: As 343i are so quick to remind us themselves, they're filled with people with
: years or decades of game development experience. Individuals overflowing
: with talent, plucked from dozens of AAA studios across the industry with
: many published, highly-lauded titles. What's more, they're all huge Halo
: fans too*! Who understand Halo on an intimate level and TOTALLY get where
: all you guys are coming from. Trust Us TM . It's totally the best Halo
: game ever: I mean fast early sales mean everything . Right guys?

: You CANNOT have it both ways: you can't claim credit for all the successes
: while passing off all the failures to some external source.

: You either own both: you honestly accept shortcomings and try some humility
: on for size or,
: You own neither: other people could have done just as well or better, and
: branding, marketing, and established design did the job they were supposed
: to.

: *unless of course they're not .

While I agree in principle with much of your point, game studios, like sports teams and molecular compounds, depend very much on the right pieces in place and working together to function at their top potential. While the studio certainly has its share of previous talent, the fact that this is still their first game project as a complete unit still has to weigh into that. There is something to be said for chemistry, not just experience alone.