What about the platform JRPG lovers? What do they get?
I get his slant but no, the secret to Halo's success is timing - it launched on Xbox at the right moment to catch a big desire, particularly in US, to get PC FPS on a console at fraction of cost of HW and playable in your living room.
Halo was a good FPS that Bungie balanced very well for consoles with an interesting backstory/Universe and a nice mix of gameplay a'la a Valve title but a bit shorter and with some weak elements (to be fair to Bungie they were working to a daft deadline due to Xbox launch).
Halo 2 sealed the deal but the other stuff he's talking about came gradually as the franchise increased.
But it's secret goes back to the timing/launch of Halo, not the Forge or stuff that came after it was a done deal.
Try to be reasonable... its easier than you think...
