why is halo so popular (not a question)

PS: Before asking moderators to ban me, please read it fully, I'm not an hater, I like halo games, and I'm not saying anything bad about anyone or anything. Also, this is JUST my opinion, and nothing more. Oh, and please, don't care too much about the grammatical errors since I'm french (from Québec, Canada :D) and not english (I learned to talk english mainly in FF7, lol). Anyway, I hope you'll like my post, sorry if it's long.

It's a group effect, as simple as that. A group (the bigger the group, the bigger the effect) of people influence themself (endogroup) and they create differences to adopt between them and the others (exogroup). For this case, the xbox 360 users form a group, and they link their choice of console to the American concole, wich is seen as patriotic. So, whenMicrosoft make all the ads you see, it's just to make the fans (real fans of the serie) talk about the game with their friends, etc. This done, everybody will need to buy the buy the game to be like the others, and so, to be patriotic. This means that people who dislike the game are now put in the exogroup (the others) while those who like it keep their places in the group. After a while, everybody want the game, and everybody think they will love it, since thinking that way gives you a place in the group (it's not something you think of, it's something that is done "in the background"). So effectively, when the game pops, they really love it since that' what they have been putting in their heads for weeks or months. I'm not at all saying that the game isn't good, I loved halo 1, but, for sure, the reaction is exagerated a lot. I think that I should make my psychology final research on that subject, that could be a lot of fun! :D

So what do you think? Do you think there is "fake" fans (not as fan as you maybe?)? do you think that the reaction is normal? Do you think that too much people like the same thing as you (if you like halo)? Etc, etc.

Thanks for reading my stuff anyway, comment without hating me for my post please! Thanks! :D

PS: Before asking moderators to ban me, please read it fully, I'm not an hater, I like halo games, and I'm not saying anything bad about anyone or anything. Also, this is JUST my opinion, and nothing more. Oh, and please, don't care too much about the grammatical errors since I'm french (from Québec, Canada :D) and not english (I learned to talk english mainly in FF7, lol). Anyway, I hope you'll like my post, sorry if it's long.

It's a group effect, as simple as that. A group (the bigger the group, the bigger the effect) of people influence themself (endogroup) and they create differences to adopt between them and the others (exogroup). For this case, the xbox 360 users form a group, and they link their choice of console to the American concole, wich is seen as patriotic. So, whenMicrosoft make all the ads you see, it's just to make the fans (real fans of the serie) talk about the game with their friends, etc. This done, everybody will need to buy the buy the game to be like the others, and so, to be patriotic. This means that people who dislike the game are now put in the exogroup (the others) while those who like it keep their places in the group. After a while, everybody want the game, and everybody think they will love it, since thinking that way gives you a place in the group (it's not something you think of, it's something that is done "in the background"). So effectively, when the game pops, they really love it since that' what they have been putting in their heads for weeks or months. I'm not at all saying that the game isn't good, I loved halo 1, but, for sure, the reaction is exagerated a lot. I think that I should make my psychology final research on that subject, that could be a lot of fun! :D

So what do you think? Do you think there is "fake" fans (not as fan as you maybe?)? do you think that the reaction is normal? Do you think that too much people like the same thing as you (if you like halo)? Etc, etc.

Thanks for reading my stuff anyway, comment without hating me for my post please! Thanks! :D

senjutsu

Possibly, really most people who put this in the greatest games of all time list put it because....itwas the firstpolished fps (?) there are plenty of 'polished' fps' but why does this get the most attention? Isn't Saint's Row a 'polished ' sandbox game, I saw no significant glitches, it had pretty graphics (at the time), controls were pretty good, physics were good, etc. yet it didn't achieve the same amount of praise. Why? Because it was a rip off (San Andreas) and Halo, though not a rip off of anything really, is just another game in the fps genre. So they question still remains, why is it so popular and praised? well you mentioned a lot of reasons in your post and though we can never know for sure if 90% of Halo fans are 'fake' (meaning that that they would never touch the game if it wasn't hyped and praised) but supposing a large amount are chances are that since a lot of people were into consoles and not pcs they would most likely playan fpson a console. Plus this was only around a year after the ps2 was launched so people weren't yet decided on whether to get it or not and so they waited, around 2001 the Xbox was near being launched with halo. Coupled with the fact that it was advertised by Microsoft who are VERY good at that, and for some reason it was rated highly and called one of the greats, and since Halo looked very appealing to a lot of people it sold. And the people who bought it told others, and more commercials were made, and more people bought it, and more people told others ( a little cycle goes on) and thus Halo became popular and more hype went to Halo 2 and then Halo 3.Now keep in mind that this is just a little theory but if it is true then the question is....why did reviewers HIGHLY praise Halo, yet don't do the same for Saint's Row which was a 'polished' game for sandbox games, like Halo was to FPS'?

(By the way I don't really like Saint's Row because along with Halo they it didn't really hold my interest too long)

I'll tell you why.

Halo is fun.

I know, it's hard to remember why we actually play games anymore. In between all the graphics and system debates and business aspects and gameplay quirks and storylines and such, it's hard to remember that we play games because it entertains us. It is fun to play games.

Halo is pure, unadulterated fun. It's the Die Hard of first-person shooters. Yes, there's a complicated, detailed plot, but you don't have to care about it. It can boil down to simply "you're good, they're bad, go shoot them". But unlike other shooters, it doesn't do that in a boring way. It does it in a way that makes you feel like a big damn hero. When Master Chief assaults a Covenant battleship singlehandedly and makes his way through thousands of hordes of troops until he reaches the leader, for example, that's not Master Chief doing it, that's me doing it. That's me, Ioden, kicking Covenant ass and saving mankind. I feel like the hero, I feel like I'm a part of something epic, and yet they don't try and cover up this awesome feeling with some kind of crazy plot that nobody can understand. So all that's left is fun. All that's left is awesome.

I went back and replayed Halo 1 last weekend, and I hated the graphics, I hated the repetitive nature of the architecture, and I hated the Flood (as always). But I will be goddamned if that game, albeit six years after it was released, is still not epic. When I assaulted that control room, when I fought those flood in the library, when I drove that warthog through covenant dropship waves and steamrolled their sorry blue-and-purple asses, it was epic. And it was fun. And that's all that matters.

Not that I'm saying anything bad about you. I think you have a good argument. But it's not a cult, it's not a plague, it's not some kind of gradual sociopolitical evolution. It's millions of people who all think a simple, fun, awesome, badass, epic game is something that they enjoy. And from my experience with the first two Halo games, I'll be damned if I don't agree with them.

I think Halo is very popular for many reason. One being that it appeals to a wider range of gamers then your average FPS. Kinda like wow and other MMO's. Add to that open appeal a great multi-player thats fun for months on end, and a fairly decent single player campaign, and you've got a winner. For the most part Bungie have been very smart with Halo.

Halo doesn't have the best story of any game out there, nor the best graphics, possibly the best multi-player but thats a matter of taste. But what Halo does so well is that it blends all these aspects together.

Wow, thank you for all of your comments, it's really cool to have the two sides of the medal! thanks. I suppose that the opinions are split in two major opinions: The quality of the game -vs- The promoting of the game.

Your opinions are really useful to me, thanks again guys! :D

It is in to hate on things that are so revered.

Halo deserves all the praise and attention that it has gotten. Some people just cannot understand why it is so damn popular, cannot admit the game deserves it due, and try to belittle it. There is truth that in the entire spectrum of FPSes it may not be at the top, but it's pretty damn close.

Like the guy stated a few posts above: it's FUN. It's also very well made, balanced, intense, has great music and sound effects, some of the most epic battles in gaming history, differing weapons that are more effective depending on the situation, incredible AI......all presented in a simplistic but extremely functional interface. I also have not seen a game so polished, ever, and I still think the original looks better than it's sequels.

Halo is an incredible game. Not without it's flaws, sure, but for what it does it does very, very well. It's one of the few games I can come back to on a consistent basis and is a blast everytime.

Halo was not able to be played online on it's release (LIVE was not up at the time), only through system link was this available. Halo's social aspect was small to begin with, and that plus the quality rocketed it into the stratosphere.

Halo is basically so popular because it's immense fun, it's good on all aspects (from music to gameplay to story), it's polished and it's easy to learn (and hard to master). It's all you need from a game. It's as simple as that.

On a side note, it also has a really easy to remember name and all, and a very neutral protagonist.

Edit: I forgot to mention the social aspect, because it's probably bigger in halo games than any other series. There was already coop and system link in the first game, and the lan parties were a hit, and the fanbase actually showed that by creating an online network themselves for the xbox. (xbox connect)

In halo 2 the online setup was very well done, and allowed you to stay with your friends and talk to them throughout the cycle of getting into a game, playing it and ending it. Usually when you play halo 2 online with friends you get as much fun out of talking as you do out of playing the game.

In halo 3 you'll also have online coop and the online setup will probably be improved. Let's just hope that other console fps also be as good of a social game as the halo series in the future, because nowadays the sure aren't. (mainly talking about games like rainbow six vegas, gears of war etc.)