glyphstrip FAQ button
Halo.bungie.org
glyphstrip
Frequently Asked Forum Questions
 Search the HBO News Archives

Any All Exact 
Search the Halo Updates DBs

Halo Halo2 
Search Older Posts on This Forum:
Posts on Current Forum | Archived Posts


Re: The hype didn't hurt Halo 2. The secrecy did.
Posted By: Clefton Twain <clefton@mchsi.com>Date: 12/10/04 11:07 a.m.

In Response To: The hype didn't hurt Halo 2. The secrecy did. *SP* (Sep7imus [subnova])

Good thoughts. I'm still struggling with my own reasons but I think you're on to something.

: it like crazy. Now, the FORM of the advertising - "Earth will never
: be the same." - THAT strikes me as a bit misleading, since, as many
: people have said, it suggests that there's gonna be a lot of stuff
: involving, well, Earth in the game.

This instantly reminds me of movie previews. Movie previews are either completely giving away everything about each movie or they're saying so little that you are completely turned around when you finally walk out of the flick. This definitely was misleading with Halo 2.

: So, why DIDN'T the advertising focus on something else (Another Halo! Play as
: an Elite! The Covenant Home City!)? Obviously,
: Bungie/MS/the-PR-people-at-one-or-both were trying to avoid giving away
: too much. They wanted stuff to remain secret, to keep people surprised by
: the game. It seems to me that the philosophy was "don't give away
: anything beyond the first couple of levels." That resulted in the
: focus on Earth and the secrecy about the Arbiter et al. So, was that a
: good idea?

I think they could have hinted at things without giving them away. I'm not a marketing executive so I'm not really sure *exactly* how to do this, but they could have definitely focused more on the Delta Halo levels and even shown a couple of quick shots looking out over High Charity. That would have piqued my interest quickly. What is this alien city? Forerunner? Covenant? Why am I there?

: For instance, I was recently asked by someone how we would have reacted if we
: had been told a year ago that we would be playing as an Elite. I think
: that we would have been excited by the prospect. We would have been
: praising Bungie for being brave enough to show the other side of the
: conflict and for making such a complex game. We would have been looking
: forward to it. Instead, it was supposed to be a surprise. Why? It's not a
: plot twist, really. It's more of a feature. It might have been surprising
: for some when they played the game, but not as an unexpected twist in the
: story. Mostly I think people found it surprising in a jarring way, an
: unexpected twist in how the story is told. Imagine, on the other hand, how
: you would have felt if you had known that eventually you would get to play
: as an Elite. You would have been looking forward to it. You would have
: been so excited when you were dropped onto that research facility on the
: gas giant to go into battle alongside Elites and Grunts.

There probably could have mentioned something like "take part in TWO storylines" and, yeah, speculation would have been rampant but that would have left it open--play as two different SPARTANS? An Elite? An as yet unmentioned character?

--CT

Message Index



Replies:

The hype didn't hurt Halo 2. The secrecy did. *SP*Sep7imus [subnova] 12/10/04 8:06 a.m.
     Re: The hype didn't hurt Halo 2. The secrecy did. Vorpal Sword 12/10/04 8:36 a.m.
     Hmm...Ducain 12/10/04 8:54 a.m.
           Agreed *NM*Andrew Nagy 12/10/04 9:42 a.m.
     Re: The hype didn't hurt Halo 2. The secrecy did. Warbow 12/10/04 9:00 a.m.
     Re: The hype didn't hurt Halo 2. The secrecy did.Captain Spark 12/10/04 9:08 a.m.
     I agree *long*Epyon 12/10/04 9:11 a.m.
           Re: I agree *long*Zaknafein 12/10/04 11:57 a.m.
                 Re: I agree *long*Sep7imus [subnova] 12/10/04 12:22 p.m.
           Re: I agree *long*Hikaru-119 12/10/04 12:16 p.m.
                 Re: I agree *long*Epyon 12/10/04 2:49 p.m.
     Re: The hype didn't hurt Halo 2. The secrecy did.Ma1agate 12/10/04 9:27 a.m.
     Secrecy=good, Hype=badScanner Darkly 12/10/04 9:32 a.m.
     Re: The hype didn't hurt Halo 2. The secrecy did. Ross Mills [subnova] 12/10/04 9:37 a.m.
     Re: The hype didn't hurt Halo 2. The secrecy did.madcowjim 12/10/04 9:50 a.m.
           Re: The hype didn't hurt Halo 2. The secrecy did.Lakhesis 12/10/04 1:40 p.m.
                 Re: The hype didn't hurt Halo 2. The secrecy did.Sep7imus [subnova] 12/10/04 1:54 p.m.
                       Re: The hype didn't hurt Halo 2. The secrecy did.Lakhesis 12/10/04 3:35 p.m.
     Re: The hype didn't hurt Halo 2. The secrecy did.Clefton Twain 12/10/04 11:07 a.m.
     Re: The hype didn't hurt Halo 2. The secrecy did. Eric 12/10/04 3:51 p.m.



contact us

The HBO Forum Archive is maintained with WebBBS 4.33.