Hello, another vote of confidence for the Xbox 360 hanging around awhile yet: That’s where you’ll play Halo 4, despite rumors that the inception of Microsoft’s second Halo trilogy would launch on whatever set-top platform the company’s planning next.
“This is what I’ve been wondering ever since 343 Studios declined to talk about the engine Halo 4 runs on when asked about it at E3,” wrote a user on gaming mega-forum NeoGAF, in a thread devoted to speculation about Microsoft’s successor to the Xbox.
“Halo 4 will be on Xbox 360 and use a modified core of the Halo engine(s). Not really a singular engine since it goes through fairly radical evolutions all the time,” responded user OuterWorldVoice, the pseudonym of developer 343 Industries’ Frank O’Connor, current Halo series director.
Translation: Don’t look for a new Xbox-whatchamacallit anytime soon. At this point, Halo 4’s said to be headed for a Q4 2012 launch, which means the company has the rest of this year and all of next to promote its current console darling. It makes me wonder whether the company’s really planning to talk about its next-gen platform at E3 2012 at all. Why undercut the Xbox 360’s thunder, when Nintendo’s Wii U’s really just brings Nintendo up to par, performance-wise, and both Microsoft and Sony both have a vested interest in keeping their existing platforms going another year or two at least?
Incidentally, Halo’s on everyone’s lips because 343 Industries’ remake of Bungie’s Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, is out tomorrow, sporting updated graphics, Kinect and 3D TV support, and online as well as cooperative play.
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