Are poor box office sales Halo 3's fault?
by Scott Jon Siegel 
{ Oct 16th 2007 at 8:55AM }
Advertising Age reports that ticket sales were down 27% from last year, and that the likely suspect is the recently-released Halo 3, with over $300 million in sales and countless hours of multiplayer mayhem keeping potential movie-goers strapped to their couches. Now, in a wholly different way, video games are on the radar of the film industry, as studios begin to sweat the unforeseen competition. Oh, for the days when piracy was the only concern!
[Via CVG]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
terry @ Oct 16th 2007 8:58AM
more like team fortress 2, halo 3 is so so mediocre in comparison.
The True Gamer @ Oct 16th 2007 9:32AM
I really doubt there's 2 million poeple playing TF2.
WiseGuy @ Oct 16th 2007 10:17AM
Mediocre?? Umm with loads of options, customizations... video playback... the forge.. What the hell does Team Fortress have over this game? I'm sorry you suck at Halo 3.. but it's far from mediocre.
Cyro @ Oct 16th 2007 10:43AM
You my friend suck ass! Go play TF2 with the rest of your imaginary 2 million players on it.
Neebs @ Oct 16th 2007 4:16PM
Halo 3 is not mediocre, but to Halo 3 is a deeper MP game would be to be lying to yourself.
Halo is kind of like, starting weapon, walking around and finding a better gun.
Team Fortress is like picking a class, and fulfilling the role.
UltimateQ @ Oct 16th 2007 5:43PM
Yes WiseGuy... Mediocre. Those things have been in PC games for 10 years. Halo 3 finally caught up to 10 year old PC games. Congratulations Halo 3 on being mediocre.
Halo 3 is for people who don't have the attention span to use a computer properly and install a real FPS. FPS on consoles are dumbed down versions of what are on the PC.
Return to Castle Wolfenstein which is 9-10 years old now is better than halo 3 by leaps and bounds. Just don't play it on a console, because consoles ruin games that were originally designed for PCs.
UltimateQ @ Oct 16th 2007 5:49PM
Wait wait... I'm not done. Halo 3 is Quake 3 Arena with a few vehicles and better graphics. But that doesn't mean Halo 3 is better than Q3A. I'd say they are about equal. I was never a HUGE fan of Quake 3. But it wasn't bad, and thats how I fell about Halo 3.... Its not bad.
Your saying, oh thats neat... But Quake 3 is a game made in december of 1999. And guess what... It has replays, mods, thousands of skins that you can download and walk around in. But of course halo 3 came out with all of this first. I mean it had to.
Penguin Warlord @ Oct 16th 2007 8:21PM
@UltimateQ
It sounds like someone is a little sore that they suck at Halo. Do you wanna know why Halo is ranked better than Castle Wolfenstein by the vast majority of people in the world? It's because it made doing all of those things simple and intuitive. It also is probably the best balanced game out there as well as an amazing and huge story line (not specifically Halo 3 but all 3 games).
Not to mention that Halo is beautiful to look at you can keep squinting trying to make sense of your pixelated Wolfenstein on that 15inch screen but I think I'd rather sit back on my comfy couch playing an amazingly fun game in 1080p on my hdtv. Also, did Castle Wolfenstein let 4 people play on one computer? That's right I didn't think so.
UltimateQ @ Oct 16th 2007 10:44PM
First of all. I don't suck at Halo because I don't play it. Second I have a 19" widescreen monitor and I don't squint to see anything. But sure I'll keep debating with you..
Balance? Right. 1 fella with a sniper rifle can kill the whole opposite team if he is in the right spot on just about any map.
As for making things easy? Again, Quake 3 and RTCW did this just fine. And RTCW and almost ALL newer PC FPS have depth. Its just not a deathmatch. There are real objectives.
Try out Quake Wars, It was just released along side halo 3, and has several times more depth, better balance, and holy crap there are replay tools.
The halo games are way over bloated and hyped way out of proportion. I'm not saying they are horrible, but they are hardly as ground breaking as people say it is.
UltimateQ @ Oct 16th 2007 10:48PM
Now wait don't get me wrong. I'm sure Halo 3 has some objectives. Because Halo 2 did. Such as plant the bomb and capture the flag. Counter Strike and Unreal Tournament do these way better than Halo 3 did.
And as for playing with 4 people. I play with 4 people on my friends 50 some odd inch hdtv, and even with such a huge screen its still almost unplayable. Serious Sam allowed this anyway. And even serious sam is more fun to me than Halo 1/2/3.
Neebs @ Oct 17th 2007 6:23AM
Also, what's with whenever someone calls Halo 3 a shallow/outdated FPS, there's an idiot who says "u suk at halo."
Zertoss @ Oct 16th 2007 9:03AM
Actually it's because nearly every movie the industry produces these days isn't worth the price of admission 30 years ago.
Jerk Face @ Oct 16th 2007 9:41AM
My thoughts exactly, chum.
FOXHOUND @ Oct 16th 2007 9:42AM
-applause- Well put, sir.
Granted, the "Animal House"-inspired movie comedies are good for a laugh or two(usually aided by pub drinks beforehand with friends); but the videogame industry has been more amusing and compelling to engage in than the majority of recent movies.
Of course, now Hollywood will misread the hasty generalization by AdAge and assume people want to see more videogame movies, resulting in ticket sales dropping even quicker and Uwe Boll continuing to be funded... i.e., the exact opposite of what people want.
WiNG @ Oct 16th 2007 10:00AM
Agreed.
I mean if my choices are paying $10 to see "I know pronounce you Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker and Robin Williams", or shooting myself in the face with pepper spray...
FOXHOUND @ Oct 16th 2007 10:05AM
Wing -- LoL, don't spray yourself. Spray them for making the damn thing. You're not the one at fault, afterall.
Sean @ Oct 16th 2007 10:58AM
I agree wholeheartedly.
Word of the street(IDF-Digital Ruler). @ Oct 16th 2007 1:36PM
I was one of the poor souls that saw "I now pronounce you Adam Sandler and the king of queens fat guy" normally Adam Sandler movies are good in cheap laughs but that movie well it wasn't comedy I think it was a pro-gay movie, seriously wtf I hate when trailers lie to my face if you do a pro-gay movie do it but don't dress it up as a comedy movie for all audiences.
In other words that movie was gay.
gregory mitchell @ Oct 16th 2007 9:47PM
hells yea. every movie is turned into a damn love story. The main character has some love interest
waynski1457 @ Oct 16th 2007 9:04AM
In a way, yes it is. But then again, the same come-back argument arises: MAKE MORE GOOD MOVIES!!
Josh @ Oct 16th 2007 9:06AM
Movies this year have SUCKED. That is all.
Penguin Warlord @ Oct 16th 2007 8:23PM
with the exeption of superbad.
BlackTye @ Oct 16th 2007 9:05AM
Halo 3 just came out. How could it affect a year's worth of ticket sales.
How about this?
Stop making shitty movies.
Cletus @ Oct 16th 2007 9:16AM
It's not talking about the whole year's ticket sales...just comparing last year's sales in October with this year's sales in October. That's it.
spoo @ Oct 16th 2007 9:06AM
Or could it be that Ben Stiller and the Farrelly bros. made an uninteresting comedy that no one wants to see?
Zootittles @ Oct 16th 2007 11:18AM
I love how the Farrelly brothers still tag their movies "From the makers of Something About Mary!" since no one has given a shit about anything they've done since then.
kiwi @ Oct 16th 2007 9:06AM
No
Phranctoast @ Oct 16th 2007 9:10AM
Even if movies this whole year didnt suck, the movies that are out right now most definitely do.
Yubastard @ Oct 16th 2007 10:24AM
I work at movie cinema as a projectionist. I've seen all them movies, and aside from (some) Resident Evil 3 and Eva Mendez's bare boobies in We Own the Night, it all sucks mokey's ass.
Lex @ Oct 16th 2007 9:10AM
Not all the movies this year have sucked. But the thing is that 3 months from now all the movies that are currently out are going to be on dvd, hd dvd and the blu-ray. Which will all cost us at least 20 dollars.
So why should I go and spend 9 dollars to watch the movie once now when I wait for 3 months drop a 20 and watch it as much as I want?
Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Oct 16th 2007 9:16AM
Especially with the growing number of home theaters.
I mean, I have one.
Intentless @ Oct 16th 2007 9:28AM
Correction why would I spend 20 dollars plus snacks for my girl and I to go see a movie when in a few months for about the same amount of money I can see it on my HD with surround sound in my undies, in my recliner?
Karen @ Oct 16th 2007 1:07PM
Lack of titles at the theater I want to see and a home theater has stopped me from buying over priced tickets and popcorn. Also there's a lot of new TV shows on that I've found more interesting. I've started watching out Bionic Women, Journey Man, Heroes and Life.
Korova @ Oct 16th 2007 4:02PM
Home theater is killing the movie theater. Video games are just one of the things one can do in the home theater.
Self and gf in undies is another plus
Being able to pause and sit however one wants
Not have annoying or crazy people next to you talking to themselves all the time is pretty great
The only time i like to go to movies is on the night when something like star wars comes out, so all the fans are there and its a like-minded community get together - thats cool.
Otherwise, I will stick to my couch (its leather)
g.Park @ Oct 16th 2007 9:15AM
I think legislation is in order! Young Americans must be made to watch 1 side-splitting family comedy, 1 PG-13 rollercoaster-ride of an action adventure, and 1 nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat thriller before they can buy one of these devilish vidjagaymz!
Bigfoot @ Oct 16th 2007 9:17AM
As others have said, maybe if there we're some good movies out.
Saw IV is coming soon, so I'll be seeing that.
Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Oct 16th 2007 9:32AM
Fan of murder porn, eh?
Abscissa @ Oct 16th 2007 1:38PM
@Bigfoot: I thought you said you wanted to see some GOOD movies.
Korova @ Oct 16th 2007 4:04PM
may I suggest manhunt dos
Gunner McGrath @ Oct 16th 2007 9:18AM
I am an avid fan of wasting $30 taking my girl out to a movie and buying overpriced snacks that are gone in the first 20 minutes.. call me crazy, I just like it. That being said, I haven't gone to the theater in over a month because there is currently a streak of flaming $#!7 being released with little to no end in sight. Bad sales are due to bad movies. It's nice of them to attribute it to games though!
HineyWipe @ Oct 16th 2007 9:18AM
That's because while we dweebs are playing Halo 3, our bittorrents are distro those movie.iso files that were just released!
Nyroska @ Oct 16th 2007 10:44AM
You really have no idea what the semi-technical terms you're using are, do you.
rTwelve @ Oct 16th 2007 11:41AM
So you're making my matches lag? Curses!
Poisoned Al @ Oct 16th 2007 9:20AM
You get better storylines in games then you do in these days anyway so I'm hardly surprised. And no, I'm not saying the stories in games are getting any better of late. Over the past decade the movie industry has been trying to reach as many people as possible, and in turn, reaching nobody. Almost everything out of Hollywood is geared towards the lowest common denominator (in other words, stupid American teenagers) which is alienating anyone with more then sevaral working brain cells.
Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Oct 16th 2007 9:39AM
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/07/16
They've penetrated our code walls. THEY"RE STEALING THE INTERNET!
samfish (MSDF- Nurse Outfit!) @ Oct 16th 2007 10:55AM
While I agree about the movie industry dumbing itself down, you're totally off base about games being superior. I can count on one hand the amount of games that don't have stories that would make a B-movie director pass.
Halo? Gears of War? God of War? Half-Life? Bioshock? Metroid? They're all a friggin' joke.
I'd really like to see a videogame with a story that's on par with, say...The Life Aquatic AND doesn't suck. That would truly be a first.
Zootittles @ Oct 16th 2007 11:45AM
Let's keep it apples to apples here. Halo and Gears of War are definitely the equivalent of summer blockbusters. Life Aquatic, while a great movie (and a favorite of mine),would be more akin to something like Ico or... um, yeah.... your point still stands. Video game makers REALLY need to work on their plot and characters- and no, PLEASE do not point me to cliched JRPG #247.
Poisoned Al @ Oct 16th 2007 12:07PM
Sam, didn't I say game plots are still a bit rubbish?
Abscissa @ Oct 16th 2007 1:48PM
@samfish: Maybe I'm just oldschool, but I'd really like to see game developers STOP trying to give a crap about story and characters, and all those damn cinematics. They're trying to turn games INTO movies, but if I wanted to see a damn movie, I wouldn't have bought a game instead! I don't give a flying fuck why the hell I'm shooting bad guys, I just wanna shoot some bad buys!
Korova @ Oct 16th 2007 4:11PM
Life Aquatic is awesome. Surprising reference now that Wes Anderson has another movie coming out. Troll alert.
But if VGs could have plots like Life Acquatic, that would be great. They are just so damn hard to make, and one has to think of alternative lines and how to tie them out for a satisfying mix of message and input from gamer. I cant wait till more talent is focused on games than on movies. That will be a great era