This thread was originally a theory thread I started on bungie.net, the Halo fan forums, when news that Black Ops 2 may be cancelled. Why you may ask,
well, we all know that Microsoft is essentially a monopoly, and is apart of the military-industrial complex. Well, ask yourself this...when promoting
military program propaganda, is it easier to distribute this through many facets, or just one? The following prods at and explores the possibility
that Microsoft, in cooperation with all other major video-game corporations, is working towards methodically destroying any competition to the
up-and-coming Halo 4.
Part I: The Next Big Thing
Microsoft announced on June 19, 2000 that it had acquired Bungie Studios. Halo became an exclusive game for Microsoft's Xbox video game console, and
Bungie Studios rewrote the game's engine, heavily altering its presentation and turning it into a first-person shooter. Originally a key element, the
game's online multiplayer component was dropped because Xbox Live would be unfinished at the time of Halo's release. While a playable demonstration of
the game at Gamestock 2001 was well-received, critics had mixed reactions to its exhibition at E3 2001. The game was released in North America
simultaneously with the Xbox, on November 15, 2001; the "Combat Evolved" subtitle was an addition by marketers at Microsoft, who felt that Halo alone
was not a descriptive enough title to compete with other military-themed games.
On its release Halo broke sales records; by April 8, 2002, one million units had been sold: this pace was faster than that of any previous
sixth-generation console game. During the two months following Halo's release, the game sold alongside more than fifty percent of Xbox consoles.
Halo's retail price remained at US$49.99 until November 30, 2003. By July 14, 2003, the game had sold three million copies worldwide,[86] and by
January 28, 2004, it had reached four million copies. As of November 9, 2005, Halo has sold over five million copies worldwide.
The release of Halo 2 was preceded with numerous promotions, product tie-ins, and movie trailer-like commercials. In addition to more traditional
forms of promotion, Halo 2 was also part of an elaborate Alternate Reality Game project titled "I Love Bees" which cost an estimated one million
dollars. This 'game' centered around a hacked website, supposedly a site about beekeeping, where an AI from the future was residing. The project
garnered significant attention from sites including Slashdot and Wired News;
Wired noted that the game was drawing attention away from the 2004
Presidential Election. The game won an award for creativity at the 5th annual Game Developers Choice Awards and was nominated for a Webby award.
On the morning of October 14, 2004, a leak of the French version of the game was posted on the Internet, and circulated widely.
Halo 2 was sold in both a standard and "Limited Collector's Edition".
The first official release of Halo 2 was in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United States on November 9, 2004. Anticipation for the game was
high; three weeks before this release, a record 1.5 million copies had already been pre-ordered. Massive lines formed at midnight releases of the
game; the event garnered significant media attention. This was followed by releases on November 10, 2004 in France and other European countries, and
November 11 in the UK. The game sold 2.4 million copies and earned up to US$125 million in its first 24 hours on store shelves, thus out-grossing the
film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest as the highest grossing release in entertainment history. The game sold 260,000 units in the United
Kingdom in its first week, making it the third fastest-selling title in that territory. On June 20, 2006, Xbox.com reported that more than a
half-billion games of Halo 2 have been played on Xbox Live since its debut. Halo 2 is the best-selling first-generation Xbox game with 8.46 million
copies sold by November 2008. As of September 25, 2007, Halo 2 was the fifth best-selling video game in the United States with 6.3 million copies
sold, according to the NPD Group. From the day of its initial release and up until mid-November 2006, Halo 2 was the most popular video game on Xbox
Live, even after the release of the Xbox 360; its position was eventually surpassed in 2006 by the 360-exclusive Gears of War. Halo and Halo 2 are
still some of the most played games for the Xbox console.
Halo 2 remained the fastest-selling media product in history until the release of its sequel, Halo 3, on September 25, 2007, when Halo 3 took the
title. Halo 3 in turn remained at the top until it was defeated by Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. With the CoD series reigning supreme, the
corporate-owned media needed a way to further engrave the message of world government and military fascism. They felt CoD wasn't doing the job,
obviously. There is no 'world government' in CoD, however in Halo you have the Unified Earth Government, top secret-super-soldier programs aimed at
creating the perfect superhuman (See 'Transhumanism'), where the elite believe they can become 'superior' to common man. Hell, the main character
falls in line with the major tenets of the global elite doctrine - superior genetics, daily genocide (Master Chief has killed over 1,000 Covenant),
and commonly refers to humans as 'inferior' to "SPARTANS" as they are called (read: Halo: Fall of Reach). So, obviously, Microsoft, in all its
eugenics frenzy, felt that Halo had too much competition to be implemented to its fullest extent of a propaganda machine. Enter Halo 4...
Part II: The Hypothesis
Is it me, or does it seem like all these giant corporations are selling out to Microsoft? Think about it, first Bungie split ties and left them their
Halo creation. Then EA drives the Mass Effect series to the ground with the imposed deadline on BioWare, forcing them into a rushed and suckish
ending. Black Ops II was announced as a futuristic setting disappointing a lot of CoD fans, now
this.
It seems almost like they're wiping the slate clean of any competition for Halo, so it can prolong Microsoft's continued monopolistic domination of
the corporate videogame oligarchy. I think Halo 4 is going to outperform CODBO2 and everything else, call it intuition or a creeping feeling but it
seems like Halo 4 and its sequels are just going to totally dominate the video game industry for the next 10 years.
Quite frankly, I would rather have Halo dominating than Call of Duty. That may be going for the lesser of two evils, but given the choice between Halo
and Call of Duty, there is no choice. However, if Halo gets to a point where it seriously affects the creation and success a new game series of due to
its own "domination," it would become a problem. So that's essentially how I feel about this news. As of this moment it is fairly good news for us
that it is Halo (not to thrilled about the Microsoft oligarchs' eugnicists continued domination however) and I guess this will either be good, or bad,
news for you depending on how you take it. I personally say at this point it could go either way.
(Part III and Part IV on the way)
edit on 18-5-2012 by Davian because: (no reason given)