Halo DS Existed

Matt Casamassina has updated his blog once again claiming that he played a version of Halo DS from a real developer with actual funding behind it.  That would be nothing new, except that this time he’s posted videos of the game to prove it.

While it looks like it actually moves a bit faster than the console Halos, it looks like it could’ve been a lot of fun.  He makes sure to mention, however, that the game has been canceled with no way of ever seeing the light now.  What’s not mentioned is why.

If you’re thinking that there’s just obviously no way that Microsoft would ever ship one of their properties for a “competing” platform, well, that’s not quite true.  First of all, the portable market is generally quite independent from the console market.  Typically if someone wants to buy a game system their choice is not between a portable system and a console system, since they basically serve different purposes.  If you know you want to play games on the go, you go with a portable.  If you want games that utilize the best technology out there, you go with a console.  If you like games in general and have enough money to buy both, you probably will.

Microsoft has also allowed the release of games they technically control on Nintendo’s portable platforms before, so a Halo DS would not necessarily be completely unprecedented.  So given the DS’s amazing installed base and Halo’s ridiculous popularity, isn’t Microsoft missing a golden opportunity here?  Just think how many copies they could sell on a system with 5 times the installed base of the 360 and games with a $35 price tag.  At the same time, it would effectively cross-market the Halo franchise to convince some of those 50 million DS players that perhaps they should also get an XBox 360 for Halo 3.  So why would they kill this effort?

Well, maybe they didn’t.  Given this “cross-marketing” effect, it actually sounds like the kind of thing Nintendo might kill.  It would effectively turn their own DS with its massive audience into a weapon against the Wii itself, as the 360 DOES compete with the Wii.

Of course, motivations for Microsoft to kill the game exist as well.  Perhaps the perpetually rumored “Xboy” is still in development and they therefore want to keep the Halo property to launch their own handheld system. Or perhaps Microsoft realized their error in endorsing the “Wii60″ as they watched the Wii dominate the 2006 holiday season on a pace to sail past the 360 in terms of sales (which it has now done), so they decided it was no longer prudent to help a competitor even if it meant making some more money.

Perhaps it’s none of the above.  Whatever the case may be, it doesn’t sound like the game will ever release.  It’s unfortunate, since Metroid Prime: Hunters lost my interest fairly quickly and I don’t know of any other potentially decent FPS releases for the platform.  Halo DS could have filled that role quite nicely.