Here's a conversation on IM between myself and Adam Orth, designer at Sony who worked with me on TM:Black, Calling All Cars. He also worked on some of the Medal of Honor games over at EALA. Enjoy!
And Halo fans...my flame suit is on, so do your worst! Just read the whole fucking thing :)
David
++++++++++++++++
AIM IM with adamorth.
11:47 AM
Adam: give me a fucking break:
http://kotaku.com/gaming/tease/the-teaser-for-the-halo-3-teaser-299105.php?autoplay=true
Jaffe: It's a decent add I think. I just don't get HALO. I don't think the story is all that special, don't think the world or characters matter much. I don't know if I am simply not 'getting it' and it really is all that...or Microsoft has simply purchased rabid fan reactions for what is a great game but nothing more.
Adam: that ad is insulting
"belive"?
come on
Jaffe: Am I missing something?
What's insulting about it?
Adam: well, for 1, i think it's disrespectcful to actual veterans of real wars
and 2, they really expect people to become that invested in the halo story?
i guess i just really dislike halo and that ad aint helping
Jaffe: well that's what I mean about buying the hype. I don't dislike Halo at all and really liked parts of Halo 2 alot...I am in minority who felt single player halo 2 was better than halo 1 single player. I mean, I hear people talk about the flood and shit and I'm like: what? Who gives a shit.
Adam: halo = meh
Jaffe: As for disrespect, come on...like Medal of Honor has not been doing he same for a long time. They talk about how important the games are and they are so earnest about it but come on, they are shooters. If they really cared about doing it right, they would give the MOH teams 3 years schedules and make Bioshock meets MOH...in terms of story and character and production value. And they would make THAT the game Spielberg was directing for them.
Adam: respectfully, i'll totally dosagree with you there. MOH games take alot of care to not be disrespectful it's one of the things they do right
JaFFE: While I LOVED MOH:Underground (top 10 games of all time for me) and dug the first one on PS2, emotionally, the most moved I ever was by MOH was with the music and seeing it played likve over a montage of soldiers at Video Games Live.
Adam: well, i guess i have a different insight than you do having sat with veterans and taklked about their experience and how it relates to the games...
Jaffe: It's not an issue of disrespect to the troops. It's an issue of them riding on the sentimentality of people when they talk about how much they care and understand the sacrifice of the soldiers and then put out a sub par shooter that has nothing to do in the play mechanics or design with the sacrifice the soldiers went thru. It's all window dressing that shows either the team doesn't understand how to apply the history 'under the hood' and apply it to the play itself OR it shows that EA does not care about the message at all, and it's all a way to market the game./
ADAM: i agree that most of the finished products veer off from the original intent. it's big problem at EA for MOH
JAFFE: They can cram all the sappy music and interviews with vets on the disc they want...but the game, the product they are actually selling, does not make me feel any closer to the vets sacrifice than any other shooter.
Hey- can I post this discussion on my blog if I don't put your name>?
ADAM: you can post my name...
JAFFE: sweet- sadly it will rile up halo fans...hope they see that I DO LIKE HALO! I just don't get the religious fervor and feel much of the fervor has been purchased by Microsoft. But they'll still hate me
ADAM: fuck halo
JAFFE: well they don't have your name! You can say that! Anyway- ok, gotta go! See ya! And please, for the love of God: LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE!!!!!
ADAM: actaully, i stand by what i said, you can print my name, just leave out "fuck halo"
JAFFE: shit really? Ok.
ADAM: ok, print it
fuck it
JAFFE: cool, you got it.
++++++++++++++++
So there you go...well hey, I thought it was fun!
David
Posts
289 comments:
1 – 200 of 289 Newer› Newest»IMTO,
(In My Twisted Opinion,)
I think the main reason I don't like Halo is because of who your enemies are - fluorescent gremlins! In fact I think the color scheme of the entire game is too friggin bright and, well, colorful! I can't take it seriously because of the damn colors! What's the matter with me! I mean, I want the bad guys I'm after to be a little more menacing. This whole "Believe" bullshit is really great marketing, but I just laughed at it.
But then, I think the colors are more suited to science fiction stuff, so maybe it's just me - I'm not too into science fiction.
Joaquin
P.S. - HALO SUCKS ASS!!!
...because of the color scheme.
I'm glad some one has the balls to say it!
HALO might not suck as a game, but Microsoft's bullshit marketing spew fest bullshit makes me fucking ill
I don't really care for the Halo story. I like Halo 2's story more then Halo:CE, but the both weren't anything special. I find a lot of people like the Halo Franchise because it’s pretty much idiot proof (along with a lot of other FPS). By that I mean it doesn't take any
"Skill" to play and do well. I don't seem to care about all the little things like Adam seemed to but I don't work in the business, it’s just my hobby/obsession. But they still
That being said I have also logged 8000+ online games (XBL = MOLE MAN21). I love the online (except for all the annoying people) I used to play it for the levels but now I just play with my friends for fun. It’s a great way to get my friends together online now that we are all in different places (University/College). I’ve tried to get my friends to be interested in other games online (BF2, Socom, and even Calling All Cars) but it always gets back to Halo.
While I'll be picking up Halo 3 it's not at the top of my most wanted list, not even in the top 3.
P.S I hope any of that made sense.
I agree with Adam. FUCK HALO! I am so tired of everybody acting likes it's the best fucking series ever. You know what a far superior series is? Metal Gear. For 20 years those games have been nothing but as close to perfect as possible. Sorry Jaffe I can't say Twisted Metal because of what 989 Studios did to it back in the day. God of War does have a strong chance at being the best game trilogy ever though. No major fuck ups so far:)
... Thank you!!! Halo is so overated i playedd Combat evolved for 7 hours and got tired of it. Its so reptive kill this,give your self a yay then do it over again. Also the lag is 'effin INSANE!!! ill stick whatever else on the MMO list ...
fuck shit fuck fuck shit fuck shit bullshit fuck shit bullshit fuck
add a few more words, and you've got yourself: this blog!
That you two don't find the Halo world particularly exciting isn't exactly surprising considering your employment history, and I've given up trying to distinguish between PR opinions and those genuinely felt by people in the industry.
But that a man who's worked on Medal of Honour [of all games] has the gall to label these brilliantly tailored ads as being disrespectful to veterans... that's just taking fanboyism to perverse levels.
You two are welcome to your opinions and nobody denies you them, but frankly you're doing the entire industry a disservice by posting this kind of... mud slinging. I don't care what your views on the game are, I just know that you would never catch someone from Bungie writing this kind of flamebait.
adam orth here:
clarifications:
1 - i dislike halo as a game because i feel that it's mostly style over substance. as a shooter, i feel like the controls are sludgy and the AI isn't as good as it should be in regards to taking cover and more advanced battle tactics. don't even get me started on multiplayer...the most non-fun you can have online. i stand by my opinion of the series but am willing to be proven wrong with halo 3.
2 - i am not a bad speller, just a bad IM/fast-typer.
matthew,
I don't think I am mud slinging. I said I liked Halo and said it was a great game. I have a buddy who works on Halo and he and they should all be proud of the major contribution to pop culture they have made. I would love to have the talent to contribute in such a way one day.
But what, we can't have and share- on my own blog- critical discussions about marketing practices and the fact that we both feel the game is a bit overhyped? And hell, most of what we were talking about was MOH.
Are you one of those guys who also can't comprehend that you can still love America but hate the president?
David
^^^^
:D Jaffe, that I think is called selective hearing.. or in this case selective reading.
People are to touchy feely these days and you just said something bad against something, someone feels strongly about ( HALO < MOH < the Prez.. anything I don't care)
Even if you present an argument that is balanced and covers all sides, people tend to focus on the negative , just so they can attack you. It is an annoyance of this society but I am a believer that one day we will be normal again.
:)
Until then Fuck Halo .. Fuck it for taking me away from my wife and kids the next few weeks :)
"ADAM: fuck halo"
Sums up what I have to say. It's not the God of games, it's not "teh greatest game evar!!!11", it doesn't hold a candle to anything. Pfft, give me Half-Life's story over Halo's garbage. At least in HL you got a sweet gravity gun and throw shit at Combine forces. Literally.
If you look a little deeper into what matthew was saying, I think he may have meant that the "disservice" to the industry was from saying a game company was disrespecting the armed forces.
Come now people, we all want to see that game that makes us feel like something really important is happening - it draws us into the story. It doesn't matter how realistic the setting is, wars are faught everywhere and honor is a universal theme. So, saying that a work of art is disrespectful because it want's to invoke an epic sense of importance may be a little over the top.
So I see where Matthew may have been coming from.
Still, Halo sucks ass and I laughed at the "believe" campaign.
No disrespect indended.
hee... hee... hee...
Joaquin
Never played Halo, and I probably never will.... Apparently I am not missing much, seeing as how I missed the whole "HALO in College" boat and I'm not 8.
It's that time of year again...
I agree. Fuck it in it's stupid ass.
Halo is not the be-all-end-all of FPSs. I'm tired of hearing about it. At most, its a solid shooter that does a handful of good things, while failing at loads of others.
A few examples:
(Good)
1) Well written and funny voice work for the enemy AI.
2) Fun vehicle physics that encourage you to playing around with them and trying new things.
3) The shared co-op experience. Split screen or online... playing with friends make's it more fun.
(Bad)
1) Weak, unoriginal storyline. Mash some basic sci-fi themes with the space marines from Aliens... Believe... ya, sure.
2) Weak AI. Just because the AI makes funny comments when you stick then with a grenade doesn't make the AI good.
3) Repetitive, uninspired level design. If I see one more cut-and-pasted corridor/hall I think I'm going to puke. "Wasn't I just in this place?"
4) Boring, unbalanced weapons. I'm sorry... why even bother with an automatic rifle if I can kill someone faster with the pistol?
I could go on, but I've got better things to do tonight.
All and all, I think all the Halo love is really just misguided love. The love doesn't come from how great the game is, or was, it comes from the shared experiences you had with friends.
A test for all you Halo lovers out there, trying playing Halo 3 just by yourself. Stay away from split screen and stay away from online. Now tell me how great it is.
Halo is definitely overrated if you compare it to most PC games. As far as console shooters go though, Halo is up there. It got dual analog stick control down well, it looked really good, and it had so many customization options for multiplayer that console gamers just hadn't really seen up until that point.
I don't have a huge raging boner for Halo, but for what it does it does extremely well, at least in the multiplayer aspect of things. Single-player wise, I think Halo is merely average. They really tried with Halo 2 to flesh out the story and in the end it just felt incomplete and a little messy.
Microsoft does market the shit out of the game though, so that is also a major factor in its extreme popularity.
I think the "disrespectful" reasoning is pretty week. In fact I don't think that the reason Adam disliked the ad at all.
I think its because he dislikes Halo.
You know why I think that, because that what he fuckin said. ;)
you are what we like to call fanboys if you dont like halo that much go fuck yourself. And if you cant get the story your so fuckin stupid and actually how is halo not honoring soldiers when they let the armies in iraq play halo 3 go get a fucking shine box you retard
P.S. YOUR MOM SUCKS DICK HARD AND YOU LIKE COCK BECAUSE YOUR GAY YOU FUCKING FAGGOT I HATE YOU YOU ARE SO FUCKING STUPID YOU ARE SUCH A FUCKING RETARD GO GET A LIFE YOU PIECE OF SHIT NEXT YOUR GOING TO COMPLAIN THAT YOUR MOMS BJ'S ARENT GOOD ENOUGH YOU PIECE OF SHIT FUCKTARD
FUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCK
FUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUVFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOU
FUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOU
NO, YOU'RE MOM'S BLOWJOBS ARE NOT AS GOOD ENOUGH TOO....YEAH....DUMMY!
BURN!!!!!
I LOVE YOU,
DAVID
NO YOUR MOM'S BLOW JOBS ARE NOT GOOD ENOUGH HA BECAUSE I PAYED HER
Ahh, the interweb at its finest :) Thank fuck for anonymous comments.
I'm kind of surprised to see all the Halo bashing going on here, considering how few console FPSs match or exceed its level of polish. I can understand Adam's remark about the sluggish controls, but poor AI?? Boring multiplayer?? I just don't see it...
As for the H3 marketing campaign, I choose to ignore most of it. I'd rather enjoy the game for what it is than buy into all the mainstream hype.
Snaps for the MC :)
Halo's hype was bought and was also situational.
I mean, really, if Halo reamined a PC only shooter, there's no chance it would of come close to its current form. It simply would not stood out on PC because though it's a great game, it's not a special game.
It's only special because it was the best the Xbox offered (not exactly saying much in terms of FPS at the time) and MS put so much marketing into it.
I'm not going to enter into the Halo debate. I'm not a rabid fanboy but I do love the series and I really like the world it is set in (helps a lot to have read some of the back story as in The Fall of Reach - only book on a game I've read).
That others don't buy into it as much I have no problem with.
However suggesting that the trailer is disrespectful to soldiers is a load of hooey.
It is a fictional tale about a war... in such a fictional world would it not be expected that after the war vets may be interviewed in the same way real vets are today?
Why should that concept be off-limits? In the name of what God of ridiculous over-sensitivity can such an opinion be held.
If you want to run that line then there is far more disrespect involved in trivialising the lives of real soldiers by turning the titles into naught but a game.
I personally don't believe that either but if you are going to hold that filming a fictional scene that would likely happen in a fictional universe is offensive to real world soldiers how can you not also hold that it would be offensive to make a game out of their struggle?
I'm not sure it's fair to compare Halo to a PC shooter. The interfaces are way too different. Just look at Doom 3 on the console (or, even better, the original Half-Life port on PlayStation 2) -- the control schemes (among other things) just don't transfer over well. So Halo is very special...for a console FPS.
Halo is overrated. It's not even as good as an orgasm and those are free.
I couldn't care less what you two think about Halo but Orth's hypocrisy and comments made me hate him instantly. I guess I won't be playing the shitty Medal of Honor sequels or any future games set during the Second World War that he may work on.
"MOH games take alot of care to not be disrespectful it's one of the things they do right"
It trivializes war, violence, friendships, and the sacrifices which were made, but I agree that it's not disrespectful. It's a caricature and reimagining of the war, but it's not disrespectful. It would have to strive to be an actual historical representation or contain some artistic merit for it to receive my respect or disrespect. Halo on the other hand is pure fiction, and this ad is just creating a previously unseen depth to the universe. I think it's well done.
Real WW2 vets appearing in promotional material for a WW2 game, however, would be in bad taste. Maybe you should interview more vets to gain the insight to see that distinction.
That's why I love, man. You're a clear voice in this ever constricting industry of image and the all mighty dollar sign. Keep it up.
Y'know, Halo is a good solid game, but it has never brought anything new or innovative to the genre. It's should be better know for it contribution of bridging console gaming to PC gaming, rather than being known for it’s hype factor, and a “ism” to a power ranger generation of fanboys who have lost so much in touch with reality that they religiously live for that game - Not to mention the media pandering to that segment of the gaming community, too afraid to bring up any criticism about it. I’ll be glad when they finally kill off the Master chief by unmasking him, taking away that mystique of his that has been built up for the past 6 years. Bungie will finally be free to pursue in creating new IPs, and I wish them well in that. But Halo has to die, for the sake of all the fanatical zealots out there.
You don't like Halo!? *GASP* But Halo 2 had excellent features like texture and model popping and scripting errors. Did you try the online mode? If you haven' put up with 14 year olds with a Napoleon complex then you are missing out my friend.
/sarcasm
But in all seriousness, Halo is a game that has thrived solely on marketing. Anyone old enough to remember the fact that it was originally meant for release on Apple platforms is likely old enough to remember that Microsoft has a habit of marketing inferior products to an eager public. Look at Vista.
Jaffe, best blog ever! Go back to being highly controversial!
Every unit Halo sells is what Bioshock deserves, and more.
MOH and Halo are both mediocre games.
I also think MOH is highly disrespectful and for anyone from that team to trash Halo is totally hypocritical. The only way EA is careful is in trying not to be offensive.
That game is clearly about exploiting the Saving Private Ryan market, attempting to cram in some fake emotions, taking unearned dollars, and giving WWII games a bad name.
At least Saving Private Ryan was respectful. They should call MOH, WWII GONE WILD: RAW WWII ACTION. Cause it's nothing but a cheesy action game with terrible story, plot (non-existent), and gameplay.
If they actually practiced what they preached maybe they would dedicate a real team, time, & budget to create a real story people can digest, and not have wack-a-mole slaughter 1000's of Germans Rambo-style gameplay.
As for Halo... meh. I'll buy it but will I care? Probably not. Gears of War beat them at their own game except at least Gears looked good.
There's a lot of crap talked about how halo revolutionised shooters, or was incredibly influential, but when you try to nail people down to how, all they can come up with is recharging health bars, and that the grenades work quite well.
I enjoyed Halo, but not enough to buy Halo 2, and not enough to care about halo 3, although the multiplayer is looking pretty sweet. But there are so many better games, and so many better shooters, its not even funny. The story was better than most game stories, but most game stories are shit. Anyone who's read any decent Sci-Fi will think the story pretty generic.
I can see how people might think Halo is the greatest game ever, but only if they're 14 years old.
As for Halo "proving an FPS can work on a console", well, MoH beat that to the punch by 2 years and an entire console generation. Perfect twin-stick action, that put the still great Goldeneye's single stick clunkiness to shame.
Still, Peter Moore said Halo is this generation's Star Wars, so I'm looking forward to seeing the Covenant getting whooped by Ewoks in numero 3.
Oh no colors, what a terrible game!!
/sarcasm
fucking idiot, the only reason you dont like halo is because its on the xbox, if it was on a PS system you would go gaagaa over it.
It is rather refreshing to see, read & hear cander in the industry especially nowadays. There's always been health competition in the industry with jabbs back and forth with the dualers of the console battles but I must say since MS joined the battle it's really gone insane.
I trully believe MS puts flash before substance and it shows in their games but their stlye of marketing have really made sheep of a lot of gamers.
I remember when halo:ce came out and months later all I'd seem to hear and read was "OMgosh, OMgosh, halo halo halo..." and I said - hey, I got to give this thing a whril, it seems like an uber gaming experience. I don't want to miss out on this - and when I played it I was soooo baffled. I couldn't undersatnd what the whole bruhaha was about. It was a decent FPS but where was this "OMg OMg..." factor? I chalked it down to me not understanding the greatness of it and moved on.
Then Halo2 came along and we all remember the marketing blitz that went on for that one and ofcourse I felt obligated to play this thing. I actually played halo:ce again just to see if I could "get it" now or maybe halo2 would make me "get it"... but no. I actually got very bored at a lot of points in halo2 and I actually think they did a little better job on the story in halo:ce.
I don't think they ever imagined halo was going to garner this cult like status (I'm still utterly baffled about this too I must admitt but I chalk it up to fantastically excuted marketing... like 2K's PR job on bioshock :); come on, 10s? yeah uhm OK)and this shows with the series cause I can kinda tell they didn't really have a plan for a trillogy. I think they just went with the flow. I'm sure halo3 will be a fine game but then again, I really do feel that had the halo series been on the PlayStation initially it would have just been yet another decent game in the collection battling it out the likes of Red Faction and others... maybe Red Faction would have benfited from the competition too lol
Yes the MP is fun but please tell me how many half decent MP shooter wouldn't be fun with a constant stream of 20,000 gamers? The best thign about the halo series has got to be it's musical score. That thing is jsut bad assed! It gets you so pumped... but then when playing the game, it feels like a massive anti-climax.
Oh and another thing, my handle around the gaming community is Chubear. I don't really like this anonymous thing; it makes me feel like I'm hiding in the shadows and I don't feel I have anything to hide. I don't get the "OMg, OMg halo" thing and I'm not shy to state it either.
I dont understand why people are getting so hung up on "not getting" Halo.
Maybe its because they are spending too much time thinking about other factors, the whole xbox, sony, fanboys, marketing stuff...etc
Halo is just a simple story, you open your mind to it, get lost in it...isn't that what games are about?
When it first came out, i turned my nose up at it... dismissing it as "just another shooter"
Years later i decided to read the Fall of Reach, was an decent enough book but it got me curious as to how the game was, started to get into the game, loved the open world, the graphics - halo ring off in the distance.. the music (jesus the music!!), the comical chatter of the grunts when their elite gets killed...the feeling of auctally being in a large battle.
Halo does alot of things wrong, but it also does alot of little things right, those little things all form together to make it what is.
Now with the upcoming Halo 3 i'm getting excited to finally "finish the fight", the latest adverts of the veteran, set the tone of the whole thing nicely..
Just open your mind to the story and stop thinking of the other crap thats clouding you.
Oh yea calling all cars was fantastic. Your a moron David. Why not focus on games you are developing instead of soiling your panties over a game developed by another studio.
Hate on it all you want but it comes down to you are jealous. When was YOUR last big game? God of War ... you had a good run.
While I enjoy the Halo games more then any of the games you have worked on, the believe advertising does make me cringe a bit.. Props on the God of War games though.
By the way how is this ad more insulting to war vets then any other science fiction/war movies. Gotta hate people who look for something to offend them.
First of, why all the hating? he said he likes the game...
fuck halo, but more so, FUCK M$.
I remember reading about a large open world with a completely open story where one could choose where and what to do. Then MS came along bought the studio(bungie) and changed everything into a linear game fitting for 10year olds (shiny bright colors and monsters throwing them self in front of your cross hair).
Halo had the potential too be what none had ever before and instead it was dummied down, il never forgive ms for that.
So yeah, good blog btw Jaffe!
I am one of those people who feels Halo has gone through this mass market metamorphosis that is unwarranted. Look, Halo was a great shooter. The original game, to me, was the kind of game that could of had an impact like Ico. But Microsoft flat out pimped the license. Hell, they bought Bungie TO pimp out the license. Now, to see Halo on fast food meals, MT.Dew and controller decals, I just think the series is going to go the way of The Matrix movies. Each game parallels a Matrix flick. Here goes:
The Animatrix = Halo Wars
The Matrix = Halo
Reloaded = Halo 2
Revolutions = Halo 3
We know how great the first Matrix flick was. The first time seeing it equaled playing Halo for the first time. It was great. Reloaded was ok, not terrible. Maybe you wished there was more Neo flying and shit, but overall it was fun. But Revolutions? Revolutions punched you in the gut with disappointment. This is what it has become.
well... to be honest to fully appreciate the Halo story line you kinda have to do more than play the game... you need to read all 4 novels, the graphic novel, and the new comic book series. That will really open your eyes to the back story of master chief and the whole battle against the covenant. Also with the exception of Kratos is it really fair to compare the ingenousnous of Halo characters to the likes of God of War. Those characters like Cerebus and Ares have been around since before Jesus. Master Chief=Kratos in armor. As for your Medal of Honor comments I disagree about being disrespectful and my uncle James Jordan was one of the people saving private ryan was made after... but I think Medal of Honor is garbage campared to revitalised Call Of Duty series...
Thanks for listening
Dru
by the way... I think you are the Ted Turner of video games.... Uwe Boll Director of God Of War Movie FTW
All games have awful marketing spin, it's to pull in the vacuous, open mawed majority who live their lives by what their tv's tell them. Don't act like god of war doesn't have some thick marketing in it. Most people talk about how amazing it is before even playing it. It's fanboys, pure and simple.
That, however, does not, and never should detract from the game itself. It seems evident that the "fuck Halo" dude is simply trying his best to oppose Halo based on everything but the game itself. Who gives a shit about it's marketing. Fact, visually it was beyond anything else released at the time. Fact, the multiplayer contingent was fair nigh on legendary. And a final fact, the fanbase of actual players is massive.
Talk shit about it all you like, those three points are untenable. So next time "Adam" feels like ripping into Halo, I recommend he do it with the game, not everything surrounding it. T'will be a far harder task.
As much as the you dickwads would like it to be, your opinions are not fact. There are alot of gamers who really love Halo, and those of you who don't should a least be happy that there is a game that other gamers are enjoying.
All of you need to add "IMO" to every one of your post.
I think Halo is a great game to play but I do agree with the point that the single player campaign story is a bit thin on the ground and pretty numbing really. The 1st one was like "crap, I gotta kill all these guys before they kill me". The second was like "now, I gotta kill all these guys to save humankind". and the third is going to be like "now, I gotta kill all these guys to save the planet".
It's pretty much the "stupid" action game and, so long as you realise that you aren't going to be expecting any big twists in the storyline other than "I'll need a bigger gun to take down a bigger enemy", you'll do alright.
HALO SERIES > EVERY OTHER VIDEO GAME EVER MADE AND OVER PS3 AND Wii COMBINED BITCH. HATE IT OR LUV IT THE "OVERRATED" GAMES ON TOP AND ITS GONNA SELL UNTIL MICROSOFT STOPS. GO AHEAD, ENVY IT. I ALWAYS LIKE TO SAY ENVY AND JEALOUSY DOESN'T GET U ANY WHERE. KEEP HATIN ON IT CUZ THAT JUS SHOWS HOW MUCH ITS REALLY AFFECTING U.
David Jaffe makes games for Sony, suddenly his blog gets alot of halo hate... coincidence?
I didnt really expect any of the comments made here to be "out of the ordinary" given the target market.
No offense to your blog Dav, you play the cards your dealt.
Not really worth the hate. I played Halo before anyone knew what it was... which was launch day of the Xbox. I really enjoyed it. The second one has superior multiplayer and stumbled on the single player (the story aspect of it. Seems they forgot what made the first one more immersive. good ideas, poor execution).
I do believe the two games are two of the very best I've played in fifteen years... so I guess you just don't like it. Oh well.
I'm no fan of Halo, the only way I could stomach the first one, was playing it co-op with a friend and beating it in a night. However, that being said the MOH series has gone to shit far more than Halo ever would.
I agree that MOH:underground was probably the last good one. Today, the game is all about concept, and nothing else. Oh, wow you can land anywhere you want, but once you land it the same old assembly line of germans running into fire. I remember in the demo at least the AI was rediculas.
I think MOH, needs to take some advice from Jaffe and spend some more time on it, and also go the way of CoD and get out of WW2, go to Vietnam, or maybe even way back to the revolutionary war. Think about it, you can only shot a bullet once every minute, now that brings strategy ;)
As a veteran, I am not insulted by the "Believe" ad, nor do I have trouble "getting it".
Actually, to the contrary. With public opinion against the war for as long as it has been, that tide of public opinion is also starting to move against our servicemen and women. We forget that most--certainly not all--believe in what they're doing and believe they can win. They see every day the changes we're making in the countries in which we are deployed. Its the civilian community that don't "get it". They don't understand the sacrifice. They see Marines and soldiers being killed. They keep a tally. But they forget that the sacrifice is far greater than a bunch of kids dying in a foreign land. These are young men and women, willingly laying down their lives for a cause they believe in. It makes the sacrifice far greater than most civilians will ever understand.
I get the ad. I don't know if it is the right time for it, but I hope that it also bring attention back to the fact that there are wars being fought around the world. There are people out there in combat right now. And they believe.
When the games came out the they WERE awesome now there just mediocre. However its only this year that I've become bored of H2 Multi player (single player ages ago). But there both have some brilliant levels I still enjoy Assault on the control room and Metropolis. I do think that anyone who came to the game late wont enjoy it anywhere near as much as someone replaying it who played it early on. Its faults are kind of glaring nowadays and it no longer has a wow factor to cover them
I don't think it is possible to accurately represent the sacrifice a soldier makes in real life...Unless you have electrodes shock you every time you get shot and that after two hits it's game over...no re-spawns...but even that is nowhere close to it.
The fact that they try to market the game as some sort of realistic historical war is in direct contrast to the actual gameplay, that feels less than realistic.
I do like Halo, but it's not in my best FPS ever list.
I noticed in God of War 2 that Kratos pierced the eye of the colossus at the very start of the game.
3.5 years ago I saw a shooting star and I gained CLEAR perception. 1 year ago I LoSt CLEAR perception and I noticed the !!!EYE!!! theme in God of War 2.
I am desperate to regain CLEAR perception but I can't find any person willing to put a pinch of salt in their own eye!
I am DESPERATE FOR ANSWERS, If you can answer any of my questions please contact me on:
Joshua_paul7@hotmail.com
Frankly, the game is a AAA franchise, due to its excellent, polished gameplay and high production values. Its story is not very good and its characters are generic. So have fun playing the game, it's a good one.
However, the marketing campaign that Microsoft has dreamed up is sickening. They have Halo 3 drinks, Halo 3 and pontiac, halo 3 and burger king, etc. etc., which is way over the top and basically is manufacturing hype instead of letting the game's merits determins the hype. Pulling this 'war vet' stunt is completely unethical, since it is a morally shallow game about space marines shooting aliens in a fictional sci-fi universe. It's obvious that people who work at sony have a biased viewpoint since the PS3 is about to receive a bodyblow from Halo 3, but this time they have it right. It's a fun game, but using consumers like offal is sick, and using war to pursue a game is low on the level of war profiteering. The only thing I'm wondering is why the marketing association didn't ban this campaign in the first place.
I'm not sure what you wanted to accomplish with this tirade.
It's either a brilliant social expose on fanboyism (eyes all caps profanity laced comments) or an honest expression of your opinion of a game. In the end, it only comes off as professional jealousy and drags the art of gaming down.
You only contribute to mainstream media's proclamations that gaming as an industry is still juvenile and doesn't deserve to be called art. Is it any wonder Time magazine calls gamers antisocial, lonely and pathetic when the very voices of the industry rant like the lowliest fanboys?
How do you ever expect gaming and game development to evolve into a mainstream, respected artform when you post garbage like this simply because you wanted to bring outraged fans to your blog. Do you see IBM or Apple engineers raving against Vista? How about Steven King ranting against Dean Koontz. Sam Raimi "dissing" Peter Jackson's work? They are professionals in respected industries. Of course you are entitled to your opinion, but "fuck halo" is hardly the most professional way you could express it.
As to Halo being mediocre, I consider it (and God of War, btw) two of greatest examples of video game art ever made. I certainly haven't been "purchased by microsoft". Metacritic, Gamerankings and Gamestats all prove that game critics worldwide agree. Perhaps they were "purchased" as well? But I'm not going to berate anyone who disagrees.
I guess in summary, I'm an adult gamer who grew up gaming and love my hobby. I would like for it to be considered mainstream and get the same respect other artforms do. You are not helping.
orth here,
thanks to everyone for the vast amount of emails expressing support and hate. my only comment on the situation can be found here:
http://web.mac.com/adamorth/iWeb/adam%20orth/halo..html
orth here again,
sorry, missed the last part of the link in previous post:
http://web.mac.com/adamorth/iWeb/adam%20orth/halo..html
This Orth guys is obviously a Fanboy. Just look at the way he gets upset and trashes a game. I alos love all the Sony fanboys who rush in here and start agreeing, you guys seriously need to get a clue. Games are about fun and thats all. Halo, GOW, and every other game made is about fun....and Halo is really really fun!
Even as fun as it is it has faults, sometimes the campaign can get laborious and but GOW also got that way to, so why dont they talk about that? HMMMMM!
Bottom line is that yall fanboys will not stop Halo form being popular. If you don't like the hype then thats fine, but it doesn't change the fact that it will sell more then any Sony game ever made by Jaffe or Orth...the real reason they both complain!
please it owns stupid ass sony
YEA!!!!! FUCK HALO!!!!!
Microsoft makes such a big deal about Halo, they don't even care about any other games that comes out for there system, they have so many other good games on there system but everything goes to HALO, thats why other developers shouldn't waste they're time make game for Microsoft, because they show know respect to other games in they're library, all the praise goes to HALO.
Haha, this is great. A conversation between two guys that made a game about a fuckin' clown driving a bread truck and crashing it into everyone...lol
So, this is what Sony butt munchers do when they get scared, the have 30 minute chats about a game that "They don't get", "they hate", and most importantly they are afraid of. Funny though, had sony made halo I believe that Jaffe would misteriously FULLY understand everything about it.
First off dickheads, halo is sci-fi it's not trying to mimic any of the world wars. The ad with the veteran is simply that; an ad. I personally thought it was effective for what it represented. Notice the battle field and the solders (look familiar?)
Also I am a disable veteran and I didn't see anything wrong with it. Funny how you (ADAM the HATER) felt offended because you sat and talked with some veterans. Adam, let me ask you this, when was the last time you gave to a veteran related charity. Or ACTUALLY put down your fuckin' barbeque ribs on veterans day or memorial day and actually reflected.
So all I have to say is STFU you don't give a shit about any veteran unless its a relative. STFU! You don't have to get it, it a fuckin' game, play it or skip it, either way you will not be missed by gamers or veterans.
Now Steve, one of the things I have always respected about you was your outspokeness(sp). But your comment about not getting the fever behind halo....Do you understand the fever behind the Metal Gear Solid series? Funny how you understand that, hmmm I wonder why.
Jaffe, I'm alright with you and still respect you. But that Fuckin coward ADAM is the worst type of jacked up Anti-Microsoft and Halo hating asshole on the planet. Gaming needs to be rid of his type Q personality.
ADAM.....FUCK YOU! YOUR AN IDIOT!
First off Halo is an o.k. shooter nothing more nothing less. The story is pretty good but nothing spectacular. But what really got me on this post is the fact that Adam thinks the ad is disrespectful. WTF? This is coming from a guy that says MOH has been very respectful. Yeah, maybe on the first MOH but how respectful can you be after 11 MOH titles. If you really wanted to be respectful then EA should stop fucken milking the VETS. So if you support that then whats the harm with someone else doing it? Just my opinion.
P.S. Jaffe is a god! love your games dude.
As someone who just doesn't enjoy playing most games online (chalk it up to 13-year-old kids telling me I'm a n00b who "sucks my mothers cock! LOL! (yes, he actually said the word "lawl" afterwards)) I just don't find anything breathtaking about Halo. I liked the first one, but in the end I found myself attempting to find fun glitches and shortcuts in the game rather than actually playing it. Not to mention the only people I could find that would play it were a bunch of jock douchebags I couldn't stand to be around for more than a few minutes at a time. There's only so much hearing about "this drunk chick I banged the other night" or "I was so high the other day" or "Big game , this; Big Game, that" that one person can take before they crack. Anyway, I grew up playing PC FPSs, and as such, when everyone else was sucking on Halos cock because of how great it was, all I could think was "Um... I've been doing that for ages..." NOW, that's not to say it's great for a console FPS. But i don't buy my consoles to play FPSs. I buy them to play games like Gears, or Final Fantasy, or Uncharted, or Silent Hill, or (I have to) God of War. Games that don't feel "at home" on the PC. Have I played through Halo and Halo 2? Yes, I have. But only in co-op, because it didn't hold my interest enough to play it through alone, and as I've said before, I can't stand most online games (I'm giving it another try with Warhawk, and it's been a positive experience so far). I know my opinion isn't the only one that can exist, but that means that your's isn't either. I'm tired of people looking at me like an insect when they scream "BUY HALO!" in my face, and I respond with a casual "meh".
Also, don't take it out on David, he didn't say a damn negative thing about your Halo "god".
halo is gay man you need a head shake god of war is mostly ripped off of greek myth and halo is an original story man create something brand new. I hate halo but i must admit i played god of war and the ai was way worse button mashing belongs to mario you rygar ripoff.
I think it's fairly safe to say you just don't get it. Because Halo truely has captured the hearts and minds of millions, breaking box office sales records on the release of it's second game (which is arguably just marketing material for 3 in itself) can't be proven as rabid fans. If I was to say "Master Chief" in a clothes shop, chances are people there would know I'm referring to Halo, whereas if I was to say "Kratos" I'd get funny looks from people now knowing who he is or what God Of War is. That said the arrogance in the conversation made me laugh as well as being a tad ironic. Right now, the eyes of the gaming industry are on Bungie Studios and Halo 3 is coming, and it will be big, that, you cannot deny.
While I played through Halo 1, There were a lot of times during gameplay where I was like, "man, is this going to end?" That's the amount of emotional detachment I had from it. If I had to give the whole series a letter grade, it would be a "C".
Good shooter series...but nothing special. Not to mention...I'm still bitter it was suppose to be a PC game before microsoft owned bungie.
So yeah Halo doesn't do everything right but what it does is allow me to play with friends that can't afford expensive computers to run the latest games. Sure I like Call of Duty, Half Life, or any other shooter you are going to tell me is better than Halo, but each of them does something wrong when you get around to looking at them. Bioshock and Half Life are great single player experiences, but after that what do you have? Far Cry was a great multiplayer but the friends couldn't afford a pc to run it, the same with call of duty when it came out for pc. I'm not trying to bash these games, I liked them all for certain things but each had some type of failure.
Halo 1 & 2 both had level design issues for the single player, and honestly I really didn't like Halo 1 when I first played it. Then I got to play it at a friends house with 16 players and that just blew my mind. I had never before been able to do that, and then it continued with Halo 2 over live. Now I can play with friends in Alaska, California, Colorado and many other places. Is Halo the best thing ever? No way! What is? Nothing, that's why we keep buying games. Sure Gears is fun but the single player was short , the co-op was good, and the multi gets a little old after a while, just the same with any game. So blah blah blah, I hate this I hate that. Not everyone likes the same thing as you get over it and don't be a fan boy, just try everything.
You just make 'Suck of God.'
Fuck God of war
FUCK !!! God Of War !!! (Bed GOW)
Good !!! Gear Of War !!!!(Good GOW)
FUCK HALO, FUCK God Of War !!!
Good !!!!!!!!!
CRYSIS! BIO SHOCK! FarCry2!
Call Of Duty4 ! FallOut3 !
OBLIVIAN !
You fucking fanboy retards. It's convieniently forgotten about that Sony used real war footage to promote Resistance along with the dead corpses of soldiers. If that's not disrespectful, I dunno what is.
GOD OF WAR ??? ....
히드라전 빼면 존내 볼거없는
그게임 아닌가...ㅋㅋ
용두사미 게임 ㅅㅂ
I can respect the fact not everyone is into halo, but I, personally, fell in love with this ad, simply because if not anything else it makes video games look more mature to the public. I think if more Video game ads were like this it would help the industry be taken seriously as a legitimate entertainment medium. While I'm also a halo nerd I do admit, I believe this is still a step in the right direction.
[Good Game]
Crysis/Bio Shock/BioHazard5/
Far Cry2/Oblivian/FallOut3
Kingdom Under Fire:COD/Halo3
Call Of Duty4/A.V.A/FEAR
Half Life/Gear Of War
[Shit Fuck Game]
God Of War 1,2
Everyone is welcome to like or dislike whatever they want. But it seems odd that he has such anger at the game as to say fuck halo. I do believe that anger is a reflection of different emotions, such as jealousy, fear, and pain. Whats wrong, did you have to push back the release date on your game just to avoid halo? Are you jealous that bungie is able to sit down and polish a game until its playable and they dont have to rush it out? It seems pretty immature to toss mud like this, and even more immature to slag something another developer has created just because you have to rush slop out the door. Here's an idea. Sit down with a game, and work on it for like 3 years, build alot of hype, and really polish it. Then release it and see if it doesnt do better than Medal of Honor: Churnout Assault.
first i must say that the multi-player in halo is pretty damn solid, that's not to say that it's not solid in unreal or in quake. but for a console shooter it has taken the lead and is going to ride on its success for a while. that being said i could give two shits about the story in it, I've never played more than an hour of the single player, it's just boring.
So... the guy who developed God of War is dissing Halo for having little story and playing on veterans' memories?
...while God of War is yet another retelling of a disgraced God trying to reclaim his place by kicking ass (oh wow- that's original), that plays with nudity and hyper-violence to draw people in.
Pot, meet kettle.
As a fan of the halo series I can respect what was said.
I kind of enjoyed the ad, only because I think it was creative and different but at the same time I can see how it could be disrespectful, but no more disrespectful than plenty of other games and other media out there.
I think I can see why some people don't like the Halo series. It's not exactly the most difficult game to succeed in and it has become greatly overhyped, I read news about it every day and I know I'm going to be dissapointed if I let it get me all riled up about a game I like because it can't possibly deliver the way some want it to. I like all the bells and whistles they added to 3 but I really just think that the guys at Bungie are trying to create something fun out of every part of their game.
It may not have the most deep or intricate gameply (by any means) but it does work, at least for some, and it's a nice intro shooter. Hopefully 3 will, with all the experience Bungie has, have a much improved AI system and campaign.
In any case, MS does have pretty crap marketing, I think that it's more about the money and creating rabid fanboys.
I guess the only thng I've had a hard time understanding is why some people can hate that a game like that is popular, it's obvious why. Bungie isn't claiming that their game is deeper than other games, I think microsoft and it's "fanboys" put that tone over the Halo series. I honestly think that Bungie just wants to make a genuine contribution to the genre, and doesn't mind comparison to other games because they respect them.
I don't agree with "fuck Halo". Halo is all well and good, but the stuff that can come with it sometimes, well yeah, Fuck that.
If you don't like Halo, don't play it. Pay it no mind and you won't get so stressed and upset over how much you hate it.
If you like Halo, enjoy it. Get swept away in the story. It's fun to get into something and roleplay/be a hero rather than an office rat for a few hours. Play with friends online. Share the experience.
Video games, like art, are subjective. You're not going to like what your neighbor likes. And that's OK. They're not less cultured than you. You're not better than them. Get over yourself and your opinions.
Quit being a bunch of jags. To each is own.
It's just sad that Sony fanboys have to resort to being this low. They have NOTHING that can compare to Halo.
You're all just pissed of that Halo is kicking your MOH and GOW' ass's! Just look at the fucking sales you retards!
You can insult it all you want, but the facts stay!! :P Halo will be THE GREATEST MEDIA RELEASE OF THE YEAR!!!!
Suck it to you PS fanboys :P
Hurray!
Halo=shit!
You want an FPS done right? Check out Half-Life. Any of them, it doesn't matter. Characters, story...it's all involving and plain awesome, nicely complimenting the gameplay.
Poor Guy =(
I hadn't seen it until I read this IM convo, but I think that ad is pretty good. I'm a decent Halo fan, meaning I love the games completely but I don't go bat shit insane with every single figure and every single comic and the art book and blah blah.
A lot of this does indeed have something to do with the fact that I've been a BUNGIE fan, not just a Halo fan, since Marathon in 1994. I scoff and mock people who get motion sickness from playing M2 on Live Arcade, because they're a bunch of pussies. I feel like punching every stupid hardcore Halo fan in the face when they try to say that Marathon is a piece of shit.
I'm protective of my gaming memories and favorites just like everyone else.
Now, if Adam doesn't like Halo, that's fine. David, I'm glad that you at least enjoyed the games. It's perfectly reasonable to not get all tight in the zipper when you see a new Halo ad. It just means you're not crazy into it like some people are.
When I see this ad, I think, aw fuck yeah, Halo 3 in 2 weeks. I certainly don't think it's disrespectful to veterans, and it's pretty fucking hypocritical of Adam to say that, because he's worked on MoH, the shittiest fuckign WWII shooter ever made, purely bent on capitalizing on weepy eyed veterans who shot some fucking Nazis almost 60 years ago.
He's still got the right to say "fuck Halo," just as I reserve the right to say "fuck Adam," because he seems like a real douche.
You guys want to talk about retarded marketing stunts...lets talk about a slaughtered goat for God of War 2. You need to get over this ego you have created by making one good game (God of War).
Halo fanboys are way too intense about halo, it's a decent FPS, I admit that, however, it didn't make me wet myself.
Now I am a Sony boy, and I support Mr. Jaffe, but my opinion isn't swayed by my console preference.
There are many other great games that are deserving of praise that should be able to divert some of the fanboys frothing at the mouth when someone says master chief is a pussy.
Calm down boys, people are allowed to have opinions, Halo is NOT god's gift to gamers. It's a good game, but a GAME not a reason for living
You developed Mickey Mania!? That game is all sorts of bad ass! I actually still break that one out to show that moose whose boss.
i like halo.
Well, some people will love Halo and some will hate it. A fanboy is what a fanboy is.
But I will say this for Halo...David, when you say that you don't understand why there is such a following for Halo and don't think that the backstory is that good...have you read the books? Whether you like the game or not, you can't deny that Bungie has ALWAYS been very careful at protecting the integrity of the Halo storyline and franchise. Just because they are owned by MS doesn't mean that they buy everything. Bungie actually earned their reputation with their quality of product.
The appeal of the storyline of Halo is because it is grounded in events that haven't been completely revealed to the general public. At least not yet. If you follow the story, you know that there are facts and events that help to form the Halo storyline that you haven't discovered yet. Human nature drives us to seek out that information to better understand why the current story is happening the way that it is. The Halo story lives outside of the game as well as inside.
But that's just my humble opinion....
I for one think that this guy is a fucking idiot!!!! Funny thing is that HALO made more money than that gay ass GOD OF WAR!!!! So whatever dude next time get SONYS dick out of your mouth and speak some sence!!!!
O you guys must have enough cash for your next project now. Must be great being paid to talk BS about other people’s games. As an upcoming Level Designer I never bash other peoples games in public because what you make your self is never perfect, so I only post good stuff on my internet outlets. Halo is a great game with great single player and multiplayer. As for the story its very in-depth (you know about the books and comics right?) Most people here look like they are Sony fan boys. What the fuck is with bashing games from the other systems anyway. We should be celebrating this great industry we are part of, its great the Wii is bringing in new people and the 360 and PS3 have a lot to offer us over the next few years. Halo has done a lot for gaming you think we would see nearly as many FPS's on consoles and ones that work so well if it was not for Halo. Hell no.
Unlike your (and his) shitty games, Halo has a good storyline, up to date graphics, easy controls, and has the support of one of the best game companies behind it with the financial support from Microsoft.
The reason everyone loves Halo is because it stays interesting even since the first one launched way back when. Your games will rot and be forgotten.
So mostly on one side you got Halo haters and on the other Halo fanboys. Thanks for posting this conversation. Can't wait to finish the damn fight. Can't wait to hear more about what you are cooking.
Some decent points are raised in this conversation, particularly pertaining to the marketing blitz (who needs commercials and soda if you have a truly great game?). Also, for the first two Halo games, the campaign mode was nothing special.
However, Adam has a few problems here. One is that he can diss Halo all day long, but in the end he worked on the Medal of Honor series, which most serious gamers can agree is a mess. Also, in his clarification post on this forum, he dropped the following gem:
"don't even get me started on multiplayer...the most non-fun you can have online"
This is patently untrue; Halo 2 has the best multiplayer system ever created for a console game, and it is also better than all but a few PC multiplayer games. It is video game crack; to call it "non-fun" is blasphemous and selfish.
Is Halo the best thing ever? Probably not. Will Halo 3 be a sweet-ass multiplayer game worth keeping in your disc drive for months on end? Absolutely.
The ad worked. Everybody is talking about it.
You're right, the story in Halo isn't some swooping epic like Citizen Kane or Gone With the Wind. Are these ads putting in more than is really there?
I wouldn't blame you if you said, "yes." But here's the thing. You can play Halo as a FPS, blowing through enemies and wondering about where the next ammo stash is. I mean, hell, it's a FPS game, that's what you do, right? Well, that's the way to play Doom, certainly, but there is a progressive storyline in halo. It's nothing that overarches the game (like the plot in some RPGs will), but it is there, and it adds a lot to the overall game.
For those of us who are really into the whole story aspect, this kind of ad is a piece of art. For something that takes place just in a video game, this feels so much more... real.
But if you're not into it, yeah, it's just an ad. Don't worry, it's not about "getting it" or "not getting it." It's just how you play the game. Just the same way some people really love Harry Potter, there's not that much there, but if you want to, there's plenty there to really get into.
And to put things in perspective, as a long-time Bungie fan, as somebody who's very eagerly anticipating the game's release...
fuck halo
(I got homework to do now.)
There is no point to you posting this conversation but to sling mud and rile your troops.
Jaffe - you just lost all my respect.... mudslinging indeed.
I hate to leave an anonymous comment but I'm not going to sign up to this crapfest.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion but I think it really hits a low when people within the same industry bash each other. Bungie is just trying to make a good game, feed their families and give videogame players something to enjoy. I think this shows what kind of people David and Adam are in life, losers. Did you get picked on in high school? Did your daddy "touch you down there" as a youth? Why do you promote this negative hate? Is it just out of jealousy alone?
I'm not a Halo lover but I have enjoyed the games and I've enjoyed them a lot more than anything you've done Jaffe! God of War sucks, Calling All Cars sucks and your constant Sony jerk-off fest sucks. Tell me does Ken like you to rub his balls when you are bobbin on him?
So, just because CAMP SONY is losing the war does NOT mean you should disrespect a QUALITY products, whether it is your taste or not. That is just plain immature.
Shit I'm a 360 owner, I love the platform and thing Halo is a big pile of Meh.
Played the first cause it was packed in with my original xbox, skipped the second and fully intend on skipping the third.
Halo is not my cup of tea, but neither is slander.
Jaffe, I beleive you are becoming a product of your own mind. 'Speaking freely' should not equate to 'speaking out of your ass'.
HALO is like Star wars.... not everyone's piece of cake... not does a lot to the console FPS back then.
It's doesn't matter much how everyone thinks... HALO has made a huge mark in gaming...
I've not played God of War.... but it doesn't effect the game world quite as much as Halo... RE 4 done the same as what halo done.
Fuck halo.
I've been saying it for months.
I like Halo, and I do get a tad fanboyish about it sometimes. Not so far that I actually feel emotionally affected by the ads, though they were good for a laugh, but I confess I've acted fanboyishly towards them.
But, while I'm not a fanboy of Devil May Cry or (forgive the obvious example) God of War despite really enjoying my time with those games, I feel I do understand where people are coming from when they act fanboyishly towards them. We all have our faves, and we can all go a little OTT in our fandom sometimes, regardless of how great other people might see the games as (I have friends who abhor all three series' mentioned above... heathens!).
OK, let's see.... Calling All Cars, Kinetica....or Halo 1 & 2, Marathon.....hmmmm....jealous much?
I need to get my hands on a copy of GoW or GoW2 to try them. My PS2 has been woefully underused thanks to EQ, EQ2 and WoW.
I really would like to see what all the ruckus is about.
Everyone needs to remember that personal likes and disliked are just that... Personal. Subjective decisions made by an individual. Some will like the game, some will love it, some will hate it. The same goes for the ads. Personally, I found the war museum ad to be quite well done. From a marketing standpoint it's pretty cool in how it envokes an emotional response from the viewer. What saddens me is how many people will be cought up in the Hype of Halo 3 and buy the game, regardless of if it is a good game or a bad game. Society eats up marketing, both good and bad. Remember the saying; "There is no such thing as bad press." What I can offer is make your own decision. Jaffe did and was bold enough to post it. Give him credit for that even if you don't agree with what he had to say. Don't believe the hype but try the game (any game for that matter) and decide for yourself if it truely worth the dollar value you will spend on it if you were to buy it.
well done Jaffe...
i get what you mean about halo...agree totally...
also, good job at taking it to the MoH crap...
i've played all of them...and i can tell the developers THINK they're being respectful and thought-provoking...when in reality it just comes off cheap/crappy...
almost as if they listen to the vets, say "yeah...must've sucked..."
and then go off and make some "meh" game and demand that it be considered deep/engaging because "some old guys told us some sad stories"
not that there's much difference...but i switched to Call of Duty because they just seemed less impressed with themselves and moreso with the actual events and history of the war
Everyone has their opinion. Gears of war has its fans, god of war has its fans. Halo to me at least has a fairly compelling and rich story (backstory in the books). When a game sells 125 million dollars worth on the opening day, that many people cannot be wrong. If that were the case that would be the biggest lie in history would it not?
First Person Shooters are designed to be just that, you run, jump, fly and drive around to different places to SHOOT stuff. If ya don't like it, don't play it. If ya like it, play it. Really a very simple concept. For you tards that have nothing better to do than bash one game and praise another, I have a few simple words for ya. Walk to your kitchen and fix yourself a nice hot cup of STFU.
I kinda feel like a jump on the Halo bashing bandwagon ass but I bought and played the second game a bit back when it first came out and I have to say I really don't care for it. Multiplayer was good if you have a few friends on there (There is no way your getting me in a ranked game with the ass holes on that game)BUT like the first poster said the bad guys in the single player campaign were just so damn lame! Yea bright pink and purple bad guys with high pitched voices doesn't do it for me. Other than that the game in general felt a little to floaty to me.
As for the Anonymous that said people in the industry shouldn't bash each others games don't you think thats a bit much. They are real people buying and playing these games just like you and I so they shouldn't have to sugar coat their opinions on what they like and say every game is a fucking masterpiece. You shouldn't have to lose your opinion the moment you get a job in the industry.
you know what Halo games have in SPADES over MoH and Jaffe games? GREAT ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.
One of the hardest things to get right in ANY game. And Halo's AI is what sets it apart. You can replay the same level a 100 times and NEVER have the same battle encounter. I don't see anything these yahoos have made even come close.
Admit your jealousy.
ok your flamesuit is on. does it make it difficult to speak? I don't see you posting.
I try not to add comments to things like this, but reading all that folks have written I feel somewhat compelled to add my $.02.
I’m console agnostic, I buy them all, and buy games for them all and from there like what I like and dislike the rest.
With the Halo series of games thus far, I got Halo with the launch of the Xbox, kinda feared it, I was a PC shooter fan, but consoles had pretty much let me down. I played Halo, and wasn’t overwhelmed or overly impressed. I didn’t finish the game and just went on to the next game I bought.
Halo 2 came out, I bought it, and actually had fun playing it, co-op with my wife. It’s always hard to find co-op games my wife and I can play, and she’s never been a FPS fan. Halo 2 fixed that. We had a blast, I’m always the run and gun kinda guy, I don’t sneak, camp, etc. I’ve got a gun and bullets, so I’m gonna use them. My wife, on the other hand, is the rational one who sits back and determines the best way to go forward. Halo 2 allowed us to do so, when I died, she’d run back to get out of harms way, then I’d respawn. Once we beat Halo 2 (and it’s lackluster ending), we went back and played Halo.
Halo was tough to go back to, since you couldn’t dual-wield, etc, but was still fun. We are looking forward to Halo 3 just to have another fun, co-op FPS we can play together.
As for hating or liking Halo, my wife and I both love it, but not for the story, graphics, etc. It’s a game we can play together for many hours.
All this being said, it seems like 85% of these posts are overzealous fanboys on both sides of the fence, trying to do the impossible. Change someone else’s mind. You’d have a better chance getting them to change religion than you would agreeing about Halo.
The Halo series is vastly overrated. And the writing for Halo 1 and Halo 2 sucked. As an Xbox owner, I've played them both, because, as an Xbox owner, you're pretty much forced to. WTF was that wise, all-knowing, tentacled plant thing that came out of nowhere in Halo 2? Apparently, his species was called Deux Ex Machina. The Halo series lives off two things:
1. Cooperative play. When are other FPS developers going to realize that having two-player co-op play automatically makes your shitty FPS considered so much better? Halo 1, Halo 2, Gears of War...all have two-player co-op.
2. Colors. The Halo series uses bright, flashy colors - even though they make no sense in their context. Look at the Halo aliens. They glow bright red and yellow and stuff. Are they stupid or something? That's like the worst camouflage ever. They'd have longer lifespans if they just ran around in their birthday suits.
3. Geekdom. Sci-fi geeks everywhere need something to center upon so they can geek together and feel a sense of belonging with one another. It used to be Star Wars (in theatres) and Star Trek (on television), but those things have passed their expiration dates. Videogames are the new media, and the Halo series has been chosen as the new Geek Central...I'm guessing the lack of alternatives played a big part in that.
BTW, thank you for God of War, Jaffe.
I agree ^ I could care less about the Halo universe (perhaps more Sony folks would like it if it had a HOT CHICK in it!) but the Halo games have the BEST AI of any FPS barnone! THAT is what gamers want. THAT is what made Goldeneye for the N64 so great and replayable.
fuck God Of War ;)
Sorry, that was three things. I added that third bit at the last second. Because it was controversial, I wasn't going to add it but changed my mind.
Halo has great AI? Since when? You guys probably just suck.
name a game with better AI?
Halo's AI was no better or worse than anyone else's. Got through it just the same as any other game.
I mean absolutely no disrespect to Halo fans here, but I think one of the reasons that this great, but not perfect, shooter is so highly regarded and so rabidly defended by it's fanbase is because of this:
Halo popped a lot of non-shooter players' cherries. Think about it. When were shooters that big on consoles until Halo arrived? Goldeneye? Are you kidding me? Out of all my friends with N64's I think maybe the one rich kid had it, and never played it.
A lot of console players grabbed xbox's, got this game, played it, realized how cool shooters were, and became attached to the "guy that popped their cherry". Just like a lot of girls in highschool do with the first guy they sleep with, no matter how mean or abusive or lame he is(not saying halo is lame but there are better games out there).
What im saying is, if you got your cherry popped by Halo and you aren't afraid to admit it, then don't be scared. Just say it. "Halo was my first FPS and still my favorite". Is that so hard or wrong? It's not, and whoever makes fun of you for it obviously is hiding what their first "love" was.
Mine? I've had several:
Streets of Rage 2(came with my genesis)
Sonic 3
Twisted Metal 2
Syphon Filter
Quake shareware
Doom shareware
CnC Red Alert
Gex the gecko
Final Doom(PS1, my first console shooter and I rocked it over and over and over)
(this is going to be long, sorry David)
Halo never "grabbed" me when I played it at a party while everyone was in the room without the tv. Got pretty far and didn't feel the urge to finish it. Everyone came in, wanted to play some 4 player split screen deathmatch, I kept accidentally owning them even though my aim wasn't reversed, and realized that as said in the original post here- it's idiot proof.
Halo 2: Looked exactly like Halo. Had a sword or something. All my friends that preordered it and camped and what not were all mad and disappointed by the game for reasons I never asked them. Now Halo 3 is coming out and im seeing NOTHING different except HD graphics, a new suit, and.....well, that's it. If there isn't anything outwardly interesting to someone that isn't already a Halo fan, then this game, for lack of a better analogy, is "for the fans".
"What shooters DO you like then?" you ask?
-Half-Life(the first was one of the greatest games I have ever played)
-Quake(just the first one, didn't like the second or third seeing as they were supposed to be a new series but were labeled as "Quake" games at the last minute)
-Time Splitters 2
-Call of Duty
-Resistance
-Battlefield 2(don't even get me started on what went wrong with 2142)
-Battlezone 2
-Unreal
-UT2004(probably one of the greatest multiplayer games ive ever played)
I think these have either done something new in the FPS genre or have made up for their shortcomings with extremely strong alternate game modes that make them awesome. Halo did what? What did it do that no other games were doing? That's why I PERSONALLY never got into those games, and never really got into xbox.
/opinion
(oh god here come the fucking fanboy flamings and remarks on my xbox comment)
Halo is overrated as a franchise and a game. I used to really think their fanbase was insane.
Then I met Bioshock fanboys... I'll take Halo's single-player gameplay over Bioshock's snore inducing combat any day.
Worst part of Halo is the lame multiplayer of 2. Headshots that miss heads. Sniper rifles that overpower everything else. And a default weapon (SMG) that couldn't stop a poodle in under 30 bullets.
on LEGENDARY? I think not.
Halo is in the top when it comes to AI. They don't simulate human emotion or anything well, but it's really good tactical.
In Half Live 2 you can stand in behind a door and kill Combine after Combine running through that door. You'll end up with a pile of ten stupid, dead human enemies. That doesn't happen in Halo. The levels are often large and open and the AI navigates them well, holding strategic postions, and doesn't charge blindly at you.
What a bunch of fucking nerdy microsoft/sony fan boys arguing about b/s. Get a life, besides every one knows the play station 3 games suck ass when it comes to in game AI.
I'm telling ya, man, two-player co-op play is key. If Halo 1 didn't debut that, we probably wouldn't be talking about this article today. It's one thing to have a geek FPS'ing alone. When you put two geeks FPS'ing together around the same cheesy-poof saturated atmosphere, something magical happens. The sudden burst of social interaction in their otherwise solitary existences is like a ray of light and hope that is then misattributed to the game itself and not on the unfamiliar social interaction with their geek buddy.
Holy crap, we're still talking about AI? These are glowing neon skinned idiots with their glowing neon energy shields who show you their glowing neon non-shielded backsides when they run away.
I've never been stalked or flanked by the Halo AI. On the other hand, I have been stalked by some shitty hunting games on the PC.
While I agree there lacks some in halos story department, it's online play is the real great aspect, there's really no equal, not to say it's amazing, but it is it's own experience, There's really no game that's similar when online.
Jeaaaaaaaaalousyyyyyyyyy
Jaffe even with God of War or whatever ur next game will be, you fucking wish it can reach Halo popularity. All you guys who work for any other company then bungie, its all jealousy, I see it everyday.
I guess I cant blame you though, when the ad for the game is playin during sunday night football, or when u go to ur local best buy and see Master Cheif covering the entire building. You can only wish ur work could reach the millions of people Halo does.
As for the dude u were arguin with on aim, he goes on to say halo multi player sucks lol, the only guys who say that are the ones that are absolute dogshit at the game, dont take out ur frustrations by saying halo multi sucks, be a man and admit ur just horrible at the game and you will never be good at fps. You my friend are a badkid, a nub, a casual, stick to playing with casuals and u will have fun, just dont come into a game with guys who are half decent cause then ur halo multi experience will suck, cause again ur fucknig horrible at the game.
Get better nublet.
Wow, Chris.M, did you really just say that? Halo takes no "skill" to do well? Thanks for my laugh of the day. If you actually believe that, you're a fool. To say that something takes no skill is an arrogant statement, as most things take thought, which is a skill in itself. Try it some time.
Why do I love Halo so much? Easy answer: Gameplay, customization, an admirable hero, plot, and most of all, good times with friends. Isn't that what games are supposed to be about? If you haven't experienced the first Halo with a group of friends via syslink, then you just won't appreciate it as much as the people that have. Some people just aren't good at Halo, and when you're not good at something, you're usually turned off by it.
When all is said and done, it's just a game. Love it, hate it, but don't act like your opinion is fact. None of our opinions are. It is what it is -- a religion to some, the devil to others. Why argue about it? Play what you like and stfu.
The fact that two sony devs talkin over aim about halo made it to this blog and is generating this much attention just proves nothing is as popular in the gaming world as halo.
Such fanboyism....
i love halo but i do agree with the dude about the colour scheme.Its not gritty enough like say, GOW.halo is still a much better game.As for that Adam dude, he should go fuck Brittney instead.
Hey, I remember this one part of Halo 1 where there's one of those cloaked aliens with a plasma sword hiding in a dark corridor. The glowing plasma sword, of course, gave away his location since it glows whether the alien is cloaked or not. The plasma sword is a cheap weapon that kills in one hit. Two at most. So the way we killed this guy was by shooting him from a distance, then pulling back. The stupid alien would start running up to us when we shot at him but then went back to his starting spot after we moved back. We just did this a few times and he was dead. The hardest parts in Halo are when they throw huge numbers against you. I imagine that's why they called those guys the Flood. That's not great AI, that's just overwhelming numbers.
Bright and colorful characters = more marketable.
Wow, lots of hate for Halo. Honestly, if you hate Halo this much, don't buy it. If you bought it and hate it, sell it on ebay. Case closed. Walk away. Play cards. Do something else.
seriously though i totaly agree about halo suking ass and microsoft needs to stop all the hype for a shitty ass game like this in e3 all i heard was halo 3 halo 3 halo 3 i mean come on, and in the forums everywhere they jus have to post something bout halo like "oh u can where new helmets in halo 3" BIG DEAL!!!! DAMN I HATE HALO SO MUCH!!!!
Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Here is mine. I like Halo! I have enjoyed the series thus far, despite some downfalls, and will likely continue to enjoy the series. To all y'all who claim that the story sucks, fine, to be honest, the story as it is told in the game is pretty weak... heaven forbid that they should focus on Gameplay. The gameplay in the halo series is not flawed, it is not perfect, but there are very few instances where it hitches or throws up on you. The MOH games had a good start, but they didn't evolve, MOH 2 was basically an expansion to MOH 1 and so on. No offense, I really enjoyed the first one way back when...
The point is, the Halo story is more involved than many other videogames. The Halo Universe is ever expanding through fan fiction, official fiction (Novels) and even an upcoming RTS based on the Halo universe. I think I am trying to say is... if you don't like Halo, fine, say it, I don't like Halo, Fuck Halo, whatever. But when you start spewing drivel that you have no fucking clue about... "I don't like Halo, because the story sucks... I don't even know what the story is... dur!" You just make yourself look like a fucking idiot.
I think the point is that...IT'S A FUCKING VIDEO GAME. Most people don't care to read novels and bloody fan fic to try to understand their video games. And it should not be assumed that they have or will. If the developers can't get their messages, background info, and what have you's across within the context of the video game, that's their own fault.
i agree. most over hyped game in history.. thats not to say its completely horrible (while the texturing and diversity makes it seem so) the game is still fun ON PC in controlled multilayer match's... but that hasn't changed since halo one. all the hype and bullshit makes me sick. im so fucking tired of halo that i have absolutely no interesting in playing the 3rd game, halo wars or anything else coming out of that franchise thats been milked to the bone
Halo 3 overhyped and over marketed, really? From the Sony fans and marketing that I have to hear how none of this or that would be possible without blue ray, cell processing, 4d graphics, emotion engine, etc. Whose calling the kettle black. My goodness.
By the way, I have a PS3 and am still waiting for a game to come anywhere close to the games I play on my 360.
good to see more people feel this way
everyone knows sony has no idea how to market their product.. this ps3 is burdened by this but who really cares anyway. you shouldnt like a game just because billy bob next door likes it. 360 has fps games thats it. and none of them have come close to games like half life 2 or unreal 2004 which came out years ago. wait till UT3 hits 360 and you see how much better it is on ps3
nigga fuck you . you stupid cracker... all i know is.. u make mediocre games... it takes no real skills for hack n slash.. a very own genre to at that.. i don't get what u do that is even close to decent... with that.. fuck you bitch ass white boy....
I don't think there is a problem with you guys putting up your AIM on your blog. My friend and I are in the industry and we have these AIMs go back and fourth almost everyday. From what HD Disk format is going to win, to what console is better, we go back and fourth just like you two. I do think that the Halo franchise offers the consumer an exceptional value. Think of it like this,Halo 3 and Lair will be the same price. MS already got my 60 bucks for the game and I don't think thats too much considering for what I am getting in return. As for the ads, I was already getting the game in the first place, so the ads mean really nothing to me. I am not offended by them either, I just don't really think they do anything for me.
hes right, fuck halo
Sony sucks my dog's nuts
I think that an opinion is just that, an opinion. You can go on hating it to pieces and I'll go on thinking its a great game.
However...the Halo games aren't perfect, and may not (by themselves) be the greatest of all time, no. But I will say that the always developing story is what hooked me. The game story is pretty basic, but if you go and read the books (and actually give them a decent fighting chance), you might actually like them.
I'm not one to argue with people who say things like "fuck Halo" no matter HOW much I think they are assholes. Yes, I think what you said is a little over-the-top. Even though I HATE Gears of War because of AI issues (only ever beat the last level once because Dom likes to die) I don't say "fuck Gears." I say, "I have many an issue with Gears, I don't like it much at all."
I'm sorry, Jigga but I would have to guess that you do not own a 360. I have played a lot more than FPS on the 360. I've played RPG's, Sports Games, Adventure, puzzle, arcade, strategy, etc. I don't care that you might like your PS3 and need to justify that purchase by stating misinformation about the subject, but I'm gonna call you out on it.
i bought a 360 the day it came out for halo. halo one was so good i bought for pc and had a blast. but the way m$ been going... i just feel taken advantage of and use for a few bucks. fuck halo fuck gears of war (sorry ID but i traded your game in as soon as i passed it which didn't take long) fuck xbox360 all together they should still be developing for the first xbox console. fuck sony and Microsoft for their marketing methods (whats next? paris hilton) and fuck the world as soon as i get crysis
You sony fanslaves crack me up, it's so damn funny what "SOME" of you idiots say about any game related to the 360, this is all I gotta say, Halo 3 owns every ps3 game this year, so suck it up and keep on hating lol. There's nothing you can do about it, Halo 3 owns MGS4 AND Killzone 2, why do you think those 2 games are coming out next year? it's a simple answer, HALO 3 lol.
i must say, that as a rabid halo fan, i like the game becasue it appeals to me. Period. Dont especially know why, it just does. But i also must say that i am sick of hearing about it in the fucking media. I just want to fucking play it so i can find out how it ends.
sorry that should say xbox. i also bought a 360 the day it came out. and all i can say is m$ should have continued to develop for the regular xbox
wow, there are probably more fanboys on here then anywhere else ive seen. to start, i can see why people dislike halo, however as a game and as a form of media...there is no denying that it is one of the best experiences of our current generation. Its not too flashy, and the replay value of the game in enormous. If you dislike the halo story or FPS games in general, well that is your opinion, but adam...you are such a sony bitch. "fuck halo", yeah, because sony has put you in a train of thought where you think anything MS related is shitty. and im guessing you hate bioshcok too, eh douche bag. Halo is the premier console FPS game for a reason, and with Halo 3, any FPS fan should be excited. The halo 2 story was better but it left too much open and the characters were bags of turd, they really weren't enemies. The AI is better then any game currently available, the online is fantastic with thousands of possible custom/forge maps options, tons of weapons and vehicle's, the most balanced FPS game in a long time. if anyone says halo sucks ass, give me a reason and i will shoot you down. its a shit load better then resistance was, and i payed the same goddam price for that game.
Half-Life 2 was a better FPS than any of the Halo's.
Their are two reasons why halo is a great series.
1. It appeals to a mass audience around christmas time everytime it comes out. It's cold, it feels cold and christmasy and fantastical.
2. It has aliens that are incredibly cute and adorable an further more add a level of humanity to an otherwise over kill anger angst / realistic murder type filled field. Now debatably that takes light of the action of killing but cute cuddly aliens that like to get killed :) thats alright with my conscience.
3. the first two seperate from the pack... but 3 its a kickass series with the best tournament multiplayer play there is on the market.
Cons
There is no story. The god damn game has no story thats why their not going to make a movie. It's a plotless cute alien killing game. Now they could write some huge novel to make sense of these plot holes like why is master chief always in the suit. Why do we have master chief in a suit to begin with. Why is there a ship visiting the giant rings in the first place. And lastly how did we miss the cute cuddly aliens before landing.
haha...
iam done.
Joseph Maguire
http://www.joemaguiredesign.com
Advertising design and branding design
Hype is nothing new. I've been tuning it out for awhile now.
ps. I can't wait for Halo 3.
pps. I can't wait to play Calling All Cars
harmony does exist.
Goddammit I'm actually providing hits to this piece of shit media attention whoring blog.
Since I'm here... Just wanted to say -
HAI GUYZ - JEALOUS MUCH?
Because God of Bore and the last 8 Medal of Shit games were so revolutionary and ground breaking in their own right.
Hey lets make controversial comments so we get attention to promote ourselves since the games we make don't really garner any of it on their own!
Is Halo over-hyped? That is almost certainly a Yes. But that doesn't have anything to do with the game itself or the game developer. All publishers can only hope for this much hype for their game. Halo 3 would have been a big deal even if they hadn't done all the 7-11, Nascar, Best Buy, Game Fuel marketing crap.
I do have to disagree with the idea that Microsoft could purchase this 'rabid fan reaction'. Rapid fanboyism isn't the sort of thing that can be purchased or manufactured. It has to be earned. The people susceptible to being 'purchased' are more of the casual gamer who says something like 'oh, i've got to check out this Halo thing that i keep hearing about..'. I think a large part of Halo fanboy ism is driven by Bungie themselves and how much they try to focus on the community aspects of Halo both in the game and on the internet. They provide these hooks such as the social aspects of the online community along with teasing bits of Halo fiction, videos, and back story that keep people thinking about Halo long after they've finished playing or replaying the single-player campaign. For me, I was hooked the first time I played Halo on the Xbox, having heard almost nothing about it.
Halo series has been developed by a fantastic game developer. No matter what people say, Halo 3 is going to rock.
Sony PS3 should be gone for good this time, i feel sorry for PS3 owners, they have got no games to play :)
Sorry but this is just typical of a competing company to thrash another companies acheivements.
Halo is the king of games and the 360 is the king of Serious consoles. Yep that is right...Sony mucked up yet ANOTHER console launch. Match that with no fun or good games at all and there you have Sony.
Not fair eh? Well it is not fair on how you mentioned Halo either.
So get a fucking clue before you go bashing another companies products because I hate to say this but they are much more respected and have acheived a lot more than you guys have even done....
This coming from a companie that stole Nintendos product and technology and claimed it as their own ( A.k.a. Playstation )
halo would be nothing without microsofts marketing. has anyone played marathon? doubt it.. anyway i wish i had a blog because if i did i write a post saying halo sucks and my hits would go through the roof. there really is no such thing as negative publicity. ihave a ps3 i have a 360 and im so sick of them both. im saving up for a pc so i can play crysis UT3 and any other REAL fps games properly
wow, its awesome how no one can ever land on a happy medium here. I think that as far as the story goes, its one of those things that some people just won't get. they need to have things spoon fed to them, or maybe halo's story doesn't have all the emo people with spikey hair and oversized swords, so its not good enough.
I could sit here and try to describe the story, but its a waste. Unless you played it from the beginning without spoilers or skipping to the next game, then it would be difficult to grasp any major story moments.
While i agree that in halo, the pistol should have not been so overpowered, i think other than that, the xbox version worked out nicely (the PC version of Halo CE was pretty bad in the multiplayer department). If you played on harder difficultys, the AI was more than enough to be a problem.
in halo, you went in the same enviorments alot as well, and even the same places, which is why the enivornments looked similar. this wasn't really a problem for me, but i guess it bugs some people. also, the covenant is an alien race, they can were whatever color they want. the alines themselves are gruesome without it anyway.
You have to remember, when Halo CE first came out, it was one of the best games available at the time, and much like smoking, they hooked most while they were young, and this is why i think Halo is as big as it is. it got popular once, and now people enjoy playing it (mass enjoyment- mark of a good game).
Halo 2 had its problems to, but it was also rushed (bungie has said so themselves that they sat around to much), and so yeah, halo 2 wasn't so great, although being on xbox live helped it immensly.
storywise, i think Halo 2 failed to reach its goal, but it does serve as the game that initially expands the universe, so now things can happen in halo 3.
So yeah, I'm alot more confident about halo 3. Bungie seems to be indicating they worked hard on it, and this being the end of the series, you know something crazy is going to happen. Halo 3's campaign is supposed to be outragous this time around, and we will see in 12 days. If the multiplayer beta was any indications, things should be even better then halo or Halo 2.
As far as the ads go, really, i enjoy them. they are interesting to watch, (although the museum one was kinda bad, since it inidcates we survive halo 3, as unlikely as it seems), although i don't think we need halo 3 game fuel or pontiacs.
so yeah, i wouldn't "fuck halo" just yet. I think either some of you need to pay more attention, or stick to your own games. I often find that people who dislike halo are the same ones that have a preference for different styles (aka oversized swords and magic) of games, and while this isn't a problem, i mean, come on. we don't need emo chief.
so i don't mind if people don't put halo on top of their list, but i think that this game is alot better then many of you give it credit for.
Also, MOH Allied Assault wins. as much as i like halo, i think i had more fun playing on that Malta map from spearhead over the internet. its a shame that no one plays real games on there anymore. its always some dumb rule, like snipers only, or some other nonsense.
just my thoughts.
m-soft takes casual gamers and some developers (if they can even be called that) and makes them feel/think they know everything there is about gaming periode. that just isnt cool.
http://www.gamesradar.com/gb/xbox360/game/news/article.jsp?sectionId=1006&articleId=20070913142659593006&releaseId=20060321132945404017
haha
Brandon above is totally correct.
http://www.n4g.com/industrynews/News-67417.aspx
Since when did war vets become such pussies that they needed fucking video game programmers to defend them from disrespectful commercials? Jesus christ, what a bunch of P.C. horseshit. Vets don't give a fuck about Halo, MOH or any of you twits. Vets care about important shit like prescription drug prices and artificial limb technology. You wankers don't need to bring them into your fanboy whine-fest just to prove some utterly retarded pseudo-point. Thanks to you dickwads, I now have an image of a Vietnam Vet crying over a video game commercial because it was so disrespectful. And there's another ridiculous fucking image of a vet shedding a tear over the fact that MOH's gameplay mechanics didn't correctly simulate the emotional imact of his friends dying. Way to totally rape my imagination, doofuses. Go fucking join the army and then get back to me on how vets feel about shit. Actually, never mind. You'd both probably be total shit at Army-ing and get people killed. Stick to blowing up fake cars and imagining yourselves to be badasses. It's safer for both you and our nation's vital national security interests.
LOL i find it funny how all the Halo fans are arguing with all the Sony fans...
very amusing
its kinda sad how all the Sony fanboys are here shit-talking about Halo, because there isnt a single good PS3 game out there that's worth them visiting its forums or commenting on them
Well. I guess everyone is entitled to their own opinions. But, It's kind of hard to take anything said on this blog seriously when you essentially work for Sony and the majority of the readers here are Sony fanboys. I think that it's odd that you'd want to start a flame war with such a weak flame anyways. You trounced MOH more than you did Halo. That being said, FUCK ADAM! btw who the fuck is Adam.
Guys, the game isn't even out yet. How can anyone here judge Halo 3 BEFORE it's release? Sure only 13 days left or so, but still. Everyone here is just jealous because M$ is making more money from Halo 3 than Sony selling PS3.
"Fuck Halo" What kind of developer says that? Bungie once said "We are NOT Gears of War, we are NOT Medal of Honer, we are NOT Metal Gear or COD. We are Halo. If we were anything like the others we wouldn't be Halo."
All those who says "Halo is too colorful" then you need to go outside and view the world. Get up from your game system for 5 minutes; it won't kill you, and go outside. The trees are green, the water is blue, the ground is brown. There are no tints of gray on everything, no tints of brown, and there is no over-powering shadow on everything even in the day. The world contains color of every shade so just because it is colorful doesn't mean it isn't realistic.
I love the commercial. Sure some things are a bit over-hyped, but the commercials are cool. Like reading a real war story. You guys just don't appreciate good stuff. It is supposed to say "Hey, Heroes can be anyone so believe that you can be one too." Soldiers especially. This is a dedication, not an insult. You all take it way too far.
I am a Halo fan and I am proud of it and I am not afraid to say it. Especially not inf ront of any of you kiddie baby whiners. I loved Bungie ever since Marathon and Oni and I love all of their Halo games. I hate M$, but I will always be a Bungie fan. You want to flame me fine, but grow up. Oh and Will you guys put down that Video Game and go live your lives for once? I think they are starting to ruin your eyes because you guys can't see squat.
I am not a fanboy either because I have many games. I have PS2 and I love Kingdom Hearts and yet that one is cartoony....what do you Sony fans boys have to say to that one? Kingdom Hearts is a very popular game and yet what is it about? Cartoons. I like all games, well maybe except for Sports games cause I am no good at them. PS3 is lacking a lot. You better pick it up Sony or you are going to be left in the dust.
-343winks.
oh shit, look at all the halo defense force crying all over the place..this is too funny.
After reading through the entire conversation, I can only say I have even more respect for David Jaffe and much less for Mark Wilson after his fanboy baiting article. I'm a pretty big Halo fan, but even I can admit that Jaffe made some good points.
The story for Halo seemed interesting with the origin of the flood and the Halo rings, but I wanted so much more emphasis on Master Chief and the other members of his team. It seems like you don't get any information about them except if you read the comic books and novels. After two games, most people still don't know much about them or what their motivations aside from survival. I mean, besides the entire universe being wiped out, what else is at stake for our protagonist? When the war is over, is that it? I wish they'd dig deeper into these kind of questions.
I also don't get the feeling of comradery when I play either. The human AI was more annoying that endearing in the previous Halo games. To be honest, even though I was satisfied with Halo 2, I didn't find myself blown away, but after taking the time to study up the history and characters a little more, I'm finding myself very hopeful about the prospects for what this upcoming sequel holds. I hope they pay more attention to the narrative this time and that it measures up to the hype that they've been feeding us.
After reading through the entire conversation, I can only say I have even more respect for David Jaffe and much less for Mark Wilson after his fanboy baiting article. I'm a pretty big Halo fan, but even I can admit that Jaffe made some good points.
The story for Halo seemed interesting with the origin of the flood and the Halo rings, but I wanted so much more emphasis on Master Chief and the other members of his team. It seems like you don't get any information about them except if you read the comic books and novels. After two games, most people still don't know much about them or what their motivations aside from survival. I mean, besides the entire universe being wiped out, what else is at stake for our protagonist? When the war is over, is that it? I wish they'd dig deeper into these kind of questions.
I also don't get the feeling of comradery when I play either. The human AI was more annoying that endearing in the previous Halo games. To be honest, even though I was satisfied with Halo 2, I didn't find myself blown away, but after taking the time to study up the history and characters a little more, I'm finding myself very hopeful about the prospects for what this upcoming sequel holds. I hope they pay more attention to the narrative this time and that it measures up to the hype that they've been feeding us.
I've been reading a lot of comments about this commercial and the one common comment that I can't stand is the one where somebody is piss'd over the fact that they believe this commercial is disrespectful to veterans. Are movies such as Aliens disrespectful to Marines, because they have "Space Marines" in the movie. Its an act of fiction, and the best fiction out there is the type that has real elements of life in it. the commercial isn't giving any type of political commentary on terrorism or whether or not we should be in Iraq; say it with me people, "IT'S A VIDEO GAME" and the commercial was artful and clever and it reached the people that it needed to reach and has gotten the rest talking about it. Veterans don't need us to defend their honor against video games, they have fought greater more dangerous battles and have come out of them alive. I have sat through multi-player matches of COD:2, and listened to every manner of hate, disrespect and racism spat across the mic, as player run around seeking as many head shot kills they can get. Now you tell me how that honors veterans, how does that give us pause to stop and reflect on the sacrifices made in blood by unsung heroes. These are video games, they have not a damn thing to do with real life. The same people up in arms about this probably dont give two shits about the vivid images of blacks being shot down by a white man in the new Resident Evil 5! But even in that instance, it's just a game and it doesn't mean a damn thing if you dont buy, doesn't mean a damn thing if you do
I could care less.
Fuck MOH... hehe!
Having somebody dis Halo and defend MOH is a fucking joke. MOH has sucked for years now. Frontlines (Jaffe refers to as the FIRST one) was the only one that was decent. Jaffe, I have no quarrel with you my friend (GOW rules) but this little cock-a-roach needs to be squished. Halo is THE BEST multiplayer game ever made. You just gotta ignore the militant 14 year olds (which BTW, are giving Halo a really bad name I noticed)
PS-- Twisted Metal Black was shitload of fuck!
I'm with this Matt guy - read the books, dude.
As for being disrespectful to veterans - I'm on active duty and I thought it was powerfully emotional and extremely well done.
Wel;...I likely won't check this for a response, so go ahead and flame me some, you military-hating people out there! (I know you're there - go on, post something about the Iraq War - I get those all the time.)
OK, joking. Have a great life, everyone.
I just had to post again, after reading some of the other responses. It really irritates the heck out of me when you have a lot of fucking morons who say the stupidest shit ever.
You didn't diss Halo, and I don't Think Adma did either, you guy's just don't think it's all that. I could name one developer who is a worse offender of doing that type of shit, always complaining about games that are in the same genre as his. No, I think you guys were expressing some honest opinions there. Some people just don't get that.
Another thing that kinda bothered me is that some people think your jealous of the success of Halo. I never got that impression from you. I'm glad that you decided to follow the path of making games that you want, rather than being stuck making several games in a series, that sucks up your life for years. That's why I'm glad that Bungie is ending the main Halo series, because I always heard that they wanted to do other games outside of it - but the fans, and their parent company, never wanted that.
So, keep going the way your going, man. That's how I would want to be.
Ho...
ly...
shit.
180 comments.
But somehow...
In some strange twist of fate...
Halo still sucks ass...
How strange...
Joaquin
Adam, have you even played the multiplayer in halo2? It is the best online gaming experience for any console out there period (Notice I said console not PC!). Give me one game that the online is as quick and seemless as halo 2. Plus the controls for this game are spot on and responsive leading to exceptional game play.
The problem I have with Halo, especially since Halo 2, is the aura of self-importance created by Bungie. And now, Halo 3 is going to take the cake.
I mean, I understand that Bungie proud of their games -- and they should be. But there's something kind of incestuous about just how much they love their own creation...
And, I agree with Adam on his assertion that the "Believe" ad is insulting to real veterans of war... The advertisement co-opts the true pain and carnage of war, and re-creates it as a slickly produced commercial. When you factor in the notion that in Halo you're fighting talking gorillas in armor and midgets with plasma pistols, then the ridiculousness becomes all the more apparent, and all the more insulting.
Anyhow, that's why I responded so negatively to Halo 3's "Believe" ad -- because the ad (and the game) has its head so far up its own ass.
Let me start off by saying I am a 22 year old female gamer. I will play anything that I find of interest. I am not an elitist of video games. If it appeals to this girl, no matter who developed it or what the content is, she plays it willingly. Sometimes I find something great, other times... not so much.
But sometimes people find something that they actually adore. Have you ever adored something? Truly? Whether it be a person, place, or thing, hell even all of the above, find something to adore. It will make you happy.
I know why I play Halo co-op almost every night with my boyfriend. I know why I have read all of the Halo novels. I know why I can listen to hours upon hours of Marty O'donnell's Halo score. I know why I buy the merchandise. I know why I get excited when a new trailer releases or the tiniest of information is shared. This is a video game to me.
Normally, I see long lists of comments like this and I read, observe, absorb, and move on. I wanted to post because I want all of you to know that I adore this game, the people who make it, and the people who play it with me.
I do believe.
I hope you all have something to believe in too, especially these days where sometimes that's all we have. Here's to happy distractions.
xx Ramdani xx says:
To be honest, halo is one of the greatest games ever made. It's not because it's revolutionary, it just does 'everything' acceptionally well. What's happening here is simply that all of you sony fanboy's were stupid enough to purchase a ps3 thinking you'd made the better descision, when in reality what has happned is you've made a big mistake and are now either to cheap or cant swallow your pride enough to purchase a 360. I'm sure if any of you actually spent time on xbox live and had some good games you would come to a realization. I also am sure that if any of you had the chance to trade in you current console for a 360 you all would in an instant!
Final words: Halo 3 will break records, and live up to all the hype while you people will still be stuck playing your shit Warhawk.
:)
Hey, everyone can take pot shots at the Halo series if they want to, but $125 million in sales on the release date for the sequel don't lie. Xbox Live dominating anything Sony can try to match is because of the Halo series. You can try to kill the king, debate the ethics of a "commercial", or say that Halo sucks ass, but in the end...it's the reason why Sony employees are so childish. You don't see the Bungie guys ripping other releases by Sony, do you? Keep on talking bs buddy, b/c it just makes us feel better knowing that you aren't putting out any games to top us AT ALL. Suck on that...
from:kappa koin
really how ever you feel about halo 3 is cool with me, this is America so i respect your stand.
but i agree on the over hyping MS is doing with Halo 3 it starting to get to a point were i dont feel so happy about the release of halo 3 which i really want and must have the $130 flavor for the big fan i am but enough ads dammit!
Jeff, from a hardcore Halo fan, no problem there, you expressed an opinion and just said why you didn't like it. Adam however, he was just outrageous complete lack of general professionalism. It really turns me off of Sony to see that kind of shit from the higher ups, the stuff you expect to see from the forum members, not the employees. But honestly, not all Halo fans or fanboys are as bad as you think. We catch shit from your fans too Jeff, lol.
But with all respect, no problem with you from this halo Fan. It's just Adam I've taken a disliking to now.
-One of the more Mature Fans out there: Synthos X
Also: Great picture.
And to all the immature halo fans here, quit making jackasses out of your selves and the series in general.
-Synthos X
you guys can say what u want about halo because you losers are all probably playing a PS3! c'mon. if u choose to own a PS3 (and not a 360 or wii at the same time) then you have NO RIGHT to say anything is shit! you have no right to say you are a gamer.
it is due to the PS3 that GTA4 is being delayed! and before you get out your copies of killzone 2 and attempt to tell me it's better, it is a solid fact that NO-ONE (and i literally mean NO-ONE) outside of rockstar has seen the PS3 version. it is a well known fact that it's first debut, at a PS3 stand, was running off 360 hardware!
also, halo 3 would beat all multimedia sales records without any marketing campaign at all, FACT. all it is is microsoft sticking their fingers up at sony. nothing more
The whole Halo thing aside, I'm happy that people are able to be this candid about games. The ability to look at something and genuinely express your opinions is the best way to move forward and make something that matters.
In the end, I'm sure if two rival dev teams were to ever meet up, they'd actually have a good time talking about what they do. Everyone is just trying to make something fun and entertaining. I think that it's when marketing or rabid fanbases get involved that things get a little messy.
The fact that you guys are able to have fun and critically look at yourselves and others is what makes me want to get into the game biz.
Post more conversations like this!
-Dave
DMBoyleDesign.com
The biggest games will always take flack. It doesn't matter if it was Halo 3 or some other game. People love to hate those on top. To the people on here that hate Halo so much...who cares? don't play it. To the people on here who love it so much...who cares? It's just a game.
Just from a perspective of a long time PC FPS fan...Halo is just nothing special. Its sad that it gets so much recognition and in the grand scheme that is FPS, its junk. I'm sorry you like it. :)
Yeah, o.k. enjoy Resistance, while every one else is playing Halo 3.
Here's a thought: Any ad that can rile up this kind of emotion, be it devotion or anger, is successful. Halo 3 is the most successful game of all time because it is recognized at such a grand level. There is almost nobody who is in any way associated with games that can not recognize Halo or it's motif. If you can name another game that can do that, and it wasn't from the 32-bit era, I applaud you. Mario, Halo, and Pac-Man. Those are the things people think of when they think video-games.
I also sense quite a bit of "rebel against the big contender" here. If Halo sucked so much ass, it wouldn't be such a big thing. I love the comment: "I played the game for seven hours and got sick of it". Obviously they're doing something right if they can get you to play for seven hours. That's a lot for a game you "dislike." You all are just clinging to your smaller franchise's, spouting their superiority in vast numbers, thanks to an "underdog" mentality. Everyone loves them, but they still rarely win in the end.
I've said it before: Making an entertainment piece which profits from the sacrifices of servicemembers and their legacy is inexcusable to me. I will not buy a MOH or COD game. I am glad they try and do justice to veterans and create emotion impact. However, the fact remains that these games are *franchised* until the genre itself has become cliche and it the brunt of jokes.
So, please I beg of you, fuck with Britney as much as you want, but LEAVE WWII GAMES ALONE!
halo is the shit, that ad is the shit, everyone who disagrees is not the shit
i dont know who you are exactly, so im not sure why i should care that you said fuck halo.
and im pretty sure halo 3 will make more money than both you doodz put together
Adam,
Your mom is a great c.sucker, do you know out of which dick you came ;)
Post a Comment