Halo 3!? THEY BETTER

There was a "Coming February 9th" message in the credits after beating the game on legendary. This could mean almost anything, but us hopefulls, and those disappointed with the ending of Halo 2 [FIVEZERO], would like to think that it has something to do with Halo 3. Here's a little bit of encouraging speculation:

Link (http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/10/08/news_6110134.html)

Rumor #1: Bungie Studios' next project will not be Halo 3.

The official story: "We are very excited about and focused on the November 9 launch of Halo 2 and have not announced plans for or against another sequel." --Spokesperson for Microsoft, which owns Bungie.

What we heard: In the BBC article, Bungie studio manager Pete Parsons talks about the upcoming sequel. Besides saying it will be mercifully free of the first game's repetitive levels, he talked about its in-depth storyline. "We have several-hundred years of Halo fiction laid out," he said, referring to more novels based on the game and a possible Halo film. But when asked about Bungie's next project, Parsons said that "after Halo 2 planning to do something different. [It] will do something else and [has] a few ideas." This one line had Halo fans raging on forums about Covenant conspiracies--and Microsoft doing some major spin control. Add to that the persistent rumor that many Bungie staffers are planning to join their former boss Alex Seropian at Wideload Studios when Halo 2 ships. If that comes to pass, the Bungie that would make Halo 3 could be a very different animal. [UPDATE] [B] Also keep in mind that last October, Microsoft's Steve Ballmer said that Bungie was already "working on Halo 2 and Halo 3."

Here's the statement that Steve Ballmer made (http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/exec/steve/2003/10-21office-launch.asp):

"We're working on the next version -- I hate to tell you this confidentially but I'll have to swear you to secrecy now -- we're working on the next version of Xbox right now and we're working on Halo 2 and Halo 3, the two newest versions of the game."