Halo 1 HD Won't Kick Off High-Definition Remake Trend on Xbox 360

The upcoming release of Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary Edition on the Xbox 360 won't start a new high-definition remake trend on the platform, at least according to 343 Industries boss Frank O'Connor, who is supervising the development of the game.

The PlayStation 3 console saw the release of many high-definition remakes, older games that first appeared for the PlayStation 2 and have been remastered in HD, with sharper graphics and textures, both from Sony and from other companies like Ubisoft or Square Enix.

Now, seeing as how the Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary Edition is basically Halo 1 in HD, many have started thinking that Microsoft will start its own HD remastering trend, so plenty of other classic franchises will be released soon for the current Xbox 360.

That's not right, at least according to Frank O'Connor, the boss and creative director of 343 Industries, the studio in charge of Microsoft's Halo franchise.

He revealed to CVG that the Anniversary Edition was just a special gift to fans of the series, and not the start of a pattern.

"This isn't part of a pattern. We started work on Halo Anniversary conceptually a couple of years ago because we know the ten-year celebration was coming up. It was something people had asked for really specifically, like: 'Give us an HD remake of Halo.'

"A lot of people just wanted everything on the same platform, Halo 2 as well. They don't span the platform. This is a gift to the fans and it's not part of some sort of movement at Microsoft... If this was the 12th year [since Halo launched] we probably wouldn't be doing it. It's a specific event."

As you can imagine, the next question was in regards to Halo 2 and the possibility of seeing it remastered in HD, but the 343 Industries executive declined to give an official answer, saying that the whole team is currently committed to the upcoming game, as well as next year's Halo 4.