Why Halo 4 may be the savior of First Party Titles for MS..

[sales2099]

S.T.A.G.E. said:

sales2099 said:

S.T.A.G.E. said:

Corey said:
It won't do anything for exclusives on the 360, Halo 4 is likely the last first party game (apart from kinect) that will be released on the xbox 360. Then when Next gen comes it will be the same thing all over again - Halo/forza/gears/kinect.

That's why I am so much more excited for the next generation playstation, The amount of new ips and games just for the PS3 in it's later years is amazing and I can only dream of what's to come next, on the xbox side of things it seems they are going after casuals and sticking with what works without trying anything new.

For the sake of future Xbox investors I hope Gears lasts until the end of this gen because the storyline is pretty much cooked. The Xbox hopefuls deserve better and Microsoft has taken advantage of that wholly. Microsoft hurt their launch of the 720 by launching Halo now. Seeing the way MS is doing things now I guess I could see Halo on a two year window. On the Gears end though, unless they plan on truly milking into redundancy just to make money they should really pay Epic to make them a new IP since they cant internally  make one themselves.

Gears of War Judgement is releasing on the same year as the supposed launch of the next xbox. If thats not lasting the gen I dont know what does. Its a prequel, a part of the story that wasnt explored in games and only described in the novels from certain perspectives. Yes there are 5 Gears of War Novels :)

Xbox hopefuls deserve better.....please. Halo 4 is shaping up to be everything your typical Xbox owner would want. Throw in Forza, the odd 360/PC game, and XBLA does the rest.....like Trails Evolution, Mark of the Ninja, both 90 on metacritic. Minecraft selling 3+ million as well.

You cant "hurt" a launch with Halo 4. New console launches sell with early adopters almost automatically....if the price is right. MS obviously has a plan and should have their own mega hit launch title ready to go. Hell they might even give Halo 4 a next gen facelift.

Ok.....now the last Gears line really grinds my Gears :P. There are just 3 Gears games out, 4 come next march. There are allready 3 Uncharted games, 4 out now if you count Vita. Both console franchises are 90+ on metacritic. Yet Gears has consistently outsold every Uncharted entry. So it puzzles me why you give me the impression that Gears is milked and has hit a dead end as a franchise when by all regards it has LESS entries then Uncharted right now, bigger install base/sales then Uncharted....Sonys golden child.

Check yourself next time you talk about Gears is all im saying.

It doesnt matter how many Uncharted games have come out. The game was set up to have many installments only focusing on missions than a true path and is only a sliver of time in the true history of what it means to be Nathan Drake (Pay attention bro). I'll even give you a PS3 game that has used up its time in God of War. God of War has a finite story because theres only so many gods you can kill, once they are all gone theres no point for the anger of Kratos because hes all alone. The only way God of War could ever last forever is if it involves Indra (the Indian God of War) because theres thousands of gods in Indias mythology.  

Uncharted much like a Zelda or Mario game gives no sign to a definite end of a series and doesn't aim to. That franchise could go on forever because theres always new places to find and explore. The only thing that could end that series is possibly if they decide to end abruptly with an arch that caters to that or Nolan north retires.  Assassins Creed is a franchise that can and probably will go on forever past the saga of desmond. Everyone thought it was a trilogy in the end, but found out that it is this worldwide Assassin vs Templar war that has many heroes even though they focus on one at each moment. Gears of War (even though its one of my favorite 360 games) has a finite story that has an arch that leads to a definite end my friend.You know this.....and I know this. Why have there been so many Metal Gear games? Think about it. Kojima made such a great and branching story that it left holes to be filled. Gears of War is a simple story bro.

With Halo, I always knew Microsoft would have us meet the forerunners (well not them...they are just suits but rather the creative team of 343). Four makes sense because so many of the games this gen have prequels and besides its all Microsoft has, they have to force money into it. Luckily for the Halo franchise, 343 decided to veer away from the dumb story decisions Bungie made and actually focus on the depth and mystery of the Halo (which I've been saying it was always lacking) universe in its storyline direction. Now that 343 proved me right when I pick it up I can watch the reopening up the story arch which leads of the fifth game.

When I say I feel bad for 360  only owners, its that Microsoft provides so little (dont get me wrong, think about it). Third parties do everything, but theres no culture in Microsofts first party. Microsoft has so much money and such a small vision for what they want the image of the company to be about. With Nintendo its family and friends at home gaming with mascot characters that have been around for 25 years (..and counting). With Sony they have so many characters that join in the party every generation aimed at various audiences. When the first Xbox was created it was called the "Halo Box" or the "Shooter Box" where I come from and it kind of bothered me for the sake of the world opinion of the  Xbox but of course being an American console, it kind of didn't as long as Microsoft provided a healthy dose of stable titles around the Halo name. Thats why I was so excited for it earlier in the gen, but can you blame me if I feel disappointed? Truly. I can truly say that Microsoft has created a gaming culture in Xbox Live though. If you talk to alot of gamers outside of the interwebs that is the glue that is holding the 360 together today outside of Halo and Gears. Its the only time in gaming history that I can truly say I've ever heard people say  is the golden reason they have and kept the 360. They built their friends on it. Simple.

You know as well as I do that my request of Microsoft is a simple one for their pockets.

So first 2 paragraphs talk about a never ending story arch. ok. That doesnt address my point that Gears will last the generation with Judgement (and you for some reason doubting that). I also said you think Gears is being milked when there are currently more Uncharted games out now. These 2 points have nothing to do with story arcs.

In regards to story arcs........Gears of War lore has a 80 year war called the pendulum wars that predated Eday. E day till end of Gears 3 took 15 years.Hell they can pull a Halo 4 and make a new sequel trilogy somehow. Point is I think you need to learn that Gears has a vast time period to exploit a few more games out of at least. Think about that next time you say the story arc is over.

No argument about Halo. Seems to be going in the right direction with a heavier emphasis on story. As a Halo fan and a avid reader of all the novels, its a welcome developement.

You seem to have this issue with corporations actually "making" their games. Yes MS doesnt have many 1st party studios and they have opened up some new ones this gen. But they do secure games buy making deals with 3rd parties.In the end, the result is the same: 360 gets games that Nintendo or Sony dont get. What does it matter to you if it was made by MS employees or not? Again, the result is the same.