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Hello everyone! My name is Erica J. Marceau and I attend Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, AZ and will be graduating this December with a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering. My hobbies include watching animé reading manga, learning how to better use my Macintosh, attending CodeWarriorU classes, role-playing, and thinking about games. The Gaming Landscape will be dedicated to Macintosh games and the people who make them. One column might be an idea for a perfect game and the next column will be an interview with an important person in the gaming industry. No matter what topic chosen, I hope that you enjoy my column and that my own thoughts on games stimulate thoughts and ideas of your own.
The History of Bungie and Microsoft Everyone reading this column probably knows the outrage when Bungie got bought out by Microsoft. There was real angst and shock over the apparent loss of not just a great Macintosh game company but the possibility that Oni and Halo would be Windows-only. Bungie Software founder and CEO Alexander Seropian promised that nothing would change and that Bungie would be free to keep their unique edge and make the kinds of games that they wanted to. Many people didn't believe that Microsoft would be capable of keeping that promise even if they wanted to in the first place. Others wondered just how naive Bungie was to believe anything that Microsoft would say to anyone. There are plenty of companies that Microsoft has bought and who were promised the same things as Bungie only for the companies to be absorbed into Microsoft. When Bungie's Halo page changed to state that it would come to a "platform near you" even those that held out some small hope of Bungie surviving the transition gave up hope.
Microsoft and MacWorld New York 2000 Then came MacWorld New York 2000 and Bungie fans would be stunned by an announcement that I don't think anyone was expecting. Ed Fries, vice president of games for Microsoft, came on the stage with the news that Microsoft has several initiatives to improve the game market for the Macintosh. Alexander Seropian was then introduced and simply stated "We still have a lot of love for the Mac platform, and yes indeed, we will be bringing Halo out for the Mac." A recently published trailer for Halo was then shown which ended with the Halo logo followed by "Coming to a Macintosh near you." Immediately after this announcement was made, all news of Bungie's imminent demise vanished with the apparent acceptance that all would be right with Bungie and Microsoft. My questions to you are "Why did we choose to believe Bungie and Microsoft just because they said the same thing they were saying before? Do we really think that Microsoft is going to keep their promise to Bungie and to us?" Let's explore those questions more in depth.
MacWorld Makes Companies Promises True? The first question is "Why did we choose to believe Bungie and Microsoft just because they said the same thing they were saying before?" To answer this question you have to question the assumption that just because something is announced at MacWorld, it has to be delivered as promised. In other words, would Microsoft and/or Bungie not deliver Halo to the Macintosh platform even though they said they would at MacWorld? Let's take a look at the kinds of announcements that are made at the keynote speech. Usually, these announcements are of products or services that have already been released, or that are mostly completed by big companies. An example of products that have been completed was Apple's announcement of the new keyboard and mouse, and the new G4 dual processor line because they were available soon after the keynote speech. An example of a product that is mostly completed by a big company is the announcement of Office 2001 by Microsoft because it's due this September. Has there been any announcement of a product that was not delivered? In order to find the answer to this question, I posted this question to the forums at MacNN and MacCentral and found only one answer and that is the ill-fated Copland/Rhapsody operating system from Apple Computer. One could argue that these are still shipping but just in another form. Others would say that the new products that took their place, namely Mac OS 8 and Mac OS X, are so different that they count as new products. I take the latter opinion since I haven't heard anything about Rhapsody which leads me to believe that in public at least, Mac OS X is an entirely new product. Another person brought up a USB microscope that was announced at the 1999 MacWorld New York but some research revealed that the product just shipped this May. The result indicates that everything that is announced at the recent MacWorld Expos has shipped, even if they have been delayed - which is normal for all new products. This definitely makes it seem as though Halo and perhaps all subsequent Bungie and Microsoft games will be coming to the Macintosh. Still, my doubtful side brings up yet another question.
Should We Trust Microsoft? Microsoft has pulled the wool over many other innocent companies that thought they were getting a great deal. The company would get the financial backing and publicity to really make their product the best that it could be to only have Microsoft come out with a product of their own or replace the company's employees with Microsoft's own among other nefarious deeds. Oh sure, you might think that Microsoft would never do anything as stupid as destroy Bungie by either replacing their employees or by warping their unique working environment. After all, why destroy Bungie if you're going to spend so much to get them in the first place. That would be completely illogical yet Microsoft has done a lot of illogical things in the past. Bungie might do something kookie that so infuriates Microsoft that they just might destroy Bungie with a flick of a pen. Or Microsoft might decide to change the direction of Bungie so that it does the kinds of games that Microsoft wants with or without the support of Bungie. I'm sure that you can think of dozens of plausible scenarios just like the ones I bring up here. Let's not forget about Xbox, Microsoft's own console platform whose purpose is to grab some of the market share from Nintendo's upcoming Dolphin, Sony's upcoming Playstation 2, and Sega's Dreamcast. According to Bungie's FAQ, being one of the premier developers for the Xbox was one of the main reasons why Bungie agreed to be purchased by Microsoft. To quote Bungie "Microsoft is offering us the opportunity to lead the way on a next-generation console system. We will not only be one of the premier developers for the platform, but we'll be working directly with the Xbox team, helping to optimize the hardware and software for each other. We'll influence the design of the system; we'll help to ensure that the Xbox is the best platform to code for, and the most impressive console on the block. Such an opportunity does not come often. Bungie has always tried to keep abreast of the industry, if not ahead of it, and next-gen consoles seem like the place to be if you develop games. This deal allows us to get into that market in a big way." You might think that's a great opportunity for Bungie but let's look at what Microsoft really wants. They want their Xbox to succeed in a market where people have as much loyalty to a particular console or company as us Mac evangelists. In order for a person to buy an additional console that has to have a great game that isn't available anywhere else. As a devoted Nintendo owner I can attest to this personally. I believe that Microsoft is banking on Bungie's success at making games to draw people in to buying their Xbox. Let's imagine a scenario where Bungie is hard at work making Halo for PC, Mac, and Xbox and they run into problems with either the PC or Mac versions. I think it's likely that Microsoft will "encourage" Bungie to finish the Xbox version first with the assurances that Microsoft will release the PC and Mac versions later when they are fixed. I can also see Microsoft rewarding Bungie if they move on to another game and let someone else handle the PC and Mac versions. We will then have the same situation as Blizzard did when they used an outside company to do their Macintosh ports. The result was Future Point taking two years to finish the Diablo port. By the time Halo comes out in this scenario, it and Bungie will have been forgotten and relegated to the same status as Sierra and Lucas Entertainment.
What Can We Do?
I know I rained on your parade and you probably think I'm an alarmist who only wants to stir up trouble. Yet I believe very strongly that Microsoft is a company that does not have any altruistic motives and has proved in the past that they are willing to break moral and legal laws to get what they want. I want Bungie's games to come out for the Mac OS just as much as you do but everyone should be aware of just how many impediments there are to this happening. Maybe Bungie believes what they said about bringing Halo out for Mac and PC because they themselves believe in what Microsoft promised them. My only warning to you is to not be as naive as Bungie appears to be. Remember, if there is a topic of the Mac gaming industry that you'd like me to talk about, please email me at: erica@macosjournal.com.
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