Grave Gamer News & Views — halo 2 anniversary

Halo 2 Anniversary’s Reworked Cutscenes Get Their Own Trailer

343 Industries main feature of The Master Chief Collection is undoubtedly the HD-ified remake of 2004’s Halo 2. Among the inner-workings being remodeled and reconfigured, the game’s prominent cinematics are getting the 2014 treatment.

Overseen by Blur Studio, the visual effects team responsible for space-bound portions of Avatar, the...

Master Chief Unofficially Confirms Halo 2 Anniversary

Remember that massive list of Xbox related leaks that hit the web oh not so long ago? The one that seemed too good to be true yet, suspiciously, Microsoft was lawyering up over? Welp, another bullet point rumor has seemingly come true.

Steve Downes, the gravelly voice behind our beloved Master Chief’s helmet for nearly thirteen years now, says we’ll be seeing a Halo 2 Anniversary Edition released later this year, as prophesied in the leak. Unfortunately, we’re getting the remake in lieu of a proper sequel to Halo 4.

In a yet to be posted interview with GameZone, the sometimes DJ, sometimes savior of the Earth commented on 343 Industries’ next installment saying, “I think you may be ahead of yourself on Halo 5. I wouldn’t expect anything until 2015.” However, “What you can look forward to this year is an anniversary edition of Halo 2.”

It fits. This year does indeed mark the tenth anniversary of Halo 2 (my god, I need to start getting serious about my will). Mr. Downes didn’t specify which system(s) we’d see the remake on, but according to that rumor monster of a list, we should expect it out on Microsoft’s latest and greatest, the Xbox One.

Giving more credence to the leak, Downes also backs up Halo 5’s slip into 2015 (the Big M originally was dead set on pumping out Chief’s new adventure in ‘14).

I’m obligated by the journalistic gods to inform you none of this information is official. But seriously. If you’re not going to believe Halo news straight out of Master Chief’s mouth, what’s it going to take?

UPDATE: IGN took a minute to reach out to Steve Downes about his revealing quote. His reply? That GameZone misquoted him. Downes claims he merely said he heard some rumblings online about there possibly being a Halo 2 Anniversary and that he didn’t intend on implying he had any inside info in the least.

Oh, well. Rumor debunked, internet. But brake your warthogs, Spartans. IGN was then emailed the original interview that took place between the Chief and GameZone. Low and behold, Downes’ spiel about online rumors and this “possibly” talk are nowhere in sight. Curiouser and curiouser. Consider this rumor… bunked still? 

Xbox One Rumors Go Critical This Week

Plus: Halo Anthology Coming to X1?

We have been positively slammed by Xbox rumors. If not slammed, then definitely shaken about. We’re used to leaks. Some of us inter-tube journalists are expert at making articles sail on leaks. But this is no mere leak. This is a goddamn deluge.

The leaker in question is one ntkrnl, a NeoGAF knight and supposed legitimate insider (Bish-verified… if that means more to you than it does to me) unafraid of ripping open the pinata of Microsoft secrets because “talking about it ahead of time isn’t going to hurt anything.” Here be ntkrnl’s harmless truths which Microsoft is looking to take legal action over:

• Halo 2 Anniversary is arriving Nov. 11th. Saber Interactive and Certain Affinity, 343’s wingmen on the first Halo Anniversary, are once again remaking the Chief’s past. The game will have two SKU’s: a Collector’s Edition featuring beta access to Halo 5 and episodes of a Halo-based “real-time” show not related to the Spielberg/Bloomkamp project; and a War Collection with all of the above plus Halo 3 and 4 ported (not remade) for the Xbox One.
• Halo 5 drops Fall 2015. Yeah.
• Forza Horizon 2, Forza’s open-world cousin, is heading to X1 “probably September.” Said to feature 1080p resolution and loads of social integration (which is the tread on every modern day racer).
• Crackdown 3 is in development… but won’t come out until the distant future of 2016. Ruffian Games isn’t developing, however.
• Sunset Overdrive hits Fall 2014, Quantum Break lands Holiday 2014, and Fable Legends drops Summer 2015.
• Titanfall DLC will be made available a month and a half after release with more incoming after that. Plus, a fancy bundle with game and custom console/controller is on cards. Here, lookit.
• The previously “Dev Team Only” white Xbox One will be made available to the public later this year.
• A cheaper Xbox One unit will launch with a Bluetooth adapter and possibly without an optical disc drive. And, for a limited time, a 1TB model will go on the market.

Now, that last rumor has an addendum. A “well-respected source” has confirmed to VG247 that Microsoft has already reached out to publishing partners about a newer model of Xbox One. This Bluetooth-ful, disc-less business, however, remains unconfirmed, but the source did say the new unit would retail for a lower price than the current model.

The fact that, amongst this barrage of rumor mongering, an outside source was able to confirm one of ntkrnl’s bigger bombshells lends some weight to the rest of their bullet-points. This individual is beyond fired if the Big M ever finds him or her out, of course, but they’ll have gone down swinging.

Check out the user’s hull of leaks hereabouts.