"More Than Three Teams" Working On Halo Games 72
1Up reports on comments by Phil Spencer, head of Microsoft Game Studios, which indicated that several different teams are working on Halo projects at the moment. Quoting:
"When GamesIndustry.biz then pointed out that it puts the Age of Empires franchise in a similar position as Halo after Bungie departed from their partnership with Microsoft, that's when Spencer dropped this intriguing tidbit: 'Well, there's more than one team building Halo games right now. There are more than two or three teams building Halo things right now. Some of them we will own, some of them we won't. It's never been, for me, about who you own or don't own — it's about working with the best creative talent in the industry,' he said."
Halo fan here (Score:2, Interesting)
Hi Microsoft, I'm a dedicated Halo fan. Halo:CE is really the game that made me a gamer - I played it, and I was hooked. I absolutely love that game, and I really enjoyed Halo 2 and Halo 3. I think they're fantastic games; you may disagree, and I say, to each his own. Now, onto the next matter of business:
The milk is drying up. The horse is dead. Please, stop pissing on what was once a respectable gaming series. I don't give a damn if you think it will make you oodles of money - you keep bending the franchise over like you are, and it will lose it's touch. People will stop buying it. The fans will cease to be, and you will have a shell of a franchise.
Halo was pretty damn good, but don't go make the Master Chief the next Sonic. For FSM's sake, GO INNOVATE. That goes for the entire damn industry! I can't believe the day has actually come when EA is being more innovative (Mirror's Edge, Spore) than the rest of the industry.
I'm not saying retire the entire Halo series (I'd be infinitely happier if you would, but I'm not an idiot). I'm saying that if you don't stop abusing the legacy of the franchise that launched your console, that both you and the fans will regret it.
Halo was special. It was a revolutionary console game (that's an argument for another time, however). Please, do not make fools of yourselves, and moreover, fools of the fans. Take a page out of any book that isn't George Lucas' and leave the franchise intact. Stop pimping it out. Leave it be, or at least in the fewest, most capable hands you can, AND GO MAKE SOMETHING NEW.
For a while now, I've hoped that I wouldn't ever see another Halo game. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case. I fear that my favorite series is doomed to mediocrity.
Re:Not the same spark (Score:3, Interesting)
(I consider that to be a feature, not a bug.)
I agree. I always thought it was a bit unrealistic (yes, I know I'm talking about a game here) that your health could ever be measured as a percentage. If you're arm is blown of does that mean you're at 84%? No, I'm pretty sure that means you're at around 2-3%.
For me it was always more exciting to not know how much health you may have in reserve. That and in some games I feel that the need to find a med kit sometimes hampers gameplay.