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[Phase]

This is solely based on opinion, but I doubt the buzz was as high on Halo2, simply because the gaming industry wasnt as mainstream as it is now, and because on 2004, we could only access internet through a computer.

Spoken by someone who truly didn't experience Halo at its peak. Halo 2 hype was off the charts, and because of Halo 2, H3 was even crazier.

 

[ricardo_sousa11]

Spoken by someone who truly didn't experience Halo at its peak. Halo 2 hype was off the charts, and because of Halo 2, H3 was even crazier.

You need to take the nostalgia glasses off.

Regardless of what you felt at the time, the truth is, you cannot compare the technology and how the world works now vs 2004, the amount of comments, shares and likes on facebook alone, would trump the buzz around Halo2 on release date everywhere on the web.

Halo 2 sold aprox 8M copies, it was quite big for the time, but sales have been dropping ever since, with Halo 5 selling around 5M copies, and MCC 3.13M, so to imagine that this one will sell about twice what its most sold game sold, is ridiculous.

 

[HE1NZ]

Maybe they could send a little piece of that money to whoever ports MCC to PC. These guys are struggling hard.

 

[Phase]

You need to take the nostalgia glasses off.

Regardless of what you felt at the time, the truth is, you cannot compare the technology and how the world works now vs 2004, the amount of comments, shares and likes on facebook alone, would trump the buzz around Halo2 on release date everywhere on the web.

Halo 2 sold aprox 8M copies, it was quite big for the time, but sales have been dropping ever since, with Halo 5 selling around 5M copies, and MCC 3.13M, so to imagine that this one will sell about twice what its most sold game sold, is ridiculous.

Halo 3 sold almost 15mil copies after H2's 8mil.

You can see how hype it was here. And you can see when it started to fall. The fact that it sold this much when gaming wasn't as mainstream proves my point.

 

[ResilientBanana]

You can see how hype it was here. And you can see when it started to fall. The fact that it sold this much when gaming wasn't as mainstream proves my point.

*Sourced from Vgchartz which is unreliable

 

[ricardo_sousa11]

You can see how hype it was here. And you can see when it started to fall. The fact that it sold this much when gaming wasn't as mainstream proves my point.

As much as I love NeoGaf, its a gaming specific website, and cant be compared to social networks.

The fact that it hasnt sold anywhere near ever since Halo2 proves my point.

 

[Phase]

As much as I love NeoGaf, its a specific website, and cant be compared to social networks.

The fact that it hasnt sold anywhere near ever since Halo2 proves my point.

H3 sold way more than H2. Halo was on a continuing upward trend until they decided to change the formula. Then 343 just kept on going with the changes. No surprise that sales declined.

 

[Owari]

hopefully won’t suck but without Bungie I’m not holding my breath.

NEEDS COOP

 

[CatLady]

Don't see why not. Either way Microsoft will get plenty of subscribers if it is on Gamepass and sales for people that want to buy it. It's a win win either way. With all the developers MS has purchased we are going to see an onslaught of exclusive games for Gamepass next generation. Gamepass is and will be a no-brainer option for people. If Sony did the same thing and allowed me to install on PC I would subscribe to theirs as well. Gamepass or not, however, I'm buying Infinite.

I love GamePass, I love getting AAA exclusives day1 included in my sub, I'm sure GP subs will go through the roof at launch as 1000s will join GP just to play Halo for free, but for me Halo is different. I absolutely will pre-order a physical copy the minute pre-orders are available.

 

[Phase]

You need to take the nostalgia glasses off.

I can't! I'm sorry, I'm trying but the love of old Halo is just too stronk.

 

[OmaeWaMouShindiggity]

You need to take the nostalgia glasses off.

Regardless of what you felt at the time, the truth is, you cannot compare the technology and how the world works now vs 2004, the amount of comments, shares and likes on facebook alone, would trump the buzz around Halo2 on release date everywhere on the web.

Halo 2 sold aprox 8M copies, it was quite big for the time, but sales have been dropping ever since, with Halo 5 selling around 5M copies, and MCC 3.13M, so to imagine that this one will sell about twice what its most sold game sold, is ridiculous.

That's kind of the point, in 2004 even with limited internet use (compared to now) and close to no real social media sharing platform that everyone used like twitter, facebook, youtube, reddit.. EVERYONE knew about Halo 2. Even people who didn't own a gaming system and old folks knew about "that space shooter with that mister chief". Yes it was hype, and sure the numbers are lower but it was also 2004 and gaming simply wasn't as big back then as it is now. Halo was a worldwide hype release so big that even the non gaming communities knew its release was coming.

Taking out numbers...can you really honestly say TLOU2 and DS is as big outside of the gaming community? So big that even non-gamers know about its upcoming release?

For clarification: outside of gaming communities and forums ive heard no one mention Death Stranding, let alone TLOU2.

 

[CatLady]

Taking out numbers...can you really honestly say TLOU2 and DS is as big outside of the gaming community? So big that even non-gamers know about its upcoming release?

For clarification: outside of gaming communities and forums ive heard no one mention Death Stranding, let alone TLOU2.

Just about everyone gamer or not knows what Halo is and has heard of Master Chief. It's one of the most iconic series in video games probably only topped by Mario.

I doubt anyone outside of gamers knows about TLOU2 and I'd bet most casual gamers don't know or care about DS

 

[ricardo_sousa11]

That's kind of the point, in 2004 even with limited internet use (compared to now) and close to no real social media sharing platform that everyone used like twitter, facebook, youtube, reddit.. EVERYONE knew about Halo 2. Even people who didn't own a gaming system and old folks knew about "that space shooter with that mister chief". Yes it was hype, and sure the numbers are lower but it was also 2004 and gaming simply wasn't as big back then as it is now. Halo was a worldwide hype release so big that even the non gaming communities knew its release was coming.

Taking out numbers...can you really honestly say TLOU2 and DS is as big outside of the gaming community? So big that even non-gamers know about its upcoming release?

For clarification: outside of gaming communities and forums ive heard no one mention Death Stranding, let alone TLOU2.

It really depends on your location, considering Xbox wasnt that big in Europe (I knew 2 people who had it), I never really heard about Halo at all until I started coming to gaming platforms.

The game I saw with the most hype outside of the gaming community was MW2, because of the airport level, it was everywhere, even on major news channels.

Actually, I've heard a ton of people talking about TLOU2, and they are not gamers, mostly because they saw walkthroughs of the first one due to its cinematic nature. But as I discussed earlier, looking at the numbers, TLOU2 is the most buzzed game, bringing in much much higher numbers on YT than any other, and thats a pretty hard fact to ignore, YT is the main platform people search for videos, and social media should have similar numbers, and this is an exclusive title, which makes it even more impressive.

 

[JoeDanny]

Wouldn't it be terrible if Halo was GaaS and constantly had content added to it? That would be a fuckin' shame wouldn't it? Could you imagine the free maps and shit? Just awful.

The problem is that 343's style of Games as a Service is to strip the game of things that were in past titles at launch, only to add them in later "for free". Forge was released months after the base game. We didn't even have infection at launch.

 

[OmaeWaMouShindiggity]

But as I discussed earlier, looking at the numbers, TLOU2 is the most buzzed game, bringing in much much higher numbers on YT than any other, and thats a pretty hard fact to ignore, YT is the main platform people search for videos, and social media should have similar numbers, and this is an exclusive title, which makes it even more impressive.

I mean that would be a fair argument if Halo 2 didn't release in 2004 and youtube launched in 2005, so how would one compare numbers?

 

[OmaeWaMouShindiggity]

The game I saw with the most hype outside of the gaming community was MW2, because of the airport level, it was everywhere, even on major news channels.

That's not for hype reasons tho, that's for controversy and from what I remember it was after the game was released?

 

[Vasto]

Not really, Death Stranding and TLOU2 are the most buzzed games of this generation, if not of all time.

Those game only get talked about when new videos are shown and a week later they go cold. Death Standing looks bad so its lost all of its hype.

Halo Infinite has not even started to be really advertised or promoted. No gameplay videos and no info about what the game is going to be about. We know nothing about Halo Infinite and here we are talking about the game more than any other game.

 

[ricardo_sousa11]

I mean that would be a fair argument if Halo 2 didn't release in 2004 and youtube launched in 2005, so how would one compare numbers?

Im not comparing it to Halo2, but Halo Infinite.

And those numbers are a direct comparison of what people are searching on youtube, and its not Halo. Even with videos dating 1 year ago, the views are relatively low, and very very low comparing to videos dropped recently.

 

[OmaeWaMouShindiggity]

Im not comparing it to Halo2, but Halo Infinite.

And those numbers are a direct comparison of what people are searching on youtube, and its not Halo. Even with videos dating 1 year ago, the views are relatively low, and very very low comparing to videos dropped recently.

But halo infinite has no gameplay videos as someone previously mentioned...or really anything as of yet.

How are you comparing the two?

 

[OmaeWaMouShindiggity]

Don't get me wrong, TLOU1 was one of my most enjoyed games from that generation alongside the witcher 2 and a few others. It is greatness with few flaws and I anxiously await the next one to see how the story goes. But even for how good TLOU2 might be and how good TLOU1 was, its not equal to the hype Halo2 created and you cant really compare it to Halo Infinite which doesn't even have any info out besides "its halo....but BIGGER" and a teaser video.

 

[ricardo_sousa11]

But halo infinite has no gameplay videos as someone previously mentioned...or really anything as of yet.

How are you comparing the two?

It has 2 videos, one of which show the engine.

Im comparing against 2 videos, non gameplay of TLOU2, DS and Cyberpunk, so i'd say its a pretty fair comparison (hell, all of DS trailers, apart from the latest gameplay ones, say nothing about the game). We're talking about people searching for the game, and the truth is, they are not. The numbers tell you the interest around it, and it doesnt seem all that high, and considering its being made by 343, the odds of it being good are slim.

 

[OmaeWaMouShindiggity]

It has 2 videos, one of which show the engine.
The numbers tell you the interest around it, and it doesnt seem all that high, and considering its being made by 343, the odds of it being good are slim.

Where are you getting your numbers and info? A quick search on youtube for me shows Halo Infinite reveal with 6 million views and the reveal trailer for TLOU2 has almost 6 million (edit: correction, original TLOU2 reveal has almost 9 million views to date). if we are basing it solely off reveal trailers then they are pretty much equal in terms of people searching for them.

if we are comparing total views then yes, TLOU2 having more videos, more info, and actual raw gameplay obviously has more views.

I'm not saying TLOU2 wont be one of the greatest games of all time, that is to be determined. But to sit here and say people don't care about Halo Infinite based on view numbers is a straight up lie lol. Theres no gameplay, people want gameplay. No one wants CGI trailers and scripted talking scenes. Until 343 releases gameplay...well....

 

[OmaeWaMouShindiggity]

Lets not even mention that all these games that you are mentioning (TLOU2, DS, CP2077) have all released raw somewhat in-depth gameplay explaining mechanics and story.
Halo Infinite has released......proof it exists and is an actual game and showed off a bit of graphics? Seems odd to be comparing the two but here we are, comparing a game that is close to release versus one that we haven't even seem gameplay yet. Makes you wonder which one has higher expectations lol.

Edit: CP2077 is HYPE. And I cant wait for it. Made by currently one of my favorite developers. If you wanna be honest Cyberpunk blows both TLOU2, DS, and Halo out the water currently for most hyped games.

 

[Shangounchained]

It wont be any different on the playstation side... first batch of games for the new consoles wont be made for them. Just be upports with better graphics.

Obviously but to pitch a next gen console you need a next gen game remember killzone showdown drive club infamous, but that halo game and flight simulator and talk about SSD is shit tell me how fast the ram is and capacity not ssd speed times and Spiderman webbing quick fuck that!

 

[KingdomHeartsFan]

Halo 5 is so bad I stopped my marathon run when i got to it 5 mins in. I couldnt even replay it. especially coming off masterchief collection and reach.

I'm thinking about doing a Halo marathon too, but I don't see me making it through Halo 5 lol.

 

[Shambala]

Half goes to ninja to promote it on mixer . I mean halo ain’t what it used to be to even spend that kind of money on it lol

 

[ResilientBanana]

The problem is that 343's style of Games as a Service is to strip the game of things that were in past titles at launch, only to add them in later "for free". Forge was released months after the base game. We didn't even have infection at launch.

Right, but forge was also completely retooled by a whole other team that directly focused on Forge and made it light years better than it was. The game and the multiplayer and all of the systems behind them such as dedicated servers, war zone, add-on armor and so on were not possible in the games before it so they all had to be built.

 

[Phase]

I've only played H5 at a friend's as I couldn't support the direction they took Halo (also returned 4 soon after purchasing).

I have a question though. Does Halo 5 have a dedicated Snipers playlist? or Swat? I know they didn't even have BTB when I first played it. With all this money being spent they better at least have all the default playlists at launch for those who buy the game.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

$500 million US.

So MS thinks they are going to get about $250 revenue from each one of the 2 million gamers who play this game through $60 discs and $190 of microtrans?

 

[Bathtub Fart]

I've only played H5 at a friend's as I couldn't support the direction they took Halo (also returned 4 soon after purchasing).

I have a question though. Does Halo 5 have a dedicated Snipers playlist? or Swat? I know they didn't even have BTB when I first played it. With all this money being spent they better at least have all the default playlists at launch for those who buy the game.

Everything about Halo 5's launch state was abysmal. Halo CE was more feature rich. Like wtf...

But yeah they have a swat playlist and snipers the last time I played

 

[V4skunk]

At least that’s a boost for the economy. MS don’t have much choices though, halo infinite is their safest plan forward. I actually think AOE4 has higher potential though. AAA RTS games are super rare and if it’s a blowout success they have themselves a esports darling that can generate profit for a long time to come. Hopefully they are putting in 200+ million for that.

AOE4 is coming of the back of Dawn of war 3! A spectacular failure with a complete disregard of the previous games and fanbase.
I'm not holding my hopes up for AOE4, although potential is there! Relic did a fine job with the Company of Heroes RTS games. COH2 is one of the greatest RTS of all time and still in Steams top 100 games.

 

[Vawn]

If it ain't Bungie, it ain't Halo.

 

[Looneyiscrazy]

Thats a big budget for a video game

 

[Team Andromeda]

I always considered Halo 2's campaign to be the worst. The plot is pretty good by itself, with the schism and battle above Earth but the levels look incredibly bland and the missions drag like crazy. I actually enjoyed Halo 4's campaign way more despite the plot being garbage. At least the levels and events were varied and entertaining.

Yeah, it wasn't good and BUNiGE even told EDGE mag they're really messed up with the game development. Halo V was wonderful when you were the Master chief and had some of the best firefights since the 1st Halo. The issues were the forced 4 player multiplayer and the constant changing between characters. To me, it was like a Sonic game, where the team just lost focus and tried to put in too many playable characters. The multiplayer side of Halo V is still amazing to this day mind

 

[RAIDEN1]

Well at least this game hopefully won't end up like Mass Effect: Andromeda...(which was half-baked) how does this budget compare to Star Citizen?

 

[Geki-D]

how does this budget compare to Star Citizen?

Doubles it.

 

[Bernkastel]

Biggest flop ever incoming. They already had every chance and killed the franchise. It's not coming back.

This is really the definitive comment in this thread. Deep down, everyone who reads it knows that it's true.

343 simply don't have the chops to surprise us. Barring it being a pack-in title with Microsoft's next console, this thing is hosed. It'll make a big splash and be dead within 6 months.

You mean everyone in Neogaf wants it to fail.

 

[Rhazer Fusion]

This is another one of my concerns with next generation. I think game development costs of certain high profile franchises will escalate beyond expectations. I kind of have my doubts that the budget is going to be that high for Halo Infinity though. If it really is, it could be an uphill battle making their money back. Is Halo still even THAT relevant to justify such high development costs?

 

[Phase]

This is another one of my concerns with next generation. I think game development costs of certain high profile franchises will escalate beyond expectations. I kind of have my doubts that the budget is going to be that high for Halo Infinity though. If it really is, it could be an uphill battle making their money back. Is Halo still even THAT relevant to justify such high development costs?

This is probably their last attempt to make it relevant again, so they figure they should throw everything at it.

 

[Havoc2049]

This is solely based on opinion, but I highly doubt the buzz was as high on Halo2, simply because the gaming industry wasnt as mainstream as it is now, and because on 2004, we could only access internet through a computer. Hell, even youtube wasnt founded until next year, so all the buzz you talk about is mostly between friends or specific reddit forums, which cant even be compared to the buzz on social media now.

Weird, because I could access the internet with my phone back then and the Dreamcast and Xbox (GC and PS2 had a few) had tons of games with online functions and multiplayer.

The hype around the Halo 2 launch was mainstream and massive.

 

[ExpandKong]

Weird, because I could access the internet with my phone back then and the Dreamcast and Xbox (GC and PS2 had a few) had tons of games with online functions and multiplayer.

The hype around the Halo 2 launch was mainstream and massive.

Yeah seconding this. The hype around Halo 2 was palpable, and (not to sound like some overly nostalgic old-timer) real in a sense that I don’t think anything since then has been. The only things I can compare it to are Smash Bros. Brawl and Halo 3.

Maybe it’s because of the limited nature of the internet back then versus today, but the hype for Halo 2 didn’t feel as manufactured in a boardroom as a lot of stuff does today.

 

[RiccochetJ]

I'm imagining higher ups a MS reading threads like these and laughing their asses off.

 

[Bathtub Fart]

Yeah seconding this. The hype around Halo 2 was palpable, and (not to sound like some overly nostalgic old-timer) real in a sense that I don’t think anything since then has been. The only things I can compare it to are Smash Bros. Brawl and Halo 3.

Maybe it’s because of the limited nature of the internet back then versus today, but the hype for Halo 2 didn’t feel as manufactured in a boardroom as a lot of stuff does today.

I agree with this. It was not only a great game, but it was an innovation in the online gaming space. Mix that with proximity chat and the shenanigans that came with it and the enthusiasm around the game... Everything was intensified, including the competitive scene.

I miss good Halo =(

 

[pqueue]

Maybe they could send a little piece of that money the whoever ports MCC to PC. These guys are struggling hard.

No shit. They are pretty much non-existent.

 

[Dr.brain64]

Imagine if $$$ meant 10/10 game...

 

[demigod]

All the flop predictions are fantastic. Even Halo 5 sold 10 Million copies. Halo Infinite will be on PC, Xbox One, xCloud and as a launch title for Xbox Scarlett. Not to mention it's Halo's return to form. I highly doubt that it will sell less than 10 Million copies once again.

I’m calling bs on this. Halo 5 didn’t even crack the top 10 for xbox best sellers for NPD and thats their biggest market.

Do you have receipt?

 

[Deputy Moonman]

Imagine if games were bad simply because gamers wanted devs to fail. Personally, I don't feel like 343 is struggling. They made a game with a bad campaign. It happens. Halo 4's campaign was fine, but the matchmaking had questionable decisions made regarding abilities, ordnance, and random pick-ups. Halo 5's campaign was bad but actually had really good multiplayer. It is what it is, but to act like 343 is in trouble or it's the end of the road for Halo is downright absurd. I'm just hoping we get a beta before release to try it out. Halo Infinite is going to be fine just like Gears of War 5 turned out to be fine.

 

[ExpandKong]

Imagine if games were bad simply because gamers wanted devs to fail. Personally, I don't feel like 343 is struggling. They made a game with a bad campaign. It happens. Halo 4's campaign was fine, but the matchmaking had questionable decisions made regarding abilities, ordnance, and random pick-ups. Halo 5's campaign was bad but actually had really good multiplayer. It is what it is, but to act like 343 is in trouble or it's the end of the road for Halo is downright absurd. I'm just hoping we get a beta before release to try it out. Halo Infinite is going to be fine just like Gears of War 5 turned out to be fine.

Sounds to me like each Halo game since the first is made up of two distinct parts and 343 has yet to make a game where they don’t fuck up at least one of them.

And personally I think you’re being a bit too kind with regards to Halo 4’s campaign.

 

[Arkage]

GaaS MMO incoming.

Halo 5 is the only one I literally cannot bring myself to replay. Terrible campaign. Terrible forced co op. Terrible boss. Halo 5's budget was supposedly around 60 million. According to my calculations that means Infinity should be at least 8 times better, if not 9.

 

[Escara]

Giving 500 million to 343 industries and hoping for a good game.
That's a big yikes from me dawg.