Is the Xbox 360 relying too heavily on Halo games?
The original trilogy of Halo games is as good a series of games as there has ever been, possibly even rivaling the Final Fantasy and Metal Gear Solid franchises. But the recently released Halo Wars and forthcoming Halo 3: ODST could signal an over-reliance on Halo’s good name on the part of Microsoft.
This generation’s console war is far from over. The Nintendo Wii probably won’t get caught, although I do think sales will slow down a lot, possibly sooner than we think. Second place, on the other hand, is still up for grabs, with a few more years left yet for the PS3 and Xbox 360 to fight it out for the runner-up spot.
There are a few factors that are going to determine final placings: price, online functions, word of mouth. But by far the biggest factor has to be the games, with exclusive titles having the ability to drive hardware sales.
Both the PS3 and Xbox have some nice exclusives, but while the PS3 exclusives are varied and cover a wide range of genres, the Xbox 360 exclusives tend to be of a certain type. And even more telling, there’s now an over-reliance on a couple of big franchises.
First there is Gears Of War, which I think is going to get milked dry over the next few years. But worse than that is the Halo franchise, which is already being relied upon too heavily. The Halo name is so well-known and able to sell games (and consoles) so readily, that I can’t help feeling that Microsoft is about to run it into the ground.
The first two Halo games massively helped to sell the original Xbox. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that without Halo, the Xbox would have sold in such poor numbers that the 360 may never have been developed. Halo 3, supposedly the final game in the series, was then released early on in the life of the Xbox 360.
To date, the third game in the trilogy has sold over 9 million copies. There have also been over 1 billion online matches played. Halo 3 not only persuaded owners of the original Xbox to buy a 360 but dangled the carrot of good gaming in front of everyone’s eyes. And millions have people have bitten, buying an Xbox 360 as a result.
Now we have Halo Wars, a real-time strategy game based in the Halo universe. It’s not a bad game, although not my thing, and the reviews are generally favorable. Later on this year, we’ll get Halo 3: ODST, a kind of standalone expansion pack which will play like a normal Halo game. Again, I fully expect it to be nothing but good, and receive a rapturous reception as a result.
It’s not that I feel the current crop of Halo games are bad. And they’re likely to also help sell the Xbox 360 in the same way the former games have. But there’s a nagging feeling in the back of my mind that as games based in the Halo universe become more numerous and cross genres, the impact of each release will lessen.
Related Posts:
53 Responses to “Is the Xbox 360 relying too heavily on Halo games?”
Leave a Reply:
You must be logged in to post a comment. Don't have an account? Register today!
March 6th, 2009
That’s some nasty flame baiting going on right there, Dave.
March 6th, 2009
Jebus H.
Let’s get real here, there are about 4 or 5 real catagories of game (FPS, RPG, RTS, Sports sim & racing), the other definitions tend to be mere variations on a theme.
So, what is it that you think they’re over-doing?
A title?
Pffffh.
All the game consoles have a stack of games in each catagory.
So, does that mean you think they ought to stop making new games?
I doubt it.
In short, another fanboy flamer Dave
(and self referencing your earlier nonsensical screed about the Wii adds zero credibility to this new daft piece).
You can’t have tell the weekend was coming, eh?
March 6th, 2009
“there are about 4 or 5 real categories of game (FPS, RPG, RTS, Sports sim & racing),”
-Lets not forget Action and Adventure. At any rate, Sony seems to have all of these categories nicely covered with there first part studios. This article does bring up a really good point. With the exception of Fable (RPG), M$ only has Halo (FPS & RTS) and Gears (third person shooter). This is another example of the advantage of 122 first part studios vs. 2.
March 6th, 2009
Happyhockum
What about Puzzel, Music, Fighting, and 3rd person adventure(GTA,Zelda, games like that.),and Flight/sim just to name a few more cuz. You just named all the kinds of games you play and made your self feel real small in the process.
March 6th, 2009
well at least halo guys will have this to look foward to…”Halo Party” at my house…Chips an Dip lol
March 6th, 2009
I don’t disagree entirely on the point brought up in this article, but nor do I totally agree.
The Xbox is weighted heavily on shooters. And, yes Halo and Gears are the big games that helped push consoles. But to say it relies too heavily on these is a pretty big call. Just because they “milk” the franchise doesn’t really mean they rely on them, rather they just wish to churn out quality games for the game’s fans.
But you are forgetting some other big exclusives they have. How about all those JRPGs that the Xbox all of a sudden had! Lets not forget that Star Ocean 4 pushed console sales in Japan in front of the Wii… THE FREAKING WII. When any of the consoles can do that, a pat on the back is in order!
Music Games is another genre that Microsoft is also pitching. (Because it saw the Wii and now sees the Casual game market can be profitable). You have imitation Singstar, Lips. (Don’t worry, I wont mention this game again) Lets also remember that they managed to get EA or MTV games (who ever was responsible for the decision) to have have Rock Band 2 come out as a timed exclusive… which probably hurt RB2 sales a lot seeing as GH:WT hit all platforms at once, regardless if RB was the better game. The fact that Microsoft obviously forked over some significant cash for this to happen shows that they are putting bets on other genres besides shooters!
Oh, and shooters are games that appeal to the masses. Everyone wants to run and run. So this genre is where all the moolah is, so having a lot of Shooters makes sense.
March 6th, 2009
No Juice, in your haste to leap in & make a feeble little dig you just managed to completely miss the point.
The main issue is not whether there are 4, 5 or even 10, 15 or 20 truly different genres of game (although most of the sub-divisions you mention do in fact boil down to to one of the main 5 I mentioned).
No, the point is that these silly complaints about ‘franchises’ are ludicrous when set against the central truth.
All consoles have umteen games largely the same and every successful franchise gets put to work.
In fact it’s sometimes said (of the entire games industry itself) they’re just selling the same game over and over
(minor tweaks aside).
Xbox is as well covered as any (and getting a better & broader set of content as time passes).
Of course it helps that XBox has an excellent Live service to provide so much more than just the traditional retail stuff.
March 6th, 2009
easy there happyhockum but agreed….how many final fantasies are we gonna see be4 we get to the “fantasy”
March 6th, 2009
i agree though if xbox didn’t have halo where would they be sheeesh that’s so scary that it should be put on unsolved mysteries lol idk i a retard
March 6th, 2009
Halo and the Gears of War series can be described with many of this words Hype Garbage Mediocre Fanboy Lies Crap. I got all Halo and all Gears of War and these game are not as fun as they put it to be Halo 2 was fun on Xbox, Gears of War online is garbage offline the story kind sucks but is better then Halo.
March 7th, 2009
Agree with Ivan.
Halo 3 probably has the worst single player campaign of all FPS’s this generation. And the multiplayer is nothing special either. I only played it because my friend is an X-bot and its fun to play him but otherwise its boring with a capital B!
Gears of War sucks. Ok, maybe that was a little too harsh but it is way way way over hyped. The reason for that is simple. The X-bots can only hang to Gears now since Halo is finished (unless you count the crappy games M$ are releasing using Halo’s good name). The story is trash, the multiplayer offers nothing and it looks no where as near as good as any Ps3 game and yet we hear X-bots claiming it looks better than Killzone2.
And Ps3 fanboys stopped making fun of Too Human way too early. You can’t get any better material for making fun of the 360 than Too Human. 10 years in development and was claimed to be the greatest game ever made. Who would’ve thought that it would bomb like that?
Keep making excuses X-bots, just keep making lame excuses. But in reality, you’re missing out on great games all for the glorification of your massive ego!!
March 7th, 2009
killzone is really starting to blossum in the multiplayer
March 8th, 2009
Xbox has 20 games rating 90%+ on Metacritic to PS3’s lowly 11.
My guess is Xbox 360 relies on having a superior selection of games, end of story.
March 8th, 2009
Stop the presses,
the PS3 fanboys rolled into to slam the Xbox game selection.
Wow. Not.
March 8th, 2009
no, wait, you did, you actually did…
“possibly even rivaling the Final Fantasy and Metal Gear Solid franchises”
Halo can’t be used in the same sentence as Final Fantasy, and well it’s true both Halo and Metal Gear have colt followings, just Halo are a bunch of 12 year olds that swear alot…
Halo may be along the lines of a Red Faction, don’t start whinging cause i said that, play Red Faction 2 multiplayer and tell me it doesn’t feel like halo (it was around before halo btw before you say the based it on halo)
March 8th, 2009
“Agree with Ivan.”
WOAH!
March 8th, 2009
@ Kevo
“killzone is really starting to blossum in the multiplayer” –> You sound like someone who just bought a U2 cd, realising it’s crap on first listen, but are so intent on wanting to like it you keep trying to convince yourself that it’s good after each repeated spin.
How on Earth is Microsoft milking the Halo franchise? Halo Wars is the first Halo branded game to be released in 18 months. Halo 3 ODST is going to be released in around 6 months time, making it the second FPS Halo game in 24 months. Milking indeed! If that’s the case, then Sony are milking the Motorstorm, Ratchet and Clank, Uncharted and Resistance franchises because they’ve released multiple games in the past few years.
Come on Dave, if I want to read biased fanboy dribble, i’d click on one of Mike’s posts. You’re better than that.
March 8th, 2009
no by blossum i mean the further you get higher in rank the more of a “war zone” it becomes really. you can be soldiers,medics,technicians,invisible snipers etc and its just crazy
March 8th, 2009
Ok… but i am still scratching my head as to why you would post something that is entirely off topic in an article that is 360 related. Seems a little odd….
March 8th, 2009
You guys are truly sad and a bunch of loosers. The fact that you guys live here on Blorge is fact that you have no clue what a good game is. Hey Dave stop hateing because Mario, Zelda, and Sonic have been milked and they are still producing so why the hate on Halo. 25 Million Sold Dave get it right. Halo is an excellent game and if it was on the PS3 you guys would be singing a different tune. But who am I kidding this is the generation that Sony goes down and it’s fanboys are full of hate and envy. Sony RIP
March 9th, 2009
“Halo is an excellent game and if it was on the PS3 you guys would be singing a different tune. ”
The same could be said about the 360 fanboys if Killzone 2 was on the 360.
March 9th, 2009
hamburger
You so obviously wish.
Personally I think the 360 is nicely covered in that genre.
There’s always room for another but the idea that KZ2 (which afterall is only – arguably – a slightly more titivated identical offering) is high on anyone’s list outside the PS3 niche is just purely your own projection and so obviously part of the current mass conceit amongst PS3 fanboys.
March 9th, 2009
I hear they are working on a Halo MMORPG next.
March 9th, 2009
Halo Cart Racing
March 9th, 2009
Tailgatin’ with Master Chief: BBQ and Beer
March 9th, 2009
@Happyhockum
The idea that Halo 3 (which afterall is only – arguably – a slightly more titivated identical offering) is high on anyone’s list outside the X-box 360 niche is just purely your own projection and so obviously part of the 2 year old mass conceit amongst X box fanboys.
March 9th, 2009
And if M$ needs even more ideas to further milk out every drop of juice out the Halo series, they can go for :
MetalGearHalo
Or, GrandTheftHalo
Or, LittleBigHalo
Or, Uncharted: Master Chief’s fortune
March 9th, 2009
Wow, oh dear.
What shame you couldn’t think up a decent quip of your own, huh hamburger?
I think you’ll find the sales numbers (and the timing) argue against the silly claims.
Blah blah blah Sonic Halo, blah blah Gears of Halo…..
Jeez the cheek of it, consiodering all the well worn Sony franchises.
Hypocrites.
March 9th, 2009
Jeez I don’t have time to think of idiotic stuff to say in order to defend my console. Nor do I have time to drool over sales figures.
Do you know why Happyhockum?
Cuz I’m too busy with Kz2.
So you ladies can go back to your ancient Halo franchise while we have a good time with Kz2 and then look forward to Sony’s next big releases.
March 9th, 2009
Yeah right, of course hamburger.
That’s how come you rolled in to spew your silly fanboy nonsense, repeatedly.
Love the new line of attack tho, now you’re saying Halo is “ancient” huh?
Halo mustn’t have been done to death like so many of those Sony franchises afterall then eh?
March 9th, 2009
I “rolled into spew my silly fanboy nonsense, repeatedly” because I’m at work and I’m bored. Believe me if I was at home, I would be here on blorge.
Halo 3 was supposedly “the last” game in the franchise and yet here we’ve got 2 more coming out with the “Halo” name. Why is that? Because M$ is trying to sucker you into buying more crappy games just so you can add to the “Halo Sales Figures” and brag about it. And you ladies are perfect bait.
I’d love it if you can name a big Sony franchise that ended but got revitalized. You see the Ps3 actually has a line up that’s got variety. Each exclusive is unique. (Compare Uncharted to Kz2 to MGS to Lbp)
Where as M$ only have shooters (Gears 2, Halo), All with Crappy Single Player campaigns that feels like it was there just for the sake of being there. And the multiplayer is just kept alive by you people because you’ve got to live with one game for the rest of your 360’s lives since M$ are out of ideas for games.
Bet you even forgot what it feels like to play a great new exclusive right? I mean think about the 10 years in development Bombshell of a game Too Human. That was a great exclusive wasn’t it?
Whereas we’re gonna dive into inFamous in June, and soon after that we’ve got Uncharted 2 and God of War 3. So we don’t have to stay married to one game!
March 9th, 2009
“So you ladies can go back to your ancient Halo franchise”
I dunno, I’d hate to know how old you think Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Final Fantasy, etc etc are
March 9th, 2009
I refer to those as classics.
Halo is crap and doesn’t fall in that catagory.
March 9th, 2009
Halo 3: ODST is a sad outing for Halo. You only get three new maps for Multiplayer. The rest of the maps are from Halo 3 and the map packs that followed. Talk about short changing their userbase.
UT3 will be adding 19 additional maps for free as a point of reference.
March 9th, 2009
Oh so because you don’t like it its not classic and is a pile of crap… Yeah that makes sense
For the record I don’t like it either.
But seriously, we’re bitching that MS is milking Halo?! WTF have nintendo been doing with every zelda, mario, metroid, F-zero (the list goes on)?
You also mentioned God of War, which will be the third installment not including stuff on the PSP.
Everyone milks everything they can. So don’t play favourites when the game is on a platform you don’t like very much.
March 9th, 2009
SW
Kudos, good response.
phranctoast
What about all the new owners who haven’t bought into Halo yet?
Isn’t the repetiton good for new owners?
I hope so because I will be buying (and Halo Wars) and haven’t tried the Halo games yet.
March 9th, 2009
Yeah God of War 3 will be the third installment in a trilogy. That ain’t milking. They are gonna end the story then and there. God Of War 2 ended with a hint of a “to be continued”. You think not ending the game in the middle of the story is milking? Jesus Christ! what’s wrong with you people.
M$ ended Halo with Halo3 and yet they are making more cuz they got nothing else. That was my point.
March 9th, 2009
Happy,
I guess thats good for the new owners of Halo to play in 90% of the maps that the veterans are used to. That will make sure they quickly hate the game.
This “game” should be a downloadable add on to Halo 3.
March 9th, 2009
“You think not ending the game in the middle of the story is milking? Jesus Christ! what’s wrong with you people.”
Now :
“hamburger:
March 7th, 2009
Agree with Ivan.”
Makes so much more sense.
March 9th, 2009
If you’re a fan of a series, isn’t a bunch of new stuff in that series GOOD? Sure, the Xbox name and the Halo name are dependent on each other, but that doesn’t matter to the fans. I don’t care much for the games, but the novels are mostly awesome science fiction. If they keep writing novels, it might be “milking” but I would still enjoy them. Milk is yummy.
-Arvis
March 9th, 2009
Halo Wars is hardly ‘milking’ anything, it’s a new branch (RTS) of the franchise using elements of the original story.
So, what it seems to boil down to is PS3 fans moaning about 4 traditional Halo games (with 1 & 2 old mk1 Xbox games) …..like they care & have much interest anyways.
Halo 1 appeared in 2001, Halo 2 came in 2004 and Halo 3 emerged in 2007.
A game every 3 yrs.
Ooooooh the greed! Not.
LMAO.
(and isn’t Halo 1, or is it 2, available on Live?)
So 1 new venture into RTS not tried before (but generally getting good reviews for the genre) this year and a return to the original series 2yrs after the last.
Wow.
Talk about desperately straining to try and make a sad little bash.
March 9th, 2009
“Milk is yummy.”
But it can give you stomach aches…
I’m not sure how that relevant.
March 9th, 2009
“Halo Wars is hardly ‘milking’ anything, it’s a new branch (RTS) of the franchise using elements of the original story.”
But a new branch of product based on an original one is exactly what milking is. It is the RTSs, the toy figurines, the telly series, the cereal brand. etc.
At the end of the day I would (personally) only say something is milking if the supplementing products aren’t relevant or lack anything progressive.
I guess it comes down to what the fans think. If it feels like a bolt on to them, then it is time to stop squeezing the product so hard, because there is nothing left.
In my opinion, this isn’t milking. Yet.
March 9th, 2009
@ Hamburger,
“Do you know why Happyhockum?
Cuz I’m too busy with Kz2.”
If you’re so busy with that game, then why are you here?
March 9th, 2009
““Halo is an excellent game and if it was on the PS3 you guys would be singing a different tune. ”
The same could be said about the 360 fanboys if Killzone 2 was on the 360.”
Hamburger first I would not be disillusional as you fanboy if I was to own a PS3 first. Sure I would have fun with Killzone 2 and think it was the shit. Hell if I waited that long for a game I would probably hype myself as well into believing it is the greatest game of all time. But like I said I’m not disillusional. The way the 360 has been slaping the PS3 around like Ike did to Tina I would have taken notice. I would have noticed that I can duel two guns at once, Jump, have an aray of weapons that are just amazing, I can Drive, Fly and play the campaign with upto 4 people. I would have noticed that my environment has massive landscape with trees, hills, mountains and amazing indoor spaces. I would have noticed that the online is amazing and the forge mode is cool. I can make videos/pics and share it others. I would have noticed that there are multiple game types to play from solo to 16 Players. I would have noticed that the story is deep and not shallow. I would have noticed that while I wait for games to come out Halo was two games out 3 and Wars. I would have noticed that Gears has 2 games out and I’m still waiting for Gods of war, and Grand Tursimo. Like the developer said, Killzone 2 is a amazing looking game but that type of game is easy to make look good because there is not much to it. Even the reviewers say that Killzone does nothing to expand on the genre and that Gurilla Games took the safe route. I can chainsaw enemies in Gears and have finishing moves and pickup the enemy and use them as cover. I can tag grenades on the enemy or stick them on a wall. I can grab shield and plant them as cover. I can have 2 weapons a pistol and grenades at once. I would have noticed the better cover system. I also would have noticed that there is more then just one enemy in both Gears and Halo and finally I wouldn’t be stupid enough to compare Killzone 2 to Halo Wars and call it a Halo Killer when the two games belong to two different genres.
March 9th, 2009
“I would not be disillusional as you fanboy”
Followed by one of the longest blocks of 360 spooging I think I’ve ever seen.
March 10th, 2009
@ Harry
I mentioned it in the next post. Read it
I WAS AT WORK. IF WAS AT HOME I WUD NOT HAVE BEEN HERE ARGUING WITH YOU MINDLESS DRONES.
March 10th, 2009
SW,
Again, you are consistently the wittiest commenter here.
Any idea what “disillusional” means?
-Arvis
March 10th, 2009
@CAD
You know all that stuff you just said. You just proved that you’re probably the BIGGEST “Disillusional” Fanboy here!
March 10th, 2009
hamburger,
They have the internet at Taco Bell now?
March 11th, 2009
Funny. Couldn’t think of anything so you’re implying I have a crappy job. With brains like that its no wonder you’re suckered so easily by M$ into being their lapdog.
March 11th, 2009
Harry was just taking a cheap (and oooooooooooooooooold) shot. Just let it go.
March 11th, 2009
Harry that was laaaaaaame!