The reason why I mention the dubstep, is because it's very UN-Halo. It's minor yeah, but it gives you an impression of this franchise getting more main stream.

And let's not forget good 'ol Mario! It's not really about having more of them- it's about keeping them interesting and not just phoning it in for a cash in( like COD and, Imo New Super Mario).

Personally, without the story/universe, I would really care much about Halo. Despite it's top-of-the-class gameplay, if it had a generic world/story-line, I'd have checked out long ago, or at the least been luke warm to it. Come for the Campaign, stay for the Multi. Of course playing awesome is the other half of the equation. The Experience is very important to me.

It's like Killzone has the atmosphere and interesting world, but the control is abysmal(KZ2) to decent(KZ3). It didn't really nail 'em both, imo, and so falls short. Or Crysis 2 where the control is great, concept is cool, execution is good, but the world/fiction is boring. The gameplay superiority makes me far more likely to play Crysis2 again than Killzone though...

I agree that the Halo MP plays a crucial part in the entire package, but way too often the SP aspect is unfairly detached from the franchise's overall success, as if the story and characters don't really matter. I understand that, on some level, it really may not matter that much to a lot of folks, and that's fine, but the Halo universe and fiction is something unique that, at the end of the day, it can always hang its hat on. It seems silly to say, but an identity, a real and memorable one, is not something so easily achieved by a lot of shooters.

Yep, it's funny when you think about it Phaeth, but you are indeed 100% responsible for why I like Halo so much lol. Go figure :) However, I'll always be thankful for that introduction to the books, because it gave me a level of respect and interest in the character of Master Chief and of Cortana, and the wider Halo universe that I probably would have never, at the time anyway, given the game a chance to do on its own. I was very much in stubborn pc gamer mode during those years, only stepping outside of my comfort zone of pc gaming for certain 2D fighting games or a major jrpg release.

I will say this, however, Ghosts of Onyx, and a number of the books that have followed, have been amazing. Ghosts of Onyx wasn't just good, it was great. If you think for a second the fiction isn't still capable of being top notch, just go read or listen to Eric Nylund's short story in Halo Evolutions: Essential Tales of the Halo Universe. It's called The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole. It is a magnificent piece of writing, and just one of many examples of how strong the Halo fiction is still capable of being. The reason why the books were able to make me such a huge fan of the games is pretty simple. It helped me better understand why I was meant to be so in awe of the Chief, and what truly made him different from everybody else, besides just the fact that he's apparently wearing a piece of armor that makes him stronger and better than everybody else. Simply learning the tech and functional rationale behind the piece of Mjolnir armor that the Chief wears, alone, made me far more excited about the Halo universe. The reason for these things exciting me so much is that I've really always been about my games laying it on thick, and giving me a story where I feel I understand all that I need to know, almost as if I'm on a real adventure or quest with the characters themselves, that I have a real interest in seeing things through to the end as well, and the illusion that I would somehow regret not doing so. This goes back to why I like jrpgs so much. So, yea, the self contained stories of the games may not have filled this void on their own, but as a package that I view as incomplete without the support of the books, there are very few games that I see as being in the ballpark of Halo. It was very important to my enjoyment of the games to know, without question, what it is that made a Spartan a Spartan, to know that he wasn't just some lucky dude in the UNSC that got a piece of super, high tech armor that nobody else has.

The Celtics loss still stings :( And though my favorite basketball player of all time, second only to Michael Jordan himself, Ray Allen is now a member of the Heat, I will still support him 100%. I still want to see the Celtics win, and I'll cheer for them, but now I have to cheer for and support *trying not to vomit* for the Heat as well, because I will never cheer against Ray Allen, ever. When the Celtics and Heat play, I'll just watch as a neutral party that supports both squads. As much as I want the Celtics to get over the hump and beat the new Heat, I want Ray Allen to showcase to the Celtics, particularly Danny Ainge, just how stupid he was being for not really viewing Ray Allen as a real part of their future plans. For that reason I want Ray to win, and prove to be a major piece for the Heat.

LOL!

Very true all the top devs do this not just MS, in this climate its all about $$$, but as you say atleast we are getting different experiences and not the rinse and repeat of COD /Crysis / BF ect..

:O

So good!

The discussion is about frequent releases from a dev, not about what features Halo 4 includes.

Edit: ?? Where did you original reply go??

They actually purchased the domain for 7, 8 and 9. They already had 4, 5 and 6 when they announced the new trilogy. Kinda crazy overkill imo, but people clearly love halo.

Not really, do you think GOW / Killzone / Resi / COD / BF / AC / Gears / Uncharted / ect... will ever stop being made if they continue to sell millions and millions and make stupid money for the devs???

No, but to "announce" up to the 9th halo title before the 4th is even released seems rediculous.

Well maybe not as bad as COD, but for me Crysis 1/2/3 are all the same type of experience, and did'nt Bungie add its own COD like features to Reach/, so whos to say they would not have continued the trend in Halo 4 if they were at the helm?, or if indeed they will with there new title that we have yet to see?

LOL they did not announce anything, there just buying up the domains.

For what? Shits and giggles? Clearly their intention is a crap ton more halo games, if it wasn,t they wouldn,t have bought the domains...i'd rather not know their milking stratagy tho, just like any franchise, i wouldn't want to know there will be an uncharted 9, not that i think there will be, it just reeks of milking to me. But as i said, people clearly like halo, so the prospect of 9 no doubt gets them wet. 9 of any game, halo, uncharted, killzone, gears etc would kill me. I'd get sick of it. Spin offs? Fine, i guess, But core, numbered sequels?...no thanks.

I see it as being similar to the producers of walking dead wanting 8or 9 seasons...i love walking dead, but to know it potentially has that many seasons left kinda sucks, and i honestly hope it doesnt reach that point.

And who is to say Uncharted already dose not have the number 9 domain bought by ND?, the only reason this story got out is some did some digging and found the domains, devs do this all the time to secure them early, it means fuck all if the franchise goes down the shitter, as i said, if all the games i mentioned plus the rest continue to sell big you will see number 9 on all of them.

What fuck is this stupid ass argument, devs do this shit all the time buying up domains to secure them, if you go investigating all these devs you find they have bought domians for their titles up the yazoo, its what they all bloody do sheesh!

@ Ops: The vid is awesome those sounds man!!!!!

I have never heard anything in regards to any dev/publisher buying domains up to and including sequel number 9. But by all means, prove it happens regularly? At most it's the domains for the current planned trilogy, not the current and the next one along.

Thats the thing now, it's "overkill" with Halo, yet Final Fantasy is up to 14, Mario and Zelda games have been going strong for well over 20 years, then you have COD.


Original trilogy
COD
COD 2
COD 3
Modern Warfare
again 3 games
World at war
Black Ops
Black Ops 2

Call of Duty: Finest Hour
Call of Duty 2: Big Red One
Call of Duty: Roads to Victory
Call of Duty: World at War: Final Fronts
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Mobilized
Call of Duty: World at War: Zombies 1 and 2
Call of Duty: The War Collection
Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified

THAT is overkill. Funny thing is i don't even care about sequels, obviously people like these games so complaining about them is silly, if you don't like it don't buy them pretty simple. It's just funny to me how Halo will get called out on this when other games with far more sequels and spin offs get a pass. So what is the difference between Ninty making Mario games for 20+ years and MS making Halo ( Master chief is pretty much MS's "Mario" and Halo pretty much defines the Xbox brand) games for years as well?

How about you prove it dose not?, everyone else on here seems to get it except you, no change there then.

That exactly what i was saying..
Trust me i'm not arguing, i'm done lol.I understand were your coming from, all i was saying is at least ODST H-Wars and Reach brought new Experiences to the table, well at least they did for me anyway, not like your COD's same exact thing ect...

lol yeah i know devs buy up domains all the time, thats what i've been saying.