Kudos to Bullseye and Freewill, both of whom pointed out the Bungie Company Picnic page now available for public consumption at Bungie's site. Just goes to show that they don't spend all their time playing mind games with us... or is this just another one of them?
First of all, read the official word on it. This stuff is over my head, and I don't want misinterpret it too much. Basically, Take Two Interactive (Nasdaq: TTWO) is to acquire 19.9% equity interest in Bungie, giving Take 2 distribution rights to Oni, Halo, and two other undisclosed projects (!), while Bungie retains their status as an independant developer.
Next Generation Online has posted an interview with Bungie's Nathan Bitner, a frequent poster on the Halo forums. Focussed on development, it's a great read--here's an excerpt:
Seven months after releasing Myth 2, at Macworld in New York, Bungie shows the original Halo announcement trailer, which is running in real-time using OpenGL on a Macintosh computer. There had been rumors earlier in the year about a game people thought was code-named "Blam".
Steve Jobs originally stated Halo would be released "early next year" but there was no confirmation of this from Bungie's side.
MACWORLD EXPO, NEW YORK CITY--July 21, 1999--Today Bungie Software announces Halo, a game that shatters the confines of typical game environments. Halo is a third-person perspective, sci-fi action epic that takes place indoors, outdoors, in the sky and beneath the surface of a world of astonishing realism and visual impact. Halo was unveiled this morning in Steve Jobs' keynote address to the Macworld Expo.
