Is Halo really a cashcow?

[iMini]

I mean, in all honesty, it really isn't, it currently has 4 games in it's franchise (5 if you count Halo: CE), with the first being released in 2001, equally out to a new game every ~1.5 years (every 2 years for just the original 3), and there is soon to be a 5th to be released (Halo: ODST) in Q4 '09.

Now, let's compare it to another franchise, let's take, Resident Evil, being it a popular topic at the moment.

From the main series since 2001 there have been 4 games released (Resident Evil Zero, Resident Evil 4, Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles and Resident Evil 5 (with another Resident Evil game to be released this year (Resident Evil: Darkside Chronciles)), this averages out to a new game every 2 years... It would seem as though the Halo franchise has released more games since 2001 then Resident evil...

But, Resident evil has a series of offspring series sicne 2001, which I shall now count... RE: Survivor Code 2: Veronica, Resident Evil: Dead Aim, Resident Evil: Outbreak, Resident Evil: Outbreak File #2, Resident Evil Gaiden, Resident Evil: The Missions, Resident Evil Confidential Report , Resident Evil: Deadly Silence, Resident Evil: Genesis and Resident Evil: Degeneration... That's an additional 10 games, bringing the franchise to 14 games since 2001 (fourteen fucking games)...

That calculates out to an average of a new game every 0.57 years.

TL:DR

RE = one new game every 0.57 years
Halo = one new game every 1.5 years.

Therefore resident evil has released ~3 games for every one Halo game.

I hereby theorize that Halo is not a cashcow.

[Jercurpac]

You can make 50 games a year but if you only sell five copies of each you've made a really shitty business decision. Now, I can't claim to have information on how many copies of each game in each series have been sold, minus the production and advertising costs, but obviously you can't either.

[VenomKing666]

It only depends about IF it is used as a cashcow, and it is. Te first game was a great success and brought interesting things, then the 2 other games had obvious flaws and then they make an RTS and plan an MMO or something.

It became a cashcow obviously.

[iMini]

At 3/12/09 01:21 PM, VenomKing666 wrote: It only depends about IF it is used as a cashcow, and it is. Te first game was a great success and brought interesting things, then the 2 other games had obvious flaws and then they make an RTS and plan an MMO or something.

It became a cashcow obviously.

I'm sorry what's that about Resident Evil: Online?

A Resident Evil MMO?

Yes, it fucking exists.

[VenomKing666]

At 3/12/09 01:23 PM, H-A-X-O-R-Z wrote:

At 3/12/09 01:21 PM, VenomKing666 wrote: It only depends about IF it is used as a cashcow, and it is. Te first game was a great success and brought interesting things, then the 2 other games had obvious flaws and then they make an RTS and plan an MMO or something.

It became a cashcow obviously.

I'm sorry what's that about Resident Evil: Online?

A Resident Evil MMO?

Yes, it fucking exists.

It failed, and I didn't mean Resident Evil wasnt a cashcow by any means, most major titles are cash cows, it's just that some developpers abuse more of it.

[DroopyA]

Plus, Resident Evil has spawned 3 major films and at least one CGI film... more probably in the works.

RE is a far bigger overated overhyped cash cow then Halo can ever dream of being.

[andhination]

Just because one is, doesn't mean another isn't.

[TheRipper00]

At 3/12/09 02:09 PM, DroopyA wrote: Plus, Resident Evil has spawned 3 major films and at least one CGI film... more probably in the works.

RE is a far bigger overated overhyped cash cow then Halo can ever dream of being.

Ya, With a Multi Million dollar Halo Moive in the Works with Acadamy Award winning directors being attached. Ya its not a Cash Cow. Selling MC Suits, not a cash cow. Lunch Pals, Action Figures, 150 Dollar collecters Editons. Come on.

Get over it Halo is a cash cow just like Most other major game franchises. Why does it matter? People like the games and like to buy the shit they sell so why would they not make it? We live in a Consumer Driven world. Hopefully the Halo moive wont lick balls like most of the RE moives.

[warshark]

At 3/12/09 02:20 PM, TheRipper00 wrote: Ya, With a Multi Million dollar Halo Moive in the Works with Acadamy Award winning directors being attached.

Movie was scrapped. It was going to be too expensive supposedly.

[DroopyA]

At 3/12/09 02:20 PM, TheRipper00 wrote: Ya, With a Multi Million dollar Halo Moive in the Works with Acadamy Award winning directors being attached. Ya its not a Cash Cow. Selling MC Suits, not a cash cow. Lunch Pals, Action Figures, 150 Dollar collecters Editons. Come on.

RE has done this as well... I'm with the OP in the fact that I'm not denying Halo makes it's money... but it's not as bad as it's been sterotyped. Everybody who likes Halo is instantly a stupid fanboy... but nobody ever says that to a fan of other games that market themselfs way more openly then Halo ever has.

I've never seen someone say "I like Resident Evil" and then gett attacked for it... but it happens every time somebody says "I like Halo". Why is that?

OP makes a good observation and I agree with it... just showing my support is all.

[TheRipper00]

At 3/12/09 02:29 PM, DroopyA wrote:

At 3/12/09 02:20 PM, TheRipper00 wrote: Ya, With a Multi Million dollar Halo Moive in the Works with Acadamy Award winning directors being attached. Ya its not a Cash Cow. Selling MC Suits, not a cash cow. Lunch Pals, Action Figures, 150 Dollar collecters Editons. Come on.

RE has done this as well... I'm with the OP in the fact that I'm not denying Halo makes it's money... but it's not as bad as it's been sterotyped. Everybody who likes Halo is instantly a stupid fanboy... but nobody ever says that to a fan of other games that market themselfs way more openly then Halo ever has.

I've never seen someone say "I like Resident Evil" and then gett attacked for it... but it happens every time somebody says "I like Halo". Why is that?

OP makes a good observation and I agree with it... just showing my support is all.

Im not saying that Halo Fans should be attacked I have a PS3 and had an Xbox i liked Halo as well. I love RE and most other big game titles like everyone. Like I said Consumer Drivin Market. They make the shit we buy the shit. I knew the RE moives wouldsuck, i still saw them though.

[Zetvirus55]

People on all sides are getting their info from outdated wikipedia articles...

Can we lock this thread and quell the flame war before it starts?

[LTmatt]

If your game is the sole reason a brand of consoles still exists, it's a casccow.

[iMini]

At 3/12/09 02:46 PM, Zetvirus55 wrote: Can we lock this thread and quell the flame war before it starts?

You're abit late.

[Zetvirus55]

At 3/12/09 03:47 PM, H-A-X-O-R-Z wrote:

At 3/12/09 02:46 PM, Zetvirus55 wrote: Can we lock this thread and quell the flame war before it starts?

You're abit late.

I mean before it REALLY hits off

[Oliver]

At 3/12/09 02:09 PM, DroopyA wrote:

RE is a far bigger overated overhyped cash cow then Halo can ever dream of being.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.

Look at how overhyped halo 3 was my friend.
That blows the entire RE series out of the water with one game.

And also, Halo sucks, RE is awesome. *OPINION*

[KeithHybrid]

Just stick Halo on the title of any game and it's assured GotY. It's like as if these people think even the security lables of the games' packaging was shat out by God himself.

[Shnam]

At 3/12/09 03:55 PM, KeithHybrid wrote: Just stick Halo on the title of any game and it's assured GotY. It's like as if these people think even the security lables of the games' packaging was shat out by God himself.

No. Halo is not a cashcow as I see it. 3 games. 1 spinoff and a new campaign for Halo 3. If you want to talk about cashcow then look at Mario or even CoD series. They have much more games and Bungie isn't going to be doing anything Halo related for a while. They may never even continue.

[DroopyA]

At 3/12/09 03:53 PM, Lagamuffin wrote: Look at how overhyped halo 3 was my friend.
That blows the entire RE series out of the water with one game.

Are you kidding me... look at the PR for RE5... and it's still not out. It's got so much hype behind it, there's even a special red XBox360 being made just for its release.

Not saying either game is better then the other, just saying that I agree with OP... Halo isn't abused nearly as much as it could be from a marketing point of view. They could do a lot more with it if they wanted.

They still might, who knows... but right now, Halo isn't the worst 'cashcow' in existance, regardless of what the average forum user wants you to think. I'd consider it about average... and I'd personally say that the RE name is abused way more then the Halo one.

[zimzap]

At 3/12/09 01:17 PM, H-A-X-O-R-Z wrote: I hereby theorize that Halo is not a cashcow.

Too bad your logic is horribly flawed (as many other posters pointed out) because you neglected to mention sales or profit even ONCE in your entire post.

[FLAMEBOY97]

Resident Evil:Degeneration was a movie,right?

[iMini]

At 3/12/09 09:02 PM, zimzap wrote:

At 3/12/09 01:17 PM, H-A-X-O-R-Z wrote: I hereby theorize that Halo is not a cashcow.

Too bad your logic is horribly flawed (as many other posters pointed out) because you neglected to mention sales or profit even ONCE in your entire post.

YES IT'S JUST TOO BAD THAT RE5 ONLY JUST GOT RELEASED!

[Lost-Chances]

That's like comparing a chocolate bar to a cheese burger in the amount of fat it has and then concluding that chocolate bars aren't bad for you.

[Pandamir]

To me they both have great games in there respective series. But if you look at how many copys Halo has sold compared to RE then yeah they are pretty even. And yeah RE has spawned several movies that are really not half bad but im sure a movie for Halo is in the works some where on down the line.

[Cootie]

The Halo series may not come out with too many games, but when it does... people march in the streets to go and buy it. I personally didn't see what all the hype was about.

[Pandamir]

At 3/13/09 07:32 AM, Yamor wrote: The Halo series may not come out with too many games, but when it does... people march in the streets to go and buy it. I personally didn't see what all the hype was about.

Well i have played all 3 of them and it's a pretty good series. But i have yet to play Halo Wars but im sure it lives up to the rest of the series...At least i hope it does.

[Ragnarokia]

Halo will always bring in the money every day for Microsoft, though I hate it you have to admit it works.

[liam]

At 3/12/09 01:17 PM, H-A-X-O-R-Z wrote: But, Resident evil has a series of offspring series sicne 2001, which I shall now count... RE: Survivor Code 2: Veronica, Resident Evil: Dead Aim, Resident Evil: Outbreak, Resident Evil: Outbreak File #2, Resident Evil Gaiden, Resident Evil: The Missions, Resident Evil Confidential Report , Resident Evil: Deadly Silence, Resident Evil: Genesis and Resident Evil: Degeneration... That's an additional 10 games, bringing the franchise to 14 games since 2001 (fourteen fucking games)...

Although IMO Resident Evil is a bit of a cash cow (it's also a reputable series) but you need to take into account the fact that it's several different development groups/studios working on each different game and they are for different consoles and are most using the same engines and things like that =P RE4 > RE5 is the same game engine just updated and new graphics engine, etc..

[KartoTolmex]

At 3/12/09 01:17 PM, H-A-X-O-R-Z wrote: I mean, in all honesty, it really isn't, it currently has 4 games in it's franchise (5 if you count Halo: CE), with the first being released in 2001, equally out to a new game every ~1.5 years (every 2 years for just the original 3), and there is soon to be a 5th to be released (Halo: ODST) in Q4 '09.

Cashcow status isn't determined by how many titles are sold within the franchise, it's determined by it's safety within the market place.

I.E. if they were to release "Halo Karts", it would be guaranteed to make a profit, rather than releasing "Karts" (or more relevant, Halo Wars, a sub par RTS that wouldn't have had a sniff if it didn't have Halo emblazoned upon it.)

From the main series since 2001 there have been 4 games released (Resident Evil Zero, Resident Evil 4, Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles and Resident Evil 5 (with another Resident Evil game to be released this year (Resident Evil: Darkside Chronciles)), this averages out to a new game every 2 years... It would seem as though the Halo franchise has released more games since 2001 then Resident evil...

But, Resident evil has a series of offspring series sicne 2001, which I shall now count... RE: Survivor Code 2: Veronica, Resident Evil: Dead Aim, Resident Evil: Outbreak, Resident Evil: Outbreak File #2, Resident Evil Gaiden, Resident Evil: The Missions, Resident Evil Confidential Report , Resident Evil: Deadly Silence, Resident Evil: Genesis and Resident Evil: Degeneration... That's an additional 10 games, bringing the franchise to 14 games since 2001 (fourteen fucking games)...

That calculates out to an average of a new game every 0.57 years.

All this is irrelevant, yes Resident Evil is a cashcow; but Capcom just milks it a little harder than what Microsoft do, at the moment.

TL:DR

RE = one new game every 0.57 years
Halo = one new game every 1.5 years.

Therefore resident evil has released ~3 games for every one Halo game.

I hereby theorize that Halo is not a cashcow.

Halo IS a cash cow, regardless of different products released.

[TheThing]

At 3/12/09 06:00 PM, DroopyA wrote: Are you kidding me... look at the PR for RE5... and it's still not out. It's got so much hype behind it, there's even a special red XBox360 being made just for its release.

What about the special 360 made for Halo 3? Or the Spartan Helmet game case.

Not saying either game is better then the other, just saying that I agree with OP... Halo isn't abused nearly as much as it could be from a marketing point of view. They could do a lot more with it if they wanted.

Even though Halo isn't pimped out by Microsoft and Bungie, doesn't mean that it's any less of a cashcow. RE does have a lot of titles, but in comparison, anything with a Halo tag will sell, or get a lot of press. Halo was an average franchise, maybe slightly above average. But it just got so overhyped by everyone that now people believe it's the best game around. Hell, G4 had a 7 hour special on Halo. 7 hours leading up to the release of the game. It's completely ludicris and unneccessary.

Halo isn't as abused as much as Resident Evil, but it sure helps sell mediocre RTS's and a throwing "Halo" on a title will get any piece of shit sold.