Rampancy

It was long suspected.

The detailed environments in Halo push the Xbox's graphics hardware to the limit, as evidenced by the slight framerate problems right up until release. The VGA adapter for the Xbox went AWOL, and Microsoft updated the Xbox FAQ to indicate that connecting the Xbox to a monitor wasn't possible.

Put together, it suggested that perhaps Halo would be producing output at a resolution appropriate for a standard TV-- 640x480-- even if connected to another device.

And now we know it's true. Matt Soell has responded to a thread in the HBO forum about some display problems experienced by someone using a Sony Wega KV36-XBR400 with the Xbox HD AV Pack.

Matt had this to say:

Both Jason and Joseph are out recuperating from illness and/or surgery, but I asked Marty and Jay about this. Neither one had a definite answer, but we're all 99% sure that Halo outputs the same resolution (640x480) all the time. Not sure why the picture would seem more or less aliased at any given time, because I don't think we change resolutions or anything else during gameplay that would cause that.

I'm sure the picture still looks better on an HDTV than a standard one, but it looks like even if you have one, or the mysterious VGA adapter reappeared, you'd still be using the 640x480 resolution. Question is, what does that mean for Halo on the Macintosh and the PC? And what illness and/or surgery has befallen Jason and/or Joseph?

Deimos&trade of Subnova posted a link to Penny Arcade's review of Halo:

I have in my possession the massive Xbox, as well as the magically delicious Halo. I said before that I hoped to verify somewhat the extraordinary press that preceded the title, and as it happens, I can: Halo, as it turns out, is very good!

They weren't nuts about the controller, but found it better than some of the third party alternatives. But what really interested them was coop play:

[...] and it needs to be said, the inclusion of Co-op and the lack of excuses about it are well received by your hosts here at the Arcade. It's the best looking FPS probably ever, even on a humble television - there's a truly idiotic number of bump and environment maps on pretty much everything you can see. I don't see any reason to play it alone though, make a friend buy the controller (hell, make them buy the whole damn Xbox) and find out what is missing from most of today's releases.

So it looks like the Penny Arcade staff can go on both loving and hating the Xbox, and now in person.

Rumor has been confirmed; the Myth III team was dissolved on November 2, 2001. Andrew Meggs wrote a long post in the Myth Village forum addressing some key issues about the team and Myth III:

The entire Myth III team was terminated on November 2, 2001. The basic reason was that there was no next project lined up and funded, nor was there expected to be in the near future, it's expensive to keep a team of salaried people around doing nothing, and Mumbo Jumbo was not a huge business with infinitely deep pockets. There's a tangled web between the Mumbo Jumbo Irvine project team, its parent company United Developers, and the game's publisher Take 2. I wouldn't blame anyone specifically for the collapse -- call it everybody's fault if you're the angry sort or nobody's fault if you're charitable.

There are obviously still some things that need to be taken care of. Those of us who devoted the last year of our lives to this game want to see it succeed and find a way to address those issues. In the last two weeks people have been forced to devote their time to finding other jobs or projects and generally figuring out how to feed themselves and their children. Very little work has been done on anything Myth-related in the past two weeks because of that. The lack of computers, desks, and net access has also been a contributing factor for many former team members.

There's more to the post than this, so head over and see if you can get your question answered.

Here's wishing to a strong comeback for the former Mumbo Jumbo employees and a finished Myth III.

CoreMagazine has posted an Xbox Launch Guide. The first page includes a short description of Halo. Page two has a rundown on accessories.