: I'm wondering if you really read my post, since that doesn't address what my
: arguments are. In addition to emphasizing the sharp decline Halo 4 has
: been showing ( in rank relative to other games, not absolute population ,
: mind you), I pointed out that Halo's competition is not showing sharp rank
: drops even remotely comparable to what Halo 4 is doing. Battlefield 3, for
: instance, has only dropped by six ranks since mid-November 2011, which was
: a matter of weeks after its initial release. The reason I don't buy the
: stuff you're saying is that I could make similar charts for Battlefield
: and for CoD, and they wouldn't tell the story that you're trying to sell
: as universal.

: Compared to the similar big stuff out there, both historically and in the
: last couple of years , Halo 4's rank has shown poor momentum.

: By itself that doesn't spell the end of the franchise, sure, but it's not a
: normal thing that everyone is experiencing.

And this is where it becomes not just about numbers. Gaming culture plays into it, ever changing popular genres, gameplay styles, single and multiplayer, hardware, branding, stories, as well as plain old game quality.

Numbers may be going down across the board because of a changing digital culture, but if Halo 4's numbers are dropping faster, is that just because it's 'not a good game'? Or are people just not groking the Halo franchise as much today? Is it futile to go this 'new direction' in an effort to gain the more significant demographic back? Is it better to return to Halo's roots and hope to gain back what was lost? Or is there no good solution for Halo's future and it should just stop before being stretched too thin for everyone?
Personally, I think the gaming landscape is changing, and the new generation is clearly flocking to certain types of games giving them longer lives. If Halo goes the route of those game types, it's merely patching up numbers for the short term and not retaining that long-term, hard core fan. But if it stays true to its roots, it won't have the audience its "competition" has, and runs the risk of its plug being pulled.

The reason other games are holding on longer is because they filled that 'new generation' void aptly and has a very large audience; they're in home territory. Halo is trying to break into that audience but losing its old one in the process. The numbers are there, but only temporarily because of this handicap.
Kind of like Blackberry (when business-oriented) trying to break into the pop smartphone market where Apple and Android (and to a degree MS) were the big boys. Uphill battle. We saw how that turned out in the long run.

343 needs to find the right niche, a balance in all these factors. It shouldn't be about being #1. It should be about providing an uncompromisingly great game. If it really is that great, the numbers will speak for themselves.