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Blog: Software Halo 3 Frenzy Only Continues to Grow
Michael Hoffman (Blog) - September 15, 2007 9:51 PM
Print E-mail del.icio.us 13 comment(s) - last by therealnickdan.. on Sep 18 at 10:00 AM
The anticipation for Halo is close to reaching a boiling point

Microsoft Xbox 360 users, are you ready for Halo 3?  If not, you may be in the minority...

In case you haven't been paying attention to gaming news the past couple of months, a highly-anticipated video game from Bungie Studios will be released in 10 days time.  Some of you thought people would be crazy for dropping cash on the Halo 3 Legendary collector's edition, but Microsoft confirmed the Legendary has sold out in the United Kingdom.

We also reported that more than 1 million people pre-ordered the game in early August, while the number only continued to grow.

I was impressed with the first-day sales of the Halo 2 video game, but the Microsoft hype machine has dumped more than $10 million into advertising the third Halo video game - and the anticipation for Halo 3 seems to only be bigger.  In case you haven't seen it, the Halo 3 logo now appears on all sorts of products - Pepsi, Burger King, Pontiac cars, etc.

GamerMetrics analyst Nick Williams even goes as far as estimating Halo 3 will sell more than 4 million games in the United States in two months time.

Do you remember that Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft:  The Burning Crusade is the worlds fastest-selling video game?  According to Lazard Capital's Colin Sebastian, Halo 3could be the game to steal that glorious title away from WoW.  

"We expect that significant preorders and broad consumer anticipation of Halo 3 will result in one of the largest and most successful product launches in digital entertainment," he said.

Microsoft will also host a Lunch 2.0 pre-launch party at the company's Silicon Valley location - I unfortunately didn't reserve my spot in time - but I am sure it should be fun.  Many stores, including ones here in the California Bay Area, have launch events planned for Halo 3 gamers before stores open.

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By Zurtex on 9/16/2007 7:53:10 AM , Rating: 3
¬_¬, I've never considered Halo as one of the best games, I've had a lot of fun playing them in co-op mode with some friends and usually some alcohol, but that can be said of so many other games.

I always thought the hype of Halo was related to it being one of the very few o.k exclusive games for the XBox, but that won't be true of Halo 3 and the 360. I guess it just has a big fan base in America, because I know a couple of people going to get it over here in the U.K, but none of them are that excited about it.




RE: ...
By AnnihilatorX on 9/16/2007 4:32:37 PM , Rating: 4
I personally don't see the fuss about Halo ever since it was released. The story was okay but that's just another 1 super hero vs alien scenario.. There were nothing new in terms of gameplay that weren't done in other FPS.


RE: ...
By OblivionMage on 9/17/2007 10:52:14 PM , Rating: 2
The first Halo game revolutionized the gaming industry. Many people went out and bought an Xbox just so that they could have a taste of Halo. I am no expert, and have no time to write now, so I will respond in detail tomorrow...


RE: ...
By therealnickdanger on 9/18/2007 10:00:07 AM , Rating: 2
For its time, in 2001, when amazing games like Perfect Dark on the N64 were still fresh on people's minds, Halo was an extraordinary leap forward in console FPSs. I had plenty of experience with PC gaming online, but Halo introduced me to just how fun LAN parties can be. 2+ Xboxes and 4+ friends resulted in hours and hours of fun. It was such a socially-oriented game, it was just so much fun. The single player campaign (Legendary) was also very satisfying and challenging (by yourself) and was a blast in co-op. It definitely raised the FPS bar, especially for consoles, but also in general. It was a system seller - a true killer app.

That being said, Halo 2 was overhyped and wound up being completely unsatisfying and failed to deliver on a great many things. Its only advantage over HaloCE was Live, but it eventually became unplayable due to all the exploits and idiots. I honestly hated nearly everything about Halo 2, and after playing Halo 3 Beta, I'm not very optimistic.

I will probably still wind up buying Halo 3 only because I want to see where the story goes and 4-player co-op just sounds like way too much fun. I may sample the online multi-player, but I would rather play HaloPC or UT2K4 for my frag-fix. No matter what, I'm going to wait for reviews to pour in first, maybe try to buy a used copy off craigslist.


By VooDooAddict on 9/16/2007 11:02:49 AM , Rating: 3
Gears of War has raised the bar a bit for Console FPS, IMHO.

We'll have to see if Halo 3 can deliver.

Personally I think the reason Halo series is such a success is simply that it's an online and LAN Multiplayer staple. Like ConterStrike for the PC, it's a game you can buy sure in the knowledge that there will be plenty of other people to play online anytime you wish.

This is the reason I will be picking it up.




By Ryanman on 9/16/2007 1:36:19 PM , Rating: 1
You're absolutely right man.
I personally enjoyed the story. It's the real version I'm buying it. But the vast majority of people buying it are doing it exactly for your reason.


By Hyperlite on 9/17/2007 11:44:14 AM , Rating: 2
i'm suprised to see so many people buying it for single player....i thought i was pretty much alone there.


By FITCamaro on 9/17/2007 8:16:29 AM , Rating: 2
If Gears of War was an FPS, that would be true. It's third person though. ;)

That said, I loved Gears of War. Look forward to the sequel.


Answers
By Alpha4 on 9/16/2007 4:16:53 PM , Rating: 2
I guess we finally have an answer to the popular question from back in May: Did the Halo 3 Beta kill the hype?

I'm kind of surprised the hype is where it is after the Beta, unless the majority of buyers genuinely want it for the single player game.




RE: Answers
By FITCamaro on 9/17/2007 8:21:43 AM , Rating: 2
I want it mostly for the single player and online co-op. I'm sure me and my friends though will be playing the multiplayer. Hopefully we'll enjoy it as much as multiplayer in the original Halo.


RE: Answers
By ajfink on 9/17/2007 12:23:02 PM , Rating: 2
I'm buying it for both, but at the end of the day, I'll be going for multiplayer first, single-player second (but that doesn't mean by any means that I don't think I'll enjoy the campaign).


Not that psyched
By rdeegvainl on 9/16/2007 2:40:56 PM , Rating: 3
It's a cool series and all, I just finished 1 and 2 this weekend, but i really don't care to play fps on a console, I tried both of them for the x box, but i think i will just wait until it comes to the pc. Hope they don't do the same thing they did with halo 2 though, making it takes 10,000 years. Exaggerated i know.




By theteamaqua on 9/16/2007 8:34:09 PM , Rating: 2
http://www.tomshardware.com/site/flash_videos/seco...

halo 3 only needs to "be there", it doesnt even need to be a good game, the hype will take care of it...




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