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Microsoft Defends Halo 3: ODST Pricing

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News Room Contributor
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Microsoft Defends Halo 3: ODST Pricing

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The increasingly ambitious scope of Halo 3: ODST explains the dramatic increase in the asking price for the game, which was once described as an "expansion pack" but will carry a $60 price tag like a full retail game, Microsoft says.

"We do not view this as a $60 title," Bungie's Joe Staten declared after the announcement of Halo 3: ODST (then Halo Recon), which was being pitched as an expansion pack of sorts for Halo 3. Apparently times change, and so do price tags. Halo 3: ODST, as was revealed last week, will run for that exact amount - $60, just like a full-fledged game.

So what's with the price hike? Are Bungie and Microsoft hurting for cash these days just like the rest of us? "At the time of those statements, the overall scope of Halo 3: ODST was not yet finalized, and since then the project has grown increasingly more ambitious," a Microsoft rep told Joystiq. "We believe this standalone experience is much more than just an expansion. Halo 3: ODST provides a new campaign from the point of view of an entirely new character."

Microsoft also reminded us that ODST also comes with three new multiplayer maps, a new co-op mode and the "complete Halo 3 multiplayer collection," thus making it a "good value and tremendous addition to the Halo franchise." It does sound a bit like a whole lot of disparate parts attached to one relatively weighty campaign and slapped with a full retail price tag.

Based on Bungie's demo of ODST's campaign at E3, I don't doubt that it'll probably be a high-quality Halo 3 experience, but I'd have to know more to judge if it'll be worth it. Hardcore fans would probably buy this if it cost $100, and they can - ODST will ship in a collector's edition that will run you a single Benjamin.

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On the Record
Posts: 5148
Joined: 2 Feb 2009

Still not as expensive as the inFAMOUS copy selling for 74 euros at a store where I live...

Pulitzer Laureate
Posts: 778
Joined: 20 Jan 2009

...money grabbing arse hats. i am boycotting the hell out of this.

Press Junketeer
Posts: 364
Joined: 26 Jan 2009

The price will drop if sales are bad, and they'll stay up if people feel the game is worth it. Thus is the nature of things.

On the Record
Posts: 5132
Joined: 3 Mar 2008

$60? But that's tiny!

Oh wait, you guys are American. Oh well, I suppose I'll have to make do with my $120 price tag.

Gone Gonzo
Posts: 1414
Joined: 22 Feb 2008

pffft....And I said I wouldn't even buy it at $30.

Edit: And can they reason Halo 3: ODST is worth just as much as Halo 3?

This is crazy.

On the Record
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Joined: 10 Mar 2008

Kellerb:
...money grabbing arse hats. i am boycotting the hell out of this.

Woo! Halo:ODST Boycott! Quick, start a group at the Xbox forums or something, we've got a manifesto to write!

Gone Gonzo
Posts: 1011
Joined: 5 Jan 2009

Kellerb:
...money grabbing arse hats. i am boycotting the hell out of this.

Nobody is forcing you to buy it. If you've played Halo: CE then you've played ODST.

Gone Gonzo
Posts: 4339
Joined: 9 Jul 2008

Really? I had no idea. I was never really interested in this, I figured I would just get it since it was probably going to be faitly cheap anyway. Now, I probably won't get it.

BANNED
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oliveira8:
Still not as expensive as the inFAMOUS copy selling for 74 euros at a store where I live...

But does Halo 3: ODST have Yahtzee saying its a great game?

I'm kidding. That sounds pretty unfair, you might want to check another store - might just be a problem on their end.

Gone Gonzo
Posts: 2854
Joined: 14 Jun 2008

Keane Ng:
Are Bungie and Microsoft hurting for cash these days just like the rest of us? "At the time of those statements, the overall scope of Halo 3: ODST was not yet finalized,

I believe it's fixed.
Grammar Nazi awaaaaaaaaaaaay!

News Room Contributor
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Joined: 11 Sep 2008

pantsoffdanceoff:

Keane Ng:
Are Bungie and Microsoft hurting for cash these days just like the rest of us? "At the time of those statements, the overall scope of Halo 3: ODST was not yet finalized,

I believe it's fixed.
Grammar Nazi awaaaaaaaaaaaay!

Gah. To be fair, that wasn't really a grammar mistake, I just kept the wrong word after I changed the sentence. So it was just negligence. MY GRAMMER ARE FLAWELESS.

Gone Gonzo
Posts: 2854
Joined: 14 Jun 2008

Keane Ng:

pantsoffdanceoff:

Keane Ng:
Are Bungie and Microsoft hurting for cash these days just like the rest of us? "At the time of those statements, the overall scope of Halo 3: ODST was not yet finalized,

I believe it's fixed.
Grammar Nazi awaaaaaaaaaaaay!

Gah. To be fair, that wasn't really a grammar mistake, I just kept the wrong word after I changed the sentence. So it was just negligence. MY GRAMMAR ARE FLAWLESS.

Spelling Nazi awaaaaaay!
I joke, I'm going to stop this before I piss someone off, anyways I agree this more sounds like a various cluster of random stuff slapped into a box and then overcharged.

Gone Gonzo
Posts: 1700
Joined: 11 Jan 2009

Eh, I'll buy the collector's edition probably, if only because I need another controller.

On the Record
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Joined: 2 Feb 2009

Indigo_Dingo:

oliveira8:
Still not as expensive as the inFAMOUS copy selling for 74 euros at a store where I live...

But does Halo 3: ODST have Yahtzee saying its a great game?

I'm kidding. That sounds pretty unfair, you might want to check another store - might just be a problem on their end.

Who knows. He might end up liking it!(not a chance.) And yes its the store problem. Which happens to be right now the only store in town.

There was a old store that sold geek stuff but it close down. I had customer privalages and everything!

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Indigo_Dingo:

oliveira8:
Still not as expensive as the inFAMOUS copy selling for 74 euros at a store where I live...

But does Halo 3: ODST have Yahtzee saying its a great game?

I'm kidding. That sounds pretty unfair, you might want to check another store - might just be a problem on their end.

Well it hasn't come out yet so it might be a good game!

....I'm sorry, even I thought that was bad.

User was banned for: Why do Many Girls take Pictures of Themselves?. (Permanent)
Gone Gonzo
Posts: 2450
Joined: 1 Sep 2008

I'll have to wait a bit before playing it, then.

Gone Gonzo
Posts: 1192
Joined: 6 Oct 2008

All right, all in favor of blowing up Bungie's money-grubbing asses, say "aye."

Pulitzer Laureate
Posts: 925
Joined: 3 Oct 2007

So you get a shorter campaign and a recycled multiplayer mode for 60 bucks? Yeah, I think I'll stick with the halo 3 regular.

Gone Gonzo
Posts: 2092
Joined: 6 Feb 2009

I'll save my money up so I can afford "Half Life Forever" when it comes out.

BANNED
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Joined: 30 Jan 2008

oliveira8:

Indigo_Dingo:

oliveira8:
Still not as expensive as the inFAMOUS copy selling for 74 euros at a store where I live...

But does Halo 3: ODST have Yahtzee saying its a great game?

I'm kidding. That sounds pretty unfair, you might want to check another store - might just be a problem on their end.

Who knows. He might end up liking it!(not a chance.) And yes its the store problem. Which happens to be right now the only store in town.

There was a old store that sold geek stuff but it close down. I had customer privalages and everything!

Why don't you just use Amazon?

On the Record
Posts: 5148
Joined: 2 Feb 2009

Indigo_Dingo:

oliveira8:

Indigo_Dingo:

oliveira8:
Still not as expensive as the inFAMOUS copy selling for 74 euros at a store where I live...

But does Halo 3: ODST have Yahtzee saying its a great game?

I'm kidding. That sounds pretty unfair, you might want to check another store - might just be a problem on their end.

Who knows. He might end up liking it!(not a chance.) And yes its the store problem. Which happens to be right now the only store in town.

There was a old store that sold geek stuff but it close down. I had customer privalages and everything!

Why don't you just use Amazon?

I probably will. But when I buy my PS3 sometime betewen today and christmas, inFAMOUS is not one of those games that I will buy right away.

Uncharted, LittleBig Planet, Batman:Arkham Asylum, Brutal Legend and MSG4(. Which by now are pretty cheap apart from batman and Brutal Legend which aren't still relesead). My buyers list doesn't only resolve around games, I also have books to buy!

Copy Clerk
Posts: 53
Joined: 14 May 2009

I don't really see a need to charge a full amount. It is an expansion pack for all intents and purposes. I'll try it, but I'm not gonna buy it till the price drops. And if that means waiting a while, I will.

It's just a cash cow.

Gone Gonzo
Posts: 1084
Joined: 17 May 2007

Lord Krunk:
$60? But that's tiny!

Oh wait, you guys are American. Oh well, I suppose I'll have to make do with my $120 price tag.

Tell me about it. For all their complaining, $60 USD = $74 AUD. They complain about paying significantly less than two-thirds of what a full-price game costs here. And what reason do they give? "It's a small market" or "Localisation costs". Oh yeah, it's so hard to translate a game from English into English (and they never bother to make it UK English) or to ship games to a nation of 20 million people. It's shameless price-gouging.

Pulitzer Laureate
Posts: 716
Joined: 21 Feb 2008

Fraser.J.A:

Lord Krunk:
$60? But that's tiny!

Oh wait, you guys are American. Oh well, I suppose I'll have to make do with my $120 price tag.

Tell me about it. For all their complaining, $60 USD = $74 AUD. They complain about paying significantly less than two-thirds of what a full-price game costs here. And what reason do they give? "It's a small market" or "Localisation costs". Oh yeah, it's so hard to translate a game from English into English (and they never bother to make it UK English) or to ship games to a nation of 20 million people. It's shameless price-gouging.

Yeah, you guys have it rough. Still, this the cost of a whole game for an expansion pack. The actual number price is irrelevant; the fact that it costs double what it should is.

On the Record
Posts: 5151
Joined: 18 Mar 2009

Maybe it is worth the price increase. We won't know until the game is actually released.

Muckraker
Posts: 289
Joined: 20 Nov 2008

Lol hell no i'm not buying this! The d*cks at bungie still haven't made the legendry maps free [i] a year after they have dropped[/I] and I mistakenly bought the mythic maps thinking they would become so. No more money for you, Bungie!

Gone Gonzo
Posts: 3519
Joined: 25 Mar 2009

HL2:ep2 had a campaign, so did HL2:ep1 and they were expansions of sorts, they didn't cost 60$.

Pulitzer Laureate
Posts: 969
Joined: 12 Dec 2008

Microsoft and Bungie know that people will buy any FPS with the Halo brand name slapped on it and will pay full price for it. So they are going to do that because they are a business and just want to make money, not quality or fair priced titles.

Pulitzer Laureate
Posts: 936
Joined: 1 Apr 2009

as long as its longer then halo 3 we wont have a problem

Infamous Scribbler
Posts: 616
Joined: 22 Feb 2009

I've noticed a strange trend. Collector edition games keep rising in prices, with the occasional skyrocket, like Gears of War 2, with it's replica Lancer.

Now, I'm all for getting collector editions, I have several myself, but I see them keep going up and up and up... all I say is it better be worth the price.

Paperboy
Posts: 19
Joined: 2 Jun 2009

Halo 3 was your typical FPS... Certainly not bad, but not great either. I would not have bought that for $60. Now an expansion pack is asking the same amount as the original game? No thanks :P

Infamous Scribbler
Posts: 512
Joined: 28 Mar 2008

People paid for more older games..

StarFox 64 was way more expensive,yet people still paid for it.

Gone Gonzo
Posts: 1732
Joined: 7 Jan 2009

Keane Ng:

pantsoffdanceoff:

Keane Ng:
Are Bungie and Microsoft hurting for cash these days just like the rest of us? "At the time of those statements, the overall scope of Halo 3: ODST was not yet finalized,

I believe it's fixed.
Grammar Nazi awaaaaaaaaaaaay!

Gah. To be fair, that wasn't really a grammar mistake, I just kept the wrong word after I changed the sentence. So it was just negligence. MY GRAMMER ARE FLAWELESS.

YES. IT IS FLAWLESS.

Besides, dont try correct him, where would we be without Keane? he brings us THE NEWS so we can get angry as THE NEWS is usually developers doing evil things becuase this is THE NEWS to only gamers and this site is packed with gamers who want THE NEWS.

Sorry, I wanted an excuse to type in caps.
Hail Newsman.

Edit: On topic, I am going to buy this. I enjoyed the flexibility of the Halo 3 multiplayer.

Gone Gonzo
Posts: 1794
Joined: 28 Dec 2008

I was going to buy this game! I thought it was $30-$40! Bullshit!

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