In the continuing saga between Halo 3 developer Bungie and Game Informer, tidbits of gossip and internet chatter fly, further shrouding the true nature of one of the most anticipated games ever. It began with an exclusive interview between Bungie and Game Informer in which Halo 3 was reported to carry the title of Forerunner (possibly Halo 3: Forerunner) andto be a prequel to the popular first-person shooter. It would come complete with gigantic environments, four-player co-operative gameplay, and a story that would fill in the history of the vanished race whocrafted the Halo space station/mega weaponsin the first place.
Bungie quickly countered on fan-site halo.bungie.org by labeling the report an elaborate April Fool's hoax. This despite the fact that there's a line in the story that specifically states that it isn't an April Fool's Day joke.
Game Informer counter-countered by throwing out the info-bomb that a massively multiplayer Halo game is currently under development. In fact, rumors continue to surface thata new Halo MMO both exists and will be produced by a completely different developer. The website Halo.bungie.orgposted - on April 1 - a clearly stated joke story stating thatBungie had entered into an agreement withdeveloper Jagex to work on a massively multiplayer version of Halo. Whether that story is the source ofthis rumor ora result of itis another question entirely.
How much of this is actually true? Is Master Chief really Bill Gates in disguise? Will Halo 3 be released only for the Nintendo DS? The only thing we really know for sure is that the internet is a festering pit of fraudulent claims and wild speculation that we'll continue to monitor in the hopes of uncovering at least a tiny nugget of truth. This year's E3 can't come quickly enough.
April 12, 2006
