There is a particular fan based gaming site out there that got an “anonymous” tip that Microsoft had pulled a fast one on us all and that on Nov. 15, the 2 year anniversary of Xbox, we would get an announcement that Halo 2 would be available in stores the day after Thanksgiving. Several hours later this same fan site debunked the same rumor that they started, but not without causing a whirlwind of rumors and speculation. I have no doubt that everyone flocked to this site to read this “anonymous tip”. Tricking people into visiting your site by starting completely unfounded rumors is a pretty low tactic in my book. This is not a practice I condone so for the sake of this story I will not be linking back to the “original source” of this rumor.
After a few phone calls and much discussion on the Penny Arcade forum it became abundantly clear this was nothing more than a ploy to garner traffic to the previous fan site. Will Microsoft do something huge to commemorate the 2 year anniversary of Xbox? I am sure they will, they launched Xbox Live last year and I expect something equally as big to be announced. Will there be a Halo 2 demo available? Sure, it is possible. They had a demo at E3 so it wouldn’t be totally unfeasible to release an early playable demo to get the hype going. Will Halo 2 be out at the end of this month? Not a chance. Etoychest as well as Gabe from PA both made calls to Microsoft Reps and verified that Halo 2 will not be out until 2004.
Since this anonymous tip was from someone at a major game store chain, presumably Gamestop or EB, I called our buddy The Wraith to see what he knew. He has not heard a single word on the subject and assured me he would let me know if he did hear anything. I also called Pretzel as he works at EB now too and he had also not heard a peep about what Microsoft has in store for the 15th. With that said, stay tuned as we will let you know just what Microsoft is planning as soon as they make the announcement.
A quick Happy Birthday shout out to Mr. Bucket. He is one of the people that allows us to function by hosting our wonderful site.
