1. I really don't understand how any of that would affect the quality of the core series anyway. It's not like we're seeing Halo Tennis.

Posted at 3:26PM on Feb 24th 2007 by Tony

2. Yea I've been waiting forever to see Sarge in a bikini

Posted at 4:08PM on Feb 24th 2007 by Imadogg99

3. The Halo franchise has come from the launch title of some enormous black console no-one really took notice of at first, to a game almost every gamer has played at least once - almost in the same vein as Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil, or, erm, another game which is popular.

The Halo universe is very diverse and so little has been revealed that these new games might just fill in the gaps a little.

Although only true Halo fans have spent all night playing the Halo: CE campaign on co-op over, and over, and over again.

Posted at 4:23PM on Feb 24th 2007 by Insomnious

4. this is the early 90's where you could actually have an fps game that isnt too commercial.

this is halo
and halso has been very commecicial since game one, day one.

the gaming industry as a whole has become a little too over exposed now anyway. you got little idiots talking about how cool a game is thats actually pretty bad, becuzz they jumped on the game band wagon and they dunno what the hell theyre talking about.

"IMO Halo is the bestest game ever!!"

how many games have you played in your life?

"just halo so far...its sooooo awsome, I dont need to play anything else, cuzz nothing else has a chance. it'll suck. cuzz being a green marine killing machine is like original and stuff, dude!"

Posted at 4:30PM on Feb 24th 2007 by Johnny

5. @ #5.

No. You are correct. This isn't the early 90's. A game has to do more now than expose blood to get press.

So what about First Person Shooter veterans, such as myself, who has played a ton of what is out there and still love Halo? Are we not official fans of shooters? Or, are we just not as experienced as someone as good as yourself?

The answer is no. Or, more along the lines of a Hell No! Yes, with an exclamation mark. You know, most people who like this game are in their late teens - early 20's. Halo isn't popular because of little kids. Halo is popular because it has a charm that few other games have. It was an easy to learn game with an amazing Multiplayer. Millions buy it because anyone can play it and get some kills. It opens up more people to gaming, which should be the goal of any good game.

Posted at 5:13PM on Feb 24th 2007 by Zac LaCombe

6. "It opens up more people to gaming, which should be the goal of any good game."

I find this to be true. While I initially welcomed Sony's take over of Nintendo's fading charm (N64-Gamecube era) during the death Sega (tear), I came to find that the PS2 era really killed gaming for me. Sure, the RPG's were great...but that's all I ended up playing. I hated MGS, DMC, and Gran Turismo (after 2). It just wasn't doing anything for me anymore.

I moved out after college, and into a household of Halo players. My resistance to FPS was a failure, and I was sucked in. Suddenly, my gaming roots returned. It was fun again. I put more hours in Halo 2 than any other video game in 20 years (even combining all of the Final Fantasies!). Coming from a person who didn't like FPS games...that has to say something...

Posted at 6:13PM on Feb 24th 2007 by SuicideNinja

7. i'm looking forward to halo 3 although i think the amount of hype I've heard about it is starting to grate. I mean am i the only person who looks forward to playing a finished game that's completely polished. It's starting to get on my nerves, all the analyzing of every pre-release screen shot that's made available, or 'leaked'. i've got crackdown. (although i bought it for the game not for the beta) and i'm still not sure if i'll even play the beta or not. Might be worth a blast although i'll probably wait for the finished version where everythings as it should be. I just want to now how Master Chiefs gunna finish the fight.

Posted at 6:15PM on Feb 24th 2007 by purefuzz

8. Halo is overated. Just marketed to the 10th degree. When it first came out it seemed like a complete rip off from Half Life.

eh. i had enough of the masterchief fanboyism.

Posted at 7:59PM on Feb 24th 2007 by dex

9. #4 your right,when halo first came out me and my girlfreind played everyday after work for over a year,maybe not everyday but almost. when halo 2 came out we took 5 days off work so we can stay home to play it.we would beat it on legendary and start over right away-it was that much fun.i cant wait for halo 3 to come out-even bought a new samsung hdtv for it.

Posted at 8:03PM on Feb 24th 2007 by kevin hardy

10. Is it any surprise that Microsoft wants to leverage the biggest weapon in their arsenal in the console war? At least they're not pulling an EA and releasing Halo 2006, 2007, etc...

Posted at 8:53PM on Feb 24th 2007 by Gemini Ace

11. I just feel like this is Halo. It's not like Halo was originally a 2D side scrolling shooter that has only recently been commercialized. The Halo 3 hype may be higher than that of Halo 2 and much higher than the original, but it is not as if the series has had time to become this completely non-mass-marketed series. It's not as if Nintendo just suddenly treated Zelda like Mario.

Posted at 9:43PM on Feb 24th 2007 by Triforceowner

12. Isn't this what they do in japan?

Posted at 10:15PM on Feb 24th 2007 by Adam

13. Joe Chief was in space and had wepons and was a army guy but he wasnt a robot liek Master Chief so he didnt fly. Joe Chief was one day in a place and shooting wepon at targits and then got a call on the space tv in the ship that said to him "JOE CHIEF ALIENS ARE SHOTING AT SHIP COME HERE QUICK" so he went...

...then out of no where BOOM happend and the back of the espcape ship fell open n one of the army guys fell out and explodd in space then another one closed it and said "NOOOOO HE WAS MY BROTHER!" and then got tired and slept.

Best. Fanfiction. Ever.

Posted at 11:08PM on Feb 24th 2007 by Azerael

14. Well, they are like EA, in that they are hopping GoW and Halo Releases, every other year...

But still. its a KILLER App, why not market it?

Posted at 11:08PM on Feb 24th 2007 by Justin U

15. I agree Halo is a killer app, and to market it aggresively would be a mistake on Microsoft and Bungies part. They have a game that has been played by nearly the entire Xbox Live community so why not try to make as much money as they can off of it. I mean who doesn't like money.

BTW: It seems like Crackdown has become a big success becasue of it as well so something must be working right.

Posted at 1:12AM on Feb 25th 2007 by Brandon

16. I agree Halo is a killer app, and to not market it aggresively would be a mistake on Microsoft and Bungies part. They have a game that has been played by nearly the entire Xbox Live community so why not try to make as much money as they can off of it. I mean who doesn't like money.

BTW: It seems like Crackdown has become a big success becasue of it as well so something must be working right.

sorry about the mistake there, I am all for marketing Halo as fiercely as possible.

Posted at 1:14AM on Feb 25th 2007 by Brandon

17. There is something about a "major franchise" "selling out" that doesn't make any sense.
The Mario series can not sell out, and it has been marketed to hell and back.

for the weight that Halo carries on it's shoulders, as the lone franchise that people think of with xbox, it has all been done tastefully, and without over commercialization.

in the 80's and 90's selling out was when you had an action figure set and lunch boxes.
Now if you don't have those your game probably won't sell over a million.(and obviously this is a gross understatement, but people are obviously going to question putting M rated games on lunch boxes and the like.)

and to think, halo never had a saturday morning cartoon series?
does that make sonic, mario.... and even viva pinata even worse sell outs?

Posted at 8:03PM on Feb 25th 2007 by hotpuck6

18. I guess so, haha

Posted at 9:06PM on Feb 25th 2007 by GORGASM

19. Maybe Halo Volleyball where you can use the new special Spike (grenade)?

Posted at 4:20AM on Feb 26th 2007 by Josh

20. Now if Halo actually took skill to play like Counter-Strike, I would be right on that shitty mainstream bandwagon everybody else is riding.

Posted at 6:51PM on Feb 26th 2007 by iDeLine