: Why is it not a smart move? If they hit their intended demographic, it was a
: smart move for them, whether we like it or not. If their sales reflect
: what/who they target for, then I don't know who the demographic is (why
: would you ask me to point to the demographic? sales are sales), but it
: exists. And that's the point.

Pardon me, but I'm going to try counting the number of circular logic loops in your argument.

-343i must be shooting for a new demographic, because they wouldn't change so much about Halo unless they were shooting for a new demographic.
-If they attracted that demographic, it was a smart move, because reaching out to a new demographic was a smart move.
-I don't know what this demographic is, but it must exist because 343i was trying to appeal to them.

Maybe this isn't how your argument sounded in your head, but it's what you typed into the keyboard.

: Subjective. I don't disagree on principle. Obviously people DO enjoy their
: work. If they focus on them, and they feel the game is successful, they
: they'll see it as success. I'm not arguing opinions on whether I/we think
: the game was good or well written or anything.

Well, I guess I am.

: *shrug*
: Was Microsoft aiming for top spot record-breaking first day/first week/first
: month sales amongst XYZ groups, website ratings, etc etc. I dunno. Just
: saying. By the way they're treating their "close" community, it
: certainly feels like there is a different core gamer community now that
: who we still are; and we're not necessarily the target demo any more.

Here's another question: was Halo 4 a calculated attempt to attract a new audience, or is it the product of a company suffering from the growing pains of Halo 2 development-era Bungie and the kid-in-a-candystore restraint of Ion Storm? Because Halo 4 does not strike me as being carefully crafted with a coherent design philosophy.

: I think 343 Industries did :P

If they did, then I suggest that they have a proctologist look for their head.

: From our perspective perhaps. Only the future will tell. As above, right now,
: it looks like (at least publicly) they are happy with the results.

Remember the GDC postmortem?

: There's lots of things they could have done. I'm sure there are stories that
: could have been told that we'd love, perhaps even the non-story-driven
: gamer, and certainly there are amazing writers out there they could have
: worked with to provide that experience.

Fire Brian Reed, hire John Ringo.

: Hindsight... They put out what
: they were happy with *shrug*

I get the feeling that they put out what they had cobbled together by the deadline, not necessarily what they were happy with.

: Either/or? Both? *shrug* Both are endlessly debated in Halo forums. Both are
: a matter of opinion.

Sigh.
Which. One. Were you talking about?