Microsoft has now admitted that the campaign for Halo 2: Anniversary, the graphically revamped version of the first person shooter that will be a part of the Xbox One game bundle Halo: The Master Chief Collection, will not run at a full 1080p resolution like the other three Halo games that are a part of the collection.
This revelation comes at the very end of a new preview of the game collection from IGN, thanks to a quote from 343 executive producer Dan Ayoub:
"During development we were really pleased with the way the engine and buffer allowed us to switch instantly between classic and Anniversary engines that are running simultaneously – however that, as you might expect, put a hit on resolution. The campaign of Halo 2: Anniversary looked fantastic at 720p with the level of detail and clarity it gave us, but like every other aspect of the game and tech, we wanted to push it further. So in the last weeks of development, our teams were able to meet a stretch goal and the campaign of Halo 2: Anniversary now runs 60 fps at a crisp resolution of 1328x1080, which is a significant and meaningful boost in image quality we think fans are really going to appreciate. All of the other games across the entire package of The Master Chief Collection run 60 fps at 1920x1080 native."
It should be noted that the multiplayer portion of Halo 2: Anniversary will still run at a full 1080p resolution on Xbox One. Are you dissapointed that one part of Halo: The Master Chief Collection won't be running at 1920x1080?
Source: IGN
Reader comments
Halo 2: Anniversary campaign won't run at full 1080p as part of Xbox One's Master Chief Collection
Ok, for everyone complaining about it not being in full 1080p, it's because of the ability to switch between the original graphics and the updated ones on command. It will still look amazing, no need to worry about god damn pixels.
Not a big deal at all.
Fantastic!
I'll tell you one thing, Miranda Keyes is gonna be looking better then she ever has [;
What a disgrace! The ten years game can't run in a FullHD/60fps mode!
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So even MS struggles to squeeze sufficient power out of the x1. That's not good for the x1 at all..especially in light of the latest "resolutiongate" surrounding AC Unity
Of all the Halo games I have played I liked Halo 2 the least.
Will backgammon be in 10080p ?
As long as there's theather mode in all game modes & screenshots that's taken in native 1080p. I would be happy to try out Halo: The Master Chief Collection
Seems close to a 16:10 resolution. Could be plausible
This resolution garbage reminds me of the old days of basing everything on how many bits a system was.
There go Microsoft, screwing their loyal customers again.
Don't care, can't wait. Played the Halo 2 mp at EGX and it was fun as hell
Not bothered. It's gonna be amazing anyway.
I am so angry I have just smashed my Xbox one to little pieces and I will be sending Microsoft the bill... Seriously though, I couldn't give a shit. I wear glasses, so even my eyes can't do full HD anyway
Absolutely ridiculous! It could be done!
As it would be 1080 without the simultaneous rendering, if it made any observable difference Id prefer not to have the ability to switch to the old. But I really dont think it is going to make any noticeable difference. All the stupid attention given to resolution theses days. Ryse is still the best looking game released imo and it is 900p.
All 4 Master Chief games. Check
All released map packs (including pc exclusives. Check
All multiplayer levels running at 1080. Check
A tv series. Check
Halo 5 beta. Check
All this for the price of 1 game!!! Who gives a Damn if one section of 1 part of the game isn't as super shiny as the rest of your super shiny collection!!?
Whats surprising is halo ce anniversary could run both engines & kinnect
The fact they met that stretch goal is an amazing feat. Top effort to get the best game experience out there on their behalf I reckon! Although, as another stretch goal imagine if they let you turn off the old version and run the new one at 1080p! But either way is still good!
Let's stir crap up...
If you are going to continue doing things like this, why didn't you just stay at NeoWin that likes to generate fake drama?
Very disappointed in WPCentral.
Why are so many Xbox One developers having issues putting out content at 1080p when it should be able to handle 4K, which should be here now....
I mean what's the point of selling 4K TV's if they have nothing to display in 4K? Sony has been slow with the 4K BluRay specs, they won't launch movies nor players until summer of 2015. HDMI 2.0 cables are out, so that pretty much sums all of the other requirements up.
Why.jpg
Neither Xbox One nor Playstation 4 can handle 4K resolutions for most games because they're not powerful enough to do that. It was never intended in their design. 4K TVs won't be common for several years yet, if ever. Charging an extra couple hundred dollars for your system in order to please an extreme minority of TV owners would only result in anemic sales of each console.
Its because the next version of hdcp is still being tabled.
You're ignorant if you think the console should be able to handle 4K. My PC in which the video card alone cost more than the console can't even do it. Do you want to spend $1500 on a console so you can play games in 4K?
There is no way in hell any halo fan would be disappointed with this amazing bundle
Shut up and take my money!!!
Why so much vitriol? Just accept that they have tried their best to bring the best ip on any platform, as lets not forget the PC guys did get a little taster of the game back in the day. Does it really matter... Honestly that one portion will switch res from the others, does it? I don't think so, there was shi much 50hz 60hz going on with the 360 f or some of the too games, that didn't put folk off. Sure it was a pain not to have a game run nice on our massive tvs, but is it the end of the world. No.
Microsoft didn't have to port these games to the Xbox One, they haven't done it with any other games and neither have any other publisher, sure e have the odd game that's been revamped but don't ask me which... If the resolution of one part of a massive collection is not to your liking them don't buy the game. Is a simple enough choice. Maybe all these people complaining at the ones who complained at the original features we were supposed to be enjoying on the Xbox One when announced and look what happened with that!
Don't spoil future reissues by morning about silly things. If I ran a games studio and was thinking about porting a past ip then I would give it some serious thought s to whether the morning backlash would be worth the effort.
No
I'm not disappointed from a quality-of-game standpoint, but I'm disappointed from a quality-of-developer one. I mean, they bought into the pixel hype when they announced the collection as 1080p/60 FPS. So, they tried to show off that big-time titles could do it, and then they fell flat on making a decade-old title pull it off. It's disappointing because the media's going to have a field day, the fanboy wars will be louder thn ever, and Microsoft will look even dumber for picking a lower-quality GPU and slower RAM.
Read the article.
As long as there is no visible frame rate drops and no tearing then all good!
I'm amazed Xbox one is running 60 as is, I've always heard it was 30fps for console. I'm q PC gamer though, so it might be a bit biased. Once I heard it'll run 60, I decided to grab one and rejoice and relive some good ol halo days.
This is not me bashing a console, its a compliment. I don't want to start a flame war.
As far as ratio, it'll stretch amd it'll still look pretty good. I'm a multiplayer kinda guy so this doesn't effect me.
Prior to HD, consoles didn't need to render above 30FPS because old TVs were only 30FPS. Since HD can handle the higher bandwidth, it makes sense that consoles will try to hit that mark.
BTW, even the 360 and PS3 were capable of full 1080p and 60FPS, it's just that any reasonably complicated game would make it unfeasible for performance or memory reasons.
Jesus in heaven. Are only a handful of you that post able to read properly? Or at all? It was CLEARLY stated that because they decided to run old and new engines simultaneously, resolution would take a hit. Simple as that. I doubt they would half ass it...come on now.
I am a Xbox fan but I can't understand why the Xbox one can't run 1080 is a big fail
It does run 1080, which is a huge part of it seeing how 360 ran 720p at 30 fps. Take what you get, if you want 60 on everything build a PC for 500$ and play it.
It runs plenty of games at 1080p 60fps, this one game out of the 4 is lower because it is running a modern remake and the classic at the same time.
It's running two engines at once.
The old resolution business again is becoming very boring fast if anyone won't buy a game because its not full hd then their not a gamer.
I do not have a problem with 720P so why would I care about this "issue"?
poor console fans, hard to believe microsoft "unification" strategy when they still have games exclusive to their xbox thing and not on windows, what a shame
A little mystified why they include the classic if it's such a hit to performance. How many are going to play in classic vs the updated engine? And as Jas mentioned above, what will that strange resolution look like? Stretched?
It runs together which is smart. If they remade each game on a new engine, it would take years to recreate. By then, it would still be dated. The game looks beautiful, take what you get man. As far as ratio, it wont hurt it at all. Stretched doesn't literally mean stretched out like silly putty, it'll "fit" the screen just right
Isnt that something game freak did?
I think it's cool that we can switch back and forth. I'm glad they're including it.
If anyone was born before the Ps1, then you'd realise that 8-bit (I don't even know how bad the resolution was back then) was fine, games are even going back to this style because it was so good, the difference between 720-1020 is few and far between and should not hinder you purchasing and enjoying this game to it's fullest.
It doesn't matter, I had fun playing this game on a crt 13 inch tv, so I'm sure it'll be a blast on my 55 inch 3d LED TV. Looking forward to playing 1-4 campaign straight through!
What a great idea by Microsoft to give developers time to develop new game concepts thoroughly. While we consume a certified console seller, halo 2 SINGLE HANDLY sold MILLIONS of xbox's even call of duty has halo to thank for its success.
I never knew I could be interested in lipstick on a pig but in this case I am! Ready to experience this great story again.
Thru shouldn't bother running the games in classic mode. It is a waste of resources.
Not at all. I understand that running two engines can give a damper on how things will look
PREORDER CANCELED
I call BS, surely if you were going to buy this, it wasn't for this fact alone? Only a pixel maniac could be bothered to tell the difference?
Those 90" tv touting xb1 owners
My TV is 720p. So its all good for me.
Multiplayer is what people should care about for the 1080p 60fps, so what it one of the games is 1080 but not really 1080 lol
Exactly does anyone really play the campaign in games anymore
For Halo? Who hasn't played the halo campaign??
I do. I love campaign in Halo and Gears. Halo's Multiplayer started going downhill for me after 2 anyways.
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Totally buying regardless. Too much awesome!!!
So the anniversary hd version of the game they're releasing this collection thing for, won't be in hd?? Its probably not that simple but...it kinda is.
Just so you know HD is 720p. Full HD is 1080p
Anything above 640x480 is HD.
Unless you use a computer in which case it's simply a resolution.
I'm confused. Why is it that the much newer halo 4, with way more demanding graphics, a d the much older Halo 1, with less demanding graphics, can all run at 1080p but Halo 2 cannot? What is so fucked up and broken about that game's engine that you can't or won't fix it?
Because this is a remade version of Halo 2 running the game in a new engine and the original engine. Halo 4 is just going to be a port of the 360 game running in 1080p (much less demanding).
You need to read the full article
Well... guess I don't need this anymore!!!
::throws TV out the window::
Does this resolution nonsense really matter?
No
This was stated some time ago. E3 I think. Odd how it hit the news circuit today.
Can no one read? This is only happening because they're basically running two instances of the game at the same time. If they weren't including the ability to switch between the old and new versions of the game it would run 1080p. This isn't news.
"During development we were really pleased with the way the engine and buffer allowed us to switch instantly between classic and Anniversary engines that are running simultaneously – however that, as you might expect, put a hit on resolution."
Then they should drop the old engine. Including it is pointless.
Either that or require people to restart level from beginning
I'd rather have an unnoticeable drop in resolution and be able to switch back and forth between new and old any day.
That's a substantial and VERY noticeable drop. And having already had the engine switch ability in halo 1 anniversary edition, I'll say unequivocally: I do NOT want it back. It's a stupid parlor trick for morons.
Why can't they have the option to only run the new engine? I personally don't care about switching between the two, I'll try it out for the novelty factor, but that's it.
Then why is Halo 1 able to run at 1080p?
Because it's not running two instances of Halo 1, 3, or 4 at once.
Fine with me
It's because they at running two parallel graphics engines at once, vs only one.
It's running 2 engines at once, I'm still super impressed by that fact alone
Seconded!
Yep, same here. After playing the first anniversary edition I wouldn't actually care if they did away with that feature and just stuck it out with the newer engine. Especially if it helps with gfx fidility.
Its not an issue with the console. All of the other games will run in "full 1080". It is only the Anniversary version of Halo 2 since it is having to run both the classic version and the updated version over top one another so players can switch back and forth.
Agreed! And it is actually very cool to switch between the original and revamped. It is the part of Halo:CE that I enjoyed the most. :-)
Of course it's an issue with the console. Yes, they're running two engines simultaneously, but can't run them both at 1080p. That's obviously a limitation of the console.
Disappointed? No. Not at all.
I know that Xbox One is still new to developers and there is a learning curve... But its troubling to hear that a new console seems to struggle with pushing graphics like this when it's meant to last ten years...
I don't think that's the issue as the other games run full 1080.
Yes, just like Ryse...
lets not assume so far ahead. people like you are the ones who spread false claims.
the other games run at 60fps and full 1080P so obviously the much older engine of Halo 2 was just not able to be pushed as hard. Nothing to do with the console :)
The ability to hit 1080p with this game is not even the issue. The problem stems from running both the new engine and the original engine simultaneously to allow switching on the fly.
Reading comprehension for the win
I bet it won't run at 1080p on the PS4 either ;)
Guaranteed!
Hahahahaha!
Haha good one.
Yes, big time, is not fair that they tell us this now, I have already purchased the game on my local game store...
Are you seriously going to not buy it because of 1/8 of the game doesn't run at full HD... Seesh the whole thing could run at 30fps and 720p and I would still buy this for all the multiplayer maps on one disk. Go back and whine a lil but about 1/2 of 1 game of the 4 game collection. I doubt you even have an Xbox One.
IDC if you think I have a One or not, they promised the whole halo series in 1080p at 60 fps, announcing "halo 2 is not going to run at 1080p" one month before the stupid release date is just a bad joke, and please GTFO with you 1/8 of a game excuse, the whole point of this collection is the anniversary of halo 2 and that is what most people is exited about, I really don't care at all if they include halo 4, it was released like 2 years ago and it looked terrific, what people wanted is Halo 2. (insert stupid reply down below)
First world issues....
Get a grip man!
Hey, technically it does run at a 1080 lines, 60 FPS, progressive scan resolution, just not 1920 x 1080. So, 1080p, just not "Full HD 1080p(tm)"
Typical. You should just burn your Xbox too. Who cares what it runs at? It's still going to look amazing on next Gen hardware regardless. Facts, get them straight.
Well, I care, is not that I just bought a $500 console to run games at a-little-better-than-720p, the whole point of the collection is the halo 2 release anniversary, way to go boys, great way to celebrate halo 2!, making it the only game that doesn't run at 1080p on the package!
The whole point of the collection is to have a collection of all the Halo games and maps (minus ODST and Reach).
This remind me when I cared that World of Warcraft dropped to 55 fps in some situations... Now sometime later I rather care about playing the game.
...But it does run at 1080p...It says it in the article and source link...so confused!
I have heard about this story since the game was revealed? You just didn't look into the game. Thats your fault
Please, reply with a single link of a respectable gaming site claiming that before the IGN interview, please, teach me...
Can't tell if trolling or serious...
Go back to your local game store and get your money back. The games not out yet so they cant claim you used it. Simple. Now continue to cry in silence away from the comments.
Not one person will forgo buying it because of this. Its hardly noticeable anyways and inky for the campaign of one of 3 games
The Xbox One just seems so disappointing in the specs area of things for this day and age.
This wasn't a spec issue but most likely time and engine issue
You should look over the "specs" again, or at least read over what is stated in the article again.
Welp, crap. Crawfishing
I am sure they developed and pushed this game as far as they could, no need to worry.. MS is on crack these days... Don't stop please
So I'm not going to tell you what it is, but there's a typo that completely changes the meaning of what you just said lol
LOOOL
For typos you have to talk to daniel
I don't think it's a typo. I think he means they are on crack because they are being fast about things. Like a crack head.
Why do they announce this stuff like this? It just gives people a target. Just be like Sony and kill zone, lie about it. It didn't seem to hurt Sony. :)
It will, lying does not win from honesty. It never did and never will
Yeah. Not even that root kit fiasco seemed to hurt then very long. They're Teflon in the minds of their fans.
Maybe in the minds of fans, but look at what Sony has become. I'm not going to say that it's directly due to any of the things we are discussing, resolutions and root kits and all, but the corporate culture that supported all those things likely is a big factor in their troubles. It's a symptom rather than the cause.
there's a class action suit about it, and it was in the press quite a bit, so it may have actually hurt them
I have a bunch of friends with a PS4 that cares about that and are constantly posting about Xbox One not getting to 1080p but they never manage to find, read or post those about Sony. I must admit that Sony has a lot more fanbois than Microsoft.
I don't know if that's true. I think MS just has more haters (mainly the media) than Sony.
im confused. so it will still run at1080p but not full 1080p?
Campaign - No
Multiplayer - Yes
Personally i'm waiting for the came i need to put in my pre-order this Sunday.
FullHD is 1920x1080. Anything less than 1920 is not FullHD but the overwhelming majority of people will never be able to tell the difference. :-)
1328x1080? So.... There will be vertical black bars on the sides of the TV? Or it'll be stretched out? What kind of resolution is that?
It will stretch
Yeah I don't understand the choice in resolution.
1600 x 900 generates essentially the same amount of pixels as 1328 x 1080 (1.44 & 1.43 million respectively)
But he refrains from saying if the output is interlaced.
The whole thing smells rotten. Must be originating from Bonnie Ross' minge. She aims to embitter relations between Halo and fans. As a fan for 11 years, I abhor her involvement with Halo. Her leadership is detestable. And I'm not alone.
Even a certain writer on this blog removed Halo from his signature. Why'd ya do it? Was the fourth Halo 4 map pack on top of the season pass too much to wrap your head around?
Yo comprendo hambre.
Don't be gross, dude.
Yep. That was pretty gross. Apologies.
My Spanish is limited and frequently innacurate.
I was referencing hombre, hombre
I wasn't referring to misspelling hombre, I meant your use of the vulgar slang word directed at that executive.
Not trying to confront you dude. My gripes against her tenure at that studio are legit if you read my comments below. Furthermore, if a male were managing that studio in the same fashion, I'd offer puns regarding his cojones or the flaccidity of the franchise.
But yeah, sometimes vulgarity gets the point across quicker than a thoughtful dissection and analyzation of the prevalent issues.
Didn't intend to offend, I swear. Just surprised no one openly shares my revulsion at the manner in which 343/ the Halo franchise has been run the preceeding two years.
Well, many of us are pretty excited about the Master Chief Collection. No minor resolution issues stemming from the use of running two graphics engines simultaneously is going to put a damper on that. Resolution is a big talking point online, but only an extreme minority actually cares about resolution enough to allow it to influence their purchasing decisions.
Outside of that, Spartan Assault certainly could have been better (especially the WP version), but it's a harmless mobile/arcade game.
I know some people didn't enjoy Halo 4 (I only played the first two levels so I scarcely have an opinion). But it would take a disappointing Halo 5 for any significant portion of gamers to become upset with the direction of the series as a whole.
I agree on all stated points...
Although I would add that levels of "anger" can be measured on a scale.
I'd put "upset" at about 6 on a scale form 1-10.
"Disappointed" would weigh in at 11.
Have you actually seen the footage from the Halo 2 Anniversary? It's quite a step up from the original. It may not be a full 1920x1080, but it still looks great considering the game is 10 years old and got a facelift.
Halo 4 was complete bullshit ...
Admit it. You love her.
Always room for sarcasm and love in competitive deathmatch...
Xbox bumps it to full 1080p when a tv is 1080p. So instead if bumping 720p they can give it more resolution to give it a smoother picture than a native 720p would be. Xbox does a good job bumping up resolution to make it appear 1080p
Regardless of vertical lines, the max output will be a 4:3 image widened to 16:9. It will look like a vaginal canal during birth.
Maybe that's the look they're going for?
Bonnie Ross has been preaching at E3 for 4 years about "...giving the Master Chief emotions & making you feel something..."
I'm positive Bonnie Ross is far more competent and is doing a much better job than a gawker commenter.
Yeah, because it's totally impossible to apply a view transform to the rendering pipeline to render it "squished" so it looks normal after being scaled to 16:9. Gosh, how could GPU manufacturers have overlooked that? Mind boggling.
Are you some sort of gobshite?
"View transform to the rendering pipeline"
FOV can't be transformed. This problem plagued the original Halo 2 which I used to play on a 720p panel. The Xbox rendered the output at 16:9 480p but the FOV was still just as limited as 4:3 480i. Aspect Ratio issues were likely going to take severe modifications to the original engine which is why they skipped it and just focused on the reskinning.
I could care less about the res, truth be told. But the conniving fashion of clamoring 1080p @ 60fps when they''ve known since early development that H2 would run at 4:3 is deceptive. Releasing a paid map pack on top of a season pass is also deceitful. Making the Master Chief have feelings is an abomination. She deserves my scorn.
*I couldn't care less...
(Why do people persist in saying that nonsensical 'I could care less'?!)
Right? Makes them look incredibly stupid.
There are some of those in Spanish too... I care for those and I might start to care for these now. Hahahahaha, the more you know :p
Perhaps your perception is skewed.
I care, I could care less
I am a professional graphics programmer. The horizontal and vertical FOV and the horizontal and vertical resolutions are completely independent variables. Any graphics programmer with even a single undergraduate level graphics course can program the correct perspective transform to have a 4:3 buffer as the target for a 16:9 FOV. You, I'm afraid, are the "gobshite"
Gobshite? Why yes I am. Especially when drinking...
As I said, the res is a non issue for me. I know there are technical issues which limit them from using 1600x900, the same amount of pixels!
The sniveling way which things are done at 343 is. They made the decision to skip 16:9 early on, but have been sneaky cheeks about it. That is PR bub.
Thanks for chiming in!
Master Chief does have feelings, if you actually read any of the books.
Halo 4 never had a season pass - it had the War Games map pass which detailed exactly what was bundled with it. There was no deceit. Champions bundle was a separate map pack that wasn't planned or finalized at the time halo 4 was released
Why would there be vertical lines? Why haven't you gone to look at all the video of the Master Chief Collection (mostly just Halo 2 visuals)? There aren't any bars! LOL - it's called upscaling and every console does it depending on the game's native resolution.
I'm not. I personally can't tell the difference.
I'm not. I didn't like H2 that much.
You're wrong, H2 is the Best Halo right now
True !
Yes...bring back the arbitrator!
You mean Arbiter !!! :o)
Hahahah, I think an Arbitrator is another way of saying Lawyer !!!
Yeah lol...my bad. Can't blame wordflow this time lmao! Still though...the Arbiter was my fav character. The lack of slang with the alien characters made them feel classical (if that makes any sense at all lol)!
Why not 1080p??? Too heavy game engine??
None normal human can notice the difference between 720p and 1080p (naked eye).
Actually you'd be wrong about that. The human eye can't perceive the difference of 4K and 1080p if you stand far enough away from a display, but the eye can definitely see the differences between 720p and 1080p. There's over twice the number of pixels to be seen and sharpen the image you're looking at - a big difference. It may not be an obvious change, but it is perceivable by the naked eye. The bigger the display, the bigger the difference resolution makes.
You're wrong. I have a 65" TV and can easily see the difference between 720 and 1080. I can even tell the difference between 1080 broadcast and 1080 blu-ray. Depending on what it is I can even tell the difference between 1080i and 1080p. Even at 1080p I can still see pixels so I promise I can tell the difference between 1080p and 4k. Right now I have a 1440p monitor and can easily see the difference in 1080p and 1440p.
...how am I wrong? I said the difference between 720p and 1080p is discernable to the naked eye and that 1080p vs 4K is definitely discernable, but it depends on screen size and distance. Or did you do that thing where you wanted your voice to be heard at the top of the comment thread and reply to me when you weren't replying to me? Either way, you're wrong :P ;)
Wow you can see everything lol
I wouldn't consider my self disappointed either since the 1328x1080 looked good in a demo I saw of the Warlock map recreation. However I will say that I don't care about what Halo 2 looked like in the past. I played it over and over again. I want to see it in HD glory, so the generational switch between graphics is kind of a waste to me. I'm looking forward to seeing Halo 4 @ 1080p since it looked pretty good in 720p.