In Response To: Nothing to talk about? (Narcogen)
I agree wholeheartedly. I do understand why Bungie wouldn't discuss ANY of the details, features, and storylines in the game (the inevitable stuff that angered people in Halo 2 when they weren't included in the final game). But I don't exactly understand the reasoning behind just not confirming it at all. I think if Bungie just gave us the yes or no answer, are they working on Halo 3, it would end much of the confusion and debate among the Halo fandom.
: I think that's assumed. The question for months now has been why there isn't
: anything Bungie wants to talk about. Especially when Frankie is writing
: that things are going so well and there are so many cool things and that
: he wants to talk about them but he can't.
: That creates the impression that not only does Microsoft want to talk about
: some new project that may or may not be "Halo 3" but can't (or
: rather does, but then recants) because Bungie hasn't announced it, but
: that individual employees also want to talk about this new project, while
: others say that there isn't anything they want to talk about.
: There either is, or is not, a pink elephant in the room. I think many of us
: would just like it acknowledged whether or not it's really there, even if
: we don't get any details whatsoever on what kind of pink elephant it is or
: when it is going to be released in stores. If it's there, we can reassure
: ourselves that we're not seeing things. If it's not, we can all go back to
: our twelve-step programs and try to put our lives back together.
: Forgive a poor fan for feeling confused. Even for those who have followed
: Bungie since before Halo, this is a rather novel situation.
: After Myth 2 shipped there was a gap before Halo was officially announced.
: Given that the Halo engine originally was intended as a replacement for
: the Myth engine, there was an understandable period of doubt about whether
: Bungie was continuing that series or doing something entirely new.
: However, the conclusion of Myth 2 arrived at a more or less satisfactory
: logical and dramatic conclusion, unlike Halo 2. In addition, the hardware
: platforms that Myth 2 ran on, Windows and MacOS, were not financially
: depending on another installment of that series to provide the bulk of
: their sales, unlike the Xbox and Xbox 360.
: It's beyond just not wanting to talk about anything, but a question of
: whether or not Bungie will confirm or deny multiple statements made by
: other well-placed people in Microsoft's management structure to the effect
: that Bungie is working on a game that for practical purposes may be
: referred to as "Halo 3".
: Bungie's insistence that those statements were to be disregarded as only
: Bungie will announce what Bungie is working on can, is, and will be
: interpreted differently depending on what the final announcement actually
: is.
: If Bungie eventually does announce that it is, and has been, working on a
: game that for all practical purposes may be referred to as "Halo
: 3" then there will certainly be those who will come to the conclusion
: that Bungie is not, in fact, a completely autonomous unit within Microsoft
: free to do whatever it wishes (within reason) but is at the disposal of
: the corporation which owns it and is bound to follow its instructions.
: This is a fairly logical conclusion to make. I imagine most people, given the
: financial success of Halo 1 and Halo 2, would choose to develop a third
: installment of the series were they in Microsoft's position.
: One may conclude that Bungie wished to maintain the appearance of autonomy,
: and perhaps even express its displeasure with Microsoft's premature
: statements, by forcing those people to eat their words and then entering a
: long period of enforced silence.
: Given that such a game as "Halo 3" would be highly anticipated, if
: Bungie should choose not to develop it at this time, it seems logical to
: assume that such an announcement would be made earlier rather than later
: to stem the tide of those who were expecting that the next project would
: be Halo 3 , irrespective of Microsoft's own announcements. Many gamers I
: think came to the conclusion that Bungie did intend to develop a third
: game based solely on the way in which the second ended, which was far more
: open-ended than the first. The latter merely left the door open for
: sequels, where the former practically demands it.
: One may posit a situation in which Bungie makes absolutely no announcements
: until the current project is actually finished and shipping to stores.
: Gamers arrive on site to purchase the new Bungie game and find, to their
: surprise and possible chagrin, that it is not Halo 3. Violence ensues.
: Bungie staffers did make statements to the effect that Bungie would be
: pursuing other non-Halo projects after shipping Halo 2. These statements
: were later replaced with the now-standard mantra that nothing has been
: announced. I don't think it's going out on much of a limb to say that this
: represents either a change in direction (that is, Bungie was going to work
: on other projects, but is now instead working on Halo 3) or a desire to
: create the impression that this change has taken place.
: I recognize that Bungie has no responsibility to gamers to make "Halo
: 3" or any other game-- or indeed to fulfill any whim of the market.
: We paid our money for the games we already have-- either we like them or
: we don't and that's it.
: It is also more than likely that any rancor generated by this silence will
: evaporate the instant any announcement is made that Halo 3 is in
: development. Should an announcement be made that it is not, I think people
: will wonder why that announcement took so long to make, and then I suppose
: the conspiracy theorists will really start having a field day.
: The whole thing from the release of Halo 2 up until now reminds me of a
: dialogue exchange in one of my favorite movies, "Blazing
: Saddles", between the know-nothing, philandering Governor, played by
: Mel Brooks, and Hedley Lamarr, played by Harvey Korman.
: It goes something like this: Hedley Lamarr: Meeting adjourned! Oh, I am sorry
: sir, I didn't mean to overstep my bounds; you say that.
: Governor Lepetomane: Say what?
: Hedley Lamarr: Meeting is adjourned.
: Governor Lepetomane: It is?
: Hedley Lamarr: No, you say that, governor!
: Governor Lepetomane: What?
: Hedley Lamarr: Meeting is adjourned!
: Governor Lepetomane: It is?
: Hedley Lamarr: Here sir, play with this! [Hands the governor a rubber ball
: and paddle set.]
: The phrase "Halo 3 is in development" as uttered by Bill Gates and
: others fits nicely into Lamarr's dialogue in place of "meeting is
: adjourned".
: It is?
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