Speaking of voting with our dollar...

I'm still catching up on stuff I wanted to post about while the server was down.

So HALO finally made it to the PC. Not that it matters to me, since in the 2-year process of porting what was essentially a PC game already, they surgically removed the only compelling feature it had: co-op. That angers me, to be sure, but not anywhere near as much as what Randy Pitchford said when asked about co-op in this IGN interview:

"Halo Multiplayer is just an awesome experience. We're playing team based games every night and can't wait to play with our customers when the game is launched. Regardless of how much we want it (and we really, really want it), cooperative play in the campaign mode is not going to be in at launch. It turned out to be a really, insanely difficult problem to do this over a network (as opposed to doing something like split screen) which is why it's next to impossible to find a first-person action game that offers it on the PC. I'd really like to see it happen, but I think everyone making a purchase decision should do so based on the award winning single player story and the super enhanced, super fun multiplayer modes that are in the box at launch."

"insanely difficult"... ? Is that why the first networked 3D shooter ever (Doom) had co-op? Just for the record, that was back in 1992, when we had to carry IPX packets uphill both ways in the snow. Jesus, that comment is the lamest thing I've heard from a game developer trying to cover their ass in a long long time. But then he follows it up with: "it's next to impossible to find a first-person action game that offers it on the PC." Oh...kay. He must not live in the same universe as me. Here's just a partial list: Doom. Doom 2. Quake. Quake 2 (sense a pattern?). Unreal. Unreal Tournament. Descent 1,2, and 3. Half Life (via Sven). System Shock 2. Ghost Recon. Rainbow Six. Rainbow Six 3. Operation Flashpoint. SWAT 3. Serious Sam 1 & 2. Neverwinter Nights. Freespace 1 & 2. And that's just the ones that come to mind, not to mention that there's an entire fucking sub-market of the industry called MMORPG that is founded on co-op.

Sorry, Randy, but lying about the decision to rip out the game's best feature by saying 'it's hard' and that 'nobody does it' doesn't go far with me. Your suggestion to take the game's "super enhanced, super fun multiplayer modes" into consideration when I make my purchase decision is duly noted. Maybe when the game is sitting in the bargain bin for 10 bucks because EB is trying to cut its losses on excess inventory I'll be inspired by the thought of super fun non-cooperative play and pick it up.