Power to the players

On Nov. 25, 2007, Bungie Software and Microsoft Game Studios released their record breaking game, “Halo 3″ for the Xbox 360 video game console. To say “record breaking” seems to be a bit of an understatement, though.

Not only did “Halo 3″ bring in $170 million on its release date, the game went on to sell $300 million worth of copies in its first week of sales, thereby becoming the highest grossing entertainment product ever. This includes movie sales, music sales and any other entertainment product on the market.

It’s therefore common knowledge that “Halo 3″ was kind of a big deal. However, with the recent release of “Grand Theft Auto IV” on April 29, 2008, Master Chief has been dethroned. Not only did “GTA IV” sell 3.6 million units at launch (edging out “Halo”’s 3.4 million units) it went on to bring in $500 million during its first week of sales.

It’s important to note that one contributing factor to the success of “GTA IV” is the fact that the game was released for both the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3 as compared to the “Halo 3″ Xbox 360 exclusivity. The amazing thing about “GTA IV” though is the fact that it was virtually unadvertised. Only by looking online prior to the game’s release could anyone find any game-play trailers.

To market “Halo 3,” Microsoft ran game-play trailers on the television, as well as a huge marketing deal with Mountain Dew and 7-11 convenience stores. The latter of which featured Master Chief’s visage on slurpee cups and soda cans.

However, the leading factor in the massive success of both games isn’t found in marketing campaigns. The measure of a product’s longevity is ultimately found in the product itself.

“Halo 3″ is a great game with millions of fans worldwide. “Grand Theft Auto” is a series that, though its had its share of controversies and political attacks, is still a solid video game series built on innovation by creative and genre bending minds.

The point of the matter is that video games definitely aren’t what they were 20 years ago. The classic days of collecting coins and timing jumps have given birth to a new era of immersive and extraordinary story-telling capabilities. They aren’t a simple trend or pastime any longer when a video game can break the record of “highest grossing entertainment product.” When two video games, within five months of each other, break those records, it signifies a trend in the industry itself.

So it all boils down to this: whether you agree with the opinion that video games are worthy of artistic merit or not, the fact remains that the industry is steadily and consistently becoming a money-making juggernaut. The evidence isn’t in the sales numbers alone, it’s also apparent in the critical reception of video games. “Halo 3″ received nearly perfect scores from gaming Websites and publications. Electronic Gaming Monthly (a leading video game magazine) rated it 10 out of 10 across the board. “Grand Theft Auto IV” has already been heralded as the “highest rated video game of all time” according to Game Rankings, a critic review aggregate. Let’s face it – 3.6 million gamers worldwide can’t be wrong. Video games are quickly becoming a bid deal. The players have spoken . power to the players.

C. COLT CRANE
BizTech Writer

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