Pump the space breaks
Microsoft must be pretty happy that for the second year in a row it has more big exclusives in its holiday lineup (what withUncharted 4delayed and the paid timed exclusivity forRise of the Tomb Raider) than nearest competitor Sony. The Xbox One shrugged off sluggish sales with a decent holiday 2014 and could do the same again, especially with the just-released, T-for-Teen ratedHalo 5.
But come on.
Speaking to GameSpot, global marketing boss Aaron Greenberg talks upHalo 5as, “the most anticipated game of the year,” because apparentlyMetal Gear Solid Vdidn’t come out this year andFallout 4is being pushed to 2016. Ok. But “man working at company says company’s biggest game is good” is par for the course. Sure, a little hyperbole, but–
“What’s really so special aboutHalo, and people will feel it the moment they start playing the campaign, is just the richness of the universe and the story and it’s very much like whatStar Warsis to movies,Halois to games. You have that special sauce–it’s unlike anything else.”
Star Warshas raked in$37billionprior to the Disney revival, is one of the biggest pop culture touchstones worldwide, and likely influencedHaloa lot, but they are not in the same league. Mind,Halois huge. LikeMetal Gear Solid V,Halo 4made more money thanHarry PotterandThe Avengers($220 million) its first day of sale (mind, movies are usually judged by opening weekend, not opening night; also, games are pricier, so more money doesn’t mean more people). The series as whole as made over $4.38 billion since the first and also has a huge expanded universe filled with novels read by dweebs.
But are you seeing thisStar Warshype? You ain’t that. Especially when your last game can’t even put a decent story together.
Greenberg also thinksRise of the Tomb Raidersales can go up againstFallout 4on November 10 — “it’s two big, big titles launching at the same time and we hope people will buy both” — or at least that it’ll fare better than trying to go up againstBlack Ops IIIandStar Wars Battlefront, which launch on either side of it. Recall, Square Enix deemed the lastTomb Raidera sales failure, despite it launching on three platforms.
Xbox One Interview: “You’ve Never Seen a Holiday Lineup Like This Before”[GameSpot]
