The Johnsonian

Issue date: 9/19/07 Section: Arts & Entertainment

Sept. 25: A day which is known all over the Internet as the release date for one of the most anticipated and hyped media entertainment experiences of the year. Financial analysts, and even Wall Street, are expecting it to set a new historical record for first-day sales.

This is not a movie.

This is not a new TV show or high-fantasy book series. It is a video game. It is called Halo 3.

In 2001, Microsoft unveiled their new Xbox gaming console in a bid to get into the gaming market. Despite having state-of-the-art technology in their console, Microsoft was still in need of a "killer app," or a game that sells consoles because it's "just that good," in order to compete with the strict grip that Sony's Playstation 2 had on the market.

And a killer-app Microsoft had.

Developed by a relatively unknown game developer called Bungie.

Halo was a first-person shooter that actually worked well enough with a gamepad to be able to compete with a PC's mouse and keyboard.

Led by a perpetually masked main character known only as Master Chief and bySpartan 117, players immersed themselves into the game with its intuitive easy-to-learn control scheme on the Xbox controller, revolutionary weapon management system, seamless transitioning from ground to vehicular combat and compelling, though not amazingly original, storyline.

Halo became known for taking the best ideas of the genre and incorporating them into one deep yet accessible experience.

The critic reviews and post-launch hype showed it.

Within weeks Halo was responsible for the Xbox selling enough consoles to have a firm foothold in the market

The months following Halo's release found gamers, ranging from 10 to 50 years old playing the game with near-religious fervor.

If you owned an Xbox, you most likely owned Halo.

Rumors of a sequel began leaking in, and the rumors turned out to be true. Halo 2 actually existed and was being made by the same company.

Both the first and second Halo games have impressed many students.

"Amazing. Simply amazing. Halo 1 was amazing because it was the first FPS of it's type on a console and it had a really cool storyline, and co-op was just a very innovative experience at the time," said Patrick Waddell sophmore history major said. "Halo 2 had some cool upgrades and stuff, but the story lacked the luster of the first game, but it made up for it with great multiplayer."

Continued...

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