For all the fanfare about its new video-game console, Microsoft was decidedly quiet last week about one of the biggest questions in the industry: the potential timing of a third installment in its blockbuster "Halo" video-game franchise.
Well, everyone except Bill Gates was quiet about it.
In a cover story published last week in Time magazine, the Microsoft chief software architect was quoted as saying that the company would have "Halo 3" ready by the time Sony releases its PlayStation 3 next year. Time described him as "radiant with bloodlust" over the prospect of using the exclusive Microsoft game to foil the Xbox 360´s rival.
"It´s perfect," Gates was quoted as saying. "The day Sony launches, and they walk right into Halo 3."
Great, so that settles that. Or does it?
Asked about the reported comment last week, Microsoft´s Xbox chief wasn´t willing to go nearly as far as Gates. Robbie Bach, Microsoft senior vice president and chief Xbox officer, declined to say when the company´s internal Bungie Studios would have the next installment in the "Halo" franchise prepared for release.
"We haven´t announced anything on what Bungie is doing or where we´re going with the future of the ´Halo´ franchise," Bach said. "With all respect to Bill, I don´t run Bungie´s studio, and neither does he. We´ll work with the Bungie guys and let people know" when they have something to announce.
Gates is the boss, after all, but it was the second time in recent weeks that he appeared to say more than the Xbox team might have wanted him to. Leading up to the Xbox 360 unveiling, Gates let it slip during a speech that the console would ship this year -- not exactly a surprise at that point, but still something that the Xbox team had been trying to keep secret until the unveiling.
If Microsoft does attempt to use "Halo 3" to blunt Sony, the timing of the PlayStation 3 release could complicate matters. Sony had widely been expected to ship the new console sometime next year, as much as a year behind the scheduled release of the Xbox 360 later this year.
encor un autre truk a traduir si quelqu´un a le courage 