Halo's halo

Jim the old guy wrote:First, congrats to MS for creating a game that could set record sales.

Second, all the hub-bub and pre-release media is the very thing that could (note, I said could) prevent a new Tex installment. Think about it. Advance media hype could send a new Tex game into the adventure game hall of fame. But, as we all know, the creators of Tex do not have that kind of financial backing.

Third, to make a new game takes a lot of time and money. Consider this: several people working 40 hours per week or more. And that doesn't take into this reality: what kind of game? FMV? Where will the money come from to attract a big name star that would help promote sales?

Fourth, it is NOT in the realm of possibility to make a game that would only appeal to existing Tex fans. There's just not enough of us to warrant such an investment.

Fifth, KEEP THE FAITH! All of the above is not necessarily negative, although it appears that way. Hope springs eternal! We could still receive a new game. It may take a while and we may have to settle for something less that a FMV, but that in itself is not really all that bad.

Let CJ, AC, et al worry about the particulars. My original point was and is: It takes money to make a quality game that has the ability to appeal to more people that those who merely visit this board.

HERE, HERE!!!!...or is it...."HEAR, HEAR!!!!"....errr...yeah...what JTOG said!

Actually, I'm not sure how to take that post. Sure feels like a big needle coming towards my balloon. Chris and Aaron want to do another Tex game, period. What will bring that to be I don't know.

Nora Jones said, I made the record I love. Everyone might not like it, but some will....(I forget the rest of the quote, pass me some geritol please.)

My point is, and yes I do have one, is that I want Chris and Aaron to make a Tex game because THEY are ready to knock their own socks off. I'm sure ours will follow, board members....and beyond!!!!

Jest my two cents.

Put away your needle, Jen. Your ballon is safe!

I was merely making a point myself. To reformulate an old quote, "The spirit is willing, the pocketbook is weak." Yes, I do believe the guys want to make another game and if there is a will, there's a way. I was just overpowered by all the pre-release media hype for Halo III and it would certainly be advantageous to find that kind of financial backing for a new Tex game.

But, let's be realistic. We are talking about two different genres - shoot-em-up (and perhaps a little more) and adventure gaming. One is in full swing and the latter is all but dead. It will take a resurrection of enormous proportions to bring it back. Who can do that? Why, our boys can, that's who!

I would not worry much Jim, mainly because gaming is become much like the cinema industry these days anyway. Heck, it makes just about as much moolah and is always being compared to the type of lounge room entertainment a DVD can provide.

Now of course, as games move away from being just for the die-hard geeks and more into the mainstream (like Halo 3, because let's face it, even my grandmother probably knows about it by now), people will start to see gaming as one of their prime outlets for entertainment.

Now this huge market that is being struck thanks to games like Halo, it is bound to connect people with gaming much like it did in the mid 90's when people began to realise the home PC was a valuable source of entertainment. With this connection came a plethora of genres so suit everyone's taste because they realised that if they wanted to expand they could not just satisfy one group of gamers... they had to offer something for everyone, and of course FMV began to shine.

This same explosion of realisation is happening again, and I can almost guarantee along side it will come re resurfacing of genres (like Adventure games) to cater to the testes of many new gamers who are being introduced to this boom in high definition home entertainment, brought into the forefront thanks to games like Halo.

Halo, to me is not just a great gaming franchise... it is also a sign of things to come. If M$ can bring this kind of attention to one game, then the market is definitely solid enough.

That’s just my $0.02...

-Cub. =o)

The problem of gaming being like the movie industry though is all the really generic blockbusters that get released that the general public eat up (eg. Halo 3).

It also means that gaming companies take less risks on something truly unique (though they've been doing that for years).

I guess i'm just disappointed because while i see gaming being accepted as a worthwhile form of entertainment by society a good thing, i see the commercialization of an industry that hasn't even found its voice yet a very crippling thing. =/

Also, the Halo series is only good for one thing - multiplayer. As a discerning connoisseur of fine gaming, I can state that the story mode campaign of the Halo series is completely crap and utterly devoid of storytelling skill. The boys at Bungie know how to make a FPS, but they don't know how to incorporate a story into the play in a way that makes it interesting for anyone above age 15.

Which is a shame, because the story BEHIND the Halo Universe is a rich one. It just doesn't appear in the GAMES

Imagine Children of Men directed by the Coen-brothers.

There ya go, my 0.2$

-Fred

PS; Also, if you're a Halo fanboy and want to discuss this topic, you may indeed pull up a chair, sit down at the table, grab a fork and proceed to eat me, as I've said everything that needs to be said. Talk to the hand, and other similar expressions of disinterest. So there! Nyah-nyah!

I'll definitely concede that Halo has pretty solid multiplayer. I just think even that is getting totally out-shined by Call of Duty 4 and Team Fortress 2

Fred Buer wrote:As a discerning connoisseur of fine gaming, I can state that the story mode campaign of the Halo series is completely crap and utterly devoid of storytelling skill. The boys at Bungie know how to make a FPS, but they don't know how to incorporate a story into the play in a way that makes it interesting for anyone above age 15.

I totally disagree with you there. Actually I don't think I have ever disagreed with any statement made on this forum to such an extent ever before. Quite an achievement Furedu!

...but seeing as I would not rather get into a dispute I will leave it at saying that the Halo story, in my opinion; to anyone who has played it and engaged in it properly, is interesting, well written and whilst it is not on the same level as some of the more finely tuned storytelling games, it is a very good accompaniment to the single player campaign. Placing it into a category that deems it "devoid" of any decent story is a major injustice, and I cannot for the life of me understand how anyone could come to that conclusion. For shame Fred!

I personally hate games without a decent story, and Halo has done more than satisfy my needs... it has done well enough to have stowed my cynicism of the entire genre. When I look at Halo, I look at a single player campaign with a very interesting storyline. I don't even look at the multiplayer... I hate multiplayer personally, and would be satisfied if all Halo games came without any multiplayer at all... now THAT is saying something.

Atomicvegetable... Halo 2 is still the most popular multiplayer game on Xbox to this day, in fact, it is the most sucessful and most played console based multiplayer game ever, with players in the tens of thousands still logging on every day. I think you are referring to the PC platform when you speak of COD4 and TF2.

-Cub. =o)

Don't get me wrong Cub. There's story in the Halo-universe. I just think there's oodles more the Bungie people coulda done with the games themselves, instead of stuffing it into books besides the games, is all.

-Fred

Cub, i'm not talking popularity, i'm just talking in uniqueness and fun.

Fred Buer wrote:Don't get me wrong Cub. There's story in the Halo-universe. I just think there's oodles more the Bungie people coulda done with the games themselves, instead of stuffing it into books besides the games, is all.

-Fred

I know what you mean... unfortunately, developers of shooters need to keep in mind that a majority of the people who game are folks that don't really care much about story and want to just go in and start blowing stuff up. Which is annoying becuase I don't understand why anyone would not want to appreciate a decent story in any game.

What bugs me is when the hard core multiplayer oriented gamers (who are the first to complain about there being not enough action in a game, or having too much story, not enough shooting) are usually the first to complain about a game having a bad storyline. And so developers are stuck between focusing more on story, or more on action, and you cannot do both without ascrificing the other in the FPS word unfortunately... or more accurately, you are always going to dissatisfy someone.

I think Halo had a good balance, but do agree that if they were to focus more on story, they probably would've been able to get more out of it. Unfortunately, they probably could not afford to do that.


Atomicvegetable... that's cool man, I agree with you if you are talking about fun factor. I personally hate Halo's multiplayer, especially compared to others you've mentioned and others I've played.

-Cub. =o)

Thanks for all the feedback, guys and gals. I'm not a big gamer (except for Tex) and I don't know all the ins and outs of the industry.

However, this thread is not, repeat NOT, about the Halo game. It's about financing, press releases, media hype, etc. This can make or break a game's sales. That's why I titled this thread Halo's Halo for MS has shone upon it, rather extensively.

Wasn't it Penny Arcade that commented upon the extreme Microsoft financing of hyping Halo 3 to such an extent that they bought up space on the Mountain Dew products? Calling it Game Fuel or some such?

I also recall Tycho (one of the two madmen behind PA) saying something about having purchased this product, having taken a sip of it, and poured some of the contents on the concrete in memory of the SPARTANs lost on Reach.

Yeah, Reach. Great story, that. Shame it's not in the games themselves.

Anyway, the financing of the hype behind this game is insane. I dare say it's the biggest campaign to make people buy something in the history of mankind. Even my mum's heard about this game, and vis-a-vis the games industry my mother is a recluse. A veritable hermit towards the world of gaming. And she knows Master Chief by name!

What is the world coming to? We coulda clothed and fed millions of children elsewhere in the world with all the money that went into letting people know about a piece of software that's meant purely for entertainment...

-Fred

Fred Buer wrote:What is the world coming to? We coulda clothed and fed millions of children elsewhere in the world with all the money that went into letting people know about a piece of software that's meant purely for entertainment...

-Fred

That kind of money is put into games to increase a return on investment. And the more returns, the more money the company has to toil with. The more comfortable a company is, the more it is able to donate to causes (take Gates himself for example, he comfortably donates millions to causes each year)...

...now, don't get me wrong, I am not putting a Halo above any company or person (excuse the pun) who has millions of dollars to spend in the off chance they could donate to worthy causes, becuase the fact of the matter is many comapanies use that financial secutiry to exploit more income rather than channel their funds into said causes... but my point is, the money they spend is not wasted becuase it is made back many times over on returns.

-Cub. =o)