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Halo Sells 3 Million, Gets New Machinima
Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to the Xbox.com press release announcing "that Halo: Combat Evolved has sold more than three million copies worldwide" , by far the largest-selling software title on Microsoft's console. The press release also plugs the forthcoming PC version of Halo, which, according to Avault, will have a $30,000 team tournament devoted to it at the CPL's Winter 2003 Tournament in Dallas this December. Finally, Bungie.org has news of a great-looking new Halo trick video, called 'Winning Isn't Everything' - thanks to GameTab for providing a BitTorrent mirror for this super-skilful, stunt and exploit-filled romp.
3 million?
Halo is arguably X-Box' flagship title. If you consider that Super Mario Bros. has sold over 40 million copies and Super Mario 64 has sold over 11 million copies (see here) and that Enter the Matrix has already sold 1 million copies in the brief time it's been released, this isn't that big a deal. Posted by an anonymous coward? More like posted by a desperate XBox sales force.
"...today consumers have been conditioned to think of beer when they see a bullfrog..."
- The story is engaging.
- The graphics are superb.
- The gameplay is almost flawless.
- The physics engine is great, as proven by all the trick videos like the "warthog jump" video.
- Cooperative play option not seen in many other fps.
- System-Link play makes it easy to set up xbox lan parties. 2 tv's + 2 xbox + 8 controllers + 7 friends = 4v4 Fun
It is not a surprise that Halo has passed the 3 million mark. Most retailers still sell it for $50 even though it was a xbox launch game. This game has continued to push the xbox consoles sold numbers up for Microsoft.
As other posters have mentioned, while Halo is by far the best selling X-box game, it's still vastly outsold by games for other platforms.
It really makes be wonder how big Halo could have been if Microsoft had released it for PC/Mac/etc.., as Bungie planned before they got bought, instead of using it to prop up thier doomed console venture.
"The worst tyrannies were the ones where a governance required its own logic on every embedded node." - Vernor Vinge
Why has it failed? Because it's still in the market place? Because it's outselling the GC (IIRC)? It's got some great games (Halo, JSRF, Oddworld: Munch's Odessy, Mech Assault, etc) and has some great things going for it too (only console with a hard drive in every unit, XBox Live). The system is also the most powerful of the big 3 out there, which means that it can keep having great looking and running games for years. The fact is, the X-Box is a fantastic console, and I'm VERY happy I own one. I know it's fun to bash MS for all they do, but they really did their homework when they decided to enter the video game market (unlike many other consoles (indream, phantom, that terrible thing that was integrated into DVD players.. the Nuon). Let's not forget that the X-Box is the ONLY console that could get a port of Doom 3 without a massive graphics rewrite (due to the graphics abilities).
You want a failed console? There are plenty. NeoGeo, Virtual Boy (which had fantastic games, system was just named wrong), TurboGraphics 16, Jaguar, Jaguar CD, Sega CD, Saturn, 32X, Lynx, 3DO, Nuon, indreama, GP32, and more (these are in the US, I know some of these succeded over seas).
Repeat after me: the X-Box HASN'T FAILED and it WON'T.
Time to just face up to the fact that MS hasn't fallen on their face like many people wanted them to.
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
You hit the nail right on its head. You have to wonder about the upcoming PC version. (I hesitate to call it a port since most believe that Halo was meant for the PC to begin with) With the XBox version being out for a while now and everybody anticipating games like Doom 3, will the PC version sell a significant number of copies of what is essentially a game that's nearly 2 years old (released Nov 9, 2001)?
"...today consumers have been conditioned to think of beer when they see a bullfrog..."
That wasn't machinima as we've come to expect... it was just gameplay set to music. I had hoped for something more (after watching some of the Red vs Blue stuff the other day, which someone linked to in anotehr thread about machinima).
... can they included it on their 'Platinum' list of games? A $20 price tag would really spur up even more sales.
BTW Halo is a really good game, especially if you play it on Legendary. Really tough but more fun.
It's only outselling GC in some countries and the GC has also been called a failure.
That's the real reason for your cheerleading; it's called denial.
Some countries? The US? The Japanese XBox division just laid off 1000 employees. That doesn't say a whole lot for their future. Overall, the Gamecube still has the XBox outsold by nearly 2 million units. Regardless of what the liars at Microsoft say to bolster their sad sales. Shit. Game to console ratios are HORRIBLE on the XBox. So it's sold quite a few Live! units and 3 million copies of Halo. What else has it sold? Dead or Alive?
n ew s.cgi?newsid1057621578,63577,
http://www.gamesarefun.com/cgi-bin/newspro/full
Don't tell me that Nintendo is suffering. You haven't got a clue. The XBox's game sales are terrible, because it's got a wonderful lineup of PC ports and third party multiplatform sports games. Way to go!
My apologies, nathanh. That was to be directed to MBCook's thread. Sorry.
Ok, first off, where do you see the word "failed" in my post? The closest I see is "doomed". And how did you miss the term 'prop-up'? As in, it would have failed, but they propped it up for now.
:
The X-box, may avoid utter failure only because MS is willing to sacrifice lots of money and potential profits to insure they can get a stranglehold on an industry later.
So, your arguments to defend the x-box are as follows
"Because it's still in the market place"
Still on the market, and still loosing money the last I heard. Both on the hardware end, and as the rumors go, on the software end with all the money MS keeps throwing around to insure they have exclusive games.
Point 2:
"It's outselling the GC"
I can only assume that you meant to limit this to 'in america', because last I heard the x-box is doing miserably overseas, while the GC is doing somewhat better than it is in the states.
In any case, they're both runners up to the PS2, and being a distant second instead of a distant third is hardly a qualification for success.
Which brings us to point 3:
"It's got some great games"
That it does, in point of fact, it's what my post was complaining about. Microsoft has bought some promising games as exclusives for their platform, but even MS can't pay for every game their platform needs. The result is a few good games, but not alot of other choices. I have some friends with x-boxes, and most of them wouldn't have even considered them if it weren't for Halo. (hence, the propping up argument)
And then there are your various claims of hardware superiority, which might have been valid if they didn't end up costing the consumer more money than competing consoles. Hitting a higher price point does not automatically make a platform superior.
"The worst tyrannies were the ones where a governance required its own logic on every embedded node." - Vernor Vinge
Um... The TurboGrafx 16 was one of the greatest success stories in gaming when it comes to it's Japanese counterpart (PCEngine). By your judgment (your remark about the TG16), the XBox would indeed be a failure in Japan, especially since they just canned 1000 employees.
The Saturn didn't too too terribly in Japan as well, though it didn't last as long as the PSX.
I'm not in denial. I thought the X-Box was junk for months. I didn't buy one untill I had some spare cash about a year ago (that's about a year after launch) and decided that I wanted to try Halo and I wanted to play JSRF (because the origional was so great). I haven't regretted that purchase to this day. It was worth it. I've played many great games. And even if I had doubted the purchase later, a new reason came along: X-Box live. There is nothing like being able to play Mech Assault against a bunch of other people and being able to talk to them too. Mech Assault was a great game all around.
As for the GC being called a failure, that's by people who don't like the GC. The only reason people aren't calling the PS2 a failure is because it's so far ahead of the others the people crying "failure" would instantly be branded idiots. I can tell you that if the GC and X-Box had the same numbers, people would still be calling them failures and there would be people calling the PS2 a failure. You can't go by what "people" say. Is the GC stilling getting new games? Are there great new games in development? Is the company still promoting it and now winding down? Yes to all of the above. It's no failure. It might not be the run away hit that the PS2 was, but it's not a failure. Same thing for the X-Box. It's not a failure for the same reason.
And this brings up the PS2. Let's not forget that the PS2 was a MASSIVE, UNPREDICTED (in that even Sony didn't expect it to be so big), RUNAWAY SMASH of a console. It was also out for a year or two before the GC and X-Box came out. Saying that the GC or X-Box numbers don't match up to PS2 numbers is like saying that the NGage (assusming it's a hit, which it won't be) is a failure because there are so many GBAs out there. Well yeah, it's been out for years. A BIG reason the PS2 sells more units per month is because of the MASSIVE library of GREAT titles that it has, thanks to it's long headstart and backward compatability. PS2 numbers vs GC/X-Box numbers is like Apples vs Apple-Like-Oranges.
You can tell a platform is a failure when it stop selling and people stop making new good games for it at the rate of the other platforms. Both the GC and X-Box are NOT failures, they're just not the runaway smash the PS2 was.
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
Even worse, you're born again.
You sound exactly like the Sega Saturn owners did only a decade ago. It's sad and funny at the same time.
I own an xbox, and am quite happy with the purchase. As non-handware-mod-linux-on-xbox gets closer and closer to reality, I get even happier. I also own Halo, and am very happy with it.
However, there seem to be some factual problems with your story. Microsoft spent several tens of millions of dollars advertising the XBox based on Halo alone. The *PlayStation* was a surprise breakaway hit; it was only expected to do numbers roughly equivalent to the current XBox/GameCube numbers. Instead, it dramatically expanded a market that Nintendo squandered and that Microsoft wants to join. The PS/2, by contrast, was expected to be a huge hit, and was. The question, after the world knew about the XBox and the GameCube, was whether or not it would continue to so thoroughly dominate the market. It has. You made the statement that it's not fair to compare PS/2 and XBox console sales, given the PS/2's lead. The actual story is worse for both Microsoft and Nintendo: the PS/2 sells very favorably (by many measures, better) than either the XBox or the GameCube, in spite of the expected sales drop over time.
You make some good points, but then draw questionable conclusions from them. Neither the XBox, nor the GameCube are failures, but both are somewhat dissapointing at the moment; the GameCube more so than the XBox, if for no other reason than the lack of a statement from Nintendo that they're expecting to lose approximately US$1.5 *billion* per year on the XBox for at least the next couple years (over US$40 billion in the bank lets you do things like that).
I wrote it, so it's nice to see people reading it. And you let me see a spelling mistake I hadn't noticed before, which is now fixed.
However, you're a bit off on the layoff situation. The Xbox division only had 200 employees, and only a little over 30 of them got laid off.
But the Xbox is a complete failure in Japan, with only 385k sold in over a year on the market. And Peter Moore's thoughts on helping the Xbox in Japan certainly isn't going to help it much there (another article I wrote). Well, at least not the bringing of Western-style games to Japan, anyway.
Thursdæ
Newsie for GAF
So why should Nintendo be the ones mentioning they expect to lose money on the Xbox? Microsoft puts that out.
Nintendo is profiting from sales of the GameCube, its games, and the GameBoy Advance and its games.
Microsoft is the one losing the money on their console, not Nintendo.
Thursdæ
But, it's the only title MS can be pretty much assured their making money on right now. And with the Xbox Division losing $190 million in calendar Q1 2003 alone, well, you can expect Halo to stay full price until Halo 2 comes out.
Thursdæ
I also own an XBOX and have been happy with the purchase, though I do not enjoy Halo. Many of the best Sega games have only come out on this platform in the current generation. I just finished Toe Jam & Earl III and it was great. The parallel you draw to Sega consoles is undeniable, but just because you truly hate, doesn't mean we don't truly enjoy. Your hate is likewise sad and funny at the same time in my perception. So what is the cause of this hate? That I have a good job and can easily afford to enjoy games on all three consoles (well my Dreamcast and N64 are still connected to one of my TV's as well as an NES so six?) as well as a cutting edge PC? Could it be that you are a pure hater in the traditional sense? That is what I see here. I guess if one has to decide which of the 3 major consoles to buy, he will naturally be envious of those of us who can enjoy them all. Sad and funny to me indeed.
Ironically, "born again" is not an inappropriate description for the life that old consoles gain after they go out of production. For the Saturn, it took the form of Americans discovering the vast library of Japanese titles that were never ported. For the Dreamcast, it's taken the form of home-brewed software -- Linux ports, home-grown games, MAME, emulators of other consoles... all after the console was declared "dead". It seems that "dead" in this context means "no longer generating revenue for anyone", which acts almost like a green-light for hobbyists to start working their magic. Very cool stuff.
Halo was originally announced for the Mac. MWSF 1998. You could even pre-order Halo for the Mac here
Halo is for all intents and purposes, Marathon IV [/dons flame retardant jump suit].
The original Marathon series is available via the Marathon Aleph One project here
Finally, there's Marathon Resurrection, a Marathon Unreal Tournament mod.
Bungie's abandoning their promise to release Halo on the Mac first and then selling out to Microsoft is one of the few valid reasons for fanatical Mac people to hate Microsoft.
If Bungie was smart, they'd put it out on the Mac first: Mac people are used to buying *new* games that have been out on other platforms for months/years.
Before you mod me down for the last statement, I hug my TiBook 2x per day.
- learn to swim.
Nintendo is notoriously closed-mouth about such financial details (even more so than, say, Sony or Sega are/were), but the indications are that Nintendo is losing somewhere around US$20-US$30 per GameCube sold in the US, at the new prices. It is believed that Microsoft is losing in the neghborhood of US$120 per XBox sold in the US, again at the `new' prices.
I'll grant that these numbers are highly suspicious, especially since the people who *do* have the data *do not* want most people to have it. That said, I expect that the GameCube is at best, a break-even hardware endeavor, rather than a money-maker. (Don't forget that there is a lot of overhead involved, even in Nintendo/Microsoft/anyone's part of getting the hardware to the distributors -- it's not just the stuff in the box that costs them moeny per box).
Nintendo is pursuing an interesting strategy at the moment, with the confluence of `family-friendly-platform' and `Resident Evil Exclusive', plus the GCN+GBA cross-linking stuff. I will also add that the GBASP is my current favorite `console' (maybe `game platform' is a better term) by far -- there's some excellent stuff there; I recommend checking it out.
It's also intersting to note that there is a burgeoning tournament scene around Halo as a platform/LAN game, alive and kicking well before Halo PC. It is an amazing team/party game and takes a great deal of skill to play well. It is easily accessible to casual gamers, but at the same time incredibly deep with regards to strategy and team play.
I'd say it's pretty impressive that the flagship title of a "failed console" can be so successful...there are plenty of local and regional tournaments for Halo. iGames has been promoting seasonal Halo competitions (http://www.igames.org/Events.asp?Event=1402), there have been the AGP tournaments in Nashville, TN (http://www.theagp.com/) and the more recent Halo50k in Atlanta (http://www.halo50k.com/), as well as the up and coming Halo50k2 in New Jersey.
Halo is a great game for bringing people together. It's incredibly easy to wire up 4 boxes in the dorms or at someone's house and have tons of people playing. There is a grassroots Halo community, and there are some great Halo personalities such as The Dream Team or The Lordz known throughout the national tournament circuits...and all thanks to a "failed console" and its flagship title.
Anyone know what the sales figures for Myth and Myth 2 are? It's sad that such a great developer got sucked into Microsoft. Maybe if they ever get around to releasing the game for PC i might be willing to give it a shot, given how much i enjoyed the Myth series.
This Space Intentionally Left Blank
I meant as a whole on their video game endeavors.
Nintendo's SEC filing for their end of fiscal year back in March showed them with over US $500 million in profit. And since practically all Nintendo does is games, then it's safe to say games and the consoles are profitable for them.
Microsoft, on the other hand, posted $190 million lost on $493 million in sales from its Xbox division in calendar Q1 2003 alone (previous year had calendar Q1 show a loss of only $98 million on $953 million in sales), and I expect calendar Q2 reports (which should be with the SEC soon) to be also equally as bad in the losses for the Xbox devision.
Microsoft will end up profiting, overall, thanks to Windows and Office; but this fiscal year will show the Xbox biting into overall company profits.
Thursdæ
The video game industry was bigger in 2001 (year of Halo) than it was in 1996 (year of Super Mario 64), and 1996 was bigger than 1984 (year of Super Mario Bros).
Percentages of all games sold during the period the game was release would be interesting. And hard to find out. And require scientific notation. But they'd be interesting.