NEWS - Thursday, November 18, 2004

Halo 2 Patch Released
A new automatic update for Halo 2 is available on Xbox Live, Bungie Software announced today. A small download that automatically installs itself the next time players log on to Xbox Live (with their permission), it promises to tidy up a few nagging issues that have come up since the games retail launch last week. The update includes a fix for the games matchmaking system, which promises to cut down on delays in the formation of Quickmatch and Optimatch games. Bungies news update today says the patch "should normalize that wait time," so hopefully players will be able to start getting in games more quickly today. In addition, the update takes care of some display issues at the 480p resolution on certain HDTV and EDTV sets. "If you are seeing the HUD clip or bleed off the screen in 480p widescreen and 4:3 modes, this should address that problem perfectly," Bungies update explains. The Foundation map is also now freely available to all players -- originally, players had to clear the single-player campaign to unlock it, but now the Marathon-inspired map is open to everyone on Live. Todays update is only available on Xbox Live, and probably wont make it onto any cover discs or other means of delivery. "Unlike downloadable content -- a new map for example -- the Autoupdate cannot be simply installed from a disc," Bungies update reads. However, it is possible to use another players Live settings saved on a memory card to download the update. Bungie is also working on some changes to its playlist system for setting up ranked games on Xbox Live. Were to expect an update on that subject "relatively soon," so well have more details shortly.Source: http://www.1up.com
