Halo 3 will boost BlackSite sales, dev prays

by James Ransom-Wiley { Jun 12th 2007 at 8:26PM }

According to BlackSite designer Ricardo Bare, there are two "schools of thought" among developers who must release their games alongside Halo. The first, and most obvious, is the understanding that your game is doomed, and therefore you should curse your publisher for scheduling an imbecilic release date and quickly settle into the realization that you won't be receiving a bonus for all those sleepless hours spent smoothing out the buggy corridor in that damned missile silo near the end of level four. But then, there are those, like Midway (who has no publisher to blame), who believe that blockbusters like Halo 3 help to spur sales of like-genred alien shooters. (Note our reaction to this theory in the image above.)

"Whenever you go and see a really bad ass action movie like X-Men, it just makes you want to go and see Spider-Man 3, right? You usually want more of the same," Bare told CVG, adding, "when something really huge comes out, it helps the other two or three really good games that also come out, because you want more FPS action." But Bare was also quick to draw a distinction between Halo 3 and his team's Area 51 follow-up, which adds squad-based tactics and political commentary to the alien extermination plot. So whether you want "more of the same" or something a bit different, BlackSite has you covered? Have we got the slogan right? Midway had best launch a stronger marketing campaign than that (and start reaching out to the PC and PS3 crowds) and, even more importantly, beat Halo 3 to store shelves. In other words, stop cannibalizing resources for another demo (this time with multiplayer) and don't waste any more time pondering the BlackSite sequel -- Halo 3 is here September 25th. Guys, maybe it's time to consider a 'strategic' delay?

Tags: 360, area 51, Area51, blacksite, demo, fps, midway, multiplayer, ps3, xbox 360, Xbox360

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Moe @ Jun 12th 2007 8:33PM

I love the tin tin comics. captain haddock is my favorite character. uhhh and yes the article is good too.

AoE @ Jun 12th 2007 8:36PM

Someone should explain to Mr. Bare in little words that when we're done with Halo 3, and we want more FPS action, we'll all be playing Halo 3 multiplayer... not Blacksite.

jman @ Jun 12th 2007 9:04PM

That guy is dumb...that therory only really works with movies...

Frexy Q. @ Jun 12th 2007 9:08PM

Tintin makes me proud to be a Belgian ^^;
And there's coming a movie too! I guess that just leaves the games not far behind either..

The Smurfs on the other hand... don't make me that proud... =D

hvnlysoldr @ Jun 12th 2007 9:23PM

If the Tin Tin movie has a licensed game, will Spielberg work on that game? Would that have been one of his untold projects? Also I love Tin Tin and saw the whole cartoon. Not so much of the comics since I don't have access to a huge library. It was always funny that Captain Haddock is the president of the sober sailors society.

oncnawan @ Jun 12th 2007 9:24PM

I thought these guys learned their lesson when they tried the same trick with Unreal Championship 2, which released in the same time frame as Halo 2. It was a great shooter that never got the aclaim and sales that it deserved, thanks to myopic marketing by Midway.

NeverSage @ Jun 12th 2007 9:25PM

Yeah, a movie isn't $60+. It also doesn't take 20+ hours to finish. Apples and oranges.

Otis Whitaker @ Jun 12th 2007 9:25PM

Actually, the theory doesn't even work with movies.
The kind he mentions aren't even the kind that are released in the same time frame.
If, for example, X-Men was lined up with Spider-Man, X-Men's ticket sales would massively suffer.

serotoninzero @ Jun 12th 2007 9:34PM

Man, that was one of the worst demos I've played in a while.

I would've probably had interest in it had I not tried the demo.

John @ Jun 12th 2007 9:40PM

I guess he has a point, for people with money. But when all these come out, some people are going to have to decide between one or the other. They can afford two games, say. They'll pick the most-hyped shooter, and then they may want to parry that with something else, a good driving game or an RPG.

What really happens is that people play Halo or whatever and love it, and then want more, something new. But that usually happens 2-3 months (in general) for the public.

So what they should do is release 1.5-2.5 months after Halo.

And these money-spending people are going to be looking at reviews and such, so the reviews better say your game is up to snuff.

Of course, if their game wasn't, it would be better to release it alongside, as there will be less information about what your game is actually like.

Ah, such anthropology!

SRichie @ Jun 12th 2007 9:47PM

Game looks great, one way or the other.

And, actually, it seems reasonable to me. He's saying that Halo 3 will create more X360 owners and will stimulate interest in pov shooters. Both true.

(01) @ Jun 12th 2007 9:47PM

Hell, I haven't even play Halo 1, but mad props for the Tintin reference....I now have a intense need to read all the comics again

zwarrior @ Jun 12th 2007 9:58PM

The guy makes a strong point, look at all the succesful GTA rip-offs for example

Stefin Hehman @ Jun 12th 2007 10:23PM

But none of those GTA ripoffs would sell if they launched alongside GTA. No one would have bought The Getaway, or Saints Row, or Crackdown if they had released alongside any of the GTA games. Just like no other Xbox shooters are going to sell when Halo 3 comes out.

Jake @ Jun 12th 2007 11:01PM

People aren't even done playing Halo 2. I think if Halo 3 gets boring people will be more likely to go to Unreal, Haze, or about 3 others before Blacksite. Valiant effort though.

AssemblyLineHuman @ Jun 13th 2007 12:00AM

"Whenever you go and see a really bad ass action movie like X-Men, it just makes you want to go and see Spider-Man 3, right? You usually want more of the same."

No, I have a strict rule of one action movie per month and one sci-fi shooter per year. Sorry Ricardo.

chenry @ Jun 13th 2007 7:19AM

I won't be playing BlackSite or Halo 3 so neener neener neener.

I BlankZ I @ Jun 13th 2007 7:46AM

@17

I smell sony fan boy...>.>

deaftly @ Jun 13th 2007 8:06AM

hell , even rockstar is worried halo3 will fuck up gta4 sales, that should tell you something

Quakeulf @ Jun 13th 2007 8:10AM

Halo 3 is some seriously overhyped shit, and proof that people are dumb enough to buy anything as long as it's pushed in their face for long enough.

Grow up plox.

As for the Tintin-reference, sup /b/.

Grey Acumen @ Jun 13th 2007 9:14AM

It really amazes me how people use the same strategy to decide how to make or sell a good movie, as it is to make a good game. When it comes down to it, the key difference is INTERACTIVITY.

Maybe this is also why there are so few good game to movie and movie to game conversions.

of course, I don't believe this logic even works worth crap to begin with. If I've seen one badass action flick, I say to myself "Well, I just watched a baddass action flick, so I've met my quota, what else is there?"

I sorta think sales will balance out depending on if Halo 3 isn't able to meet demand. If it can't, then some of the people going out to buy Halo, but finding it gone, MIGHT just decide to buy a different but similarly veined game.

Cuddlefish @ Jun 13th 2007 2:34PM

Well it might be smart to have the PS3 version on shelves when Halo 3 launches because all those PS3 only owners with Sci-fi shooter envy will probably snatch it up. You can't play Resistance forever.

Eclipse @ Jun 13th 2007 2:32PM

Halo 2 might be 3 if you speed run it, but factor in multiplaer and I think 20+ is too lite. Heck, I've probably played over 20 hours of the Halo 3 multiplayer Beta, and that was only 3 maps with few gameplay modes. If 3 maps of that game give me 20 hours of love, I'm almost scared of the whole thing.

Roflgoat @ Jun 13th 2007 5:26PM

The movie thing makes sense, but games can be REALLY long and after a couple of weeks/months of Halo 3 and all that multiplayer time I wouldn't want another game, especially since it probably wouldn't be anywhere near as good as Halo 3.