really, a jackass move by Bungie and whoever else. Bungies been getting a pass so far b/c they passed the buck to their MYSTERIOUS publisher, but they, not the publisher are the ones who put up the countdown, whipped all THEIR fans up into a frenzy and then, right before a percieved christmas morning put the tree through the woodchipper and burned all the toys.
They, Bungie, are big boys now, and can't be forced by anybody to pull such a dick move like this, so, quit giving them a pass.
They could have stood up for their fans. It's as simple as,
publish->hey we don't think you should make this announcement now, why don't you pull it?
bungie->um, no.
We already know that Microsoft/EA/Activision/whoever suck, but now we know that Bungie cares about their fans just as much as those guys do, which is close to nothing as long as they can get soccer moms to buy their shiny boxes at wal-mart. Once they lose money a few quarters in a row, it's all about the fans. As long as they're selling, unmitigated arrogance.