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Watch the pitch for Halo 2's online, or what would become modern online gaming

wwm0nkey

wwm0nkey

Member
Oct 25, 2017
15,553
Old Bungie folks have been posting some Halo 2 era stuff on twitter and the original pitch for Halo 2's online system was found, in video form. It's a really interesting watch as this was actually ground breaking stuff at the time and pretty much the birth of modern online gaming.

Twitter Link:


Video Link
 
Shake Appeal

Shake Appeal

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,883
Gundam said:
Halo 2 doesn't get enough credit for defining online play on console.
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Not just on console. The party/lobby/"matchmaking" concept was definitional on all platforms. We mostly just had server lists before this. Many PC players actually scorned the idea of matchmaking at the time, but it's commonplace now.
 
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wwm0nkey

wwm0nkey

Member
Oct 25, 2017
15,553
Shake Appeal said:
Not just on console. The party/lobby/"matchmaking" concept was definitional on all platforms. We mostly just had server lists before this. Many PC players actually scorned the idea of matchmaking at the time, but it's commonplace now.
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Yup and you now have Titanfall2 and MCC doing more advances with the Mix Tape system for Matchmaking.
 
Deception

Deception

Member
Nov 15, 2017
8,425
I'll never forget the first time I matchmade a game on Halo 2. I was legitimately mind blown and have been hooked to online gaming ever since.
 
Chance_Boudreaux

Chance_Boudreaux

Member
Oct 27, 2017
776
It's the fact that not only did they more-or-less invent this system, but they made it so easy to use. When my friends and I played the Star Wars: Battlefront beta we were laughing at how DICE somehow managed to make a more complicated party system than Bungie did back in 2004.
 
IXI FalcoN

IXI FalcoN

Member
Oct 27, 2017
298
I've been saying this for years with regards to Halo 2 being WAY ahead of its time. This was the first MP game on console that you could just hang out on. H2 was XBL until the 360 came.

I remember at launch not liking MM and wondering why they didn't have a server browser. It felt really weird at first.
 
Acidote

Acidote

Member
Oct 26, 2017
4,965
Shake Appeal said:
Not just on console. The party/lobby/"matchmaking" concept was definitional on all platforms. We mostly just had server lists before this. Many PC players actually scorned the idea of matchmaking at the time, but it's commonplace now.
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To this day I still don't like not having the option to browse servers in many games on PC. I understand the need for matchmaking on consoles.
A sense of community was lost in the way too. Communities that formed around specific servers.
 
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wwm0nkey

wwm0nkey

Member
Oct 25, 2017
15,553
IXI FalcoN said:
I've been saying this for years with regards to Halo 2 being WAY ahead of its time. This was the first MP game on console that you could just hang out on. H2 was XBL until the 360 came.

I remember at launch not liking MM and wondering why they didn't have a server browser. It felt really weird at first.
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Yup I remember just having chat rooms in the lobbies sometimes hahahaha.

I am happy MCC is bringing back the browser. So we have MM, Mix Tape MM and Server Browser. The holy grail of online gameplay options
 
Prine

Prine

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
15,724
Landmark moment for gaming right here. Bungie and MS were pioneers, no game has left an impression on me like Halo 2. Halo 3 did come close, but thats for another thread.
 
Trojita

Trojita

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,721
IXI FalcoN said:
I've been saying this for years with regards to Halo 2 being WAY ahead of its time. This was the first MP game on console that you could just hang out on. H2 was XBL until the 360 came.

I remember at launch not liking MM and wondering why they didn't have a server browser. It felt really weird at first.
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Phantasy Star Online never existed?
 

Adam802

Banned
Feb 12, 2018
660
The halo franchise doesnt get enough credit for how revolutionary it was in so may ways.......and the halo franchise gets alot of credit.....
 
WieDerrickWie

WieDerrickWie

Member
Jul 4, 2018
650
Also this reminded me about the voice filters. Bringing me back to playing counter-strike with a friend and tons and tons of French players.
 
jelly

jelly

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
33,841
Was it Xbox Live Tsunami feature set that Bungie and Microsoft did with Halo 2 I think.

 

Pikelet

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,399
Shake Appeal said:
Not just on console. The party/lobby/"matchmaking" concept was definitional on all platforms. We mostly just had server lists before this. Many PC players actually scorned the idea of matchmaking at the time, but it's commonplace now.
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I don't think this is true really. I know that at the very least Warcraft 3 came out 2 years before Halo 2 and had friends lists, the ability to make a party, and it also had matchmaking for players of similar skill levels etc.
 
JahIthBer

JahIthBer

Member
Jan 27, 2018
10,376
Shake Appeal said:
Not just on console. The party/lobby/"matchmaking" concept was definitional on all platforms. We mostly just had server lists before this. Many PC players actually scorned the idea of matchmaking at the time, but it's commonplace now.
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matchmaking was more or less forced on PC players after a while, Publishers were not too comfortable with PC players having that level of control anymore with dedicated servers.
 
Ryan.

Ryan.

Prophet of Truth
The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
12,876
Ben was ahead of his time for his gametype idea: https://twitter.com/maxhoberman/status/1097632341852409857?s=21

DzuSIpbX0AUxCy_.png
 
Dead Man Typing

Dead Man Typing

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,835
This stuff was so difficult to understand back in the days of 1 hour Unreal Tournement online matches.

No server browser. The game picks the map. Focus on short matches to keep the players churning. The "virtual couch" was a phrase I remember hearing a lot.

Matchmaking and custom games. Sounded weird at the time.
 
iFirez

iFirez

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,555
England
I love that in the video we see a saved film on a level called Alpha Moon, one of the early single player levels which got scrapped/reworked - Burial Mounds (the multiplayer map) is actually based on this alpha moon design too.

Crazy to see how the things Bungie implemented back on the original Xbox for Halo 2 became mainstays on the Xbox 360 and continue to be important pillars of online gaming today.
 

jviggy43

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
18,184
Its seriously amazing that most online systems in games (and consoles cough nintendo) still haven't matched how good this was today. I miss how simple everything was when this game was out.
 
DaciaJC

DaciaJC

Banned
Oct 29, 2017
6,685
It's a shame its multiplayer matchmaking feature became so prevalent. I remember the initial entries of Battlefield and Call of Duty on console actually had server or lobby browsers, and they worked excellently. Then the developers switched to matchmaking and it sucked: getting put into laggy servers with players from halfway across the globe, getting placed into low-population lobbies, long queue times, getting put into a map you didn't enjoy, etc. I won't deny matchmaking has its place in some games, but for many others, it's worse than a browser in almost every conceivable way.
 
0ptimusPayne

0ptimusPayne

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,747
I'll never forget playing Halo 2 online with my buddy down the street. I was legit shook that I could play with him, without having to be hooked up split screen on his small ass tv. Bungie were on top of their game back in the early 00's, crazy how much they've done for console gaming over the years.
 
GLHFGodbless

GLHFGodbless

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
1,285
Shake Appeal said:
Not just on console. The party/lobby/"matchmaking" concept was definitional on all platforms. We mostly just had server lists before this. Many PC players actually scorned the idea of matchmaking at the time, but it's commonplace now.
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I don't understand what you mean by this. Why would PC players scorn the idea of matchmaking? What do you even mean by match making? PC had dozen of games with match making before Halo 2 existed.
 
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wwm0nkey

wwm0nkey

Member
Oct 25, 2017
15,553
DaciaJC said:
It's a shame its multiplayer matchmaking feature became so prevalent. I remember the initial entries of Battlefield and Call of Duty on console actually had server or lobby browsers, and they worked excellently. Then the developers switched to matchmaking and it sucked: getting put into laggy servers with players from halfway across the globe, getting placed into low-population lobbies, long queue times, getting put into a map you didn't enjoy, etc. I won't deny matchmaking has its place in some games, but for many others, it's worse than a browser in almost every conceivable way.
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I mean I agree, but at least custom games were a thing in some games still. MCC just said screw it and are adding a browser on top of MM and Mix Tape MM
 
Xero grimlock

Xero grimlock

Member
Dec 1, 2017
2,944
Shake Appeal said:
Not just on console. The party/lobby/"matchmaking" concept was definitional on all platforms. We mostly just had server lists before this. Many PC players actually scorned the idea of matchmaking at the time, but it's commonplace now.
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Why are you phrasing this like matchmaking is objectively better then a server browser? A lot still prefer a server browser. Looking through servers and finding that one with a community and mods you enjoy and always going back their and making friends with all the regulars is some of my most fun online moments.
 
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