Halo and Halo 2 to run at 720p on Xbox 360

Bungie has announced that both Halo and Halo 2 will be capable of high definition, widescreen, 720p display when played on the Xbox 360.

Apparently, the Xbox 360’s improved hardware has enabled the resolution increase for the popular series, with Bungie stating that,

“The hardware in the 360 can do a lot of nifty stuff, and specifically in the cases of Halo and Halo 2, it can display the graphics in wide screen, at 720p, with full scene anti-aliasing.”

The high-definition 720p resolution is a significant increase on the 480p resolution that Halo and Halo 2 currently run at on the original Xbox console.

According to Bungie, the improved display

“doesn’t look kludgy, artifacty or smeary like an upscanning DVD player. The best way to describe it is that both games look like they’re running on a PC at those resolutions.”

Halo and Halo 2 owners will be able to use the game disks they already own to play the game in high-definition on the Xbox 360.

Gamers with the Xbox 360 hooked up to a standard definition TV set should notice a significant difference in the quality of the graphics, and those playing via HDTV sets will view the full extent of the resolution improvements, which are described as

“not miraculous but for owners of HDTVs (or VGA monitors with the appropriate cable) they are sweet.”

The widescreen display will mean that gamers playing split-screen multiplayer games will now be able to view player screens side-by-side, rather than stacked one on top of the other.

The Halo 2 resolution improvements may also help to keep hordes of eager gamers entertained as they wait for the release of Halo 3, Bungie’s next installment in the phenomenally popular series.

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