October 14, 2004 - Halo 2 is the Xbox game of the year. While there are plenty of other games people are interested in, none come close to the lofty expectations placed on Halo 2. Fans search the Internet each day -- during work or late at night -- looking for any new scraps of information. From what we know, the game is going to own us all and come November 9, the world will be a different place. Gamers will be huddled around televisions playing Halo 2. It will be a glorious time.
Unfortunately, we will likely not be able to provide any more concrete details on Halo 2 until our review in early November. Instead, we must offer tidbits found online, and any new screenshots made available.
However, that doesn't mean we can't still weigh in on the impact Halo 2 is having on our office and in our lives -- and in yours. In less than one month, Halo 2 will ship to retail outlets across North America. We're counting down to this eventful moment with a different piece each work day. Some are just stupid ideas, some will be editor's thoughts on Halo and Halo 2, and some will be a bit more informative.
Halo 2 ships in 25 days. Prepare yourself.
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Piracy is for Punks
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In less than one month, Halo 2 will hit retail stores across North America, and within two days of its launch here, it will appear in retail outlets in Europe and Asia. A world of gameplayers will entertain itself with an awesome first-person shooter that's taken Bungie Studios more than three years to complete. The all-new storyline and newly implemented gameplay aspects are elements that Microsoft and Bungie have kept under tight security for a reason. They don't want to spoil it. They don't want to ruin it. Like any good movie or book, they want you to experience it for yourself, unadulterated, unfiltered, and unspoiled. That's worth respecting.
The only thing is, if you've been keeping up with recent Halo 2 news, a downloadable version of Bungie's game is playable now. An illegal downloadable version. Though the complete story isn't in yet, at some level of the manufacturing process, perhaps taking place in France (the downloadable version is believed to have French text), the game was stolen and made available online for download. Microsoft has addressed the situation by saying it will investigate the matter with an aim to punish the perpetrator to the full extent of the law.
Halo 2 isn't even out yet, and it's designed to be sold in retail stores as a full product, yet now it's free to download. Is that right to download a game that's not even on store shelves yet? Is that fair to the people who paid millions for its development? Is it OK to just download it to see what it's like? The answer is obvious. In our society, you pay for products. If you create or invent something, it has value.
You pay for movies, you pay for food, you pay for clothes. Halo 2 is a product that's not only worth the money it's going for, it's probably worth more than its $49.99 retail price. It's the product of a hard-working and honest team of individuals who want to create a game experience to delight and excite you. To illegally download Halo 2 is not only against the law, subjecting you to a $100,000 fine per offense, it's a slap in the face to Bungie and to everyone else who plans on paying for it.
Downloading games online comes in shades of gray, it's not all black and white. For instance, a game such as, oh let's just pick a random game, Mario Bros. for the Atari 2600. You're not likely to find this game on store shelves anymore. You're not likely to find the Atari 2600 either. But let's say you owned an Atari 2600 and wanted games for it. What would you do? You'd look vainly in stores across the country and then you'd wise up. You'd go to eBay to see what it's going for. But it may not even be there. You could also download it and hundreds of other games that exist in downloadable form, which is most likely your best shot.
The thing here is that the Atari 2600 is dead, it's no longer supported, made, or distributed. How else are you supposed to get games for a dead system? Downloadable games on the Internet for dead systems doesn't seem so illogical at this juncture. It's still technically illegal, but no one is worried about it because the system and the games on it are dead and finished. No one is making money off them anymore. (Some here might scream, 'Long live the Atari 2600!')
So, that's reasonable, but still illegal. It's wrong, but nobody is really watching too closely. The Xbox, on the other hand, is a viable, thriving and successful system. It's not dead. Far from it. Downloading games for the Xbox is not only a crime, just like Mario Bros., but to download a game that's not even been sent to retail stores is a well-thought out attack on a developer, Bungie, its publisher, Microsoft, and functioning free-market capitalism, a system that works just fine.
Playing videogames is about having fun. It's about delving into a world that's unlike our own and exploring something that's challenging to our wits, imaginations and reflexes. If you've ever been to Bungie.net and spoken with the team members, or witnessed its amazing community, you would wonder why such a terrible thing, a damaging thing, could be done to such good people. These people love games and foster a diverse, respectable and entertaining community. Imagine that you've spent the last three years working on something you love so much that you'd dedicate yourself to it night and day for years. And then to have it stolen before it's even on store shelves! The action echoes negatively to every person that's worked on Halo 2 or with Bungie, or with Microsoft.
You'd ask yourself why. Why do it? It's a videogame that's part art, part technology and part entertainment -- designed for fun and pleasure. Surely, that's worth waiting for, worth the price of admission. Worth respecting the law for. It's worth keeping intact, unspoiled for the world that's happily anticipating it. And perhaps more than anything else, it's a game and a developer that's surely worth respecting.
I almost broke my penis once, i fell down my gfs stairs naked and with a boner, i was never so scared in my life - Lateralis
I have nothing, I dont save anything from ns, i have mostly porn on my comp tho- Lateralis
If I was a fat black chick, id live in a zoo- Lateralis
Hi, My name is Matt and I'm a postaholic
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