

Bungie Has 10-Year Plan for Secret New Game Series - aresant
http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2010/04/bungie-activision-2/

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naz
> “The scope and the ambition of what we’re planning is much greater than the
> scope and the ambition of Halo,”

Am I missing something here? There wasn't _that_ much scope or ambition to
Halo, it was a console port of standard FPS elements that had been around for
years.

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nickelplate
> it was a console port of standard FPS elements that had been around for
> years.

But the way they were put together is what makes Halo unique and why there is
nothing out there that plays like it. Limiting the player to two weapons alone
adds a nice pace and strategic element to the gameplay that I have yet to find
in any other game in the genre. There also aren't _that_ many shooters - even
today - that make such a good use of vehicles, in the solo campaign or in
multiplayer.

~~~
naz
> Limiting the player to two weapons alone adds a nice pace and strategic
> element to the gameplay that I have yet to find in any other game in the
> genre.

Counter Strike had limited weapons and became hugely popular two years
earlier.

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trafficlight
And is infinitely more fun than Halo.

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jey
Why does Bungie need/want to sign a contract with a publisher ahead of time
anyway? They presumably have tons of cash on hand, and they have enough of a
track record that they should be the ones jerking publishers around instead of
putting themselves in a servile position.

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timdorr
It took them 9 months to negotiate with Activision and they tried things with
every possible major publisher under the sun. They seem to have gotten a sweet
deal too (keep your own IP, remain independent, publisher basically just
prints discs and ships them to the stores). They were going to have to pick
one eventually anyways, so they might as well do it during the planning stages
so they're not ending up building something that no publisher is going to
acquiesce to.

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iamdave
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't part of the reason Bungie left Microsoft
(and by extention, InfinityWard cut ties with Activision) to do with the
publisher trying to get TOO involved with what the developer does because of
exclusivity contracts?

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nickelplate
I think they left Microsoft because they wanted to make games at their own
pace (they must have crunched like crazy to get Halo 1, 2 and 3 out the door),
own the games they create, and reach as broad a customer base as possible
(i.e. releasing their games on multiple platforms). Infinity Ward is fully
owned by Activision (and so are their IPs), so their situation is different.

~~~
iamdave
Ah. Thank you.

