XBOX-HQ.COM - Off the Record 11.22.04

Three rumors for you on Bungie, Microsoft and MGS3. The fall is always the season for mass quantities of games to reach retail stores. The bulk of publishers release their games before the holiday season because videogames traditionally have been kids' presents. They still are good presents, no doubt. But now, well, the kids who used to get their presents are grown up, and they're giving presents to their kids.

This time of year, everyone simply wants to complete their games and shove them out the door to sell. Which is why you rarely hear many rumors about upcoming games, but recently, I've heard a few that were worth looking into, and here's what I found.

Amped Again?
Microsoft's short-lived XSN proved that sports games are not only hard to make, but that EA will dominate whatever sport you try your hand at. That's not to say they're not worth it, but you'd better be it for the long haul -- and be prepared to take some lumps. Amped 1 and 2 were beautiful, sleek games, and worth having if you owned an Xbox, but somewhere down the line, extreme sports took a nosedive. But did Amped?

We've learned that Microsoft may very well be in the works with Amped 3, but not for Xbox, for Xbox 2. Perhaps even as a launch title. The news comes in that a pro snowboarder involved with the game worked on about half of Amped 3 for Xbox before it was canned. Microsoft allegedly scrapped the Xbox version and restarted Amped 3 for Xbox 2, and is in production for it right now. Microsoft of course has not officially announced anything, and did not have a comment.

Metal Gear Solid 3 on Xbox?
If you visit a retail store these days and notice the Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake-Eater standees and promotional stuff, you'll see that there a PlayStation 2 logo on them, but also an Xbox logo, indicating that MGS3 is coming to Xbox at some point. Konami of America has steadfastly maintained there are no current plans to bring its number one action-adventure game to Xbox, and that the logo is a pure mistake. Pretty big bungle if you ask me. If it is a mistake and Konami is still considering it, what's there to decide? The game will sell well in Xbox's last year because it Microsoft's system will be at its highest penetration in homes. Among others, one counter argument could be that the Xbox 2 could out weight the Xbox 1 in promotion, advertising, ad dollars, etc., but who says they have to wait until the fall?

Bungie's Next Big Thing
Recently I've had an interesting close encounter with some folks who know more stuff about Bungie than I. Which is quite easy, really. But the little bomb that was dropped on me was, without a doubt, an ear-perking mouthful. In essence, a hint was directed toward me that Bungie, which is now done with Halo 2, would start work on Halo 3 sometime in the near future. The bomb was that Bungie would not necessarily be working on another first-person shooter in its next project, but something else. That could be Halo-related… or not. Looking back in Bungie's history, it's primarily worked on first-person shooters, but it also created that fun but oh-so-gory RTS Myth series.Source: IGN