The world waited.  The stage was set.  Los Angeles, California was to be the backdrop as Bungie dropped another bombshell on the anxious E3 crowd gathered at the LA Convention Center.  Stuff had been leaked and rumors had been shared, and even confirmed.

Then, at the Xbox press event… nothing happened.

Our number 98 moment might also be called the moment that wasn’t, as Microsoft pulled the plug on what would later be revealed as Halo 3: ODST.  Even Bungie seemed completely caught off guard by the non-event.  In usual Bungie form, they’d initiated a countdown to the big reveal and had been posting some pretty interesting, if cryptic, teases on their website about the announcement.

In the end, its anyone’s guess why MS decided to wave off the announcement.  Some say they didn’t want Halo 3: ODST to overshadow Gears 2 or the OTHER bombshell about a franchise called Final Fantasy making its Xbox 360 debut.  MS execs maintain they were just adjusting the focus of their presentation and that the announcement was cut for time purposes.

Bungie’s president, Harold Ryan seethed quite professionally, as it was his company that took most of the yolk to the frontal cranium, making this post on the company’s site.

“For the last several months, we’ve been building toward a reveal of something exciting that Bungie is working on. We were looking forward to sharing that with our fan community during the week of E3. However, those plans were just changed by our publisher.”

“When the right time comes, we look forward to sharing this exciting announcement with you. Until then, we appreciate your continued support and patience.”

Whatever the reasoning, Bungie’s Bagged Bombshell, number 98 in our top 100 moments of 2008, will be remembered as one of the many times gamers around the world held their collective breath for something that wasn’t coming.

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