At long last, Halo 3: ODST is finally out, and has thus far been winning some fairly favorable reviews. Despite this, however, there are those who feel that the game lacked the “oomph” Microsoft has put behind past titles, and that the game could simply have been marketed better. And one such person is Bethesda Production Director Ashley Cheng.
Writing in his blog, Cheng seems favorable to the game overall, but feels “Microsoft and/or Bungie totally bungled the marketing on this.” He notes the turbulent history behind its development, going from an expansion pack to a “full game,” and the name change which accompanied it– to say nothing of the price hike.
“Like Microsoft was ever going to sell this for less than full price,” he says. “It is a new Halo title, it’ll sell like hotcakes no matter what.”
He does, however, believe that the whole situation could have been averted, and given the way things have played out, otherwise favorable reviews are starting to reflect Microsoft and Bungie’s seemingly awkward strategy.
“Because of the waffling,” he says,
“reviewers are now mentioning that Halo ODST may not be worth the price point, that it should’ve been cheaper, etc… Give me a break. First off, most games – especially first person shooters – are anywhere from 5-10 hours. Tops. What makes Halo different from others? You can’t just ping Halo ODST for it.”
“I bet if Microsoft hadn’t screwed up the marketing messaging,” he concludes, “there would less talk about pricing.”
