There's always going to be people in the chart that'll buy something. The same type of people who'll be buying Modern Warfare 2 with its price increase.

Microsoft can do whatever they like, and I'm sure that it's a smart move in the sense of business. However, I hope you see my logic of why I feel that the $60 price tag is unnecessary, and they could have easily made it cheaper while making the same profit as they could have with Halo 3 at full price (since the cost of making ODST should be lower than Halo 3's).

Standalone expansion. Not far off from what Crysis Warhead was to Crysis, and Warhead debuted at $30.

Yes, ODST should have been priced $40 at most, but why do this when it's a given it would sell for $60? It's really no different than Activision charging more for Modern Warfare 2; they do it because they know it will still sell.

I see where your coming from you have great thought behind it we just don't agree, much like I don't agree with my wife sometimes.

I personally believe more companies should stick with the same engine and make new games with it, or improved sequels/expansion packs (like ODST) because it saves companies a lot of money. Maybe KOEI was onto something for once with all those dynasty warrior games!

We constantly see companies post losses (Unless your name is Nintendo) but if they were less ambitious with their engines by not upgrading them so much they would probably see more of a profit.

I know that will hurt the graphics lovers out there, but someday your company has to land a profit and it should be through innovation and improvement in game play rather then eye candy to help save costs.

im passing on this game im waiting for l4d and demon soul

Well I think that it's in the consumer's interest for companies to push their limits, but obviously companies also need to look out for their own, and so I believe that there is a healthy balance out there somewhere. I just feel that the $60 is way too much, and goes way beyond supporting themselves and making a reasonable profit. If it was priced 30-40 (hell, even 50 I guess, as long at its less than the original game) then I have no complaints.

But agree to disagree =)

I honestly believe that M$ should have launch Halo ODST as a $49.99 product. Also, I think M$ dropped the ball this holiday season already...the 360 has a very diversified library of games, but Halo is the face of the brand, and there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING wrong with that. Mario is the face of the Nintendo brand and they aren't ashamed of it one bit! It’s a bit disappointing that they didn’t launch a Halo bundled 360.

That's the Valve business model. And it's worked quite well for them for games, success of their Steam DD service completely aside.

While they aren't exactly pushing the boundaries of game engine development, instead posting consistent smaller advancements with each new game, the Source engine is constantly improving, and most importantly, it's their own proprietary engine.

The only drawback is that Source engine games look and feel like Source engine games, much like Unreal Engine games often have a similar look and feel, even when being used by a licensee developer.

CryEngine 3 will also be an extremely viable development platform for licensee develoeprs in the near future.

But what most developers should try to avoid is falling into the EA pattern of releasing XXX Sports 20XX titles every year, even if they do still sell on the merits of licensed players, roster changes and minor updates that really shouldn't deserve an annual $60 purchase unless you are a hardcore fan of XXX sport.

Oh I forgot to mention, if you guys have a Toys R US near you they are throwing in a $20 gift card and Halo ODST figure the week it comes out.

Or you can go on Amazon and pre-order it with $10 credit towards your next purchase.

There should be more deals coming over the next few months.

yes it is, going to pay off my copy on friday. :)