Just for the record?

By Johnny Minkley Published 22 September, 2010

Analysing Halo's launch.

"Interactive entertainment will never be the same, with the launch of one title that has changed the way the world thinks about video games."

There's nothing like a sense of perspective. And that, taken from a Microsoft press release marking Halo 3's release, is nothing like a sense of perspective.

Inevitably, then, the hype train steamed into town this month to leave us in no doubt that life would Never Be The Same Again. "Halo: Reach is the biggest entertainment launch of 2010," Microsoft solemnly intoned to UK media, fully four days before it actually released.

Between publishers' obsessive need for each major release to be "bigger" and "better" than the last one, lest it be deemed by some perverse logic a failure, feeding the media's addiction to headline-ready pronouncements and amazing-sounding but essentially meaningless stats ("over 2000 human years have been spent playing Halo: Reach online!"), it's all beginning to sound a little desperate.

I should say at this point that I, too, happily lapped up and added to the Halo-perbole as much as the next fanboy, because I adore the series. But the hysterical PR-apotheosis of a game's release, fuelled by the industry's insecure need for validation alongside other entertainment media, has smothered any calm reflection on the game's "record-breaking" start.

The result of this is that press releases and articles become virtually – and in some cases literally – written in advance. The awkward, recalcitrant facts are cajoled, bullied and bent by our cognitive biases until they fit obediently into the pre-agreed narrative.

Exhibit A: a press release from Microsoft issued on 16th September, which opens with: "It's official: the 'Halo video game franchise has made history once again." Wow. The fastest-selling game ever? The biggest? A Master Chief on the Moon?

None of the above. Granted, it achieved Microsoft's stated ambition of becoming the "best-selling entertainment launch of 2010", making a massive $200m in its first 24 hours. Fantastic, but is it really "record-breaking" as the press release headline suggests? If so, then we must surely brace ourselves for Call of Duty: Black Ops to "rewrite the history/record books" in a not-quite-geological eight weeks.

Halo: Reach sold 300,000 copies on day one to became the fifth fastest-selling game over its "launch week" in UK chart history - a stunning achievement however you spin it. But let's look at this a little closer.

The four games (split into individual formats) which had better openings than Reach are, in reverse order: GTA IV (360), GTA: San Andreas (PS2), and Modern Warfare 2 (both PS3 and Xbox 360 versions).

Which seems clear enough, but there are other details to consider. First of all, what constitutes a "launch week" isn't as straightforward as it sounds. The official UK weekly chart is based on data collected from Sunday to Saturday of the previous week. The vast majority of games release on a Friday, meaning their "launch" figure comprises two days' sales.

However, over the past few years a small but significant number of major releases have eschewed tradition and had their releases brought forward earlier in the week.

Of those five top-selling games in the UK, only GTA: San Andreas released on a Friday, with GTA IV (Tuesday). Halo 3 (Weds), Halo: Reach (Tues) and Modern Warfare 2 (Tues) all jumping the gun.

The benefits of this are obvious enough: first, it allows the launch to be heralded as a unique 'event' in the media (and, if brought in line with the US, a 'global moment'); second, it provides extra time at retail, all of which goes towards the eventual weekly total.

Dorian Bloch, chief number cruncher at GfK-ChartTrack, says this tactic was rare before 2008, but that subsequently there's been "between 10 and 15 games off the top of my head" that have gone early.

We know, thanks to Bloch and his magic gaming abacus, that Halo: Reach sold an estimated 300,000 units on day one in the UK - a terrific result - and went on to outsell Halo 3's "launch week" by just 20,000 copies. But we also know it had an extra 24 hours at retail.

Was the extra time decisive? Not according to Bloch, who insists: "It's all about day one." But it's clear Microsoft wasn't going to take any chances in its determination to "make history".

ChartTrack won't release the full-week figure for Halo: Reach (it's 'commercially sensitive'), but with a little digging it's possible to make educated assumptions.

When Halo 3 launched, 1.4m Xbox 360s had been sold in the UK. Again, we don't know the exact sales figure for the game's opening week, but ChartTrack at the time said "one-in-three" Xbox owners picked it up. Which suggests just over 460k copies. So, by adding the 20k difference, we can say UK Halo: Reach sales last week were in the region of 480k.

But how many Xbox 360s are out there now? The last publicly released figure dates all the way back to June 2009, putting it at 3.9m. However, I spoke to two senior industry sources with access to the data who both said the present figure is around 5m.

So, around one in every 10 Xbox 360 owners bought Halo: Reach last week. With millions more 360s sold, therefore, does that mean Reach's launch was a relative disappointment?

Not necessarily, suggests Bloch, who argues that the overwhelming majority of hardware when Halo 3 launched would have been in "active service", compared to now where the 5m figure doesn't tell us how many consoles are no longer in use as a result of, say, RROD or – incomprehensible, I know – boredom. Plus, early adopters are more likely to want to buy and play 'core' games like Halo.

That is comparable to the launch of GTA: San Andreas when, again, one in 10 of the 6.6m PS2 owners at the time bought the game. Which is arguably more impressive given its Friday release, and Rockstar's epic remains the fastest-selling platform exclusive in the UK (with other versions coming much later).

Given Microsoft's marketing spend on Halo: Reach is also a whopping two-thirds greater than that for Halo 3, one possible interpretation of all this is that, while the game remains as popular as ever with fans, Microsoft has - despite throwing the kitchen sink at it – failed to, forgive me, reach out to a new crowd. Only time will tell if this changes.

Analysis of the early data does not and should not diminish the amazing achievements of Microsoft and Bungie with Halo: Reach, a brilliant game launched brilliantly.

All of which is to say, a single Microsoft game release did $200m of business in 24 hours, sold half a million copies in the UK alone in five days, has a Metacritic score of 92 and is the fastest-selling Xbox exclusive of all time.

What a strange world we live in when that needs exaggerating.

Picture of Johnny.

About Johnny Minkley

Johnny Minkley is a veteran games writer and broadcaster, former editor of Eurogamer TV, VP of gaming charity SpecialEffect, and hopeless social media addict.

Read more articles from Johnny by visiting the Johnny Minkley archive page.

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Comments (96) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • M4RV #1 2 years ago

    What a strange world we live in when that needs exaggerating.

    ^ ^ ^ ^

    Indeed, which only shows that corporate suits are never truly satisfied. If only art was driven by fans first and foremost... Profits would plummet at times, but then again, I'd be a happy man. :)

  • RedSparrows #2 2 years ago

    I always manage to disassociate the hype from the game in Halo's case. It's cos I love it so.

    Don't give a toss for MS's blaring, do give a toss for Bungie's design par excellence.

  • mr_shoe_uk #3 2 years ago

    Nothing to see here people, move along.

  • M4RV #4 2 years ago

    So you would rather have cunts like Kotick running things, heh...?! And you misunderstood me... I meant people with other interests, other than profit at the end of the fiscal year, people who actually sit down and take the time to appreciate the final product, instead of only feeling something upon the presence of the all mighty buck ( or euro or pound if you prefer ).

  • guernican #5 2 years ago

    "Nothing to see here people, move along."

    Could have been expressed a little more gracefully, but a fair point. Still, an interesting bunch of numbers and, certainly for those that didn't know already, a neat little explanation of the number-massaging options based on which day of the week you choose to launch. I suppose the only logical context is to wring your hands over the duplicitous nature of the marketing department, in the same way that it's logical to sigh about Samir Nasri's penchant for diving. It's... what they do.

  • Goodfella #6 2 years ago

    What is the point of this article?!

  • guernican #7 2 years ago

    "I meant people with other interests, other than profit at the end of the fiscal year"

    Well, some might argue that "profits" are the only thing that bring you super-duper, quadruple-A, hyped-to-the-gunwales titles like Modern Warfare, Halo et al. I love The Void and Ben There Dan That as much as the next chap, but I'm partial to a multimillion dollar circle jerk every now and then too.

  • Mercatoria #8 2 years ago

    More opinion articles please.

  • CaptainQuint #9 2 years ago

    I'm interested to see if Reach knocks MW2 off the top spot on Xbox Live, and I'm even more interested to see how long it can hold onto the spot. That will be the real test of whether or not it has achieved what MS want it to.

  • darleysam #10 2 years ago

    Good article, Minkley.

  • SClaw #11 2 years ago

    Dear Eurogamer. Please give us more articles about Halo: Reach. The last thirty were not sufficient to fulfil the Halo-lust you apparently think I'm suffering from. Thank you.

  • spekkeh #12 2 years ago

    Haha, at first I agreed with SClaw's sentiment, when I saw the article go up I sighed and started wondering how much MS is paying to get Halo Reach articles on games websites after the launch. (note IGN's extra articles of even more glowing praise after the review which was full of glowing praise.. what's the point in that other than marketing?)

    So it's good to see, when I read the article, that it's actually a somewhat critical look on numbers touting by corporate suits. Well can't really say anything bad about that, except there should be more of this.

  • Shadders #13 2 years ago

    I am pretty sure Halo 3 launched on a Tuesday. Wikipedia says otherwise, but y'know.. it's Wikipedia.


    BBC confirms : http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7010214.stm

  • madgerald Verified Studio Head of PR & Marketing, Colossal Games LTD #14 2 years ago

    Halo: Reach is out? Blimey; missed that.

  • Bigglesworth #15 2 years ago

    @Goodfella
    It's an opinion piece. What don't you get?

  • telboy007 #16 2 years ago

    Well it's all puffed out chests and making MS look great compared to Sony, well the PR people trying to do this anyway. Seems like they're all in for the console war along with the fanboys. :)

  • sentinal101 #17 2 years ago

    "Halo has always primarily been a triumph of marketing rather than a triumph of game creation. Bungie did a competent job of jury-rigging the FPS to use a dual analog controller, but that's about it really. All of it's other much-exaggerated amazing revolutions!!!!!!1!!111 are just not that significant really. Recharging health bar, dual wielding, BIG FUCKING DEAL! There are far superior FPS series out there, but they don't have Microsoft paying for people to dress up and jet pack around Trafalgar Square."

    Give us some examples Mogs please. There a far superior FPS out there ? ...

    sure theres plenty of great FPS out there but far superior to the Halo series, LMFAO
    Edited by sentinal101 at 22/09/10 @ 15:22

  • spenner #18 2 years ago

    Extra extra. Businesses try to make money through propoganda marketing shock. Read all about it

  • ChthonicEcho #19 2 years ago

    The way this article is dubbed 'opinion' is amusing. It's as though every other article on the website is not an opinion.

  • gillri #20 2 years ago

    @Mogs

    Halo Reach is as good as an FPS can get, I like the way you say everything its done for the FPS genre 'big fucking deal'
    we can do that with all games, Half life invented teh scripted sequences..guess what? 'big fucking deal'.......................see what I did there?

    grow up

  • Centrifugal #21 2 years ago

    Halo: Reach is vastly different to Halo 3 in that people weren't sure what to expect. After the arguably mediocre-by-Halo-standards ODST, a lot of people were most likely unsure about the Halo series as a whole. And so rather than rushing out to midnight launches and the like as people did with Halo 3, this time people have been waiting for others to get it and give their opinions.

    Now that word of mouth is spreading and that many are claiming it is the greatest Halo game yet, people are buying it. So I don't think that you can judge the overall sales figures by the launch ones this time.

  • bzzct #22 2 years ago

    Very good article. A bit of chat about how the industry players conduct themselves is an important thing for a media outlet to do, and there's very little of it in videogames.

    Also shows there's critical thinking going on inside EG when controller is not in-hand, which the stream of PR-sourced "news" stories does not.

  • butler` #23 2 years ago

    I found this article questionable, being published on a website that feeds off of (and thus fuels) the very problem it attempts to deconstruct.

    Oh, you tagged it Opinion, that's ok then.

  • ThePissartist #24 2 years ago

    I couldn't agree more with this article - Halo 3 sold nearly as many copies with only a fraction of the amount of 360 owners.

    I won't buy ODST and I probably won't buy this either. Halo's a bit old hat now - it's not really that interesting to me. Maybe it's my age. Gritty realism (even in a sci-fi setting, if such a thing is possible) appeals to me. The Guardian wrote up a good article on Halo and it epitomises my view on the franchise.

  • coolbritannia #25 2 years ago

    The Guardian called it one of the best games series of all time. I agreed.

  • Goodfella #26 2 years ago

    @Bigglesworth

    I suggest you look up the meaning of a rhetorical question.

  • CrumpledPaper #27 2 years ago

    I am more puzzled by what this means for US performance.

    Reach did $200m globally in its first day.

    Halo 3 did $170m in North America alone in its first day.

    If Reach did better than 3 on its first day in the UK, what does this and the above figures imply for first day performance in North America?

  • iamian #28 2 years ago

    Another question on the numbers raised in the article. Who are companies like MS trying to impress with these figures? Are they trying to impress anyone at all or is it all a bit of corperate ball-swinging?

  • miiiguel #29 2 years ago

    @Mogs: your opinion on the game is tainted by politics, if any of those other games you claim as superior were MS exclusive they wouldn't feature on your preferences. That's nothing wrong with that, but it's time to embrace it.
    Edited by miiiguel at 22/09/10 @ 16:04

  • ThePissartist #30 2 years ago

    "Is it wrong not to love Halo?"

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gam...

  • mr_shoe_uk #31 2 years ago

    To clarify my flippant comment earlier -

    I didn't find it a bad article, but most Eurogamer readers probably knew that all of the post-release posturing was meaningless manipulation of numbers. From personal experiece, it is clear that MW2 and GTA4 had a much greater reach outside of a core group of fans, and we probably know more people who got them.

    The only reason the article seems relevant is that Eurogamer kept on publishing non-news items like "Microsoft set for biggest game launch ever with Halo: Reach"

  • AphoticCosmos #32 2 years ago

    @Mogs

    If you don't "get" Halo after 9 years, one wonders why you bothered posting in a comments thread about a Halo game.

  • Bremenacht #33 2 years ago

    I found the Reach hype to be much less saturating than that of Halo 3. Not a day in the 6 months leading up to Halo 3 went by without some incremental hype.

  • Mark1412 #34 2 years ago

    Except it's not duel-wielding and recharging health that people laud Halo for is it, cretin. More aspects like superlative level design, Forge, the theatre, the depth of game modes, the game mode-editing tools, Firefight, bungie.net and the community features - among others.

  • alan_stealth #35 2 years ago

    A strange world?
    That's marketing baby.

    I think it's much stranger that footballers are paid such insane amount of money for kicking a ball.

    Microsoft are hardly the first firm to exaggerate in the name of marketing, hype and PR.
    Or to bend figures to their will.

    99% of people I asked said Halo Reach was a truly great game.
    The people I asked were at the Halo Launch party, and were holding copies of Halo Reach.
    See?

    That's why statistics aren't worth the paper they're printed on.

  • Calgon #36 2 years ago

    Hang on a minute here, if you(EG) didnt report every statistic(which you should already know is usually a game of deception to begin with... to make something look as bad or good as you want it to) thrown out by the platform holders and publishers, maybe they wouldn't go over the top with it knowing you are going to lap it up and post it. It's your obsession with sales figures to fuel the fanboys bickering about whos failing and whos powning that has the PR teams stat tinkering so much.

    @ ThePissartist - Some guy writing a whole article because he doesnt like a popular I.P? What a waste of time, some people really do like the sound of their own voice a little too much.
    Edited by Calgon at 22/09/10 @ 16:21

  • Benno #37 2 years ago

    I approve of this opinion business

  • FogHeart #38 2 years ago

    @ThePissArtist

    Wow, that article voiced all my objections.

    In the review's comments I wrote this:-

    "I thought Halo 3 would be an epic tale of humanity driven to the brink of extinction by a scary race of aliens. I was utterly flabbergasted when, at the first encounter, they ended up being shambling midgets with squeaky voices and bigger space gorillas with comic-gruff voices. I mean, I swear that I'd heard those voices on Power Rangers bad guys."

    ...while the article writes this:-

    "I never 'got' Halo. From the beginning, I never appreciated the disconnect between the game's epic narrative and the comedic nature of the Grunts. I know these shuffling troglodytes represent the bottom feeders of the Covenant foodchain, but they still seem bizarrely anachronistic in a 'serious' science fiction universe."

    I can see where he's coming from with Gears too, as that provided the mad scary roaring monsters that Halo did not. I inherited a 360 with Halo 3 and Gears and didn't really play Halo but couldn't put down Gears. It's more my thing.

    As the article states, Halo did introduce concepts of worth, but they're not enough to make it tower above the many other FPS games that preceded it.

    But in the white heat that still emanates from this new supernova, no one can see much else. We need some time for it to fade before we can again appreciate the rest of the firmament.
    Edited by FogHeart at 22/09/10 @ 16:29

  • CaptainQuint #39 2 years ago

    "Gritty realism appeals to me."

    Heh heh, it's only ever a matter of time until someone says something like this in such a discussion, as if the cliché that is "gritty" is somehow automatically superior to all other styles of design.

    Yawn.

    Gimme a bold, unique aesthetic over yet another bland military "reality" any day of the week.

  • ThePissartist #40 2 years ago

    @calgon

    Is it wrong to write opinion about something if it's negative? It think it goes some way to explaining the loss in sales from a 360 users to sales ratio compared to Halo 3.

    FYI EG - this article is missing on Android

  • Calgon #41 2 years ago

    ThePissartist its not wrong but who does the article appeal to?(I said it seems like a waste of time and it still does) Like I said its going to appeal to people who like the sound of their voice a little too much... you know the type of people who show up on Halo threads telling everyone how much they personally dont like it, like that matters to anyone but them? *shrugs*

    "It think it goes some way to explaining the loss in sales from a 360 users to sales ratio compared to Halo 3."

    Really? I would have thought its because most halo fans already had a 360 in preperation for Halo3 where as with Reach the 360 userbase is larger and more diverse, you know because not everyone likes FPS' or Halo(or COD or Killzone ect).
    Edited by Calgon at 22/09/10 @ 16:57

  • KDR_11k #42 2 years ago

    If they were really confident in their product they wouldn't just be bragging about launch week. Launch week is what you sell through hype, the weeks after are what you sell by word of mouth. Reach may have a hugely hyped launch but is it going to beat, say, a Pokemon game in total sales?

  • miiiguel #43 2 years ago

    @pissartist: Probably it's not wrong, but if it was an opinion article about how he loved the Halo series it wouldn't be taken that *serious*, probably it wouldn't be printed at all. Would it ?

  • DavidBoring #44 2 years ago

    relying on first week(end) sales is what completely ruined the cinema, everything that does not achieve xx mio $ in the first week is seen as a failure and often pulled out of cinemas. i hope this wont happen to games too

  • Calgon #45 2 years ago

    Mogs oh well done for finding a typo there sir... You will notice that post was deleted about 2 minutes before you posted that though, what took you so long? Thats all you could come up with? I decided I dont really care enough I still think you're a saddo though but I doubt it needs pointing out to anyone else at this point. :)

  • McBradders #46 2 years ago

    I liked this article. It was good, well researched and made good points all around. Bravo. More like it please.

  • ThePissartist #47 2 years ago

    @calgon

    I'm not sure that voicing opinion that doesn't coincide with someone else's personal belief constitutes a 'waste of time'.

  • Calgon #48 2 years ago

    ThePissartist thats just useless spin and its not fooling anyone, point being showing up to tell everyone how much you dont care for the subject at hand... IS a waste of time, it certainly isnt worthy of an article either IMO.

  • ThePissartist #49 2 years ago

    @miiguel

    Aren't all other articles about Reach positive? They all got published...

  • ThePissartist #50 2 years ago

    I do care about the subject, that's why I'm here.

  • Calgon #51 2 years ago

    ThePissartist in what way do you care? Let me guess to tell all the "xbots" they are wrong or some other absurdity?
    Edited by Calgon at 22/09/10 @ 16:56

  • FogHeart #52 2 years ago

    As one who has already stated that he is sympathetic with the article I suppose I have to chime in against the accusation that I may be just another person who voices his dislike just for attention.

    I hate going against popular opinion really. Mostly because I'm a pussy. Hell, I was votekicked from a L4D2 game a few days ago in a case of mistaken identity and I was upset for the remainder of the evening...

    ...but I hate those incomprehensible logical disconnects between reality and perception more. I really, really want someone who loves this Halo mythos to explain to me why it is correct for the Sworn Enemy of All the Human Race to be...those muppets. And exactly how the new concepts in game design are so much, much better than some found in other games. And what feeling, what emotions the architecture invokes that has them in such high esteem. There's a cold, clinical feel to the Combine Tower in City 17, a strange poetry in nature healing over the war-ruined landscapes in Metroid games - but I never 'got anything' out of the structures in Halo 3. I don't want an argument, I just want to know what the hell I'm missing here.

  • miiiguel #53 2 years ago

    @ThePissartist : come on, let's try to be fair, do you actually believe that if a journalist had an article (not a review) about his pesronal feelings about Halo, and that were that he loved it, it would get printed (and quoted) ? Realy ?

  • thubie #54 2 years ago

    Leave fans out of game dev in our head it sounds awesome.
    One example Modern warfare 2 a lot of fan ideas made it into the game AC 130 killstreak,shotgun as secondary weapon and many more im to lazy to type.

  • Calgon #55 2 years ago

    Miiiguel it may get printed, but I doubt mr Piss would be posting that here, nor would anyone be holding it up and saying "see see... I told ya".
    Edited by Calgon at 22/09/10 @ 17:01

  • ThePissartist #56 2 years ago

    @miiguel

    Yes. Search 'Halo' on the Guardian's site.

  • ThePissartist #57 2 years ago

    @calgon

    I have a 360.

  • Calgon #58 2 years ago

    ThePissartist I dont care if you do or not which is why I also put "some other absurdity", I'm not the biggest halo fan either, theres plenty of popular I.Ps that I think are overrated out there too all hyped up to be must haves also, do I waste my time preaching about everyone else being wrong? Not unless asked, not unless asked. ;)
    Edited by Calgon at 22/09/10 @ 17:04

  • miiiguel #59 2 years ago

    What's funny about the Halo series is that it causes discomfort among people who don't get it. And that is fascinating, or at least interesting. I don't know any other sucessful IP which causes this. Metroid? No!; MGS? maybe a puerile joke here and there. It probably gets on your nerves. Idk...
    Edited by miiiguel at 22/09/10 @ 17:13

  • Freek #60 2 years ago

    Great article, and a nice breath of fresh air for finally giving a critical response to the out of control PR hyperbol. More of this please :D

  • erp #61 2 years ago

    "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."

  • Power_n_Glory #62 2 years ago

    It’s okay to do this type of article but it bothers me when this sort of viewpoint comes across in the actual game review. The marketing and PR shouldn’t effect the way a game review is written. It got a good overall score but the same cynicism expressed in this article was expressed in the review and that shouldn’t be the case. It was the same for the Halo ODST review. It was marked down because Eurogamer thought Bungie and MS were trying to milk the cash cow even though it wasn’t sold at full price.

  • man.the.king #63 2 years ago

    @Calgon

    "its not wrong but who does the article appeal to?(I said it seems like a waste of time and it still does) Like I said its going to appeal to people who like the sound of their voice a little too much... you know the type of people who show up on Halo threads telling everyone how much they personally dont like it, like that matters to anyone but them? *shrugs* "

    Following that train of thought, wouldn't you say that opinion pieces as to why Halo (or indeed, any other game on any system) is SO GREAT would be equally pointless?

    Or maybe, both types of articles - criticism as well as unabashed praise - are equally valid.
    Edited by man.the.king at 23/09/10 @ 04:40

  • monkfishjoe #64 2 years ago

    What is it, about the world in which we live, that makes people feel it is OK to argue/air thier dirty laundry in public? It happens all the time now (I blame Facebook and the 'look at me culture' it has encouraged).

    Now, a nice bit of debate is delightful, but please keep arguements to PM's. It make me lose my thread.
    Edited by monkfishjoe at 22/09/10 @ 18:13

  • Calgon #65 2 years ago

    man.the.king as I said to miguel a few posts back, such articles may exist or may be printed but would anybody be holding those up to validate their own opinions in threads such as this one?(as in "see look at this look look... told ya!";)

    Dont confuse what my point was, every opinion is valid but really why do certain people think theirs is so important that everyone who disagrees(which they know before hand in many cases) needs to hear it? Like I said its simple they like the sound of their own voice too much and assume these people havent played the very same games they have in alot of cases.

    It wasnt even on topic in the first place this article isnt really to do with whether Halo is any good or not, yet some people dont seem to understand that and take every thread as an opportunity to post the same old shit nobody wants to hear.
    Edited by Calgon at 22/09/10 @ 18:18

  • lockload #66 2 years ago

    Microsoft have made shit tons of money off halo reach, it covered its dev costs in about 5 mins on sale

    As Ms have said before add together every ps3 exclusive sales and its still less than halo 3

  • mahogany #67 2 years ago

    Something to consider when comparing the performance of Reach in the UK to the other big hits is the deals you could get at launch.

    MW2 was available for £26 at supermarkets for its launch week (or was it just day) and I presume that would have a massive effect on sales, I know it made up my mind to buy the game. I look around and I couldn't find Reach for less than £35 online or off. I have no idea what the others went for at launch, can't remember any spectacular deals. The other also launched with a lot less competition being released near them and I'd imagine a lot of the 1 games a year crowd are waiting to see what CoD is like.

    On the other hand the fact that retailers didn't feel it was worth loss-leading Reach or publishers didn't feel the need to vacate the 4 months surrounding it maybe says something about the regard Halo is now held in.

    Whatever the case its a damn good game (and much more fun on normal than heroic).

  • thisisatempaccount #68 2 years ago

    Anyone else think the fact that Eurogamer conflates press releases and articles is pretty telling?

  • Calgon #69 2 years ago

    @monkfishjoe - If people stayed on topic none of this would happen but it always does, especially anything Halo or MS exclusive.

    As for Facebook culture or attention seeking(which I hope wasn't aimed at me, I'm guessing it was the trolls anyway, which is what led me to respond to them in the first place) theres nothing I care less about here than that sort of stuff(other than finding it unbearably annoying), infact EG in general has slidden so far down hill in the quality of posters in the comments section(more interested in negging people who dont like what they like and so on, than mature worthwhile discussions) that I dont bother much any more unless someone is really annoying or stupid, then I may just point out why.

  • oerhoert #70 2 years ago

    Hear hear, actual journalism! Bravo! :)

  • Emmit_Assassin #71 2 years ago

    I agree, its indicitive of todays need for headlines that mean nothing when looked at in the smallest detail.
    I also hate Halo. Well, I used to anyway. I like Reach. Don't love it, never will, the multiplayer is a slow broadband owners worst nightmare, but they concentrate on the SP just as much as the MP, so everyone wins, really. Despite the campaign being an amalgamation of every cliche possible wrapped around a badly written script well voiced, and poor graphics backed by wonderous and superlative ridden backgrounds of pure beauty, its a contradiction unto itself.
    But despite all its many obvious flaws, its well polished and crammed full of options, customizations and game types as well as file sharing. Bungie's swan song is a masterpiece and the amount it sold is well deserved, love it or hate it.

  • Bremenacht #72 2 years ago

    Calgon wrote:
    every opinion is valid but really why do certain people think theirs is so important that everyone who disagrees... needs to hear it? Like I said its simple they like the sound of their own voice too much

    some people dont seem to understand that and take every thread as an opportunity to post the same old shit nobody wants to hear.


    How very true.
    Edited by Bremenacht at 22/09/10 @ 20:27

  • ThePissartist #73 2 years ago

    Kudos to man.the.king for his awesome Charlie Brooker profile picture.

  • Goodfella #74 2 years ago

    @Calgon

    It wasnt even on topic in the first place this article isnt really to do with whether Halo is any good or not, yet some people dont seem to understand that and take every thread as an opportunity to post the same old shit nobody wants to hear.

    Lets be honest here, it's all about one-upmanship, who can have the last word, who can feel self important, who can make out they are cleverer than others. You're doing it, we all do it.

  • TRUTH #75 2 years ago

    What is Halo ? will it work on my Wii ?

  • Calgon #76 2 years ago

    Goodfella are we? I'd just prefer EG without the petty attention seeking trolls, not that it does any good to complain(it's always been a problem but never as freequent as it is these days) but I'm gonna point out the stupidity as often as I've wasted time reading it all the same. :p
    Edited by Calgon at 22/09/10 @ 20:49

  • monkfishjoe #77 2 years ago

    Calgon. Not aimed at you, you make some fair points. I'm just fed up with all the trolls, fanboys and fools. I just wish people would debate the article, not just throw sh!t at each other. This was a really interesting article and a good insight into the facts behind the PR rubbish that has degenerated into a bunch of arguements.

  • coolbritannia #78 2 years ago

    lol @ that Guardian article, it's just like here. People moaning that halo isn't innovative and that they're waiting for Killzone 3, speaks volumes about why they really slate Halo. Fact is to stand apart and say you don't 'get' Halo is similar to saying you don't 'get' The Beatles...[link url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8246313.stm
    ]http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8246313.stm
    [/link]

    The fact remains, if you think Halo is the greatest game series ever (which I do), or if you think it's overrated, it's impact on gaming has been massive, and I'd say with the exception of Goldeneye, unparalleled.

    Also, that Guardian guy says Halo is shallow etc then says Gears is so much better. That's just mental.

  • bladdard #79 2 years ago

    Does anyone agree part of reaches massive success is down to the incredibly dry summer console gaming has had. It's not as if your average 360 owner has a bevy of AAA titles to choose from right now ... but at least they do have reach, what's the PS3 got to shout about at the moment, oh Sports Champion. :(

  • albinac #80 2 years ago

    yet another article that reminds us that halo reach is on sale and it is good. ok eurogamer tell me how much did microsoft pay you people to promote this game to death, come on grow a pair of b_alls and tell us.

  • Dr.Frappers #81 2 years ago

    The fact that i've spent the last 20 minutes of my Wednesday evening reading all these comments instead of just putting Reach in my Xbox and playing it with my mates online makes me feel very sad.
    Right...i'm off.

  • Goodfella #82 2 years ago

    Fact is to stand apart and say you don't 'get' Halo is similar to saying you don't 'get' The Beatles...

    I don't think that's a fair comparison.

    I get the Beatles, love 'em, but I don't get Halo. I've played all the damn games (except Halo Wars and Reach) but I don't get it. It's ok, it doesn't light my fire though.

  • darkmorgado #83 2 years ago

    Sorry guys, but with regards to that Guardian article:

    I prefer its mad, pulverising vision of death and destruction in an existential universe of dread

    Anyone who thinks that fucking GOW, of all franchises, deals with existentialism is guilty of terminal pretentiousness.

  • coolbritannia #84 2 years ago

    Goodfella, what's the better franchise, Halo, Resistance, Killzone or Gears?

  • FogHeart #85 2 years ago

    OK, OK, fine, I'm sad for not understanding the attraction (funny, never really got why the Beatles was a big deal either....). But still, don't point and deride, take me through it...right now this feels like those times when girlfriends gave me the cold shoulder and said "If you don't know what you did wrong you don't deserve to know what it was."

  • MORZTAN #86 2 years ago

    Here´s a fun fact:

    My 360 rrod'ed the other day... The day after I bought Reach, without having a console to play it on... That's marketing hype at it's best.

    in fact, that isn't fun

  • FogHeart #87 2 years ago

    See? Reach is a system seller!

  • ronuds #88 2 years ago

    I don't think it's fair to say Reach sold poorly, because there are more consoles now as opposed to when Halo 3 was released. If you look at just about any game that had sequels on the same console, you'd find the story to be pretty much the same - the numbers just don't add up how you'd figure they would.

    However, I do agree that MS should just shut up sometimes. Let the product speak for itself.

  • JBlokeUK #89 2 years ago

    Got Milk?

  • Lunatic4ever #90 2 years ago

    Well however you put it...HALO rocks. I dont care bout sales and all that stuff. I log in and see that nearly a million players play the game. Enough for me to smile and be happy :D

  • davisorle #91 2 years ago

    Post deleted at 20:44:35 16-04-2012

  • darkmorgado #92 2 years ago

    Its you, your websites and your articles that keep emphasising that kind of bullshit and its why they keep exaggerating. If it wasnt then we would only hear about the actual games and what is really the point for any gamer.

    I kind of agree, but at the same time it makes me wonder if availability of review copies is made conditional on the sites/magazines providing pre-release coverage. I don't mean buying high scores (which is another matter entirely, and eminently wrong), but buying coverage.

    Makes you think.

  • Sulphur_Man #93 2 years ago

    When did EG decide to publish third-rate precis of Media Studies papers?

    Sentences like,
    "The awkward, recalcitrant facts are cajoled, bullied and bent by our cognitive biases until they fit obediently into the pre-agreed narrative."

    ...have no place on this site. Just review the game, tech analyse the game, and keep it at that. If I want to read PR theory, then I'll wash up at The Guardian.

  • kingmong #94 2 years ago

    bought into the hype for Halo 3. won't be doing it again

  • layleeloo #95 2 years ago

    This has to be the most geeky, useless article on eurogamer in quite a while!

  • BlinkeredAxis #96 2 years ago

    After reading 54,348 articles and threads about the Halo series, I can usually tell when people who haven't played the game are pretending they have and saying 'meh'. I thought EG was bad for this, but the Guardian thread only had three people who had obviously played a Halo game at all.

    Of all the people I know who own 360's(dozens), I only know one who does't love the Halo series in general (ODST is an exception - lots of people where underwhelmed by it).

    Looking at the sales figures, there is a massive, gigantic gulf between the number of 360 owners who love the series, and the number of complainers who say they've played it and thought it was rubbish.

    Of course, it's interesting social trends like this that make these threads fun :)