XBox was always known as "the Halo console" and little more. With no Halo game debuting on the 360 in its first 22 months, and sales still matching XBox despite a much higher price, as well as the surprise massive success of Gears of War, and the coming release of GTA4, it seems 360 will dodge that label.
With Halo 3's release less than 4 months away, hype should be bubbling up right now, ready to explode bigger and bigger each week in September, leading to one of the biggest debuts for a game in history. Instead, we're hearing rather mixed reviews about the Halo 3 beta.
Despite their Halo-free success so far, Microsoft obviously wanted 2007 to be "the year of Halo." They wanted Halo to be the strongest exclusive on any system, period, and be the absolute defining game of 2007. In fact, Halo IS probably the most-discussed game of the year within gaming circles, but since the beta started, not all the talk is hype. Some of it is negative. I haven't played the beta and never played either of the first two games extensively, so I can't judge if the negative reactions are justified--and they are far from being in the majority anyways. And I understand that there are legitimate reasons this beta is hugely useful to developers in improving the game. But does it matter? By allowing this mass-scale public testing of the game before launch, have Microsoft allowed the luster to wear off even before the game is released, to the extent that it will affect sales?
How much does it hurt Microsoft if Halo doesn't feel like #1 game of the year period, but just feels like one of many massive releases? Hype for games like GTA, Mario, Smash Bros., and even the likes of Rock Band and MGS, can only grow as we approach the holiday season. Halo cannot exactly be brushed to the wayside, but on the other hand, it can't really put up Halo 2-type launch numbers with <60% of the install base and twice the price threshold. ANY negative reactions to the game could be damaging, especially when coming so far before launch week, when hype should be loud enough to drown out doubts. Bottom line: was releasing a mass-scale public beta for Halo 3 a big mistake?
"[Our former customers] are unable to find software which they WANT to play."
"The way to solve this problem lies in how to communicate what kind of games [they CAN play]."
Satoru Iwata, Nintendo President. Only slightly paraphrased.
