A while back, Microsoft announced that the 360 would have some level of backward compatibility. Today Bungie revealed that both Halo titles will work on the Xbox 360, with no alterations, just use your old games and plop them in. The only difference will be the somewhat better quality on HDTVs due to it being widescreens and higher rez. Halo's splitscreen and Halo 2's multiplayer modes are still functional as before. Read more details over at Bungie's Halo 2 Anniversary Special.

Gamespot got the early scoop on an article that will run in next week's issue of Time Magazine, which includes an interview with Bill Gates about the Xbox 360 where he confirms earlier reports of a possible third Halo title : "Note to the hard-core faithful: the next version of Halo will not, repeat not, be ready in time for the launch of Xbox 360. It will be part of the all-important second wave next spring. 'It's perfect,' Gates says, radiant with bloodlust. 'The day Sony launches [the new PlayStation], and they walk right into Halo 3.'"

"Halo 2" is the sequel to the highly successful and critically acclaimed game "Halo: Combat Evolved." In "Halo 2," the saga continues as Master Chief, a genetically enhanced supersoldier, is the only thing standing between the relentless Covenant and the destruction of all humankind. Pushing the Xbox hardware to its very limits and utilizing Xbox Live in a way that Bungie believes will redefine online play, "Halo 2" will expand on everything that made the original game great. At its heart a compelling and captivating story, "Halo 2" makes revolutionary advances in design and technology. As expected Bungie has made the e3 trailer available, read more for download links. Be Warned, it's hires and 160mb big!

Vanquishing a strange alien race on a distant ring-shaped world, battling against the end of creation as a Norse immortal, rewriting the world's past by prolonging Roman rule another thousand years, or re-creating Orville and Wilbur Wright's first flight: Microsoft Game Studios takes gamers on a gripping journey through the history of the world to distant lands with its PC games lineup at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) next week in Los Angeles, May 14-16.

Noticed on VE3D that Bungie has updated their Halo 2 site with some E3 plans for the game. Here is a clip:

A demo like Halo 2 requires a special setting and this year we’ve pulled out all the stops. As fans enter the Microsoft booth, one of the first things they’ll encounter is the glorious Halo 2 Theater (a concept drawing is pictured at left). This custom theater was built from the ground up specifically to showcase Halo 2. The theater seats about 65 people and comes with all the bells and whistles you’d expect (complete with hypnotic control rays for our diabolical world domination plans). By the way, this ‘aint just another movie. The original Halo 2 announce trailer was an in-engine cinematic that was prepared in advance and released to the world. This time around, the E3 demo will consist of 100% bona fide in-engine gameplay and cinematics. Bungie team members like our Director of Cinematics, Joseph Staten, will be personally playing through the demo for everyone to experience. It’s been said a bunch already but I can honestly say after seeing this impressive display countless times around the office – It’s good. Oh so good. It might be a good idea to pack some extra under shorts because we can’t be responsible for what might happen. As mentioned in my last story, we don’t have concrete plans for an online release yet but once we get back from E3 we’ll regroup and explore options for sharing this demo with the world.

Bungie.net has a post from Matt Soell saying that Halo 2 will definitely not ship during 2003 - sources close to the company say the first quarter of 2004 is the current target. 'There has been much speculation regarding Halo 2's release date since we announced the game last year. The fact is we don't like announcing release dates unless we're certain we'll meet the deadline.' Read more for the full statement...