Former Microsoft VP brings Halo to the Atari 2600

Sometimes you just can't stop a man and his dream. In this case, the man is Ed Fries, the former vice president of Microsoft's game publishing division, and the dream is a version of Halo for the Atari 2600. That actually started out simply as a way for Fries to learn to program for the 2600, but quickly turned into a full-fledged, Adventure-style game that made its debut at this past weekend's Classic Gaming Expo -- in cartridge form, no less, and with a label that'd look at home in any shoebox full of 2600 carts (check it out after the break). Just as impressive as the game itself, however, is the story behind it. Here's just a sample:

It's around this time that I discovered the existence of what I call "Magic Land". I was working on a bug with the boss encounter and accidentally found myself completely outside the 64 room map. I was wandering through memory that was never intended to be interpreted as part of the map but the code was doing the best it could to interpret what was being thrown at it. Strange, misshapen monsters attacked me in even stranger ways as I wandered through this bizarre land that I had unintentionally created. I left a bug or two in the final game to allow others to find and explore this strange landscape as I did.

Oh, did we mention you can play it right now? Hit up the source link below and prepare to forget that Halo Reach even exists.

[Kerensky97 Posted Aug 3rd 2010 3:17PM]

@CapnBry Tru games didn't need all that. Remember the standard cartridge for Combat?

[GSGeek Posted Aug 3rd 2010 2:00PM]

Wow, retro-gaming rocks... Great job!
How about an Apple ][+ version?

[bdkennedy1 Posted Aug 3rd 2010 2:02PM]

That's wicked awesome! I will place it next to my cartridge of E.T.

[admlshake Posted Aug 3rd 2010 2:03PM]

I wonder how Red Vs Blue will work this game into their videos.

[durangojim Posted Aug 3rd 2010 2:03PM]

I can't tell, are those bad guys or trees?

[Duke Posted Aug 3rd 2010 3:00PM]

@durangojim
The ones shooting at you are bad guys.

[BobVeeTech Posted Aug 3rd 2010 2:04PM]

Played the game, it's not that great...

[Jack Posted Aug 3rd 2010 2:23PM]

@BobVeeTech

Wow.

[dooglehead Posted Aug 3rd 2010 2:19PM]

This is a lot more fun than Halo 3, but I still like Berzerk better.

[Chronomaster Posted Aug 3rd 2010 2:24PM]

To glitch: Run into a wall and try to change screens at the same time.

Welcome to magic land. Home of huge monsters, ice rinks, and innocuous objects that kill you on the touch.

[anotherworld Posted Aug 3rd 2010 2:39PM]

Why? Waste of time IMO. Atari 2600 a crappy system. NES ftw.

[Duke Posted Aug 3rd 2010 2:56PM]

@anotherworld
You know that the 2600 is about 8 years older than the NES right? The comparison of the two is not fitting. Heck, the 5200 even came out before the NES was made.

[hiphopsded Posted Aug 3rd 2010 2:51PM]

This doesn't work with Frash on my iPad.

[Elranzer Posted Aug 3rd 2010 3:10PM]

A lot of things don't work with the iPad.

[Kerensky97 Posted Aug 3rd 2010 3:28PM]

@hiphopsded I wonder why it doesn't work?
"Former Microsoft VP"
Ahhhhhh...

[deepspacebar Posted Aug 3rd 2010 3:11PM]

i wonder how bad it would be on legendary XD

[nefnet13 Posted Aug 3rd 2010 3:25PM]

Props to Ed. Although it's ironic that the Elites are easier to kill than the Grunts because they are bigger.

Now that I think about it, maybe those are supposed to be jackals, as there was a larger humanoid thing that moved (and shot) faster in one of the pink covenant-themed areas-- that was probably an elite. It killed me twice, the bastard.

Anyway this is awesome. they should put it in Reach as an Easter Egg.

[marco114 Posted Aug 3rd 2010 4:32PM]

glad microsoft is spending so much time on the latest technology!

[magallanes Posted Aug 3rd 2010 4:38PM]

Now that's what i call a VP that does not suck.

[radarskiy Posted Aug 3rd 2010 6:59PM]

Butbutbut... I though there was no such thing as homebrew games, and it was all just a cover for pirates?

[Middleman Posted Aug 4th 2010 12:27AM]

Shows you what happens if technology didn't progress further than 1977 lol

[grabaclue Posted Aug 4th 2010 8:26PM]

Way cool! I still have my Atari and would love to own this cart.