Anyone want to track down where this phrase was first introduced and how it happened to pop up?  I happen to remember stuff regarding the original Killzone, but not sure where else it was.  I also see it coming up in the titles of magazine articles on FPS games that aren't Halo.

Of course, you get stuff like this (supposed Sony fanboy hyping stuff up):

http://www.subgamers.com/killzone-is-real...-no-jokes-this-time.-halo-killer-41205.html

IGN says that "Halo Killer" is now part of the lexicon:

http://games.ign.com/articles/821/821618p1.html

"Halo Killer" has become part of the gaming industry lexicon, a pipe dream floated by every wannabe developer hoping to make their bones by taking top honors away from the most successful first person shooter of all time. It'll be a tough climb. As a series, Halo has sold more units faster than any other game in history. Over five billion matches have been played online. Dozens of awards. Hundreds of accolades. Halo was itself a game-changer, simultaneously putting a new and untested console on the map while announcing the end of PC-shooter dominance with authority.

But the question remains, where the heck did the term first start to get used in a meaningful way?  And why did it spread in usage?

By the way, will see if Halo Wars does the same for RTS.  But that is another topic.

It probably started when Halo became the largest selling first person shooter on consoles.

Actually, the term should now be "Call of Duty Killer". Not Halo Killer.

Doom Killer should be the one to use,,,,,,,
but Halo killer is a kick ass term,,,

It predates Halo ...

Essentially, PC gamers constantly talked about upcomming games that had the potential to unseat Quake 1 and 2's multiplayer dominance as Quake Killers. Eventually Counterstrike, Team Fortress, Unreal Tournament and America's Army came along and Quake wasn't that dominant anymore and the concept of a Quake Killer died out.

The term entered into the console world mainly through discussions on BBS systems and the early internet and most big games (Zelda, Mario, Final Fantasy, etc.) have had games refered to as their 'Killer'. The reason Halo-Killer has become so dominant is because (durring the previous generation) the biggest dick-measuring contest between consoles was exclusive FPS games, and no exclusive FPS received the critical acclaim or sales success of Halo.

Based on that the term should be "Call Of Duty Killer" now if it's all about sales.

Was there a Half-Life killer ?

And now writers reach for it as a convention it seems.  Typically the follow it with a question mark.  One of the worst offenders of the past few years was Haze on the cover of Game Informer, with the words "Halo Killer?" as part of the text.

The moment Call of Duty starts to end up on Slurpee cups at 7-11 or in Kid's meals at fast foot places, then we can start talking about that.  The "Killer" term is supposed to go beyond just sales, to cultural impact.

Sierra did it with Tribes on the PS2...it's right on the box.