| Kantor said: It may shock you to know that I am a fan of Halo. I don't love it as much as some people, but I feel the hate it gets is undeserved. Yes, he can certainly like other genres and series. I chose Halo and FPS because they are the most popular series and genre on the 360 respectively. Now, let's imagine this man is in a store. Here's what he sees: -Planet Wars, a console RTS. He's never really liked RTS. It looks pretty good, though. -Call of Duty: World at War. This looks very interesting. It's a shooter. Set in World War II. He's played CoD4 and enjoyed it. He doesn't know who Infinity Ward and Treyarch are, so he doesn't care about that. Now, imagine for a second, you are this man. Please note, you don't know what a "Metacritic" is, and you think "Ensemble" is a group of instruments playing together. Being a fan of Halo and CoD4 (incidentally, the two best selling 360 games), you figure you would like this game, right? It would be fantastic if games sold on innovation and quality. They don't. Take the classic examples: Ico. Okami. Psychonauts. Artistic genius, great games, commercial failures. Then, look at NFS: Undercover and Carnival Games. Nothing remotely original, very badly made, and they sell gangbusters. To a lesser extent, Assassin's Creed. Not a bad game, by any stretch of the imagination. But, not fantastic. Not among the best games of 2007. Would anyone disagree with me here: BioShock is better. Uncharted is better. Tools of Destruction is better. CoD4 and Halo were better, and they did outsell it (thank god). BUT, they did not outsell it because they were great games! If Halo 3 was called "Alien Destruction" or something (it's hard to think of a name), it would have sold, on word of mouth, sure. It wouldn't have crossed 10 million, though. For a game to really sell on word of mouth, it has to be like CoD4. Basically, nothing short of incredible. Tons of replay value. Easy to learn, even for those who don't play FPS. Popular genre. How many of those does Halo Wars have going for it? |
You really don't seem to like the idea that a new IP which makes a genre previously unaccessible, playable could kick start interest in that genre and rack up big sales. If Halo Wars did use the traditional clumsy controls of previous RTS then I would agree with you whole heartedly.
I wouldn't have bought the game and even the Halo tag wouldn't save it.
I doubt it would have got the sales so quickly without the halo universe but it would have eventually. Remember it's more than a name on the box. It's a continuation of the Halo universe and all the charcters,weapons etc that you can now play and use.
If that guy is in the shop and he was a CoD fan and HW was released why didn't he already have CoD? HW came out 4 months after CoD during a quiet time in the release calender. He would be looking to buy something new and I doubt he buys only FPS. You're selling him short. With the buzz around the revolutionary controls and excellent game design if he knew anything about games he would know about this exclusive. Even if he doesn't want HW there are 22 million other potential buyers. Stop pigeonholing 360 owners and using the PS fanboy nonsence that we only buy shooters and don't like variety.
Sales show that it not true.
If Halo 3 was Alien destruction it wouldn't have sold 10 mil but would have sold millions because Halo 3 is a solid game. Halo 3 is the continuation in a very successful series and Alien Destruction would be a new ip up against CoD and Halo. If Halo 3 was Alien destruction 3 and Halo 1 was Alien destruction 1 etc. then it would sell 10 million.
Assassins creed 1 was an amazing game. Easily one of the best of 2007. My first game I got 1000g, the Parkour (don't know if I've spelled that right) was so much fun.
"Basically, 1. nothing short of incredible. 2. Tons of replay value. 3. Easy to learn, even for those who don't play FPS. 4. Popular genre. How many of those does Halo Wars have going for it?"
1. Yep
2. yep
3. yep
4. yep just not on consoles but like we always hear from PS owners about 360pc exclusives they will get it on their powerful gaming rigs so I'm sure 360 owners also have good gaming rigs and previously have played RTS like C&C.
so all of it.
Also CoD4 didn't just show up and get it's sales through word of mouth. It had 3 well recieved and excellent games to establish itself on. 2 of which were on the 360 and were huge multiplayer games for live. You can still play them today online. I did recently when I was being an achievement whore.
