: Finally... well, let's be honest. Text is a far better medium for delivering
: information than video. You can peruse and reread passages of text at
: will, but you have to start a video all the way from the beginning. Pure
: text also lets you focus on the information that needs to be delivered, so
: you can have a philosophical conversation between the Librarian and Didact
: without worrying about what Forerunners wear or even look like.

: I guess, in short, reading the Halo 3 terminals felt like discovering
: fragments of a lost epic like the Iliad. Watching the Halo 4 terminals
: felt like watching a bad soap opera.

I liked the HCEA and Halo 4 terminals, but I agree that the Halo 3 terminals were way better.
For one, it felt like direct information (and contact with Mendicant Bias) that the Chief was taking in - in the other two, the context seemed unclear to me. I find raw text/data to be more compelling (if less pretty) than small cinematics. Heh - even though I had to look at the terminal articles on Ascendant Justice to fully understand them.

Also, if the terminals in H2A focus on the Arbiter, in what context will they be delivered? It cracks me up to think of Thel finding assorted terminals with videos of his life.

So, text terminals are better (in a way) but I'm still rrrrrrrrrreeeeeeaaaalllly excited.