[Mac User #001]

I hope...

Anybody have it yet?

I hope to get it very soon. I'm buying Vista just for it I guess they're getting what they wanted from me...

On a side note, I'm very displeased that I wont be able to get it today. If it would have stayed on its May 8th release date, I would have had it!

[Peter]

No thanks.
Much better FPSs for PC, and its an Xbox game... I try not to support PC Ports.

[goMac]

Pay a few hundred to upgrade to Vista for a game that doesn't even really require Vista in the first place and just places on an arbitrary requirement to get people to buy Vista? No thanks.

[Mac User #001]

Alright Peter, I understand where you're coming from.

goMac, if you own an Xbox, you got to play Halo 2. Halo 3 will only come out for the Xbox 360, and you'll make sure you have one if you don't already for the release, won't you? Its the same thing. Eventually I will have to get Vista, so why not get it because of a game I've been waiting for for so long. A 360 will cost a few hundred, and so will Vista, unless I stick with Basic. Are you saying "No thanks." to the 360's also?

Also, I don't have an Xbox or a 360. Would you have preferred I bought one back then and spent the few hundred on it instead of Vista? Or better yet, I could buy it now, and spend $100 for a console where I would only play one $20 game.

Besides, its not arbitrary. DirectX 10!

I realize I'm trying to justify this, but hey, its my money.

[P]

Halo 2 does not use Direct X 10. The old Xbox runs a modified version of the Windows 2000 kernel using a version of Direct X 8.1. It's completely arbitrary to require Vista, and MS only does it to squeeze more money out of one of the most overrated games of the last decade or so. I wonder how well they locked it down - will someone be able to hack it to run on XP?

Halo is the perfect example of everything that is wrong with shooters on consoles. Because they're stuck on using controllers and not a mouse and keyboard setup, you can't aim worth ****. To compensate, Halo registers a hit if you were aiming in the correct general direction. You can shoot 3 feet to the side of someone and still register a headshot. This makes it fun to people who never got a shot in when playing a less forgiving game. You can just run around and push the fire button when you have an enemy on screen and the game takes care of the rest.

Don't get me wrong - it's about the only games worth bothering with on the old Xbox, so I can understand the following they have. MS did sell 25 million consoles, after all, and they can't all be hacked Linux boxen. I just don't see why you should play it on a system that has a working control system and better games worth bothering with.

[Don Pickett]

Originally Posted by P 

MS did sell 25 million consoles, after all, and they can't all be hacked Linux boxen.

Did MS sell 25 million, or ship 25 million? They have a habit of announcing the latter as if it's the former.

[goMac]

Originally Posted by Mac User #001 

goMac, if you own an Xbox, you got to play Halo 2. Halo 3 will only come out for the Xbox 360, and you'll make sure you have one if you don't already for the release, won't you? Its the same thing. Eventually I will have to get Vista, so why not get it because of a game I've been waiting for for so long. A 360 will cost a few hundred, and so will Vista, unless I stick with Basic. Are you saying "No thanks." to the 360's also?

I probably will buy an XBox for Halo 3.

Originally Posted by Mac User #001 

Besides, its not arbitrary. DirectX 10!

Halo 2 doesn't actually use DirectX 10. It just requires it because Microsoft wants you to buy Vista.

[Leonard]

Originally Posted by goMac 

I probably will buy an XBox for Halo 3

That's probably the reason I bought a Xbox 360, was for Halo 2 and 3. Although so far I'm not impressed by Halo 2 single player - I now understand why so many people were disappointed with the title. Halo was so much better on the Mac with a keyboard and mouse than Halo 2. There a few nice features in Halo 2, like dual wielding weapons, but the single player campaign is more linear (and boring) than Halo was. I think the experience is mostly ruined by not being able to use a keyboard and mouse, though. Vehicles are easy to drive with a keyboard and mouse, and as goMac alrady mentioned, it's a lot better experience shooting on a keyboard and mouse.

I'll have to check out Halo 3.

On the other hand, though, I have found the game Crackdown, with it's auto-aim very enjoyable, but the game envovles more than shooting people and that may be what makes it different. Shooting people is just one part of the game, running them over, beating them up or blasting them to pieces is the other. As well as racing, stealing cars, etc...

[Obi Wan's Ghost]

Originally Posted by goMac 

Halo 2 doesn't actually use DirectX 10. It just requires it because Microsoft wants you to buy Vista.

Apparently Halo 2 for Vista does use Direct X 10. There's a patched Direct X 10 installer for XP making the rounds that allows Halo 2 to be played on XP.

[Mac User #001]

Originally Posted by goMac 

I probably will buy an XBox for Halo 3.



Halo 2 doesn't actually use DirectX 10. It just requires it because Microsoft wants you to buy Vista.

It isn't based off of DirectX 10, but if you have it, it certainly uses DirectX 10.

Originally Posted by Obi Wan's Ghost 

Apparently Halo 2 for Vista does use Direct X 10. There's a patched Direct X 10 installer for XP making the rounds that allows Halo 2 to be played on XP.

I doubt thats true. They want it only available for Vista for a reason. I'm not saying DirectX 10 isn't on XP, but it still won't run Halo 2.

[Mac User #001]

Ha. Of course. It was postponed to June 1st. But according to Wikipedia, a few stores were unaware of this and sold copies. Think its true?

[goMac]

Originally Posted by Mac User #001 

It isn't based off of DirectX 10, but if you have it, it certainly uses DirectX 10.

Then why not make it available for Windows XP in DirectX 9 if it doesn't run using DirectX 10? Microsoft has said that it doesn't use any DirectX 10 features, so it's not using DirectX 10. Rather Microsoft's excuse is that "DirectX 10 is faster than DirectX 9", which imo, is a poor excuse. Give people the ability to run Halo 2 on XP, and if it's slower, so be it.

Also they are getting Halo 2 to run on XP:
Halo 2 - coming to XP

[Mac User #001]

Wow. If its true, thats awesome. I'm waiting until they release that; screw Vista!