Halo Anniversary or Halo 7: The Quest for More Money

[bkdlsf89990]

Warning: What follows is a 5 minute rant.

So: Halo Anniversary. I have to admit I rolled my eyes slightly when I found out that 343 Industries (Bungie no longer) was re-releasing Halo 1. Still, I was hopeful. This could be a fun. A trip down nostalgia lane with updated graphics and sweet new gameplay? Yes please.

However, my mouth fell open when I started hearing their marketing scheme.

They are pitching this game as being exactly the same as the original Halo game. This is apparently meant to be a good thing. I've watched a few gameplay videos, and it definitely lives up to that promise. It is exactly the same. Enemies move and act the same. The sounds are identical. Environments are identical. They're even using the same code.

And the graphics, while an improvement, look exactly what they are: an updated version of an old and outdated graphics engine.

So first: Why are we supposed to be excited to "re-live" an experience we've been living already for 10 years? Is the Halo 1 gameplay really so great that it's something we actually want to go back to? Wouldn't it be better to update the gameplay as well as the graphics?

And the graphics, while definitely an upgrade, still fall short of most modern games. The graphics are superior to Halo 2 graphics, but definitely below Halo 3 graphics.

But the ultimate irony is that they are actually including a "feature" that lets you toggle back to the original Halo 1 graphics. Do you realize what this means? They are giving players the opportunity to spend $40 to buy literally the exact same game. No really. Exactly the same. This is like those dumb Disney marketing schemes where they re-release "The Little Mermaid" as a "Platinum edition" or something, and you will buy it because there are "bonus features" on the disc. But again, this is meant to be a good thing.

Halo Anniversary is powered by one thing and one thing alone: nostalgia. But if I wanted nostalgia, couldn't I just play the actual game that I've already owned for 10 years rather than spending $40 to buy it again?

I understand many people are excited about this game. An updated Halo 1 is definitely exciting. But this is not an updated Halo 1. This just Halo 1. I guess if you've never actually played Halo 1, this would be a good way for those people to experience it. But when you sell your game as literally being the game that we've already had for 10 years, and asking us to buy the "new" one just because of a slight graphical update, no way am I spending 40 bucks. And even hinting at the possibility that we might want to play (and pay for) a modern $40 game with the old 2001 graphics makes my head explode.

 

[Ridgemo]

Some people will want to though, so what does it matter? How many people keep rebuying Ocarina of Time on various different Nintendo's, do they get a free pass because its Legend of Zelda?

I don't see why it matters to you, surprisingly i don't think it's that big a deal. People say it's the end of the industry, but they are just over-reacting much like you are.

There's a very simple way to deal with this.

If you would like to play Halo 1 with updated graphics and get some new maps for Halo Reach, buy this game (i will be).

If you don't want to play it, don't buy it. But that would be to simple i imagine.

 

[bkdlsf89990]

Just my opinion. And of course it's not the end of the industry.

 

[Tupolev]

Warning: What follows is a 5 minute rant.

No, I read it in far less time than that.

However, my mouth fell open when I started hearing their marketing scheme.

What about it? Your post describes problems you have with the product, not what marketing is doing with it. Not that I think that the marketing of the game isn't silly and incredibly misleading in some ways.

Is the Halo 1 gameplay really so great that it's something we actually want to go back to?

According to a lot of people, yes.

Wouldn't it be better to update the gameplay as well as the graphics?

According to some people, yes. But I would hardly call the split decisive in any direction. Viewpoints on it in the Halo community are all over the map right now.

And the graphics, while definitely an upgrade, still fall short of most modern games. The graphics are superior to Halo 2 graphics, but definitely below Halo 3 graphics.

I find I must very strongly disagree. CEA has some serious polishing to do in places, but from what I've seen, it looks as though the engine itself is probably reasonably strong.

But the ultimate irony is that they are actually including a "feature" that lets you toggle back to the original Halo 1 graphics. Do you realize what this means? They are giving players the opportunity to spend $40 to buy literally the exact same game. No really. Exactly the same. This is like those dumb Disney marketing schemes where they re-release "The Little Mermaid" as a "Platinum edition" or something, and you will buy it because there are "bonus features" on the disc. But again, this is meant to be a good thing.

You say this as though the toggle means that you're getting less for your money than if you were to buy it without the feature. It strikes me as difficult to argue that having the feature is a bad thing as compared to not having it.

Halo Anniversary is powered by one thing and one thing alone: nostalgia. But if I wanted nostalgia, couldn't I just play the actual game that I've already owned for 10 years rather than spending $40 to buy it again?

Yes to both points.

But some people who are highly acclimated to newer visual styles seem to have trouble reacclimating to the older style. Which, especially if they don't have a CRT TV (which have color, brightness, and contrast properties that work amazingly with Halo 1's visual style as compared to LCD's), is somewhat justifiable.

Also, some people consider the Reach map pack that goes with (that is related to the upcoming Reach TU) to be worth some money.

 

[willofbob]

agreed completely. This is nothing more than a shameless cash-cow campaign.

is it weird that I imagine you as sounding like Yahtzee?

 

[The Apothecarry]

I have been wanting to see a re-released version of Halo for a long time primarily because the mechanics have changed. With a massive shift towards multiplayer gaming, the mechanics of Halo's campaign have also changed. It's going to be interesting to see how the changes made in Halo 2 through Reach affect the performance of the original campaign.

 

[Takuanuva]

Halo Anniversary and Halo: CE are basically the same? That's horrible! How can they force you to buy the same game twice?
Oh right. They don't.
If you don't like it, then don't buy it. I, for example, will most certainly buy it. I played almost every single Halo game, but I never managed to get a copy of Halo: CE (f**k you, Xbox Live Marketplace and your content not being avaible in the country I live in), and I would love to finally play it.

 

[bkdlsf89990]

You say this as though the toggle means that you're getting less for your money than if you were to buy it without the feature. It strikes me as difficult to argue that having the feature is a bad thing as compared to not having it.

Not at all. Of course if people use the feature they will be.

I'm just surprised that they would think that people would actually want to do that. Though apparently they exist. So my question would be directed at them: why would you want to spend $40 to buy a game you probably already have?

Halo Anniversary and Halo: CE are basically the same? That's horrible! How can they force you to buy the same game twice?
Oh right. They don't. If you don't like it, then don't buy it.

And I'm not going to. But that doesn't mean that I can't say anything about it. XD

 

[MrMrAwesom]

I hate that... It IS a quest for money.
I don't get it at all, everyone will buy it & if you don't then everyone will be like why didn't you buy it!?
Like Yahtzee said "people are shit" everyone will buy the ds i lite xl heavy lite because now its more sturdy & shit & everyone will buy the next cod because they couldn't complain enough about Black ops & MW2 then they'll buy the next & the next & the next no matter how many times they say all the guns are unbalanced! as indeed they will complain after they bought this "halo 1: again" ARG! I already bought this it's a 40$ map pack!
It's like that other thing Yahtzee said something along the lines of the shiny things to buy till someone else gets a shinier thing.

 

[Kal-Adam]

I. personally, love the idea of remastering old games to bring it to a new audience, but i have to agree that Halo isn't the place it should start

 

[Tupolev]

Not at all. Of course if people use the feature they will be.

I'm just surprised that they would think that people would actually want to do that. Though apparently they exist. So my question would be directed at them: why would you want to spend $40 to buy a game you probably already have?

Because:
-It's an HD widescreen version, whereas all current console versions are fullscreen only.
-Having both visual sets available in the same place can be considered something of a convenience.
-Being able to compare the old and new graphics easily is an interesting curiosity.
-As much as you keep saying "$40", most people consider the graphical toggle to constitute only a small fraction of the price. The game also comes with the new visuals, the ability to play coop campaign over xbox live, a pack of 7 maps for Reach MP, and new terminal content in the campaign. Some people consider these things valuable.

 

[ZeroMachine]

Hey, at the very least, they're being 100% honest about it. It's not like they're claiming there are any MASSIVE improvements save for the graphics (which, IMO, are better than 3. It's a nice medium between 3 and Reach).

But there is something you forgot... it isn't the exact same game. For lovers of the lore such as myself, there are many newly hidden things, Terminals a la Halo 3, that will link the story to past lore (The Forerunner Trilogy) present lore (things happening around the time of Halo) and future lore (Halo 4). For me, that is enough incentive to buy it again, especially since the original, as much as I love it, is starting to feel aged (though, ironically, not nearly as much as Halo 2).

Not to mention 6 new multiplayer maps and one new Firefight map for Reach. That's 2 and 1/3 map packs.

Way I see it? If people want it, which they do, there is no reason not to make it. It will sell like crazy. If people enjoy it, isn't that all that matters?

EDIT: It is as I always, always, always say. There is nothing (read: NOTHING) wrong with milking a franchise if the products are of good quality. We already know that Halo: CE is of good quality, and this is an improvement of it, so therefore, there isn't anything wrong with it.

Whether Halo 4 is or is not of quality, we have yet to see any evidence. But I'm going to have faith in 343i. They seem to know what they're doing.

 

[Dogstile]

Its a remake and people will ***** because its halo. As a company of course its a cash cow. Its what they do.

However, online functionality is a good thing, i'm also going to enjoy buying this for my little brother who got in on halo 3 but never was alive when halo 1 came out.

 

[Vrex360]

As a Halo fan myself, I am unsure how to feel about Halo Anniversary. I already have the original game, why buy it again?
Then again, I look at it and see that they've added a lot of new features to it and enhanced it to a significant degree, including new co-op settings and multiplayer features. You never know, it may actually turn out to be fantastic.

Is it a quest for more money? Probably, but what in AAA gaming isn't? Sure there are people who put a lot of love into their craft, the people at Bungie who made Halo were among them, but at the end of the day... people tend to like money.
Don't delude yourself into thinking big game development corporations are in it for 'the art'.
This is no more a shameless cash grab for nostalgia value as anything Nintendo's ever done in a similar vein.

Plus, like I said, there is stuff to be had in Halo Anniversary. Maybe it'll be enough to justify reliving old experiences with an HD upgrade, maybe it'll even be enough to qualify as a totally new game in terms of content.
Who knows?

What I do know is that I'm not going to be forced to play it if I don't feel like it, that doesn't mean people aren't allowed to criticize the game for doing it but at the same time I really have to stress, it's no different to the various other times other companies have done this same thing.

It's just that this time, people object to it. And I still can't help but think that if this were any other game franchise, people would be shrugging and saying 'eh'. But because it's Halo it must be an act of violent rape against the innocent and virginal game industry with the throbbing phallus of mediocrity, that then desecrates it's fragile womb with the bastard off spring of remakes.

Seriously, Halo isn't the best thing in the world but as a trilogy and a series it's solid and people seem to have a lot of fun playing it. I can't understand why people always get so judgemental towards it like this.

 

[ZeroMachine]

\ But because it's Halo it must be an act of violent rape against the innocent and virginal game industry with the throbbing phallus of mediocrity, that then desecrates it's fragile womb with the bastard off spring of remakes.

Oh GOD, the IMAGERY.

 

[bkdlsf89990]

Is it a quest for more money? Probably, but what in AAA gaming isn't? Sure there are people who put a lot of love into their craft, the people at Bungie who made Halo were among them, but at the end of the day... people tend to like money.
Don't delude yourself into thinking big game development corporations are in it for 'the art'. This is no more a shameless cash grab for nostalgia value as anything Nintendo's ever done in a similar vein.

Well obviously. But some people put more effort into their cash grabs than others.

It's just that this time, people object to it. And I still can't help but think that if this were any other game franchise, people would be shrugging and saying 'eh'. But because it's Halo it must be an act of violent rape against the innocent and virginal game industry with the throbbing phallus of mediocrity, that then desecrates it's fragile womb with the bastard off spring of remakes.

Seriously, Halo isn't the best thing in the world but as a trilogy and a series it's solid and people seem to have a lot of fun playing it. I can't understand why people always get so judgemental towards it like this.

Sort of. Obviously you can criticize Nintendo for basically re-releasing the same three or four games for 30 years.

But I think Halo Anniversary might actually take the cake in making it possible for the game to actually be entirely identical to the old one with only a graphics upgrade, with the "option" to not even have that. Imagine New Super Mario Bros. Wii, but with the exact same everything as the original Super Mario Bros, with the option to go back to the 1985 graphics.

 

[ZeroMachine]

But I think Halo Anniversary might actually take the cake in making it possible for the game to actually be entirely identical to the old one with only a graphics upgrade. Imagine New Super Mario Bros. Wii, but with the exact same everything as the original Super Mario Bros.

Check my earlier post. It isn't 100% the same. They've added hidden Terminals that explain more of the lore of the universe and link certain things together, AND it comes with what is effectively 2 and 1/3 map packs for Halo: Reach. Not to mention online co-op for 4, something that the original lacked.

EDIT: Seem to have skipped a statement... maybe I need sleep... I was going to say "The game is exactly same to an extent, but with some extra spices added on." Then I was going to continue and say:

Hence the 40$ price tag instead of the usual 60$ one. Seriously, I'm a bit surprised you're that against it when they aren't even charging full price. They COULD have, and it'd sell almost just as well.

 

[Theron Julius]

It includes online multiplayer and online co-op, which are both fairly substantial additions and were not present in the original game on the Xbox. There is online for the PC version of Halo:CE, which I can say from firsthand experience is very fun. If I can get the same thing on the Xbox 360, plus online co-op and a graphical update, then I think it's worth $40. At least they're not charging full price for it.