Halo 3 hype too much.....

madwoman

Shared on Mon, 09/17/2007 - 14:36
A friend has brought up an interesting point that I can’t seem to shake out of my head.
               
Is M$ going too far with the commercials, promos and the hype for Halo 3? Being the Halo fan girl I am I didn’t quite see it this way. I do wonder with all the issues M$ continues to have with the “red ring of death” if this is there attempt at a redemption. 
                    
Don’t get me wrong I LOVE Halo.
                        
I pre-ordered (or rather hubby did for me) and if I hadn’t would be one of the sorry saps in line at midnight the eve of the sale. I genuinely am interested in the story, however. Before buying our first box (you know the original 180’s) we did a lot of research. We didn’t know whether to go with the Playstation or the Xbox. The games made me say Playstation but luckily hubby won the battle and we got an Xbox. Once we got Halo and played the campaign no game was ever the same. Halo 2 came out with much anticipation and we sat and played it for hours and hours. We then each got a LIVE account and tried playing Halo 2. It was good for awhile but playing against timmies with a name like “DaQueen” truly sucks. I soon tucked tail and went back to playing as many FPS games alone (or campaign with hubby if the game allowed) as I could get my hands on. 
                         
Anyways, I’m getting sidetracked. I have followed all the commercials, all the websites, all the gaming magazines with great excitement at playing out the final fight. Sure I love custom games and some MM with my clanmates (thank God I found ya’ll! I  *heart* you guys and gals!) and will undoubtedly be playing all that with my friends but I will be playing out the campaign to see how the story is going to end with MC. 
                       
My friend feels like M$ is going a bit overboard with the publicity and stuff. After thinking about this it does seem a little like over kill (and again, I don’t mind this cause I like seeing all this stuff, but is this actually going to bring in new gamers?) After all, you either love or hate the game. Advertising may get a few more souls on board but I can’t believe any hard core gamer who hasn’t heard about Halo hasn’t at least tried it out. Let’s face it Halo and Timmy Ville isn’t for the casual gamer. Heck, even I am warding of the timmies until September 25th because the percentage of jerks out there has increased by about 50%, and frankly I’m sick of their s#*t. I’ll stick with my clanmates, thank you very much.
                         
So, is M$ pushing this release too much? And to what extent? I mean how many of you would still be getting Halo 3 without all the hype?
                   
On, a completely different note, me and the family went to the Cinci zoo again and had a blast. Never again will I go to the Columbus (well, never is long time…so, maybe not never) zoo. Here are some pics: There are a few familiar faces in there…some hairy familiar faces! Get better Hog, we miss you...and get out the zoo for crying out loud!
This guy with the "blankey" looks vaguely familar, but I can't imagine Hog would have been at the zoo twice when I was there...could he?
This money, was hilarious!  He was kind of a naughty monkey...he would swing, hang and jump around like crazy then hop up in the middle of this tree and show us his "dominance"!  LOL!
         

Comments

CaptJB's picture
Submitted by CaptJB on Tue, 09/18/2007 - 10:45
Maybe some guy whose into making movies will see all those ads and see the following that Halo has and who has a wad of $ will make the movie we're all wanting to have made. Don't really care what M$ strat is with the ads personally. I'll get the game regardless. Beautiful family btw. ;)
Boulder's picture
Submitted by Boulder on Tue, 09/18/2007 - 00:12
I'm just glad Microsoft has built the 360 and I'm glad to support something I like. I don't care they have a wad of cash. It's great they are advertising it and providing trinkets and collectibles. I won't buy that stuff but a lot of people do. They are simply backing a tried and tested winner.
BATMANKM's picture
Submitted by BATMANKM on Wed, 09/19/2007 - 09:45
I think they have set a really large goal for the opening sales on H3. The advertising is a way to help insure that happens. The benefit of a really high sales on release is the clout it provides Microsoft for other commercial ventures. The biggest one that immediately comes to mind is producing a feature film of Halo. Supposedly the movie studios backed out of supporting the Halo movie because Microsoft wanted such a large % of sales. If they can show the world, and the movie studios, how unbelievably lucrative the franchise is it might make them more willing to give Microsoft the deal they want to make the movie. In other words its that age old adage. "you gotta have money to make money" :-) So they advertise and market the hell out of H3 in the hopes that it will make recored $ so that they can use that as leverage to make even more $ on other ventures. Another reason Im guessing is to offset the lost hardware sales due to the red rings of death problem. The more Halo 3 units they can sell chances are the more 360's they will sell. Anyway thats my 2¢ :D Great picks from the zoo. I think I see some of my own family in those shots :lol: :lol: - BAT
TDrag27's picture
Submitted by TDrag27 on Mon, 09/17/2007 - 14:44
All that hype isn't to sell to us folks - We were going to buy it anyway. All that hype is to get people to choose the 360 over the PS3 or the Wii this holiday season. They need to get in people's faces...And they're doing it. I would say this is pretty par for the course for marketing with a big giant company that has wads of cash to burn. And I think they'll make it all back in sales....
ATC_1982's picture
Submitted by ATC_1982 on Mon, 09/17/2007 - 14:53
Also With all the stuff going on with the RROD. Halo 3 is going to take that spot light away from all others during this time.
Anonymous's picture
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 09/17/2007 - 14:59
DaQueen. nice blog -) I always believe there should be limitations on how a company should advertise a game. Halo 3 does not sell XBOX 360s, Games do. Look at Playstation 2 brand name. One game did not sell that console I like everyone else will get Halo 3 but there are other games I am looking forward to like Assasin's creed, COD 4, Bioshock (already out), Mass Effect, Grand Theft Auto 4. Microsoft needs to starting using that advertisement money towards something else. With Halo 3 around the corner, I am know seeing commericals more, 7 Eleven Halo 3 slurpee cups, Pepsi cans with Halo, Halo Wars the game and so on. by the way, it was fun playing COD4 with you eventhough I sometimes get upset.
SamuraiCoder's picture
Submitted by SamuraiCoder on Mon, 09/17/2007 - 15:10
There is no way M$ would down play this. They won't be reserved and classy. They are going to be obnoxious and loud. Marketing just can;t help themselves when you have something this big come along. On a side note about your previous post...Many human beings are losers. Their Mama didn't raise them right. I do not have 6 hours a day to spend doing nothing but playing Halo 2 (or GoW or COD). My skills are only good when compared to n00bs. I love playing with everyone who treats other people with the respect they deserve. And remember, Timmies think girls have cooties. As soon as their testicles drop, they'll think girls kick ass. Nice picture of the family. My wife and I have a daughter and son as well and they rock!.
madwoman's picture
Submitted by madwoman on Mon, 09/17/2007 - 15:20
Thats my point TDrag, those who love Halo already have a console. Those who can afford to will/would buy the elites and the limited editions without the advertising. People who know nothing about Halo, I don't imagine (and I suppose I could be wrong here) would just up and buy the 360 for this game. Advertising fine...good...great, but at what point do they go overboard? After, all lets spend that money on fixing the "red ring of death".
Smithcraft's picture
Submitted by Smithcraft on Mon, 09/17/2007 - 15:21
I've barely seen an advertising since I'm avoiding it completely. As it is I barely watch any television, avoid almost all magazines, and only go to about a dozen websites(which only 2o2p has any focus on H3), and I avoid the H3 threads 99% of the time. So, no. The ad campaign isn't bothering me at all. :) Otherwise, cool monkey pics. SC
TDrag27's picture
Submitted by TDrag27 on Mon, 09/17/2007 - 15:36
I think a lot of the hype this year is due to the fact that this is the first holiday where all three systems are readily available. So for your mainstream parent that has little information and knows nothing about video games - whatever is in their face is going to get their money. Just the brand recognition of "I know what Xbox is because I saw it on that can of pop, pop tarts, movie theater ad, or whatever" is invaluable in getting someone to buy. I'm actually surprised how little Sony and Nintendo are adverstising...But I bet it will pick up in a month or two.
Jmarps's picture
Submitted by Jmarps on Mon, 09/17/2007 - 15:58
I echo what TDrag said about trying to sell hardware and this site not ebing the target demographic. I disagree with what Samaurai said about M$ avoiding being classy. This game has the potential to sell more copies than any game that came before it. How can they rest on their laurels and not try squeeze out every last dollar? To not do so would be irresponsible to their shareholders! When Nintendo had their Wii campaign going, was that classy? What is a classy ad campaign anyways? Do they exist?
TexasTwister55's picture
Submitted by TexasTwister55 on Thu, 09/20/2007 - 15:31
Great looking family. I see some of my relatives were there as well.

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