: Why should some official numbers assigned to art/entertainment mean anything
: to the individual?

: I actually think the best thing Halo could do is to NOT play such a stupid
: popularity game, like some high school student, and instead focus on its
: own unique offerings and capitalize on that with whatever fanbase is
: interested in such things.

: And there IS a fanbase. But it might not be the BIGGEST fanbase, and who
: cares?

: More players, more profit, more budget, more marketing - these things do not
: make something good.

Who cares? Well, Microsoft probably does. They've sunk a lot of money into 343 Industries and Halo already. More players might not make something better, but it does keep it alive. And I think a bigger budget can be a great thing if used properly.

It can go two ways, I think. Either 343 realizes that their game isn't as popular as some of the other games and start to copy more elements from those game in an attempt to appeal to a broader audience. Or, they'll revert Halo back to what it was six years ago in order to appeal to the people who are feeling nostalgic about the good ol' days of Halo 3.