: People liking the enjoyment and fun a given series provides wasn't enough to
: make Bungie produce Marathon IV or Myth III back in the day.
Nope, but it was enough for a buncha sequals - and the design and playstyle, if not the plot and story of Halo itself, was certainly built on the experience and design of Marathon, and Myth was superceded by other games of similar design by other companies.
: In any case, said people already have Halo Wars, whatever it is that Peter
: Jackson is working on and a new novel to look forward to. Do they really
: need a fourth Bungie Halo title on top of all that?
I don't know about 'need' - but do they want it? Sales say: yes. Heck, the two games I'm most excited about right now are Megaman 9 and the 3d remake of Final Fantasy 4 - for me, if it's fun, it's fun, and it's hard to get simpler than that.