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Halo 'No Longer Just a Game' For Microsoft
News.com has a piece looking at the way that Halo has transformed from game to franchise for Microsoft and the Xbox. Despite the heavy advertising and branded products that seem to be everywhere in anticipation of next week's launch, the company is still trying to keep the IP as pure as possible. "Microsoft is wary of watering down Halo, meaning it would rather walk away from deals for Master Chief pajamas or Covenant sippy cups. Microsoft had little experience in talking to toymakers and others about how to transfer an onscreen experience to real objects. But such experts exist in the licensing arms of movie studios, so Microsoft partnered with 20th Century Fox to act as the main licensing agent for the Halo brand. Items that did not make the cut were a Halo-themed lottery ticket, lingerie modeled after a female hologram character, and toy guns based on the game's weapons. Instead, fans can expect high-quality action figures from McFarlane Toys, a tabletop game from WizKids, and replica weapons for mature buyers."
its a naval rank http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_Chief_Petty_Officer
Because Master Chief (in actuality it's Master Chief Petty Officer, but Master Chief for short) is a rank in the US Navy, the highest non-commissioned officer rank.
And wouldn't you know it.... practically all space games use naval terminology.
Well ... I haven't played any of the Halo series (not my cup of tea), but I always assumed that Master Chief was just the guys title. Similar to how you see the some characters referred to just by title in Books/Movies, I assumed that referring to this faceless character by title only was a plot device to help draw the player into the world, since the dialog would refer to someone/something they could be, instead of using a third parties name (that wasn't theirs).
In the "Real World" U.S. Navy & Coast Guard "Master Chief Petty Officer is the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank (E-9) in the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard, just above Senior Chief Petty Officer, and is a non-commissioned officer. They are referred to as Master Chief in most circumstances."
From the bottom of the same Wikipedia page: "In the Halo video game series, SPARTAN-117 (John), more commonly called the Master Chief, the protagonist of the series, holds the rank of Master Chief Petty Officer in the United Nations Space Command."
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It doesn't matter how good of a FPS HALO is... it just doesn't. Because I know myself and some of my friends aren't that good at HALO, or FPS's in general. We play games for stories, and the massive attention to detail that the creators have put in things. And yes, I know, even when it comes to stories HALO may be a bit shallow, but, even still... that's only in-game. Bungie has done a fantastic job of elaborating on the story outside of the game. If you'd look beyond HALO as a mediocre FPS, and more as a diverse, well articulated universe... you'd get over your obvious fanboy-ism to whoever it is you support.
Sure, Microsoft may be funding them (and thus it means they are suckling the teet of Statan *rolls eyes), but, it doesn't mean that Bungie is a bad company, or that they themselves are getting complacent in all the hype. I mean, HALO 2 was over-hyped from the moment it was announced, yet, I still found a very compelling game, all because of the story.
So, shut up - please - about it being an "OK" Shooter, we know that.
It's a story, and IMHO a very deep story.
GR
"Paranoia is the flaw and gift of man. Heed its advice, but do not live by its will."
So did Penny Arcade.
Circumcision is child abuse.