Xbox Exec Calls Halo 5 “Jaw-Dropping”

In an article on gamespot.com, Aaron Greenberg, Xbox marketing executive, says Halo 5 Guardians is “jaw-dropping”.

The following is a reblog of that article: (Followed by my thoughts)

Halo 5: Guardians, the upcoming Xbox One game from Microsoft, is shaping up to be “jaw-dropping” and a game that developer 343 has “dreamed of making.”

That’s according to Xbox marketing executive Aaron Greenberg, who says as part of The Inner Circle podcast that there are more than a few reasons to be excited about the game.

gamespot H5G jaw dropping graphic

“Halo 5 is gonna be huge,” he said. “One of the biggest entertainment releases of the year if we do our job right. And I think what we’ve got with Master Chief and Locke, it’s just kind of a marketer’s dream.”

Locke is the mysterious Spartan who will play a major role in Halo 5. He’ll even be a playable character for portions of the game, according to Mike Colter, who played Locke in Ridley Scott’s live-action Halo series Halo: Nightfall.

Though Microsoft has opened the floodgates about Halo 5’s multiplayer mode, we still don’t know much at all about its story mode. Expect those to come relatively soon, as the game is due out in under a year.

Greenberg said he is so enthusiastic about Halo 5 because it pushes new gameplay boundaries in ways that are blowing people’s minds, he said.

“The game is super innovative and this is really a title I think 343 has dreamed of making,” Greenberg explained. “And they’re innovating in ways that…our jaws are dropping. We want to be able to step up and deliver the type of quality products and marketing to match the quality of the game. And so that’s the challenge on us. But we have no doubt that the product they’re making is going to be pretty amazing.”

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HFFL: Okay, first let’s understand that this is coming from a marketing manager. So take the words with a grain of salt. I’m not saying Greenberg is lying. However, we’ve all been down the Halo hype train before with 343. So, let’s not get too caught up in this.

One particular sentence in this article already has red flags going up for me.

Here it is again:

Greenberg said he is so enthusiastic about Halo 5 because it pushes new gameplay boundaries in ways that are blowing people’s minds, he said.

Folks, we need to err on the side of caution here. Pushing new gameplay has been rebuffed SO HARD by Halo fans, more specifically the pros/wannabe pros. Heck, I still blame a certain few of those ‘pros’ for the thrashing of Reach and going forward.

Too much ‘pushing new gameplay’ could very well alienate Halo from the rest of the FPS world in a bad way. We Halo fans can be fairly fickle when it comes to new ‘innovations’ within the franchise. I loved Reach and had some issues with Halo 4. Some haven’t come back to Halo since Reach. Some came back because of Halo 4. And many of us were disappointed with the launch of the Master Chief Collection. And none of us are wholly right nor wrong.

343 has a LOT of ground to make up with Halo 5. It’s not surprising that one of XBOX’s marketing managers would state what he has above. They are basically paid to do that.

I’m just asking for fellow fans to not get caught up in the glitz of an XBOX exec. It could very well be that Halo 5 is the Halo game that puts the franchise back on the map in a positive way. However, until we’ve not only heard but SEEN more, there really isn’t enough for us to go on. I’m sure many of you recall some of the blatant lies or ‘spins’ put on words to make Halo 4 and/or the HMCC seem better than it was, only to disappoint.

I really want to be positive on this and for the next game. However, I feel it’s only responsible of myself to temper any excitement by my experiences with the franchise, especially over the last roughly 4 years. Halo has gone through a HUGE change when it shifted from Bungie to 343.

Halo 5 Guardians MUST be a hit for 343. There is no way around this. They had a shot with Halo 4. They had a shot with the HMCC. They even had a smaller shot with Spartan Assault. None have proven to be the LASTING win of a game that Halo needs ten to be. Initial sales today are superficial when it comes to the success of a game. Yes, it will look good for investors. But it won’t for gamers if a game doesn’t have some longevity to it.

I’ve said this before in some form or another. Halo up to Halo 3 didn’t have the kind of competition that Halo Reach, 4 and soon 5 have/will have. It’s not only we Halo fans that want a stellar game, 343 NEEDS it to be stellar.

I played the beta, a LOT. I enjoyed it immensely. That said, the game still has many months of development and wasn’t the final product. Hearing or rather reading a XBOX exec, especially a marketing one say Halo 5 is shaping up to be jaw-dropping, well… I’ll believe it when I SEE it.

E3 2015 can’t come soon enough!

-Sal

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About Sal

I’ve got tons of experience with Halo gaming and collecting. I feel I have something to offer to the greater Halo fan community. Posts along the way will be about tips and tricks in the games as well as collecting and many more Halo related things. I’ll also repost interesting articles from the official site, Halowaypoint.com, or from fellow Halo fan sites. As I continue this blog, I hope to help gamers who want advice on the games, as well as any collectors with regards to where to find collectibles as well as deals, coupons and so on. You can also follow me on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/#!/HaloFanForLife or Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/halofanforlife11. Welcome to my blog and I hope you’ll come back again and again. -Sal

4 thoughts on “Xbox Exec Calls Halo 5 “Jaw-Dropping”

  1. Ah, I won’t be getting too caught up in the hype.

    But lets just hope that its jaw-dropping! 😀

  2. I liked the beta, but it just wasn’t Halo to me. It felt like a copy of Destiny and just didn’t have the fulfillment the other Halo’s have had.

  3. I find a lot of that to just be market hype fluff. I’m hoping the story in h5 is amazing. Multiplayer was incredibly entertaining

  4. I had tons of fun in the Halo 5 Beta and am eagerly awaiting information about my first love, the campaign. While tempering expectations is what is needed, I also think that many Halo fans are being too closed minded about innovations in gameplay. For any game franchise to have the longevity all want, they have to be able to constantly bring in new players as those that are longer fans, while they still may play, will have their play time reduced as they get older and more Real Life things start taking the time that once was set aside for gaming.

    But you are right Sal. 343 needs to hit his out of the park. They need to be on top of any issues and correct them as soon as humanly possible to show the Community their dedication to the Halo franchise. We all do need to be wary, but I still have hope. I want to believe that 343 gets it and that Halo 5 will be the game we have always wanted.

    My enthusiasm may be tempered a bit, but it is still there.

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