Yes, it's coming from non-gaming news source Reuters. No, you shouldn't expect to base "reviews" off previews. However, it is an international wire service that'll influence the Halo 3 message in the "average" consumer's mind, so here we are.Reuters reports that players had mixed reviews about the beta at the NYC and San Francisco Halo events from last weekend. Poor Nicholas Puleo of EvilAvatar is thrown by Reuters into the crosshairs of Halo fanboys everywhere by saying, "The graphics can use some work ... They're not much different than the previousHalo ... They've got five, six months until release, so they'll add some polish ... When I compare it to other things in the platform, it's not standout." Wait fanboys, don't hunt him down just yet.
Despite that one quote and the headline, the Reuters piece is actually just a bunch of quotes from Microsoft marketing folks. Of course, the great "duh" quote goes to Craig Davison, Microsoft's director of marketing, "There's a significant number of people just waiting for that one game and this is the game." It'll certainly be an interesting month for NPD data the month after Halo 3 launches to see if there is a spike in Xbox 360 sales -- and how significant it'll be.
