Halo 2 release falls back

It's official: Halo 2 will not be out until Fall 2004. The bad news came in the form of a post on Bungie's Web site. "So remember last year when we told you we don't announce release dates until we're confident well meet our deadline?" said the post. "Well, now were confident. Halo 2 will ship in Fall, 2004."

While the news was not unexpected--online stores had changed the Xbox shooter's release date to June last week--the official notice dashed gamers' hopes had that it would be released in April, as predicted. The Bungie notice also gently urged readers to "please make a note of it," as if the ship date had somehow slipped their minds.

In addition to the ship-date revelation, Bungie also release the first Halo 2 multiplayer screenshot, which shows four blue MJOLNIR-clad troopers shooting out with a pair of red Spartans in a Warthog.