: overtake Call of Duty.

No. People...

Stop saying that.

Stop thinking that.

This is the problem. This is the mindset that sets current gen games up for failure.

Everyone WANTS to be successful like CoD, and they think the path to that is to BE LIKE CoD.

Halo, and any game for that matter, if it's going to be a hit, it needs to be a hit on its own, creatively and fundamentally.

It's one thing to look at the success of other games, learn what makes them successful and then apply and incorporate ELEMENTS of that success, but not blatantly copy or shoe-horn something in because CoD has it.

When games are fun, on their own, and they WORK, then they'll make lots of money.

Trying to go out and "over take" another IP is just setting yourself up for failure. People see the clones a mile a way.

I like'd it better when Halo and CoD was a Coke vs Pepsi type rivalry.

Now it's just "monkey see monkey do and rush rush rush we gotta get there first, we'll patch it later"

That isn't just unique to 343- MANY games are stuck in this loop.

Sorry Serp, that wasn't directly aimed at you individually. I think it's a problem at large.

I remember reading an article about Duke Nukem Forever a few years ago, and how the creator of that game ultimately set it up for failure because he was never happy with it, and always trying to keep up with his "competition" and offer the things that their games had. Essentially what it boiled down to, is that you could play DNF and it was like strolling through 10 years of FPS trends and developments.

As in, it started with the run and gun play of the late 90s, to the colorful early 2000's and 2-3 weapon system, to the brown and gritty mid 2000's etc.

For the creator (I forget his name) anything less than a 9\10 was unacceptable. So they built and destroyed and built and destroyed until they finally went bankrupt and just pressed the disc of what they had.

It's EASY to recreate. It's HARD to innovate.

This is why I feel for 343.

I worry that it's going down that DNF path, where the original is so successful, that it overshadows you to the point where you feel like you can't be more successful than that. That you'll never be able to keep that train going.

I worry that 343 is doing that. I worry that creatively, their hands are tied by their owners.

I have hope that it will be overcome, because they are not alone, and they are not the only studio that struggles with this. These games need to stop trying to top each other. It stifles creativity.

I need to find that article and re-read it.

\vent.