Halo 3 Scoops Edge Award for Interactive Innovation

[JaggedSac]

L.C.E.C. said:

Just to be fair, I'm going to compare this list of added "Features" from Halo 2 to Halo 3, with the new "Features" from Brawl to Melee

Theatre mode: Brawl also has replays, although with limits due to memory-limits

Is the theatre mode in Brawl closely attached to a website, like Halo 3 and Bungie.net? Can you take photos, clips, etc and have them uploaded to a website automatically? Can you watch it online in game with a group of people?

Forge: Stage Creator in Brawl, much less advanced, but much easier to use. I can't get anything I want to work the way I want it to in either, but Brawl's is slightly less frustrating.

Is the stage editor in Brawl closely attached to a website, like Halo 3 and Bungie.net? Is it easy for people's custom maps to be played during an online match?
 

Stats: OK, there are no stats for Brawl, but there are "Records", which while clearly less competitive, they are there.

Are the records in Brawl closely attached to a website, like Halo 3's stats and Bungie.net? Are the records in Brawl easily digestible by third parties, like Halo 3's stats that are hosted by Bungie.net?

File Share: In brawl, but you must send the file to a friend.

Is the file sharing in Brawl closely attached to a website, like Halo 3 and Bungie.net?

Party System: Not in Brawl, because The most people you will play with is 4.

I will reiterate that the party system is amazing and I cannot stand when games do not have one.

Does Nintendo provide for seamless integration of new map variants and game types on a weekly basis for use in multiplayer matches? Such as Bungie does.
 
Halo 3 obviously got the award for their innovations in providing interaction between game and internet hosted features. There might be something similar out there, but nothing to the degree and support that Bungie has done.
As for your balancing issues.

Balance: Capping the sword did almost nothing, because you can still get 10 kills. Halo 3's Balance is completely laughable. Headshots are completely over-rewarded. Grav Hammers are still whored by noobs, and plasma pistol is now even more useless. Melee attacks, or "assasinations" when from behind, are too powerful and far too unrealistic (pistol whipping someone won't hurt them as much as a bullet will), People still shotgun camp like hell, and there are an assload of more problems with the the game's balance. Don't even try to joke about it by calling the game "balanced".

Maybe you should change your strategies if you die so much by swords and hammers. They are quite easy to counter(especially the hammer, which is only useful in certain scenarios)...don't run up to them.
 
Head shots are rewarded in most FPS games, more so in others actually.
 
Assassinations are there to make sure you are aware of your surroundings and enemy positions. If you get assassinated a lot(which I am assuming you do since you are complaining about it), perhaps you should be more aware, especially considering a radar is provided in the majority of the matches. If you get assassinated while having a radar, it is laughable. You should not attempt to bring realism into the realm of gameplay, ie. anything in Brawl.
 
Shotgun camping? That seems like more problems with your strategy. I will concede that a guy camping with a shotgun will get me every now and then, but not more than once. In fact, I make it my mission once I respawn to take care of the camper. Once you know where a camper resides, it is quite simple to clean them out. After that point I make note to check that position for the rest of the game in case that person decides to try the tactic again. If someone is constanly being killed by a camper...they deserve it. Shotguns are not a very difficult weapon to overcome, it is a very, very close range weapon.  It performs very much like shotguns have in games for years, deadly at close range, pitiful at medium to long range.  Not sure how game balancing comes into play.
 
None of your problems with balance are actually problems. I am not that great of a player and none these things are a problem for me.

Arguably, Halo 3's theater is better, and you might be able to argue the same for forge and stats, but:

There is no argument.

Brawl has more customizable controls.

Brawl added a storyline, a first in the series.

Brawl has a storyline? Super Mario Bros. had a storyline too.

Brawl has more characters, while in halo you can only play as A spartan or an Elite, or an arbiter in the story mode, brawl has 35 characters.

It is a fighting game, it is based on different characters with different abilities, fighting each other.

Brawl added Co-Op, whereas Halo has had Co-op since the first game.

Halo 3 added 4 player online co-op, which is nothing new.

Brawl added online, which was not in either of the previous games at all.

Brawl has more unlockables

You can play with 5 different controller types in brawl, while in Halo 3, you are limited to wired or wireless.

Keeps things balanced by only having one type of input device. That way players do not have an advantage/disadvantage either way, everyone is on an even keel.

and the list could go on...

 

Once again, the award was given for their marriage of the game and Bungie.net. It opens a huge door for future usage and the amount of content uploaded to Bungie.net is staggering, so it is definitely being put to good use. It is about creating and fostering a community of gamers. Bungie is also hinted at something huge they were adding to Halo 3 in September. Probably another good example of there excellent grasp of software engineering and OO design.

Nothing against Brawl but this poster's points of comparison do not match up in any way.