference, I disagree! I have a prescott P4 2.8, about a gig and a half of ram, and a horrible radeon 9550 agp graphics card, all bundled up in a dell dimension 4600. I'm not a huge fan of PC gaming, but I am getting into it. I can play any game I want at decent frame rates and no crashing.
    Actually vista doesnt like steam very much so if you're a CS freak, you should stick with Xp for now, i just had it there cause a friend liked to play it.
    But what I like most is being able to emulate all of my old favorites from consoles long dead, and use an xbox 360 controller!! That's just amazing to me!!!! And it's all free

  • kith_kat

    Posted May 25, 2007 8:22 am PT

    its a conspiracy

  • jakinja

    Posted May 25, 2007 8:21 am PT

    Vista can't delete anything without your permission, they can tell if you are using genuine microsoft software like office and windows, but all my "free" stuff from isohunt and limewire is still right where I put it. When I first got vista it was a lil bit sketchy when it came to drivers, but all my issues have been resolved and they have resolved themself with a click of a button. And if it does find you have pirated MS software, you just lose support, but they will give you an option to buy the license at any time. Vista is SOOOOOOOOO much better than XP. Right now you can get a few more frames a second using xp and it's drivers but that will be resolved with new drivers. I give vista a 9/10, and XP gets a 7/10 in comparison!

  • Beards_Mahoney

    Posted May 25, 2007 8:05 am PT

    oops

  • bka4u2c_basic

    Posted May 25, 2007 7:56 am PT

    This is not about getting people to buy VISTA or to boost Vista sales. Microsoft has already sold 40 million copies in the first 100 days.

    http://money.cnn.com/2007/05/15/news/companies/microsoft_vista_sales.reut/index.htm

    Its more about testing the Game for Windows Live function. I bought the game at Circuit City earlier in the week and so far so good. Nothing new as far as FPS are concerned but it is a fun game with good gameplay and nice graphics if you have a good graphics card and turn up all the graphics settings.

  • svitas

    Posted May 25, 2007 7:42 am PT

    Vista sales are better then they hope at all. Secon MS has that much money that no one has it more just go and see what all they own.
    About IBM you can't compere becouse IBM is devoleping others things like ps3,computer resarch, serever computers and so on.

    And last if vista is crap then why CRYTEK( they are making crysis, EPIC STUDIO(unreal tournament 3) and so on they why are they suporting visto. Face it vista is better.

    Ow and every time a new windows came out the same thing are you telling the sam way was forom widows milunium to xp. And now witch OS is used more xp or milenium .

  • dekomania

    Posted May 25, 2007 7:39 am PT

    What I heard.
    Microsoft has the ability with Vista to track you down and see if you are using illegal software and delete it without your permission.

    I don't know if this is true or false. It's wat I've heard.
    Maybe someone can add something to this?

    As far as Halo2 go's against pc shooters it looks poor.
    On XBOX good. On PC baaaaaaad.
    Just my opinion, so no hating please.

    Like elrod92 said: they made the mistake to hope that a 3 year old console port of a mediocre game will boost sales(Halo may be God's mana for consoles but this is pc territory).

  • elrod92

    Posted May 25, 2007 6:48 am PT

    *shouts from a distance*

    Oh, and be sure to check out the story of the battle between M$ and IBM
    OSs. Bye

  • elrod92

    Posted May 25, 2007 6:41 am PT

    One last thing. Vista sales are disappointing to say the least. M$ is panicking and they made the mistake to hope that a 3 year old console port of a mediocre game will boost sales(Halo may be God's mana for consoles but this is pc territory). M$ can shoot itself on the foot. Instead of running around suing people demanding royalties( google it, you'll laugh) and making pr campaigns, they could(heaven forbid) patch the damn thing up(Vista). Xp had its problems when it came out but it was at least stable and everything was working fine. Half of your devices won't work on Vista. Creative EAX is over, at least until Alchemy is mainstream. DX10 as everyone can see now isn't Gamer's Eden after all. And I could go on and on but most people already now all of this.

    Bottom line. Question authority. Reject false icons(courtesy of Linkin Park). Study, research and always keep an open mind.

    Over and out

  • PUERTOROCKPLAYA

    Posted May 25, 2007 6:30 am PT

    I suspect alot of people bashing Vista have les than optimal pc specs, You cant get the vista exp with min. specs. I run vista on a very high spec machine and hands down it runs better than xp..no question. Games on xp may run alittle faster but thats due to drivers not the os being bad. Its kinda like 360 and Ps3, Ps3 is better machine but you wouldent know it cause 360 has had some more time ..how long do you think that will be the case. Xp has had years longer to get drivers developed. Remember were waiting on Nvidia and Ati to catch up not microsoft.

  • elrod92

    Posted May 25, 2007 6:22 am PT

    Look man either you are an ignorant eight-year-old or an ignorant dyslexic. Now, you can grow up or you can get your facts right before posting nonsense. This is the end for me, I am already flirting with abuse report.

  • svitas

    Posted May 25, 2007 5:48 am PT

    You say ubunto what if that is wrong. The truth is ubunto is made from windows and unix. And don't say antihing about mac. Beouse mac has copied from wins at the begining. And I have said already you can stick in to pc a usb with 4gb max and you can in visti use it as a ram. And the problem is solved. So give me a reason.

    And if vista is a peac of crap then why the game, program devolpers and els said that vista is a great improvement for the industry.

  • peeweeshift

    Posted May 25, 2007 5:35 am PT

    i have to buy game again......ah well. it runs fine though. i'll ask if i can return my copy for updated

  • elrod92

    Posted May 25, 2007 5:05 am PT

    Are you serious? Vista is clearly an Ubuntu/OSX rip off and one that isn't done well for that matter. It isn't a ram problem and if it is, it shouldn't be(bad kernel architecture decision). And to use anything more than 2gb you need vista 64. Let the laughs begin. I won't argue off-topic any longer, you definitely don't know what you are posting about.

    Halo on pc is pointless. Part 2 Vista only is a shameless money milk attempt. Achievements are a lame excuse.

  • svitas

    Posted May 25, 2007 4:50 am PT

    elrod92 give a real reason if you have small ram capacity you can in vista use a usb memory for it.
    administrative is better then from al os for now.

    GIVE ME A REASON WHY VISTA IS CRAP.

  • 0011992288

    Posted May 25, 2007 4:35 am PT

    Yep... Halo 3 coming August, er, October 25th!

  • elrod92

    Posted May 25, 2007 4:25 am PT

    That about sums it all up.

  • elrod92

    Posted May 25, 2007 4:24 am PT

    No, you shut up. if you haven't installed it already, just read the fora. DRMs, poor performance, crappy administrative rights, performance hog desktop, extremely pricey in Europe and much much more. I am ready to accept a n infant OS's problems but this is ridiculous.

  • crazytom49

    Posted May 25, 2007 4:17 am PT

    It is so annoying seeing all these people with their blinkered approach just saying 'Vista is crap' and not giving any reason for it. I bet virtually all you people who hate vista haven't even used it. The truth is it is a far superior OS to XP in virtually every way. Now seriously, shut up!

    Anyway, I think its a shame that halo 2 for Vista is delayed - I don't own a 360 and the chance to play this game cross platform against such an established online gaming community is great. Windows Live is a really good idea in my opinion, its about time we had a unified online gaming platform...

  • mkurts

    Posted May 25, 2007 4:13 am PT

    WHO CARES ?

    HALO 2 IS A CRAPPY OLD GAME BEING RE-RELEASED AS A CASHCOW !

  • svitas

    Posted May 25, 2007 3:45 am PT

    OK now tell me witch problems has VISTA. I have tested it it works great. For company is even better then from xp becouse VISTA has a whole lot improved for the quad or dual processors.

    AND HOW MANY TIMES i HAVE TO TELL IT AGAIN THAT VISTA ONLY IS BECOUSE WINDOWS LIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    If you don't like vista fine don't instal it but don't say things that are not true. Like vista is crap if every one would thought so then pc wouldn't have dx10 and no crysis graphich.

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