I have a can of "gamer fuel", with Halo 3 and master chief's mug on it from 2007 that says you're wrong lol. Halo 3's hype may never be topped again. Halo is probably the only game ever that got to GTA big.

Don't get me wrong. I'm sure the next installment of the series will sell well. I just wonder how far into the future the series can continue. Although the idea of exploring different genres in the Gears universe, as mentioned by one of the Microsoft reps, is really exciting and might extend the series' lifespan.

As long as Microsoft didn't break the bank to secure the rights, I think it was a smart decision for all parties involved. Epic gets to move on with its life and Microsoft enlarges its stable of intellectual properties (and denies a popular series to the competition).

With a new developer, the IP can go anywhere.  The question would be if the new developer can keep what make the game a hit while adding something new including keeping the quality up.

Lol, well every main Halo has had Gamer Fuel but I do agree that the hype behind Halo 3 was second to none. I think that many would agree that Halo 4 is better than Halo: Reach (a main Halo game made by Bungie) and I personally think Halo 4 is a very good Halo (MP had some glaring issues but it was still a lot of fun) and know plenty of other people that feel that way so to say that Halo is "junk without Bungie" is something a lot of people would disagree with. Is it as good as Halo 3? I don't think so but overall it was a very good game.

That's just MY opinion. I have been playing Halo since before XBL. Back when we had to play MP through Xbox Connect on PC. I have never liked another FPS as much as I have Halo and have logged in so many hours, it's unhealthy to just THINK about it. But Halo 4, while a good effort, didn't "feel" like the other three games. The loss of o'Donnell's iconic score was a huge blow and the MP was far too COD like. The story was alright, but the foes and weapons...along with the music, just didn't have that Bungie feel. Also, Bungie.net? 343 doesn't have anything even CLOSE to it. Having the ability to watch past games you played, edit them, upload them...it was revolutionary and it felt like you were always connected.

Overall, for ME, it's just not the same. Knowing that the MP side of things died rather quickly gives me the feeling that my opinion is shared by more than just myself too. You won't find many people who say that MP was better in Halo 4 than Halo 2 or 3.  I mean loadouts? Really? lol

I actually agree with just about everything you said there. What I was trying to say is Halo: Reach was arguably not up to Halo 1/2/3 standards and that was made by Bungie...which shows that just because Bungie is making the game, doesn't mean that it is good. 

I'd say it would be better to wait until the next Halo before slagging off 343i as not competant for the Halo series. If their next Halo turns out like Halo 4 (which I felt was good but disappointingly flawed like Halo: Reach was) then you could start to say Halo is "junk" with 343. I just think it's pretty unfair to say something like that over one single game that wasn't even bad, give them some time to grow with the franchise.

BTW I actually love loadouts. My least favorite part of Halo 3 was not being able to start with a BR everytime. >_< 

Actually, that was my favorite part about Halo 3.
There was a frantic rush to get all the weapons/vehicles before anyone else and if you did so you could have a large strategic advantage, especially if you protected the area where the power weapons were preventing the enemy from obtaining them.
Reach/Halo 4 basically dropped that kind of strategic thinking in the gameplay.
Converesly, it also made the game more "accessible" as those who had intimite knowledge where all the weapons, vehicles and power-ups were lost an  advantage in later iterations of Halo.

I played allot of Halo 3 Multi, but never could get into Reach or Halo 4's multi past a few weeks from date of purchase, it just lost the "magic" that Halo 1,2,3 had for me.
Goes to show that everyone is different. :)

I don't think Halo Reach/4 are bad games per-say though, I enjoyed the single player campaigns allot (And firefight in ODST), the multi just wasn't for me.

Oh I'm not disagreeing with the power weapon strategy that was in Halo 3 (and to a lesser extent, Halo 4/Reach). I'm strictly talking about being able to start every match with a competant mid range weapon. The second worst thing about Halo 3 was when the other team was dominating and you'd spawn with just the AR and there would be a distinct lack of BR's on the map so you wouldn't have much of a chance to kill the other team because they would have all the BR's. Because of loadouts I never had that problem in Halo 4, and there was still almost always that rush to get power weapons (because almost always the same weapon would be in the same place on each map). 

It was absolutely wonderful.

Why is this negative news in eyes of some people? This is universally good news that MS is making an effort to strengthen its stable of 1st party IP's. This kills any multiplat rumors, which is good news or Xbox fans.

Gears IP 20 million over Uncharteds 18 million. 4 games a piece. Let us have a moment to let this sink in. This IP, MS's 2nd string exclusive of last gen, was bigger then freaking Uncharted, Naughty Dogs cash cow.

Yes, Gears ran its course with story and Judgement selling sub-par. However I do think it was due to the release date (non-holiday), and that Epic moved development to another studio, and thus didn't have that same level o talent/dedication. This is the chance for new creative talent and MS's cash to really inject some new life into this. Plenty of story to go on in the lores past or even the future. It is this reason why I change my stance on Gears and that it could very well turn itself around.

After all, at its peak it was bigger then Uncharted. At it's worst, it sells on par with the recent God of War, and more then the average PS3 exclusive that released throughout the gen. MS still has a winner on their hands.

MS getting their shit together and acquiring old and new IPs from 1st and 3rd parties alike. I mean this gen alone we have Ryse, Sunset Overdrive, Quantum Break, Project Spark, Titanfall, and Black Tusks other new IP. Acquiring Gears doesn't change the new things X1 is getting. Bravo MS.

Lovin it.