Slog - Comments on Anatomy of a Blog Rumor http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor Yesterday, Jacob Metcalf of the website 8bitjoystick (and occasional Stranger contributor) posted that Bungie, creators of the insanely popular Halo series, is parting ways with its parent company Microsoft. Citing a friend of a friend who was in the know, Metcalf posted an email he received about the supposed split: "So heres my big secret. You should google Bungie + Microsoft + separation this week. You know that big ol BILLION dollar franchise Bungie has created for Microsoft, to show their appreciate Microsoft is letting Bungie leave. Of course Microsoft gets to keep all rights to the Halo franchise, but... Copyright 2008 Tue, 02 Oct 2007 15:16:16 -0800 Fri, 05 Oct 2007 09:07:49 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by Greg Not really surprised. Microsoft bought Bungie for three reasons:

1) To scoop up the ungodly amounts of money sure to be produced by Halo.

2) To have a flagship game for the Xbox.

3) [most important] To deny Halo to Apple.

]]> Greg http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c816678 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c816678 Tech Tue, 02 Oct 2007 15:51:37 -0800 Comment by Jordyn So...are people upset over this?

It seems like mostly good things for Bungie.

]]> Jordyn http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c816696 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c816696 Tech Tue, 02 Oct 2007 16:09:27 -0800 Comment by katie6 There is a great article about Bungie in the current Rolling Stone Mag. They said that microsoft emplyees have NO access to anything at Bungie...I think Bungie is better off without MS. They should be able to be more creative that way.

]]> katie6 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c816698 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c816698 Tech Tue, 02 Oct 2007 16:10:25 -0800 Comment by Jake of 8bitjoystick.com Greg Halo for Mac did ship. It was published by Macsoft.. however it did run like ass on my Mac G4.

]]> Jake of 8bitjoystick.com http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c816699 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c816699 Tech Tue, 02 Oct 2007 16:12:32 -0800 Comment by Jake of 8bitjoystick.com Also the blog post to major industry news happened about noon yesterday so about four hours. It was around then that MS, Bungie and their PR firm would not deny or confirm the validity of my sources claim. I’ve known my source for a while and I trust them.

Like all things leaked too early their silence speaks volumes. If they would just say that "That Jake fellow must be smoking crack" than it would go away.

]]> Jake of 8bitjoystick.com http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c816705 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c816705 Tech Tue, 02 Oct 2007 16:17:34 -0800 Comment by kid icarus Thank god Bungie can finally make another fucking game. What a waste these years have been.

]]> kid icarus http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c816715 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c816715 Tech Tue, 02 Oct 2007 16:25:15 -0800 Comment by Dr. Gonzo I love it. Jacob is the man.

It got picked up by the Sydney Morning News too... I love you Jacob.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/biztech/halo-developer-to-leave-microsoft-report/2007/10/02/1191091078010.html

]]> Dr. Gonzo http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c816727 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c816727 Tech Tue, 02 Oct 2007 16:40:31 -0800 Comment by Jake of 8bitjoystick.com Yeah I saw that. I have to get some one in down under to get a printed copy.

PS. My favorite Bungie games are Myth and Myth 2. It had exploding dwarves fighting zombies.

]]> Jake of 8bitjoystick.com http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c816730 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c816730 Tech Tue, 02 Oct 2007 16:43:58 -0800 Comment by Drew oni 2!?!

]]> Drew http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c816772 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c816772 Tech Tue, 02 Oct 2007 17:29:00 -0800 Comment by Adam Jenkins June 19, 2000 — Microsoft buys Bungie (aka Bungie sells out).

Says Alexander Seropian, founder and CEO of Bungie Software Products, "Microsoft will provide us with the resources and infrastructure we need to continue to build great games and make them available on a worldwide scale. We are also looking forward to helping define the Xbox platform, which may soon be the world's premier game console." (aka we'll be Microsoft's lapdog, since the only game they know how to make is a flight simulator, and whore out our creative and engineering talent to keep the XBox afloat, and after the 7 year itch kicks in we'll realize we're still continuing to build the SAME great game, Halo 3 (aka Marathon 6 (aka Pathways into Darkness 7)). Then we'll buy our integrity back, and maybe make some new games, or at least some more sequels with exploding cranky dwarves and anime karate chicks. We might even make a game for the Mac again, if they'll take us back.)

]]> Adam Jenkins http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c816773 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c816773 Tech Tue, 02 Oct 2007 17:29:43 -0800 Comment by Eric Halo did ship for mac but 4 years after it was ready to be released. Microsoft purchased Bungie after they announced a mac release date and that was all you heard.

]]> Eric http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c816776 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c816776 Tech Tue, 02 Oct 2007 17:30:53 -0800 Comment by Brad I call BS.

]]> Brad http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c816780 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c816780 Tech Tue, 02 Oct 2007 17:38:51 -0800 Comment by JML @comment #4

Bungie was being developed as a OS X first-release game until MS bought Bungie. Jobs had showcased it as a wow-factor when most Mac users will still on OS 9 and he was trying to get everyone to upgrade or switch from Windows.

]]> JML http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c816790 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c816790 Tech Tue, 02 Oct 2007 17:54:05 -0800 Comment by laterite It looks like everyone who posted in that thread on the bungie forum got banned, at least from glancing at the first page. That's wild.

]]> laterite http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c816793 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c816793 Tech Tue, 02 Oct 2007 17:55:52 -0800 Comment by JML I mean Halo was being developed by Bungie as an OS X first-release game …

In fact, much of the games best (networking-play) features were stripped out to make it more playable on a console.

]]> JML http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c816794 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c816794 Tech Tue, 02 Oct 2007 17:56:50 -0800 Comment by msr Every time I hear about MS buying Bungie and keeping the Mac port hostage so long, it makes my blood boil. I don't play games and I've only played Halo once, but that's just total bull shit.

]]> msr http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c816795 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c816795 Tech Tue, 02 Oct 2007 17:57:24 -0800 Comment by Peter I work in the local game industry and have friends at Bungie and I can't see the intrigue in this story. I guess it's kind of cool that fans seem to or at least pretend to care about the people making their favorite game(s), though.

]]> Peter http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c816800 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c816800 Tech Tue, 02 Oct 2007 18:03:50 -0800 Comment by BC MS did buy Bungie to get Halo, but I doubt that it was to keep it off of the Mac. Bungie was already expanding onto other platforms, and MS needed a flagship game for the XBOX.

I'm a Mac fanboy, loved Oni and the Marathon series, but seriously, I can't imagine anyone at MS thinking, "If we don't keep Halo off of the Mac, we're doomed!"

]]> BC http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c816823 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c816823 Tech Tue, 02 Oct 2007 19:01:54 -0800 Comment by BC That said, I'd love for this to be true and see some new games from Bungie for the Mac!

]]> BC http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c816825 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c816825 Tech Tue, 02 Oct 2007 19:04:11 -0800 Comment by Eric http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9907/26/halo.idg/
Halo 1999 ready for release 2000.

http://www.amazon.com/Macsoft-Halo-Mac/dp/B00006IQTH
Halo release date 2003.

]]> Eric http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c816849 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c816849 Tech Tue, 02 Oct 2007 20:14:00 -0800 Comment by SDA in SEA Yeah, yeah, it sucks that Bungie sold out to the evil overlords at MS and screwed over their Mac base. But if you ran Bungie, and someone offered you more money than you could ever imagine, you'd sell out too. Don't lie. You know you would.

And now, 7 years later, they're tired of the shackles, and they're rolling in cash. Not surprising that they are through with Microsoft.

I, for one, will eagerly await what they come up with next, now that they are throwing off the MS shackles. Maybe they'll even make another game for Mac again. Woot! Or at least not make us wait 4 years for a port over from a PC game.

Oh, and yes, Microsoft was intentionally screwing over Mac users. Every other decent popular PC game has been ported over to the Mac within a few months of its PC release. Sometimes they've even done simultaneous PC/Mac releases. There is no justifiable reason for taking 4 years to port over a popular game, a game which was originally designed for the Mac platform in the first place, other than pure spitefulness. Blow me, Bill Gates.

]]> SDA in SEA http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c816867 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c816867 Tech Tue, 02 Oct 2007 21:06:08 -0800 Comment by dot dot dots are in in in hey SDA...he comma factory called... they want their commas back!

]]> dot dot dots are in in in http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c816874 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c816874 Tech Tue, 02 Oct 2007 21:28:36 -0800 Comment by Matt Halo was never going to be a Mac-first or Mac-only game. It was always going to be PC and Mac. In fact, for the first year of development it was PC only because Apple's 3D support wasn't up to snuff.

It was debuted at MacWorld Expo...but the Mac version they showed was a port of the PC version which had been in development much longer.

]]> Matt http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c816975 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c816975 Tech Wed, 03 Oct 2007 05:45:10 -0800 Comment by bratling @comment 21: "Every other decent popular PC game has been ported over to the Mac within a few months of its PC release."

You mean like Half-Life?

]]> bratling http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c816991 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c816991 Tech Wed, 03 Oct 2007 07:43:20 -0800 Comment by Jake of 8bitjosytick.com I don't think Mac development is a factor in Bungie wanting to be out from Microsoft.

Does Myth 2 run on Mac OSX 10.4 on PPC?

]]> Jake of 8bitjosytick.com http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c817093 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c817093 Tech Wed, 03 Oct 2007 09:54:46 -0800 Comment by Matt > Does Myth 2 run on Mac OSX 10.4 on PPC?

Yes.

http://projectmagma.net/downloads/myth2_16/

The larger point about Mac development not mattering so much to Bungie these days is correct.

]]> Matt http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c817401 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c817401 Tech Wed, 03 Oct 2007 14:57:22 -0800 Comment by Mr. Poe Comment 21 is beyond wrong. Way wrong. Super wrong. You obviously don't know what you're talking about. Wrong.

]]> Mr. Poe http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c818451 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/anatomy_of_a_blog_rumor#c818451 Tech Fri, 05 Oct 2007 09:07:49 -0800