X-Box Halo 2 slips

FANS OF FAVE X-BOX GAME HALO will have to wait for a sequel, Developer Bungie Studios has revealed.

Despite rumours to the contrary, there will be no Halo 2 this year. A posting on the developer's website says: "We do want to state for the record that Halo 2 will not ship in 2003." The developer says, "there is just no way to squeeze all of the necessary work into this calendar year. We know many of you were hoping to get your hands on Halo 2 during the holiday season, and we're sorry to disappoint you - but making this game as good as we possibly can is our paramount concern."

The company ominously states that Microsoft "understands and supports" its decision, which sounds a bit like shorthand for "they're after our asses", but of course we wouldn't suggest such a thing.

Microsoft did announce last year that there would be a sequel to Halo, deemed one of the best reasons to buy an X-Box, but the software king/console queen didn't commit to a timescale. Now the company will be leveraging other developers to come up with a stonker in time for the buying season.

Bungie Studios says it is preparing versions of Halo for PC and Macintosh but will still be demoing Halo 2 at E3 in May. Here's the announcement. µ