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http://media.www.thestute.com/media/storage/paper1092/news/20 10/11/19/Opinion/Nerd-Rage.God.Dammit.Bungie.Knock.It.Off-396 0196-page3.shtml
This article critiques Bungie, saying things like:
"There was actually a minor boycott of the rapid release of the "Halo 3" maps that involved a few thousand players moving back to "Halo 2." Unfortunately, Bungie decided it wasn't worth their time to keep the "Halo 2" servers running and shut them down, completely forcing the old players to buy new games."
and
"Just look at "Super Smash Brothers Melee/Brawl." They waited almost eight years to release their sequel, and look how successful it was. Not only did they sell a game to each of their old fans, but they managed to keep both games alive. "Brawl" was a different enough game that people still play both. There is a healthy pro scene for "Melee" and "Brawl," and in some aspects "Melee" still outshines "Brawl." Look at "Starcraft." They waited twelve years. "Starcraft 2" is a completely new game. "Smash" and "Starcraft" both made way more money than "Halo" ever will. This is how it should be done. Any game developer is capable of making money on this scale, but whether they turn their fans into sheep in the process is up to them. While good developers were building customer loyalty, Bungie was busy guaranteeing customer servitude."
I personally agree (I thought their policies suggested low morals and wasn't something I was looking for in a company I buy things from) with a few of his points (although I know Microsoft complicated Bungies issues) what do you guys think?
Also to add my own little critique:
I would also say marketing stuff like leaked copies (one would probably down play this if it wasn't for marketing purposes), bad mouthing old games to promote new games and saying it's the last halo even before it's released weakens their brand in the long run even if it brings short term gains in media attention and short term revenue. Not hating on yeah just being critical of your marketing techniques. We could probably fault Bungie for a lot of things but we must also keep it in perspective that they did make Halo 2 and for that Bungie is still awesome even if it went wrong after Halo 2.
[Edited on 01.01.2011 6:08 AM PST]