In the world of videogames.

In the world of videogames, sum of two units months is a lifetime. unfortunate games can end up in the shallow grave of a bargain bin, while smooth great titles are typically cast aside to make way for the nearest Big Thing after just a not many weeks.

And yet here we are, brace months after the release of Halo 2 still hopelessly addicted to its fantastic multiplayer game. In fact, in a ways, the Xbox’s premier first-person shooter has gotten better with age: Players know the maps, teams have strategies, and the ranks nearest to people’s gamertags actually mean something. What better time, then, to sit down with the developer at Bungie and discuss the up and downs of Halo 2’ still-evolving online experience. For more of the interview, head to egmextras.1UP.com.

EGM: in the way that you guys must be busy getting ready for February 9 right?

Community Manager Brian Jarrard: [Laughs] Honestly I don’t know where that date always came from.

EGM: That was my nearest question. A lot of family are under the mistaken impression that the game lists the date “February 9” in the credits if you finish it in succession Legendary difficulty…how did that rumor secure started?

BJ: I honestly don’t know what it is, where it came from, who started it. if it be not that everyone’s latched on to it. [Some the public are saying it’s the date for] Halo 3 or it’s a of the present day downloadable campaign, or it’s the real ending of the game. A fate of people think that the game is not above and there’s an entirely recently made known mission that is going to be downloaded for single player, or there’ll be an add-on disc that will be sold or...it’s a cliffhanger [ending], ye if it be not that that doesn’t mean that we have the caesura of the game already done and can just hand it to you in February or whatever.

EGM: Bungie has already said there won’t be of the present day single-player levels added on later.

BJ: Yeah, we’ve confirmed that. It’s not possible. It won’t happen. Within the confines of in what manner the downloadable concept works in the game engine, it’s not possible for us to download an entire single-player mission.

EGM: You must get by heart all kinds of stupid rumors....

BJ: I’ve heard a haphazard of crazy stuff. Like, in single of the featurettes on the [collectors’ edition] DVD there’s a section of video that was taken exceedingly early on. And at that particular point in time, the Elite originals [in multiplayer] were all Arbiter patterns Now people think the Arbiter is an unlockable character—like if you beat the game forward Legendary in like two hours, you can play as the Arby in multiplayer. [Laughs]

EGM: Have all the complaints about to what extent you can’t browse through custom games died down since release?

BJ: I [think] the bulk of mankind warmed up to it. It’s real jarring at first. People don’t like change. Same thing happened with our [early criterion version]. But after a month equal our most vocal opponents started saying, “OK this kind of works. It’s fun”

Multiplayer Lead Max Hoberman: [People] want to be able to play exactly what they want and play with random strangers. Those persons have really valid complaints, no question about it. still we made a conscious decision to stick to our fire-arms Because doing it any other way would have not simply pulled too many people without of matchmaking to make it effective, still it also would have taken our time and focus away from making this matching arrangement work.

EGM: It’s also the more the community you have playing matchmaking games, the les lag there is for everyone right?

MH: Exactly. You know, you proceed on [Internet] forums and you papal court people saying, “How come Bungie can’t give us our custom game browser—there are 100000 family playing it on Xbox Live right now!” if it be not that designing a system for Friday nights when there are 100000 family on, that’s just irresponsible. We have to design for the grave ebb, because people still want to find a dutiful game when there’re only 10000 tribe on at 5 in the morning. ’Cause if you take that [pool of] 10000 the bulk of mankind and divide it up into our nine matchmaking playlists, then subdivide it through rank, subdivide it by who you’d have a advantageous connection to...the pool of population you have to play against is actually a destiny smaller than you think.

EGM: What are the complaints you’ve heard you be perceived are valid?

Content Manager Frank O’Connor: The undivideds I would agree with are things like sometimes the stratagem was difficult to understand. There were technical issues that we knew about. I mean, we made more [i]or[/i] less compromises [graphics that pop in during cut-scenes] to have no loading.

BJ: the same thing that, oddly enough, appears like it kind of backfired, at least for about subset of the audience, is that we merely ever talked about Covenant coming to Earth and you defending it. And we now know that’s merely two levels in the entire game, and that kind of backfired, because we find a hazard of people have been bitching and saying, “Why am I not fighting upon Earth? I thought I got to plead Earth. Why can’t I vindicate Earth?”