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500 Million Halo Games, Halo 3 Documentary
Gamespot reports on some interesting information for Halo fans. Bungie has created a seven minute documentary about the Halo 3 Trailer run at E3 this year. The short piece allows fans to see the trailer from different angles, and provides insight into its creation. They've also released word that there have been 500 million Halo 2 games played since the game's release. From the article: "This is just the latest of several impressive accolades the game has achieved. In just its first few months in retail, the game sold 6.4 million copies worldwide and logged 91 million cumulative hours on Xbox Live. According to NPD, the game has sold more than 5.1 million copies in the US as of April 2006, accounting for almost $253 million in sales domestically."
Frankly I have never played Halo.
But I am amazed that they have a full orchestra for a game.
Halo 3 production these days doesn't seem any different from a big budget Hollywood production.
Are other games doing this?
so what-- the other 6,399,999 of you have played like-- once each?
every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
Halo 2 sold 6.4 million copies. On the other hand, Nintendo has several different titles selling at least 1 million. Usually, quality is better than quantity but in this case I think Nintendo has the upper hand still.
Please note that Nintendo makes quantity "Quality" games so this isn't really a fair comparison. If it was Random Port or Sequel VS Halo 2 then it would clearly be Halo 2 being the winner of quantity vs quality.
Every geek has some sort of website, programming or computer project. Here's mine: www.youtasteit.com . What's yours?
Let's see... 91,000,000 hours / 8 hours in a day / 5 days in a week / 50 weeks in a year = 45,500 person years.
That's utterly... amazing.
In comparison, David A. Wheeler's paper Estimating Linux's Size approximates the work on Linux so far to be about 4,500 man years. (He uses the COCOMO model.)
That reference was off the top of my head - I think it was mentioned on /. before. Didn't have much luck finding other interesting estimates...
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i checked the documentary.... and it's only promotion about how Halo3 will be beautiful and how it will make a revolution in the graphics of games... and that they tell absolutely nothing about anything of their game!
it's an empty vessel repeating "my game is beautiful, buy it!"
saw it on GT and gave it a 1/10 for saying nothign new.. nothing interesting...
Didn't think they could keep the storyline going for 500 million sequels. Bungie have big plans, eh?
If we can hit that bull's-eye, the rest of the dominoes will fall like a house of cards... Checkmate.
This would be newsworthy if Bungie made a dollar for each game played.
But they don't. But hey, lets throw a party, based on some stupid "games played" rubric. Next party will be celebrating "500 trillion braincells killed" by the people who've played halo games.
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They don't seem to make too many quality games inhouse that Nintendo seems to make. Although, I wouldnt' exactly call halo quality, it doesn't seem to be that much better then decent pc fps's.
Hmmm... Pie...
I've always been a fan of the Halo series and the hype just doesn't get to me. What was more hyped than Half Life 2? I still bought it, played and enjoyed it. I'm sure sony will hype the shit out of Spiderman 3 yet it will still smash records and be enjoyable. If you get tired of hype over games quit going to IGN and reading Gamepro.
" We don't need to find the weapons of mass destruction we just need to want to find them, that's the way it works!
I think they would cry if they looked at how many CS or CSS games were played. Halo is for the unskilled.
Hahaha... You crack me up. I own every console, and so as an Xbox owner, I'll tell you there are PLENTY of games worth playing (in case you weren't aware).
The Xbox's catalog is smaller than other consoles... But there are a surprising number of quality titles, like:
Knights of the Old Republic
Jade Empire
Ninja Gaiden
The Splinter Cell Series (on Xbox first, and arguably best)
Forza
Riddick
Panzer Dragoon Orta
Crimson Skies
Jet Set Radio Furture
Doom 3 - yeah, I know... but other current-gen consoles can't even handle the game.
As for multiconsole games, the Xbox almost universally features better graphics. And Live, even on original Xbox, kicks ass.
With the 360 getting titles like Gears of War, all their arcade titles, 1 great Clancy game out and 2 great Clancy games coming (Rainbow Six and Splinter Cell), Fight Night, Oblivion, etc etc etc... I'm beginning to wonder how much time I'll even put into Halo 3!
(this Fall is going to be amazing - two new consoles, and 2nd gen 360... I'm giddy)
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The whole industry is filled with these marketing messages that are just in our faces all the damn time - with a wafer thin layer of "authenticity" painted on. It's like trying to have a genuine conversation with a car salesman. He's always going to be like that - always on message, with the glint in his eyes that betrays how he's trying to "angle" you with every sentance or smile.
I'm not just talking Halo 3 - but MAN was that a freaking infomercial or what?
Have you ever noticed that these days, games really try to get us on the hype wagon for months and months in advance of the game's release? Look at the Tom Clancy series of games - there are big long drawn out "developer interviews" that go on for HOURS (so it seems).
The "developer blogs" at 1Up.com are just... I don't know - they seem so transparent to me. I mean, I know that the site has to make money, and it's an OK concept for content I guess, but Mark Echo blog? Lego Star Wars blog? Ugh.
It makes you wonder if there's any humanity even left in the games industry.
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Yeah... I mean, why would a company want to hype a game that has already sold millions upon millions of copies? I mean... It's just stupid. Halo 2 was a let down? Tell that to X-Box Live. The oldest argument is that of Halo vs. CS and Unreal Tournament. But the numbers show the truth, guys. CS, UT, and all the others didn't generate the most profit ever on their opening day. When I say "ever," I mean, in entertainment history. Ever. I'll concede that CS and others may require more skill to play than Halo, but we can see where it got those games. Does that mean that the less skills a game requires the better? Of course not. It just means that there's a balance; one that allows new players to pick up a game and have fun and yet allows experienced players to be really, really skillful. It always amuses me to hear people trash the Halo franchise. The guys have revolutionized the video game industry. If you don't agree, again, look at X-Box Live and talk to the millions of folks who had never been into video games before Halo. As for the documentary, yes, they were saying, "Our game will be beautiful." And they've got a fan base of millions that want nothing other than to hear those words said. I can't blame anyone for not liking the game. It's not for everyone. But, like any cult following, its fan base utterly adores the game. I won't lie, the trailer brought a tear to my eye, as it did for many other fans. It may not have showcased gameplay, but for those of us who care, it said an enormous amount about the feel of the game, the storyline and the game engine. You just have to care enough to look into it. If all you care about is "immediately showing gameplay," then you don't know anything about how to present the newest installment in a multi-million dollar franchise. They showed what they showed for a reason; and guess what? They've got the money in their pockets and the millions upon millions of fans to back up one simple thought: Bungie knows what the freak they're doing.
For those who don't want to go through the Gamespot article, here's the direct link to the Halo 3 documentary on Bungie's page.
So, I hadn't heard the claim that Halo 2 had the most profitable launch day in the history of entertainment before, and since you provided no evidence, I assumed you were just spewing garbage.
I decided to look it up, and I admit I was wrong.
GameDaily has Halo's opening day sales (first 24 hours) at 2.4 million, which multiplied by the $60 price tag (which isn't a static value in itself, as some collector's editions were made, and I assume sold at a higher price) gives us $144 million.
has Revenge of the Sith at $50 million on opening day. I was curious how much this would have been affected by the fact that big name movies like that usually relase on a Thursday (I imagine the number would have been higher if it were released on a Friday), but the biggest opening weekend was Spiderman at ~$115 million.
The most paid for any piece of artwork was Picasso's Boy with a Pipe at $104 million.
So I guess I have to admit you were right. But in the future, please back up your claims a little better.
And that the game had no ending. A "clif-hanger", as some asshats will call that particular ending, doesn't belong in a $60 video game. It belongs in a weekly TV serial.
I blame Soul Reaver for this recent trend towards unfinished games. But in truth, the first game I came across that did this was Digger T. Rock. You finally completed all the levels, solved every puzzle, got infinite items, no saves whatsoever, defeated all the dragons, and what happens? To be continued. Except it never was. I was pissed. Still am as it happens.
May the Maths Be with you!
I agree. I love most of the games you listed. I just bought an XBOX. The ciing on the cake is having it so easily modded and putting those games on the HD for easy access. And XBMC rocks too. I specifically bought it for FPSes, Western style RPGs, and popular cross platform games. Still have my NGC, but I've only kept the 1st party titles like Mario party, Zelda, Metroid.... I think they compliment each other well...
Not to sound like too much of a fanboy, but my understanding of the term "grunt" isn't really compatible with the Master Chief. Would you call an elite superhuman special forces cyborg a grunt? Not sure what you mean by boot mentality; that may or may not fit.
I pretty much agree with you on this. The original Halo was a fantastic game. Halo 2 seemed like it wasn't even produced by the same people. It was way too short. Its AI was terrible (I don't know how many times my own guys ran over me in Halo 2, which never happened in Halo 1), and the game had no ending.
A couple of weeks ago I actually sat down and really played Halo for the first time. The story was suprisingly better than I expected, but it certainly wasn't a triumph of science fiction literature. It's still a bit contrived.
What kept coming into my mind while I played the game, however, was how much better the game would have been if it weren't an FPS. The game would have been far superior presented as an adventure game with minimal gunplay. Instead a fairly simple story is drawn out and interrupted by protracted gunfights. There's little attachement to the story because most of what happens involves blowing apart anything that moves. I'm guessing it's far easier to develop an FPS than it is to have gameplay that's intertwined with a strong storyline.
It looks to me like the gaming industry is turning into the movie industry in a big way. It's only a matter of time before game developers start blaming us for poor sales claiming we're all pirates.
So video is talking about an up-coming game. A game. But instead of discussing the most integral part of a game, gameplay, not a single word is mentioned and instead they go on and on about the damn graphics. It's almost like a parody of developers today.
"Marvel at the detailed battle scars on the Master Chief's armor!"
Great, I'm sure that will comfort me when I discover that a bowel movement is more entertaining than playing this game.
I agree that Halo 2 was not all that it could have been. I'm not saying that I don't love it, just that it comes in second to Halo. I do understand the reason for the problems with it though, and it pretty squarely lies on Bungies shoulders. They made a pretty massive mistake, and basically had to scrap everything and start from square one... with like, 10 months to ship. I *think* they learned an important lesson from that... we shall see when Halo 3 comes out. If they did (and I can't really fathom that they didn't... cause it was like, hmmm, getting by a train), then Halo 3 will be all that is good and beautiful in the world (yes, I'm a fangurl.. of Halo, not M$)... with whipped cream and cherries on top :). My reasoning behind this is, if they can make something like Halo 2 in a mere 10 months, what kind of craziness can they create in a normal time frame? Yes, I'm waiting to be blown away. No rush. I'm ready when you are :). Just please, please, pretty please let it be like, 10X longer than Halo 2 was, since that was *my* major gripe.. not being enough of it to satisfy.
Oh, and the pistol would be nice to have back. Not that cheap thing you replaced it with, I want the real thing back.
We have enough youth, how about a fountain of SMART?
Hey, if it works for Budweiser and Miller...
It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.
Could the marines even drive the vehicles in the first one?