IGN Editor Matt Casamassina is a troubled man. To quote his latest blog entry: "My Halo DS blog has haunted me since I posted it because many people were skeptical of my claims. I wouldn't make something like that up, of course, but that hardly silenced any of my critics."

Now with Halo 3 fever creeping over the Cortana network that is the XBL community, Matt has finally proven to everyone the existence of a Halo DS. Yes, he does maintain that it was real. But see, the important thing to note here is that it will never see the light of day on retail. It was never officially released, and will never be officially released. The copy that IGN got was simply a tech demo.

Matt says that big names were involved in developing this kick-ass demo (which he previously mentioned played a lot like Metroid Prime: Hunters). The graphics are actually very good for a DS game, and really - to quote Matt again - "prove that Halo DS wasn't a garage project by a two-man team."

To get the full deal (and evidence) from Matt himself, check the videos behind the Full Article link below.

The rumor mill is hot on the Halo DS project after Matt Casamassina testified about the existence of Halo on Nintendo's handheld, and IGN promised to talk about a demo they were able to get their hands on. Website Siliconera was able to get some clarification from Bungie's Brian Gerard and Frank O’Connor regarding the matter.

Straight from Bungie's community guy himself, "...there has never been an officially funded or sanctioned development of any sort of DS Halo game."

Before that, Bungie.net's content monkey Frank O'Connor did state that "we got pitched for it several times."That said, it's "very likely that somebody at some point in time created a prototype."

Halo on handhelds is possible, but O'Connor doesn't think an FPS would be a good idea given the hardware limitations. A scrolling shoot 'em up or some other form Master Chief can appear in is more feasible for the DS, he said.

Here's another fun thought from the interview: Ninja Gaiden's Ryu Hayabusa could actually appear in Halo's universe. "I'm not going to say you're going to see Ryu in Halo, but I would say that our relationship with Itagaki is alive and well," O'Connor replied when asked about Ryu making a cameo appearance.

For the full transcript, click on the Read link below.

The Halo DS project may have been nothing but vaporware - canceled and left deep within the inner crevices of Cortana's fiber optic network - however, IGN promises to reveal more details about the demo they played earlier this year.

As GameStooge points out, in a recent IGN podcast (06-15-07), editor Matt Casamassina once again brought up the subject of Halo DS. It's just a very quick comment, but right around the 38:00 mark of the podcast, Casamassina says that Halo DS is:

a real game… It was a Halo on DS! And it never made it to the light of day, for whatever reason. That reason was most likely Microsoft or Nintendo...

But a lot of people just don't believe that. We're gonna lay down some ownage next week or soon afterward by showing you guys that that is a real game. You guys are about to be owned - all you nay-sayers.

Some may have thought that IGN being able to play a build/demo of the game was just a hoax. Now, maybe we can actually confirm that.

Next week isn't all that far off anyways. It's already the weekend, so we've only a few days left to really find out. "Finish the fight," or so says Halo 3. Finish the rumor, more like. That's what we want right now. If you want to hear the podcast for yourself though, click the Read link below. Remember, the Halo DS comment was somewhere around the 38:00 mark.

*Halo DS (Deathly Spartans) fan art by Icarus_Flight from vgboxart.com.

Dennis of Halo Informer calls BS on Matt Casamassina's claim over at IGN that he was able to play Halo on the DS.

His reasons? First, the post date. January 4th? Turn 1/4 around and it becomes 4/1, or April 1st. We don't have to explain the significance of that. Second, if the game was actually in development, they wouldn't have any thoughts about releasing the story at the time they were playing it. Dennis says that it would've been one of the biggest stories of the year, and it would be foolish to let it pass. Lastly, the mock-up was fake. Dennis notes that there should be at least one camera in IGN's offices.

Dennis speculates that if this wasn't a flat out prank, it may have been a test to see how much people actually want to see Halo on the DS. He also notes that Matt Casamassina is on vacation, a scenario that he implies we've seen before.