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610°

"We've Missed Master Chief"

MCV UK:
The return of Master Chief will have Halo competing with the big boys once again, says Microsoft.

The iconic hero was last seen in a new game in 2007’s Halo 3. Developer 343 decided from the outset that Halo 4 would mark the character’s come-back, and Microsoft believes his return will see the franchise competing with the likes of GTA and Call of Duty once again.

“Bringing Master Chief back is huge,” boasts Xbox director for global marketing Steve Beinner.

MultiConsoleGamer5179d ago

Nothing is bigger than Halo? You might want to tell that to Mario.

5179d ago Replies(25)
LOGICWINS5179d ago

Mario? LOL, I don't even think Halos bigger than Pokemon.

5179d ago
_Aarix_5179d ago

@green_thunder

Uuhhh..yea it did. Halo 3 sold around 14 million on the 360,

Voxelman5179d ago

@_Aarix_ You might want to check that again, 5 is a higher number than 14

kaveti66165179d ago

"@_Aarix_ You might want to check that again, 5 is a higher number than 14"

:)

:/

:(

Voxelman5179d ago (Edited 5179d ago )

lol typos

Now I look like an ass

Wait no it was a joke, very funny
Ha ha ha ha ha....

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 5179d ago
TheHater5179d ago

Gran Turismo
Mario
Zelda
GTA
Pokemon
Starcrack...I mean Starcraft
World of Warcraft
Half Life

those are the ones I can think of at the top of my head.

Gildarts5179d ago

Lol@ gran turismo being bigger then mario.

Here's my list

Mario
Pokémon
GTA
Call of Duty
Halo
Zelda
Gears of War
Gran Turismo

Im talking about awareness and popularity.
There is no way Gran turismo is more popular then Mario dude.

TheHater5179d ago

@Gildarts
Did I wrote
1.Gran Turismo
2.Mario
3.Zelda
4.GTA
5.Pokemon
6.Starcrack...I mean Starcraft
7.World of Warcraft
8.Half Life

or did I wrote
Gran Turismo
Mario
Zelda
GTA
Pokemon
Starcrack...I mean Starcraft
World of Warcraft
Half Life

Like I said, those are the franchise I can think of at the top of my head that are more popular that Halo. I didn't list them in order by which is more popular.

TheGamingArt5179d ago

Zelda
Gran Turismo
Uncharted
Mario
Sonic
Pokemon
Call Of Duty
Halo

I have come that this is the list that EVERYONE is aware of as of now.

CernaML5179d ago (Edited 5179d ago )

Boy, Gildarts, you really are making yourself look like a complete clown.
Maybe next time you should actually read passed "Gran Turismo" before writing a dumb comment.
And considering Gran Turismo 5 is on its way to selling 8 million copies, I think it should be higher than your precious Gears of War.

Edit:
"Halo Players? 40-50 MILLION"

LOL! Okay now I know you are completely delusional.

Frankfurt5179d ago

To the people listing Uncharted... MASSIVE LOL.

UC3 sold 700K in a month in the US, that's mediocre even by "average game" standards. Stop believing Sony's shipped numbers and their bundled copies sold two years later being listed as "sold". Uncharted sells very, very mediocre numbers.

Gears 3 was in the top 10 of the YEAR. Uncharted 3 wasn't even a big deal in the release MONTH.

http://www.eurogamer.net/ar...

lover20125179d ago (Edited 5179d ago )

@Frankfurt
lolXD
let me show you why once again your one of the most blind and brain washed fanboys in this gen
you only looked at first month sales in "US"
and that's it ??
uncharted 3 have no sales the months after that and didn't sell in the
"rest of the world that exist outside the us"
(yes i know it's shocking isn't it??)

uncharted 3 sales are
3,72m
http://www.vgchartz.com/gam...

wake up and look outside the NPD sales .. you sad troll

360GamerFG5179d ago

Halo is more popular than GT this gen. Sorry but its the truth. No GT game this gen has outsold Halo Reach, let alone the 14.5 million selling Halo 3
Proof: http://halo.xbox.com/en-us/...
Last gen GT was it, this gen Halo trumps it. Accept it and move on.
Also, gta isn't exclusive so I dunno why it is on your list. Half Life?? This gen? More popular than Halo?

Tr10wn5179d ago

GTA, Starcraft, WoW and Half Life non of those are console exclusive, didnt you read the article?

+ Show (5) more repliesLast reply 5179d ago
Virtual_Reality5179d ago

It's PR thing from Microsoft for the media to get attention for the game and hype.

Is the only popular game on this year for this Console.

KMCROC545179d ago

Think they meant new & original, refreshing . Not stale & rehashed.

StraightPath5179d ago

Grand Theft Auto

Metal Gear Solid

Half Life

Mario

Zelda

are examples of similar heavy hitters that are up there with Halo. But unfortunately sony does not have anything of that calibur in their exclusive department. If they manage to keep MGS5 exclusive then we have a heavy hitter same as Halo.

Dante1125179d ago (Edited 5179d ago )

@ Straight

Ahem...

The Gran Turismo franchise has sold more than 60 million copies as of 2010. Just look here

http://www.prnewswire.com/n...

The Halo franchise has only sold 40 million as of now

http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

Conclusion, Gran Turismo can also be considered as being bigger than Halo. Even CoD can be said to be bigger than Halo, I mean, come on.

CoolBeansRus5179d ago

Dante. You are comparing GT which had no competition when it came out. That is a weak argument that can easily be defeated. Count how many GT has sold ever since halo came out. Dont worry ill wait.

Virus2015179d ago (Edited 5179d ago )

I'll rephrase the quote for him;

"Nothing was bigger than Halo in the last decade."

Halo is certainly big in the gaming industry. Those who would disagree might have a grudge against that series or something, but to say Halo isn't big in nonsense. If you go by the sales number of Halo 1,2,3 Reach, and ODST it would come to around 41 million. That's not including Halo wars and the PC versions.

@Green_Thunder
Cloud is bigger than Halo????? WOW

A popular character that appeared in one good game is bigger than the entire Halo series. I don't know if you are serious.

Same goes for Ganondorf. I would expect a real gamer to say Link or Zelda but Ganondorf.

All bias aside come on you have to give the Halo series some credit on what it have accomplished. From the become the first most popular online game on consoles, to selling millions of units I think there wasn't anything bigger than Halo in the 2000s until COD. Many in a couple of years COD will have the same fate as Halo and FPS console fans will move on to another great FPS. But I think gamers can agree that Halo left it's mark in video game history.

No order:

Mario
Grand Turismo
Halo
Half Life
Legend of Zelda
Call of duty
Metroid
Metal Gear Solid
Resident Evil
Final Fantasy
Pac Man
Grand Theft Auto
Tetris
Street Fighter
Tekken
Pokemon
StarCraft

Runner Ups:

Donkey Kong
Counter Strike
Sims
Doom
Battlefield
Uncharted
God of War
Silent Hill
Tomb Raider
Elder Scrolls
Tom Clancy games

There is so much more but I don't have all day for this.

BitbyDeath5179d ago

I think you nailed it with your response.
The only one i would question is metroid (i've heard it mentioned on here but have no idea what it is) and probably replace it with Sonic.

Mortal Kombat should probably get a mention as well.

brish5179d ago (Edited 5179d ago )

According to VGChartz there are 34 games bigger than Halo.

http://www.vgchartz.com/gam...

Sgt_Slaughter5178d ago

I love how Nintendo has the top 13 games on that list!

Muffins12235179d ago (Edited 5179d ago )

More like 20 years ago lol

Rageanitus5179d ago

CORRECTION... nothing is bigger than Halo on the XBOX.

Say hello to Warcraft... anyways if MS is only counting on Halo and Kinect games.... the core crowd should be worried... then again the hardcore xbox gamers love to gloat how gr8 kinect is :)

brish5179d ago

Correction ... nothing is bigger than Call of Duty on the xbox.

Rageanitus5179d ago

@brish

COD is multiplatform, this article is meant for platform xclusive games

WitWolfy5178d ago

HALO = XBOX
XBOX = HALO

Too bad this is one of their FEW exclusives left and screwing it up by not releasing it as a next gen title.

5179d ago Replies(1)
Jaces5179d ago

This may be true but is it better than every game out there? That's all I care about and the answer is no, doesn't matter how popular the game is.

5179d ago
showtimefolks5179d ago

to each console there are few big titles. but nothing is bigger than mario and nothing will ever be bigger than mario just look at the sales date for all the facts you need

GT5:P which was a demo sold 5 million than GT5 has sold over 7 million so that's 12 million nothing is bigger than GT on ps3

halo is the biggest IP for MS but since gears deal is over and fable going kinect what's left after halo series? crackdown? alan wake but AW IP is owned by remedy

this E3 should be a lot of fun

humbleopinion5178d ago (Edited 5178d ago )

Some people here need a reality check, after throwing names of some aging game series past their prime.

Just for reference, here's a list of the best selling game in each series this generation a-la vgchartz:

New Super Mario Bros. Wii: 25.13
Modern Warfare 3 Xbox version only: 15.93
Halo 3: 11.48
Mario Galaxy: 10.00
GTA IV Xbox version only: 9.45
Gran Turismo 5: 7.29
Zelda Twilight Princess: 6.43
Gears of War 2: 6.16
Skyrim Xbox version only: 5.58
Metal Gear Solid 4: 5.58
Uncharted 2: 5.49
Battlefield 3 Xbox version only: 5.42
FIFA Soccer 12 PS3 version only: 5.33
Assassin's Creed Xbox version only: 5.07
Forza Motorsport 3: 5.03

I excluded casual shit and games bundled with peripheral, because otherwise the list will be swamped with games like Mario Kart Wii and Kinect adventures.

But that just to make a point about handled games mentioned here:
Pokémon Diamond / Pearl Version (combined):17.97 (Handheld)
Dragon Quest IX: 5.59 (Handheld)

So to sum things up:
1) The statement is mostly correct. But NSMBWii and it's massive 25 million sales still prove that there is at least one platfrom exclusive stronger than Halo. It should be noted however that the main Mario game on the Wii is actually Galaxy, which sold less than Halo 3
2) Call of Duty is such a beast, that even if we count the Xbox version only we can see that it's currently bigger than Halo. GTA IV also comes real close in terms of sales on the Xbox alone.
3) Gran Turismo 5 is quite a few millions behind, so putting it in the same league as Halo and Mario is ridiculous.
In fact, it is closer in sales to Forza 3 than to Halo 3, and if we consider the overall sales of Forza series this gen VS the overall sales of GT5 this gen both sum up to a bit over 11 million (11.02 for Forza and 11.37 for GT5). This is also likely to change soon since another Forza game was announced recently.
In fact, even NFS series this gen on the PS3 alone sold 11.32 million copies thanks to tons of titles in the franchise. It seems that GT5 fell behind the curve this generation compared to how it was the undisputed king last gen. Also, the article was talking about Master Chief compared to other titular characters and mascot. What's the GT5 mascot? A Citroen!?
5) Zelda is also quite far behind Halo. It's there with the second tire of exclusives that sold over 6M: Gears and GT5.
6) We see some non-exclusive games that sell amazingly on a single platform: Skyrim, Battlefield 3, Assassins Creed and Fifa 12 are up there with MGS4, Uncharted 2 and Forza 3 in terms of sales on one console - around the 5M mark.
7) Even if we looks at handheld platforms, Dragon Quest XI (which is the best selling game in the series) sold less than half of the copies that Halo 3 sold, so claiming that it's bigger is as far as you can get from the truth. Even Halo ODST sold more copies than that.
Final Fantasy series BTW doesn't fare better with less than 5 million for FFXIII on the PS3. Even FFVII on the PS (the best selling game in the series) didn't reach the 10M mark Halo 3 did.
8) Pokemon on the DS however is yet another franchise that is really high up with 17.97M sold (Diamond+Pearl sales combined). Pokemon on the Wii however sold quite poorly, and when compared to other Mobile platform mascots the entire Pokemon franchise still sold less copies than Angry birds (and the comparison makes more sense here since both are basically heavily merchandised products).

But after all, who cares about the sales game? ;)
Let's see first if 343 can actually deliver a proper Halo game.

kingdavid5178d ago

Space marine Shepard > Master Chief

+ Show (13) more repliesLast reply 5178d ago
Hufandpuf5179d ago

World of Warcraft and COD are.

Gildarts5179d ago

Call of duty is but World of Warcraft? lOl? Halo is more popular then WoW, WoW doesn't even make the list.

WoW Subscribers? 15-20 million

Halo Players? 40-50 MILLION

TheHater5179d ago

Halo Players 40-50 million?
Do you have brain damage or are you just.....well I am not going to go there. Get your facts straight

NeoTribe5179d ago

Can u imagine if wow was free wut the userbase would be?

Fishy Fingers5179d ago

COD... The well known platform exclusive.

Patriots_Pride5179d ago

My grandmama knows who Master Chief is but she does not know what a world of warcr@p is.

Biggest5179d ago

We should all listen to your grandmama's gaming story. She really matters in gaming circles. Really.

MrGunny945179d ago (Edited 5179d ago )

Warcraft universe, Diablo Universe, Starcraft Universe... Metal Gear universe, Pokemon universe, Half life Universe... Do i really need keep on?

In terms of lore Halo is crap compared to those above...

Yes Halo is big but not so big to compete with the big league with universes from the 90's ;)

Expand your universe then we'll talk MS.. oh btw.. if you try to expand we know that it fails... Oh right there's not bungie there anymore...

And i'm a Halo fan.. I'm a sad panda with bungie leaving... the Halo universe just killed itself

Outside_ofthe_Box5179d ago

I've always thought that GTA was bigger than Halo.

YodaCracker5179d ago

Since when is GTA a "platform exclusive"?

Megaton5179d ago

CoD has made Halo irrelevant. All the FPS bandwagon bros that encompassed Halo's fan base hitched their trailers to a new wagon.

YodaCracker5179d ago

Then how did Reach go on to sell 10 million copies if Halo is now irrelevant? LOL, seriously...? If you call Halo irrelevant, then there is not a single 360 exclusive that is relevant, and certainly no PS3 exclusive that is even close to relevant. Aside from Mario, Halo is without a doubt the biggest platform exclusive. I'm sorry if you're too blinded by fanboyism and denial to see that.

LightofDarkness5178d ago

Reach has sold 8 million worldwide. But hey, making things up is fun.

aviator1895179d ago

The article is referring to platform exclusives, not exclusive pitted against multi-plats.

Rageanitus5179d ago

It is soo funny how so man hate the call of duty series and calling it un-revolutionary and the same crap over and over again..... then you look at halo its the same crap over and over agains also.... double standards!

Show all comments (173)
180°

Halo art director leaves studio after 17 years with ominous message alluding to discontent

Glenn Israel writes: "As of today and after seventeen long years, I am officially no longer contributing to the Halo universe. There is little more I can say for the moment, though I intend to share this particular story in its entirety when it is absolutely safe to do so next year. In the meantime, I have a message for anyone and everyone who needs to hear it.

I know that the state of our industry seems dire, but never forget that you are *free to choose*. No illusion of security nor promise of wealth or fame or power is worth trading away your health, your dignity, your ethics or values - and no one can force you to. Stay strong, take evidence when necessary, and find where you belong."

Read Full Story >>
linkedin.com
Bathyj218d ago

My god.
There's a story for next year.

VenomUK218d ago

I’m really disappointed to learn there are still people/morale problems. I thought the whole point of rebranding 343i to Halo Studios was to signal that real changes had been made - not to cynically rebrand to paper over the problems.

I really hope the Halo CE remake is great and gets people hyped for the future of the series.

DarXyde217d ago

It's inevitable with the modern landscape. Even if some issues have been assuaged, new ones crop up all the time.

I'm willing to bet AI and the lack of regulation is causing substantial upset.

shinXseijuro218d ago (Edited 218d ago )

He said something very marking . We tend to complain a lot about the industry but deep down I realize that we never have we been offered this crazy amount of games all available for you to play now . You can literally play any sorts of games in 2025 . Nobody is forcing you to buy the latest COD or the latest BF . You’re more of a 8 bit cozy gaming guy there’s a whole niche of modern games for that . You like micromanaging there’s games for that . I feel like we have been spoiled so much we just stopped being realistic and thinking for ourselves . We follow trends cry about stuff online when you are the buyer you have the power .

Notellin217d ago

I'm not buying any games until another Immersive sim is made.

PhillyDonJawn218d ago

....wth happened over there?
Does this confirm a new Halo by next year?
What did they want him to do that made him feel it was morally wrong or a insult to his integrity?

-Foxtrot218d ago

Well how about that, a name change doesn’t fix internal issues

Who would have thought

jznrpg218d ago

MS was throwing money around for a long time but now it’s time to pay the Piper.

Show all comments (16)
110°

Halo 4 & Halo 5: Guardians Sales Reached Nearly 10 Million Units Worldwide

Lifetime sales of 343 Industries' first-person shooters, Halo 4 and Halo 5: Guardians, reached nearly 10 million units worldwide each.

Read Full Story >>
twistedvoxel.com
Sciurus_vulgaris309d ago

There were reports that Halo 4 and Halo 5 had similar sales to Halo: Reach years ago. The clickbait websites and rage bait YouTubers from 2012-2016 just wanted to spread excessive negativity about the franchise for their own benefit.

VenomUK307d ago

What did Halo: Infinite sell?

Sciurus_vulgaris307d ago

I don’t know. However, I would assume around 10 million. All the Halo FPS titles have done around 10 million sales, except ODST. Halo 3, was reported to exceed 14 million copies. I still remember back in 2007-2008, Halo 3 and COD 4 would duke it out for the most played XBL game.

MrNinosan307d ago

@Sciurus

There is NO WAY Infinite sold 10 million. Wake up dude.
Once upon a time, there was gamers on the Xbox side who actually bought games. Those times are since long gone.

Infinite has most likely not even hit 5 million sales

slate91308d ago

Nearly 10 million units and killing the brand is crazy work. Nicely done.

peppeaccardo307d ago

This New: Putting chocolate chips on top of a freshly made dog turd .....

1Victor307d ago

So let me get this straight in almost 13 years both games sold a combined 10 millions units.
Now I’m not going to use the obscured mentality and compared it to the amount of consoles sold and say it’s a failure 🤷🏿

thesoftware730307d ago (Edited 307d ago )

1Victor,

Halo 4 and Halo 5: Guardians, reached nearly 10 million units worldwide "each."

Read it again, there is a word in there that clears up your misunderstanding.

1Victor307d ago

@thesoftware720
I apologize I skimmed through the article and the headline blinded me and stuck in my mind thank you for the correction 👍👍

AuraAbjure307d ago (Edited 307d ago )

Halo 4 is the best multiplayer ever! It’s even better than Titanfall 2. I admit Halo 4 got CoDified but there’s nothing wrong with taking inspiration from other games sometimes and halo 4 did it sooooo well with that speed boost plus sword combo and SAW plus damage booth combo, holy guacamole 🥑

Some crucial improvements to halo 4 could’ve been to boost the power of the AA sentinel, and whenever matchmaking pits people against each other with an armor abilities turned off completely then the map needs to routinely spawn, plentiful, predictable, power weapons. Also, all frame rate drops are unacceptable for a halo game during split-split screen or couch co-op. Just dynamically scale the resolution of the game down but whatever happens don’t let the framer dip in a Halo game for the love of all that is holy and good!

My personal gameplay of getting 30 kills in a 4 v. 4 game of team slayer up to 60.

https://youtu.be/ZYDvior_K-...

Show all comments (12)
190°

OG Destiny artist recalls Bungie’s “disgruntled” reaction to Halo 4’s art style change

Original Destiny artist Darren Bacon recalls how Bungie reacted to the art style change of Halo 4 by 343 Industries.

Read Full Story >>
videogamer.com
Tacoboto390d ago

Bungie at that time became the most wonderful bunch of hypocrites in the gaming industry. Knowing this now, gosh the entitlement they felt was out of this world.

Nothing like buying yourself from Microsoft because you don't want to be the Halo Studio anymore, and the FIRST THING you do is sign your next IP over to Activision, for a DECADE, while they are in the middle of ousting the heads of Infinity Ward so they can exert even more control over COD while screwing out the devs at IW...

Should've come as no surprise then that Activision gutted the content of Destiny 1 before launch and was a horrible partner through Destiny 2, until history repeated itself and Bungie had to split from Activision only to wind up in the arms of another major conglomerate that also doesn't know how to handle these unmanageable devs.

Profchaos389d ago

Tti their credit they praised the technical abilities of 343 and I remember at the time thinking halo 4 was a huge graphical leap above reach everything else was rubbish when I actually got to play it but there was no doubt it looked good for the 360 and is probably the best looking game on the system.

But ultimately I think bungie has always had a leadership problem and going independent ultimately proved this it's only getting worse with studio heads being outed by Sony for abuse allegations seems like all bungies past success has been in spite of management not because of it.

But really I think the bungie we have today is not the same one we had in that Xbox era of Bungie

PhillyDonJawn390d ago

I liked the artstyle change. For the most part. Something looked worse but most of everything else looked better. Weapons and vehicles for sure. The wraith come to my mind instantly.
And how can they get mad when the bungie changed it with Halo Reach?

Sciurus_vulgaris389d ago

I know a lot of people dislike Halo 4’s arts style, but there’s thing about it I like and dislike. Personally, the Halo 4 design of Master Chief’s armour is my favourite depiction of the character’s armour.