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Apple History: Jobs 'Raged' Over Microsoft's 2000 Acquisition of 'Halo' Developer Bungie
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I'm still bitter that Bungie was bought. How many Halo players know of its origin?
I remember playing Marathon 2 (and Pathways into Darkness demo) at Primary school, in our only computer suite (Macintosh Performa's). Good times.
Still play Marathon online every so often.
I remember playing Marathon 2 (and Pathways into Darkness demo) at Primary school, in our only computer suite (Macintosh Performa's). Good times.
Still play Marathon online every so often.
Oh - is this why games on the mac platform stink the high heaven? Admittedly some better games for the mac have been released more recently...
Nowhere. It would've been a guaranteed failure (sales wise) if it had stayed Mac (or even PC)-exclusive. Putting the XBOX as Bungie's lead platform was the best thing it could've done.
Well, you'd believe wrong. Open up google and do some searching. The Xbox 360 has been profitable for a few years now.
It would have been profitable even longer, but the Xbox division decided to not take Sony's route and try its luck losing multiple class action lawsuits, and instead took a $1.9b charge to extend warranties on Xbox 360s.
A little bit of history: The PS2 had significant "Disc Read Error" isssues. The first PS2 I had actually started having issues just a month outside of the original 90 day warranty period. Sony denied the problems and charged users for the repairs. Over the course of the years, Sony lost several class action lawsuits and started to fix PS2s for free, even if they were years out of warranty. Microsoft didn't want to do that. Sony doesn't want that again, so now they fix the persistent "Yellow Light of Death" issue with the PS3 without problems, no matter the warranty status.
But yeah, Xbox 360 has been profitable for some time.
Unrelated, but how does it run on a macbook?
I hadn't heard about this, but I was wondering how the halo games run on a new macbook.
I hadn't heard about this, but I was wondering how the halo games run on a new macbook.
Wow, "Pathways into Darkness" is a name I haven't heard in forever.
That was *the* Mac FPS back in the day (literally. I think it was the only FPS on the platform until MacPlay ported Wolfenstein 3D).
They still have another 4-5 years to go before the next Xbox to make some extra cash on the console itself. MS and Sony have said that their consoles will start having 10 year life-cycles before anything new comes out. Plus don't forget about Xbox Live and all the games/expansions/avatar thingys people buy ... it all adds up.
I love all things Apple, but I have a feeling that Bungie wouldn't be where it is now had it not been for MS.
Missing the old days
I loved Marathon when it came out. I had a Performa 636. Me and the rest of the mac cult at my school would kick ass. We played played that game nonstop for 3 days until we beat the single player. It was frantic. I was pretty bummed out when Microsoft bought Bungie. I knew "Marathon's" days on the Mac were numbered. Anyone every played Oni?
I loved Marathon when it came out. I had a Performa 636. Me and the rest of the mac cult at my school would kick ass. We played played that game nonstop for 3 days until we beat the single player. It was frantic. I was pretty bummed out when Microsoft bought Bungie. I knew "Marathon's" days on the Mac were numbered. Anyone every played Oni?
hardcore Halo players know it was spawned from Marathon...Bungie reminds us every chance they get
I started playing Marathon when i was 13, we used to take over the computer labs at lunch and just have giant nerdy blood baths. Back then the game creators actually used to respond to emails. That was epic.
Good times, ended up witha few Pfhor inspired tatts, and have this inexplicable need to load AlephOne onto every computer I buy, even if I never play it. It just needs to... be there lol.
A Mac just isn't a Mac for me unless the trilogy is kicking around on the hard drive somewhere.
Over time though it's pretty cool to see how a lot of the Marathon plotlines were adapted into later games, and even other franchises.
I was at MWNY when Halo was first demoed. I think the majority of the attendees were in total awe of what was coming. An odd feeling of pride was felt amongst the crowd.
When Microsoft announced the Bungie purchase it almost felt like your Capulet sister had just married a hairy unattractive Montague. It was pretty hard to swallow.
When Microsoft announced the Bungie purchase it almost felt like your Capulet sister had just married a hairy unattractive Montague. It was pretty hard to swallow.
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6213956.html Xbox 360 is profitable.
Only Sony pushes that "10 year life cycle" nonsense. And none of it is true.
Sure, the PS2 is still around. But it hasn't had a major release that wasn't a sports game in 4 years. It was the same thing with the original Playstation. The last major release it had was Final Fantasy 9. But Sony kept dragging it along until 2005.
The "10 year lifespan" is a marketing gimmick on Sony's part. They have to push it since the first year of the $600 PS3 was essentially a failure and it wasn't even able to play "catch up" until they removed features and got the price down to $299 and $399 several years after the console launched.
Two biggest disappointments of my Mac-Gaming Youth:
1. LucasArts dropping Mac support before X-Wing v. TIE Fighter could be ported over.
2. Halo being pulled from the Mac over to the Xbox.
Unlike Apple, all of whose most creative ideas develop organically from within the company.
It wasn't about him caring for games, it was about control. He didn't have control over something he wanted, and that's what made him mad.
That would certainly explain the disparity we've seen between keynote presentations ("We're all about gaming here at Apple! Hyuk!") and then nothing really happening. The wording of the quote (yeah, it was weird, we had to go do this thing over at an Apple show) suggests that they really didn't care about the outcome or have a whole lot personally invested into it. It sounds like a teenager talking to his buddy about that lame-o social his parents made him go to.
I get the distinct impression that megalomaniacs don't like experiencing a taste of their own medicine
