Halo 3: ODST Price Hiked, Microsoft Defends Actions

[ChromeAlchemist]

Halo 3: ODST Price Hiked, Microsoft Defends Actions

After the recent announcement at E3 of a price hike on Bungie's upcoming game, Halo 3: ODST, Microsoft rises to defend their actions

When Bungie's project came to light a year ago, rumors circulated that the title was not going to be a full priced game, as the campaign would be around 3 to 5 hours in length. However recently on many gaming retail sites, Halo 3: ODST is now being listed as a full priced retail game, and Microsoft have risen to explain why it is listed as such.

'At the time of those statements, the overall scope of Halo 3: ODST was not yet finalized, and since then the project has grown increasingly more ambitious' Microsoft revealed in a recent interview with Joystiq.

'We believe this standalone experience is much more than just an expansion,' they continued, 'Halo 3: ODST provides a new campaign from the point of view of an entirely new character. Combine that with three new multiplayer maps, the entirely new cooperative mode called Firefight, and the complete Halo 3 multiplayer collection on a standalone disc, we feel this is a good value and tremendous addition to the Halo franchise.'

Whether or not this new price tag will shy potential buyers from this title is up for discussion. There's no denying that there is content there, but the question is: Is it enough to justify a full price for the title?

http://uk.xbox360.ign.com/articles/994/994166p1.html

 

[Sir Ollie]

When Bungie's project came to light a year ago, rumors circulated that the title was not going to be a full priced game, as the campaign would be around 3 to 5 hours in length

Wasn't Halo 3 about that long?

I might get this game when its cheaper anyway not really looking forward to it.

 

[Trivun]

If there's enough content to make it into a fully fledged standalone game, then I have no problem paying a higher price. As a massive Halo fan, and since I've only ever had good experiences with Bungie and Microsoft respectively, I reckon they know what they're doing. Three new multiplayer maps, plus all the maps from Halo 3, and a new co-operative mode would normally be enough I feel to justify charging the price of any DLC. Same applies to the campaign on it's own. Combined they could well add up to much more than we expect, so for all that I have no problem with the price hike. We'll see whether it's worth it when the game is released, but personally I think it should be fine.

 

[Hitman 43]

Halo 3: ODST looks pretty good and is probably worth its price. We can only wait and see.

 

[Hazy]

I'll get it when its cheaper. No way am I paying 60 bones for a 5-6 Hour game, even with Fun Online.

 

[BlindTom]

Why is "an entirely new character" such a selling point?

 

[ChromeAlchemist]

I'll get it when its cheaper. No way am I paying 60 bones for a 5-6 Hour game, even with Fun Online.

In a sense, that's what everyone did for Call of Duty 4, short campaign but lasting multiplayer. Did you buy that title? Also fps campaigns are never too long, they flesh out the packages with decent online.

 

[Nmil-ek]

Why is "an entirely new character" such a selling point?

Too see how gullible people are to marketing these days.

 

[Fenring]

Well I'll buy it, just after I pay off my pre-order on Borderlands and Mass Effect 2. If it's dropped, cool. If not, too bad. I'd prefer $40 to $60, but I'll pay either.

 

[Caimekaze]

Why is "an entirely new character" such a selling point?

Because they don't have any other ones.

Sure they do!
You could play as...
Uhmm...
Cortana?

 

[Hazy]

I'll get it when its cheaper. No way am I paying 60 bones for a 5-6 Hour game, even with Fun Online.

In a sense, that's what everyone did for Call of Duty 4, short campaign but lasting multiplayer. Did you buy that title? Also fps campaigns are never too long, they flesh out the packages with decent online.

I bought COD 4 about the first week when it was out, but I was happy to flesh out the cash because Call of Duty had never let me down in terms of gameplay and overall fun. Halo, Sadly, Has. Come to think of it.. You're right about FPS', though, dead on.

 

[ChromeAlchemist]

Why is "an entirely new character" such a selling point?

Because they don't have any other ones.

Sure they do!
You could play as...
Uhmm...
Cortana?

Well shoot, why not? Could be worse, you could play as Captain Keys.

 

[Caimekaze]

Why is "an entirely new character" such a selling point?

Because they don't have any other ones.

Sure they do!
You could play as...
Uhmm...
Cortana?

Well shoot, why not? Could be worse, you could play as Captain Keys.

Dammit. Now I genuinely want to play a game where you control a holographic girl who can only interact with technology.
I don't know why, but I think it would be awesome.

 

[ChromeAlchemist]

Why is "an entirely new character" such a selling point?

Because they don't have any other ones.

Sure they do!
You could play as...
Uhmm...
Cortana?

Well shoot, why not? Could be worse, you could play as Captain Keys.

Dammit. Now I genuinely want to play a game where you control a holographic girl who can only interact with technology.
I don't know why, but I think it would be awesome.

They could probably turn that into one of the most original Halo titles around. Imagine a vital computer system is infected, and Cortana has to go in there and destroy the virus herself. That could open up a world of possibilities. Hell I would buy that as an expansion.

 

[Symp4thy]

The Halo 3 multiplayer maps are hardly a selling point, at least to me. Most people already have those and paid $30 for them.

 

[doesthislookinfected]

This is the first Halo title I've ever actually been looking forward to, so as long as the single player delivers, the price hike doesn't bother me much.

 

[Trivun]

Why is "an entirely new character" such a selling point?

Because they don't have any other ones.

Sure they do!
You could play as...
Uhmm...
Cortana?

I meant cause they don't have any other selling points. Its just reminds me of that Alone in the Dark Zero Punctuation. I'm just picturing their marketing blurb

- Play as an unnamed unimportant background character That actually doesn't matter too much, as there are plenty of named characters from the books who could easily be dropped into any Halo game and be a main playable character. Try a game with the Master Gunnery Sergeant from Halo 2, or play through as someone like Admiral Danforth from The Fall of Reach. Those are good selling points that could easily be implemented in a new game. For this, they decided an unknown Marine would be better, and I agree.
- Stuff that, had we any shame, we'd give away as a patch for multiplayer (at least Sun and Steel was on a train) Does that really matter so much? If the stuff is good, then does it matter how it gets given to the game? Personally I'm looking forward to this and I have no problem paying a higher price, given it doesn't actually seem from what they've said to be any smaller overall than Halo 2 or 3.
- Comes with stuff you've already got by definition if you care enough to actually buy this thing And a whole new way of playing that stuff. You can't play Halo 3 maps as an ODST. Now you'll be able to. Plus, the entirely different playing style, focusing more on stealth, will completely change the way multiplayer is played on those maps. Again, I personally look forward to this.
- Comes in a box with the word Halo on it Have you played any of the Halo games? Probably not, as a PS3 fanboy. If you had then you'd see how great the series is, and anyone who actually cares about this are those who actually like Halo. Plus, Bungie have repeatedly stated the series is now carrying on as a fan service. That is increasingly evident in the novels and games and so on. Plus, I'm sure if it was your favourite game series, whatever that is, then you'd be perfectly OK with all this. Even if you deny it, I'm pretty certain you wouldn't deny it if that actually happened.

My rebuttals in bold.

EDIT: I'm also sure that if this was Sony and not Microsoft, if Halo was a Sony franchise, then you'd be the most vocal of all of us in support of this decision...