Halo 3 viral marketing begins, countdowns and flyers galore
by Scott Jon Siegel 
{ Jun 18th 2007 at 11:52AM }
Microsoft has divulged details of their latest viral ad campaign -- called Iris -- designed to promote the über-anticipated Halo 3.According to Eurogamer, Microsoft calls Iris a "spiral campaign" (clever!), promising to reveal details about the Forerunners, as well as other elements of the heady Halo mythos.
GamesIndustry.biz reports that the campaign officially began this past weekend, with the distribution of flyers in New York City and London, bearing the apparent logo of the campaign, and the message "We are not alone." At the moment, it's unknown who's behind the campaign, although the absence of the term "Alternate Reality Game" might indicate that it's not 42 Entertainment, the viral veterans behind Halo 2's ilovebees campaign.
Either way, Halo and conspiracy fanatics can get their non-game on by checking out the Society of the Ancients website... and this nifty countdown clock! Because we haven't had enough of those already, right?
Update: Let's not forget this cryptic e-mail from Microsoft.
Read -- MS explains Halo viral ad campaign
Read -- Microsoft launches viral marketing campaign for Halo 3
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
fwacce @ Jun 18th 2007 11:58AM
I can't wait. There just isn't anything worth playing on the 360 since Gears of War, and not much before that actually. I need a new game to knock the dust off my system.
Alexander @ Jun 18th 2007 12:13PM
Overrated.
Damon @ Jun 18th 2007 12:28PM
fwacce.....
You mean no games like Crackdown, Forza 2, Lost Planet, Pac Man CE, Catan, etc? Crazy.
Dustin @ Jun 18th 2007 12:30PM
Hurry internets and solve these things, I like reading the story and detective work going into without having to use my own brain, but I am impatient SO GET TO WORK
CaptNink @ Jun 18th 2007 12:29PM
@ fwacee
Are you sure you're not confusing your 360 with a PS3?
Geo @ Jun 18th 2007 12:48PM
This game will be awesome:
1-best single campaing
2-best multiplayer game
3-best story
4-best atmosphere
5-best action game
6-best character
7-best thriller game
8-best weapons feel
9-best enemy AI
10-best game ever
etc,etc...
Jeremy @ Jun 18th 2007 12:57PM
I hope this is as good as the ilovebees one... and I hope I can get into this one a little more than past ARGs
Geist @ Jun 18th 2007 1:04PM
Okay I know you people (Geo) like your Halo, but saying this game has the best everything is just arrogant and is why a fair amount of people actually detest the game (because of arrogance about it). Frankly, for me, no FPS game has yet to beat the story of System Shock, nor the thriller feel and atmosphere. Single player in Deus Ex is the win, and the AI in FEAR was apparently pretty damn good (though I'm no expert in that opinion). I'll give you multiplayer for Halo, but there are still people playing Quake III multiplayer...so I have a feeling people would challenge you for that. Halo is a fairly well-made game, but calling it the best in everything is just...not good.
My point is, arrogance is irritating.
Trio @ Jun 18th 2007 1:47PM
Best game ever Half life 2.....
Dan @ Jun 18th 2007 1:52PM
1-best single campaing - Half life 2
2-best multiplayer game - CS:S
3-best story - Final Fantasy VII /Dreamfall
4-best atmosphere - RE4
5-best action game - God of War
6-best character - Sephiroth
7-best thriller game - Indigo Prophecy
8-best weapons feel - STALKER
9-best enemy AI - FEAR
10-best game ever - ???
You're obviously new to gaming if you think HALO was is the best in any of those categories.
Geo @ Jun 18th 2007 2:10PM
Im not new in gaming but i bet CRYSIS will take the crown out of Halo and Half Life 2........
Stewie @ Jun 18th 2007 2:10PM
Let's hope it's CONSIDERABLY better than the beta, as it was a massive let-down. The graphics in particular.
I'm starting the feel that Gears is as good as it gets...
zero @ Jun 18th 2007 2:13PM
The only reason Halo got to where it is today was because it was the only really good game for the original Xbox. Xbox owners thought it was the greatest game ever because compared to the other games it was. Also, when compared to other FPS games for Xbox at the time it was the best. However, compare Halo to many of the fine FPS games for PC, and it will quickly pale in comparison. Basically, the main reason people think Halo is "the best game ever" is because they were making incorrect comparisons. Props to Dan and Geist for excellent comments.
Dustin @ Jun 18th 2007 2:16PM
Granted, Halo and Halo 2 aren't the "Best games ever made", however the multiplayer is awesome. I have played nearly every FPS ever made, including the history channels civil war and Halo CAN and DOES hold it's own with any of them.
K360 @ Jun 18th 2007 2:18PM
@ fwacee
Are you kidding?
I can name at least a half-dozen 360 titles between Gears and H3 that I am/was looking forward to more than H3.
Check your pulse, bro.
Steve @ Jun 18th 2007 2:19PM
I was in Time Square on Saturday and there were people standing around handing out flyers about the Society of the Ancients. I would have taken one but i figured they were just nutbars
Geo @ Jun 18th 2007 2:26PM
Dont worry guys once CRYSIS comes out i will say:
1-best single campaing
2-best multiplayer game
3-best story
4-best atmosphere
5-best action game
6-best character
7-best thriller game
8-best weapons feel
9-best enemy AI
10-best game ever
"HECK THE BEST GAME GRAPHICS EVER".......
Jake @ Jun 18th 2007 2:42PM
zero,
You are wrong. I was a Dreamcast fan big time and also had a PS2 when the xbox dropped and had some history with PC. I wasn't into internet blogs and such so all I knew about the xbox was from a couple of commercials. I heard it was more powerful, and that is it. One of my neighbors in the dorms got an xbox and 4 controllers (he was spoiled with rich parents). I played a few games and was not impressed with it (don't remember which games we played).
Then he got Halo. It was awesome. The co-op was amazingly good and split screen multiplayer was a blast. People were always going to his room to play Halo. He'd even leave the door open for me and my roomate to play co-op. We skipped going out a couple of nights so we could drink, smoke, and play Halo. Goldeneye, SFII, and MarioKart are the only three other games that have ever owned mine and my friends' souls like that.
You have to understand a couple of things about Halo to understand why it is a big deal. One is that the PC crowd is different from the console crowd. The console crowd is people that grew up with local multiplayer. One system, one TV, multiple friends having fun. The PC kids are typically those that game by themselves or in a LAN party. People I know that go to LAN parties aren't that socially adept, and not really that fun to hang out with (I like having girls around and have yet to see one at a LAN).
I have a couple buddies that are big into CS:S and BFII. I've played them and it is not the same. These guys sit in their rooms and play online or they occasionally have a LAN party with like 6-8 dudes. Just them in a house with no girls. Halo is something that for me would be going on in the living room while 4-40 people were partying in the house and having a good time. More casual than PC, but more hardcore than Wii.
Honestly, I have a hard time calling any shooter that lacks local multiplayer on couches in front of a TV as the best ever. How can a game be the best when it doesn't even have the best part? That is how a lot of people feel. That is the key difference between PC and console. Next is upgrading and incompatibility problems with PC. Last is just the general crowds. PC gaming is more for loners. It isn't a black and white difference, but there are tendencies in the types of people drawn to each.
I like them all and will have a sweet rig once I get rid of my current computer. PC gaming is becoming more enticing to me now that I live with my woman and don't constantly have friends over. I game by myself mostly, so the PC makes more sense as an additional option to my Wii60 and it would give me somewhere to game if the lady is using the HDTV.
But growing up and in college, why the hell would you be sitting on a computer? Losers. ;)
(I am kind of kidding, since I spent countless hours with Scorched Earth, DOOM, and especially Tiberium Sun as a kid, but definately spent more time on the consoles, especially with my buddies. Gets cold in Minnesota during the winter)
zero @ Jun 18th 2007 2:50PM
Jake, you make some excellent points. Unlike 90% of the people who comment here, your rebuttal is actually well written and logical. However, I stand by my original claim. The people who claim that Halo is the best game ever or the best FPS game ever or ever the best CONSOLE FPS game ever, are incorrect. They are making those claims from a very small subset of all games. The subset of games they've played, or FPS games they've played, and more specifically, console FPS games they've played. They are taking the very specific and generalizing to the most extreme degree.
Dustin @ Jun 18th 2007 2:57PM
In your opinion, which people always forget. It is possible for someone to think Halo is the best game ever in the universe and for them to be right, and for you to think it sucks and be right because it is possible (stay with me, this is a hard concept) that two different people have different taste. Kinda like how some people like strawberry ice cream and some people like pistachio ice cream, would you say someone who's favorite ice cream is pistachio ice cream only thinks that way because they have not eaten lot's of different ice creams, especially when you don't know the person or their ice cream eating experience? Of course you wouldn't because that would be stupid, and surely you aren't stupid are you???
zero @ Jun 18th 2007 3:09PM
How very cunning Dustin, not only did you attempt to insult me when I was being nothing but civil, but you employed the most complex and intricate argument ever conceived; people have different opinions. That concept is a little too cerebral for me; I've never heard of it. Here is an idea I've been tossing around for a while; despite you're radical concept of the opinion, I think that it is possible to have an opinion that is wrong.
An opinion should be well thought out. This includes, a little research, some experience, and not hasty generalizations. People who claim Halo is the best game ever typically fail to do any of those. In addition to that, if a person manages to do all three and forms an opinion, it is still possible that their opinion is wrong. Ask any KKK, Neo Nazi, or Racist Skinhead what their opinions are and tell them their opinions are perfectly fine and understandable.
Dustin @ Jun 18th 2007 3:25PM
Oh yes because liking Halo does bring your mindset down to the level of a nazi and ku klux klan member. My point is when discussing something trivial like your taste in ice cream or a freaking video game or clothing or whatever it is possible to like something more than someone else, and that is NOT the same as hating black people for god sakes.
As I said before, I have played nearly every FPS created and I would put Halo very high on the list of greats, even above Half life, because I liked it.
Also I think it is STUPID to think that only people that agree with you have done "a little research, (have) some experience, and not hasty generalizations" to debate it which is what you are saying.
zero @ Jun 18th 2007 3:31PM
Now you are ignoring what I'm saying. I don't care what a person likes. All I'm saying is that claiming Halo is the best game ever is silly for all the reasons I outlined in my other posts. Of course liking ice cream isn't the same as hating black people, I wasn't trying to make that comparison. I merely mentioned those groups to highlight the fact that while people are entitled to their opinions, their opinions can be just plain wrong and ill-founded. Just like people who claim Halo is the best game ever. They play only Xbox FPS games, and make that claim. It is clearly incorrect.
Jake @ Jun 18th 2007 3:30PM
zero,
I agree with you on certain levels. I would say that Halo is in the running for best console FPS ever. Comparing it to the best PC shooters ever is a bit shortsighted as PC shooters lack some of the key components that make Halo great, and Halo lacks kb/m which is one of the key components that make PC shooters great.
The only other candidates in my opinion (for console), and believe me I've played them all, are Godeneye, Perfect Dark, Rainbow 6(Vegas especially), and Gears of War.
The only reason these are candidates in my opinion is that they managed to get me to play them for a crapload of hours without ever getting bored. The online co-op in Vegas is sick fun. Gears is great multiplayer and co-op. And both Goldeneye and Perfect Dark absorbed crazy amounts of my time in all night deathmatches.
Seriously, there was not a single console game last gen that was a shooter that is even close to as good as Halo. Rainbow Six? Black? Socom? I don't even know where I'd start. Socom would get my vote because of its free online and fun (though broken and full of lame ass glitches and hacks) online element.
PC gamers will often point at 3 or 4 PC shooters that they feel were better. Many of them have played Halo on PC or Xbox while many of the Halo fans haven't played Unreal and CS:S. PC gamers prefer their PC games and thus consider their opinion to be the ultimate.
I've honestly played Unreal, CS:S, and Half-life on PC and a decent amount of each. CS:S I just hate. I don't like how it plays out at all. Unreal was alright, though I didn't get enough practice to "get" it. Half-life 2 I thought was pretty sick and really rocked. But my PC experience doesn't change my love for Halo. It is just that sitting in my roomate's room playing CS:S never compared to sitting downstairs with a bunch of people taking shots at Halo2 or experiencing Halo co-op for the first time, or even Goldeneye split screen.
It is that social aspect of consoles that separates it from PC's. I mean, the PC is very social online, but that is different. I don't know. Like I said, the PC with games like Crysis and the fact that I am not with friends gaming in my home nearly as much is making PC look like a superior platform in ways, or at least a necessary second system to own.
Or maybe I am just scared of the PC because everyone I've ever known that was really into it is kinda weird and socially inept. Maybe I'm afraid I'll become "one of them." ;)
zero @ Jun 18th 2007 3:44PM
Thank you Jake for disagreeing with me in a non-confrontational tone. You make some good points. There is certainly a difference between PC and console gaming. You're right on with your comments about consoles being more social typically and having friends around and playing games together. If there is one thing I learned in college, it was that. Nothing else, just that. I needed all four years to learn that once concept :-P
I agree with your list of games that are in the running for best console FPS games too. Though if you want to split hairs, Gears of War isn't an FPS, but it still kicks ass, so I'll allow it! :-)
On a side not about CS:S, I play it fairly regularly and enjoy playing it, but I still hate it, so I'm right there on hating CS!
Mr Khan @ Jun 18th 2007 3:48PM
I can't wait for them to be involved in some sort of terroristic scandal
(not for spite, i just want another circus)
Dustin @ Jun 18th 2007 4:00PM
And I and Jake above me have repeatedly pointed out that we have FPS game experience outside of the Xbox, so your entire point is what exactly? I agree with Jake almost exactly in his list except I didn't really get into Gears, but to me (I'll repeat, someone who has played nearly every FPS worth playing and some that weren't on PC, xbox, ps2, N64, 360 etc. etc.)Perfect Dark for the N64, Halo, and System Shock 2 would be to me the cream of the crop, and looking at that I'd say it's between Halo and Perfect Dark.
Halo for the reason Jake perfectly stated, and perfect dark because I had never and may never play another game as much as I did that one, but tis hard to choose between them.
Bangbang... @ Jun 18th 2007 5:54PM
Zero:
Your wrong. Even by your own standards your opinion is wrong.
You said that opinions should be "well thought out. This includes, a little research, some experience, and not hasty generalizations." Which you follow by the hasty generalization "People who claim Halo is the best game ever typically fail to do any of those." It's ironic that your opinion on opinions makes your opinion wrong(say that 3 times fast lol).
Adam @ Jun 18th 2007 6:44PM
Why is there a picture of the Antikythera Mechanism in this post? Were the Joystiq editors so depserate for an image they grabbed at anything that looked "ancient" or do they know something we don't?
Scout @ Jun 18th 2007 7:18PM
@29
You obviously didn't check out the website. It's right on the front page.
"..or do they know something we don't?"
Yeah, they do. It's called checking out a website before they post about it. It's something you could learn.
corbanb @ Jun 19th 2007 11:29AM
http://www.societyoftheancients.com/sota_images/SOTA_membership.pdf
Just thought I'd share that I found this pdf link in the source code of the Membership page. Enjoy!
Mysterio @ Jun 19th 2007 11:43AM
fwacce wrote: "I can't wait. There just isn't anything worth playing on the 360 since Gears of War, and not much before that actually. I need a new game to knock the dust off my system."
CaptNink wrote: "Are you sure you're not confusing your 360 with a PS3?"
CaptNink has a good point. Plus, what about The Darkness and Overlord which comes out next week?
ben @ Jun 19th 2007 4:31PM
no,
your idiots, it was the best game ever because it had an immersive epic story coupled with fantastic graphics, and it was the funnest game to play campaign on, plus the replay on it was extremely high. Mainly it was the best game because the story is awesome and carried out extremely well. half-life to me is so hard to get into because believe a scientist is a kick ass warrior is a lil bit of a jump. also i thought the story in half life is slow and not interesting. to me its all about story. also graphics in ahlo 3 shouldnt be compared to gears of war because of the types of environments. halo environments arent supposed to look all crumbled and rainy. seriously your comparing apples to oranges there. halo is supposed to look like halo. also the scale of the maps. and levels. for real you could fit agears of war map into a halo map like twenty to thirt times. get real you idiots