I don't think that's last part true at all. You can fully enjoy and get into Halo campaign without all the extraneous crap.

Halo 3 is the biggest game of the year. No question. It is also MS's biggest franchise. Any type of marketing they chose would have come off as pretentious.

I'm not saying you wouldn't enjoy the campaign. I'm just saying it wouldn't come across as very "epic."

Then again, i don't think all the other stuff is crap either. I enjoyed all the books, especially the last couple.

I fully expect H3 to be full of itself, trying to pump as much 'epic feel' into every second. So much in fact, it might be hard to ignore that the whole experience is part of a huge marketing push prepping us for the upcoming movie. If done poorly it could be riddled with catchphrases and 'moments' that could come off cheesy.

I wouldnt rate any of the Halo games over an 8 out of 10. But whatever, I bought the first two and will buy the third.

You expect the movie to be bigger than the games?

It could be. They have lots of money to keep this going. 3 movies, and who knows how many more games--Even without the MasterChief main character of the first 3.

Didnt they talk to Peter Jackson about coming on board to help develop the Halo storyline?

edit: heres the Peter Jackson tie in beyond H3-- http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/771/771175p1.html

There was a guy at Best Buy yesterday trying to pick up his Halo 3 preorder. He said he had called ahead, and "someone" said he could come in and get it.

Yesterday I picked up my points card. I didn't want to make an extra trip, but they sent an email reminding me to pick it up and it has to be done within 8 days anyway, so I decided to go get the thing.

The guy grabs it from behind the counter, gets almost back to the register to give it to me, looks at the piece of paper with a frown and turns back around to rummage under the counter.

I couldn't help but think, "Oh please, be totally unaware of the street date and go ahead and give me my copy of Halo 3 too."

No such luck, he just grabbed someone else's points card at first. Apparently I wasn't the only one to do the Halo3/1600 points pre-order deal.

I was already dreaming about coming here to tell you guys that I had it early. That's sad, my first thought wasn't that I'd be able to play Halo 3 early, it was that I'd be able to come here and brag about it.

I got to brag for a week about Bioshock

You guys need to stop arguing over commercials and watch these videos of a TGS demo of a campaign stage.

http://xbox360movies.ign.com/xbox360...lvhighwide.flv

http://xbox360movies.ign.com/xbox360...lvhighwide.flv

No story or plot spoilers!

Damn, It's blocked by the firewall

Has there been any new news on the movie i missed? It had been canceled with no real talk of doing the project (last i had heard).

I think theyre trying to get Jackson to commit to directing it. They may be toning down focus on any other projects until H3 is launched.

My wife works for the evil empire and even she can't get one before street date. Of course she can get a copy for $25 so I probably shouldn't complain.

You know you live in Microsoft country when you ask your kindergartener what he did at school today and he says that all the kids played Halo on the playground during recess. He's never played the game but he and his buds sure do know what Halo is all about -- space army men vs. aliens.

I went into my local Gamestop yesterday and as I chatted with the manager, he mentioned that the Halo 3 games had already come in and were sitting in the back. He said that he got enough to fill all preorders, but only had a few extra of even the regular game to sell to walk-ins.

I said, "No problem. I'll go buy mine at 7-11."

Well, I don't know about that. Personally I'm waiting eagerly for both, but imo Assassins Creed is a bigger game of the year than Halo. Halo is just another sequel, while Assassins Creed is a game that goes far beyond what anyones ever done.

Halo 3 is more than the just the biggest game of the year. It, along with Wii Sports, are pretty much a lock to be the biggest games of this console generation.

This, in my mind, causes this company to lose out on so much potential revenue. I know certain titles they obviously don't get much stock on, but if you know the demand for a certain title is there request more product. How hard is it?

When Bioshock came out I went into one to buy it and they say they only have enough for preorders. I walked right out the door and went to Best Buy.

I mean how many sales like they do they lose. Must be ranging in the tens of thousands with the amount of stores they have.

Well...it probably makes it easier for them to sell their used copies a week later.

Bingo.
They only make a couple dollars per new game.
And I know stores like Best Buy and Target get the games at a far greater discount, and make a little bit more per game.
To offset this imbalance, GS must resort to used games where about 50% of each used game sold is profit.

Well, I'm going to recieve Halo 3 next week from Amazon, but I just got the 3 red lights, so I won't be able to play it. Damn, that's bad timing.

That SUCKS! It's funny you posted that because I just told my buddy that I will probably have that happen on release day. My 360 has been 'weird' since day one, but I never got the RROD. Lately, I have to open/close the door about 7-8 times to be able to get past the "Please insert an XBox 360 game" white screen. I know it's coming someday, but I hope it holds out until Tax Return time so I can buy a new one.

Yeah, I guess I'll just keep playing TF2 until I get my 360 back. The rep I talked to didn't seem to know anything though. I'll be surpised if I get the shipping box anytime soon. I'll be avoiding Halo 3 threads for a while.

So should I expect lines outside of my kmart tuesday morning for this game, we didn't do any preorders but should I be worried about a mob of people for this?

No way. Behind Bioshock, Assassin's Creed was my second most anticipated title this year, followed by Halo 3 in third. As much as I think it will rock, there is no touching Halo 3. Especially after the piss poor E3 showing of Assassin's Creed, which was full of glitches, clipping, limited moves and only a few character models for the crowds. It pretty much killed any good buzz the game had going for it. Think Too Human, circa 2006.

Hopefully they clear all that up in these six months, but I wouldn't be surprised if it got bumped again. There hasn't been much said about it lately which is kinda odd for a game that supposedly comes out in two months.

I'll remain hopeful, but after E3 there's no way I would say it is a bigger game than Halo 3. Halo 3 has already sold over 1 million in pre-orders before its release which is insane. I think Assassin's Creed will have a hard time reaching that number.

For anyone to say there's a bigger game than Halo 3 this year...that's just delusional thinking.