The Halo effect

We’ve all heard and seen the hoopla over the new Halo 3 and now read that it garnered $170 million in seemingly less than 24-hours. Now I’m not a fan of Halo 3. I don’t have any Xbox but have played games on it before. Frankly I don’t get the Halo madness because we’ve all done it before back when we were playing Doom and Quake. The only thing that gives Halo an edge is that it is the first console first person shooter to make a difference. But that being said, the cash Halo 3 has brought in could mark the end of quality video games.

If Hollywood is any sign of what happens when hype takes priority over quality, then video games are doomed. Halo 3 took video game marketing and hype to a new level…and it delivered…at least in dollars. Quality of the game is another issue and one I can’t comment on. But now the only thing that will matter is how much a new game can draw over a weekend, just like movies. Everyone will start paying attention to sales dollars more and more and they’ll start to lose sight of what games really are - fun entertainment.

All the graphics, voice acting, and on-line goodness can’t make up game that isn’t any fun to play. I predict games will start to follow in the footsteps of Spider-man 3 and Pirates movies. They’ll draw huge, crazy money at release and then drop sharply and get criticized harshly for lack of quality and value. Of course, when you make $170 million one day, there’s only one way sales can go - down - so that’s not unexpected, but as the price of new release games continue to climb — Halo 3 was $60 compared to the $50 that has been in place for decades — we’ll bitch more and more and won’t get any relief.

At least this is how it will be in console world. In PC world it might happen but not the same effect because you have independent games out there that are good, usually cheap or free, and that are actually fun to play. Unless the console companies open up their platforms and let people make homebrew games they will suffer while computer games will see a rebirth.

Time will tell and gamers will decide.

3 Comments

thee says:

September 28, 2007 at 11:59 am

First, Halo3 is in a relm that only another 4-5 games are so using it as an example of the industry is not fair. Also, Halo 3 is the perfection of video game development, up to this point in time. They spent effort in all areas from game play, to graphics, to story line. I watched a 30 minute show on Sci-Fi about the development and all I can say is “Wow, did they do their homework!”

Also, I disagree with your prediction that games will have massive sales then fall off due to lack of quality for 2 reasons. 1) A game costs a lot more than a movie and as a result people will be doing more research before they jump on the bandwagon and drop $60. 2) Blockbuster movies come out almost every week in the summer and so theaters need to maximize their first weekend returns. Blockbuster video games on the other hand come out 2-5 a year and don’t need first weekend returns and actually the reverse holds true. As time goes on the good games sells MORE per week as people learn about them and purchase them.

Regarding price, even if the price of developing games hasn’t gone up (which is has) inflation alone should cause the price to rise.
Brian says:

September 28, 2007 at 3:53 pm

Just because it costs a lot to make doesn’t mean they make quality things. Movies aren’t cheap either and many of them are crap even though they’re hyped like they are the end-all film.

Halo 3 is just another FPS, it doesn’t do anything new or different. It looks better than before, but that’s more due to technology and tools than money. Every one put out looked good at the time.

And Halo 3 is not in the realm of only a handful of games. Halo is one in a LONG line of FPS games so it’s fair to compare to past games when it comes to judging the experience. If I get to play Halo multiplayer, I’ll bet a dollar that I had more fun playing Duke Nukem 3D on the PC…and that was 10 years ago.

I’m guessing Halo’s shinning moments are in the on-line mode, not necessarily the single-player offering. I stand by the fact that Halo’s success is due to the good timing for FPS in the console market. I will put up any PC FPS experience vs. console any day. You can’t beat keyboard+mouse for shooters.
Big G says:

September 28, 2007 at 9:18 pm

Looks like they didn’t quite go as far as they should have with the new Halo.

http://techreport.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=53653

G+

thee says:

September 28, 2007 at 11:59 am

First, Halo3 is in a relm that only another 4-5 games are so using it as an example of the industry is not fair. Also, Halo 3 is the perfection of video game development, up to this point in time. They spent effort in all areas from game play, to graphics, to story line. I watched a 30 minute show on Sci-Fi about the development and all I can say is “Wow, did they do their homework!”

Also, I disagree with your prediction that games will have massive sales then fall off due to lack of quality for 2 reasons. 1) A game costs a lot more than a movie and as a result people will be doing more research before they jump on the bandwagon and drop $60. 2) Blockbuster movies come out almost every week in the summer and so theaters need to maximize their first weekend returns. Blockbuster video games on the other hand come out 2-5 a year and don’t need first weekend returns and actually the reverse holds true. As time goes on the good games sells MORE per week as people learn about them and purchase them.

Regarding price, even if the price of developing games hasn’t gone up (which is has) inflation alone should cause the price to rise.

Brian says:

September 28, 2007 at 3:53 pm

Just because it costs a lot to make doesn’t mean they make quality things. Movies aren’t cheap either and many of them are crap even though they’re hyped like they are the end-all film.

Halo 3 is just another FPS, it doesn’t do anything new or different. It looks better than before, but that’s more due to technology and tools than money. Every one put out looked good at the time.

And Halo 3 is not in the realm of only a handful of games. Halo is one in a LONG line of FPS games so it’s fair to compare to past games when it comes to judging the experience. If I get to play Halo multiplayer, I’ll bet a dollar that I had more fun playing Duke Nukem 3D on the PC…and that was 10 years ago.

I’m guessing Halo’s shinning moments are in the on-line mode, not necessarily the single-player offering. I stand by the fact that Halo’s success is due to the good timing for FPS in the console market. I will put up any PC FPS experience vs. console any day. You can’t beat keyboard+mouse for shooters.