Wii Sports is a franchise... Wii Fit is a franchise... Brain Age is a franchise. All 3 are also above Halo. Who knows Nintendogs might end up being above Halo if the 3DS game has legs for the 3DS' life. Animal Crossing is also arguably bigger.

I also don't see where he singles out the PS3? The only things "singled out" are GTA and CoD, with both available on Nintendo platforms in one way or another.

Halo Reach outsold GT5.....without including its downloadable bundle sales last year. But even then id factor Time into this comparison. This gen weve seen Halo 3,ODST, Halo Wars, and Halo Reach. On the otherside weve only seen GT5 and GT PSP. Total Halo sales this gen >>>>> total GT sales this gen. It isn't enough these days to be a one hit wonder, you need consistency to be fresh in the minds of the gamer. 

My forum died over a year ago. I closed registration and let it die. Too much effort for maintenance personally. 

On topic.......they could simply mean that COD, GTA, and Halo are all "M" rated "core" franchises.

None of Nintendos franchises are rated M and most of their install base is children (sorry but true).

MS could have been simply implying that Nintendo or Sony dont have a M rated, core franchise like Halo.

I think we can assume that they implied this towards sony, but we can throw in the Wii exclusives cause they are exclusives. I will agree to disagree with the original statement. I will recognize that Halo is one of the biggest franchises in gaming history, no doubt. I played it with some friends on local and online multiplayer but it's not my cup of tea. I still think Gran turismo is the bigger franchise. Granted, it has lost some steam. I assume because the games have been so far apart. Halo has produced a lot of games this gen (Halo wars, Halo 3, ODST, anniversary or the remade one, Halo Reach and now Halo 4) while Gran Turismo has put out...I wanna say 2. GT5 prologue and GT5 which were like 4 years apart so Halo has gained a ton of momentum. 

To summarize, I believe GT is still a bigger franchise than Halo. However, with the recent uprise of the FPS, Halo will continue to grow and it could possibly become a bigger overall franchise than GT. Then again, it's two very different genres of gaming so it's not even much of a big deal. 

Halo is a beast no doubt but I think the dude in the article jump the gun on "biggest exclusive."

Did you just refer to GT5 as a "one hit wonder"? 

Also, consistancy doesn't always work, especially on every year releases (with the exception of COD and the sheeple playing it every year.) If you ask me a top tier franchise  is one which games can't be replace within the next year. Its games withstand the test of time and still be relevant. Sure, franchises grow with the more exposure they get but I don't like having my game replaced just one year later and have it lose its value cause you know, you got the "new" one out the next year, ESPECIALLY if said game has multiplayer and all the people which I played with would have moved on. 

I commend Halo for not being milked, that's something that happens far too often with these juggernauts (See Guitar Hero and AC)

Lastly, I didn't word it properly but where you bolded me, I meant that as my opinion, hence the "as far as I'm concerned" but to avoid any further animosity, I personally believe that GT is a bigger franchise than Halo.

one hot wonder meaning one real game this whole gen. I dont consider Prologue a second game because well......its a prologue to GT5. 

I agree with you that truly great games cant be replaced within the same year. But GT5 is mostly accepted as falling below the bar it was expected to meet and 5.5 years? cmon, thats an insult to Sonys supposed flagship franchise.

Flagships should have 3 year dev times. Halo 3, Reach, and now Halo 4. 4's a 2 year dev cycle after Reach but then again it was overlapped with Bungie making Reach so its still a 3 year made game. Halo Wars, ODST, and Halo CEA are entertaining bonuses to keep the fans occupied in the meantime. 

If your counting PS1 and PS2 GT sales when saying its still a bigger franchise, then I concede that. But this gen, its long dev cycles and being a victim of the bar set by the predecessors, its lost some steam where as Halo is getting bigger. Hell if you factor in just this gen Halo allready took the crown of biggest exclusive between MS and Sony. 

Maybe Lardmer makes blunders like this on purpose, to see if his minions really love him and how much. Then I guess he'll be quite disappointed by the embarrassing excuses they found for him.

Ók, what I learned from this thread?

Different people have different ideas of what a Franchise is. Great ...

/usefulness of topic