Halo Reach Preluding Lower Sales For Black Ops

So now it’s official: Microsoft's first-person behemoth Halo: Reach is the year’s biggest entertainment event, generating $200 million in sales in just 24 hours in the United States alone.



That’s two-thirds of what Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 took in from the North American and U.K. markets in its first day last year, but it’s still a number that’s nothing to sneeze at. The one-day take already eclipses the three-day opening weekends of “Iron Man 2,” “Toy Story 3” and “Alice in Wonderland.”



While Microsoft is doing cartwheels, though, the rest of the gaming industry is nervously shuffling its feet. Despite a number of high profile releases, it hasn’t exactly been a banner year for game sales -- and the success of Reach might not help things.



The slump is due, in part, to the ongoing recession. But also deserving some of the credit is the lingering effect of Modern Warfare 2 – a game whose multiplayer component was so deep and so rich that it kept players hooked, reducing their need and desire to buy other titles.



Fatigue is finally starting to gradually set in for that game, but Halo: Reach may well pick up that mantle.



As much praise as the game’s single-player campaign is getting, it’s the rich multi-player mode that really has players excited. New armor abilities, new game modes and an impressive suite of creation tools have overwhelmed the Xbox Live user base with joy. And the game’s matchmaking service is working like a charm so far.



That’s a lot of reasons to play -- and could give buyers plenty of excuses to put off other purchases in the coming months.



“There’s always a worry that a game like that can take share and cannibalize other games,” says Colin Sebastian, an analyst with Lazard Capital Markets.



To add to worries, Call of Duty: Black Ops will be hitting shelves in less than two months – a one-two punch to other game developers. That could put a number of seemingly big titles on the bubble, their sales in jeopardy.



None seems in a more perilous position than EA’s Medal of Honor. The battle that was shaping up between the rebooted military shooter and Call of Duty was already a tough one, but with Halo: Reach potentially impacting people’s buying decisions, the game could face an even tougher challenge. (The game's controversial decision to allow players to fight as Taliban forces in multiplayer might not help, either.)



Medal of Honor is actually scheduled to hit shelves well before Black Ops, but it has been three years since the last version – and Call of Duty has become the industry’s biggest seller in that time. The hope, in part, was that the Call of Duty fan base would buy Medal of Honor as a placeholder while waiting for the release of Black Ops – but they could be too busy with Reach to do so.



Meanwhile other titles like Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit and Tron: Evolution, which all would normally appeal to the same general demographic, might be overlooked entirely.



“I see Halo: Reach creating a vacuum in multiplayer,” says Billy Pigeon of M2 Research. “I expect it will have an effect similar to ‘Modern Warfare 2’. People will be playing online and may not buy other games.”

Halo: Reach And Modern Warfare 2 Vie For Most Online Play

Halo Reach Gets Beat Out By MW2 In 1st Week

                     

    According to statistics released yesterday by Microsoft's Major Nelson, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 , but the statistics only cover the dates between September 13 and 19. Reach came out on September 14, so next week will be the true test of whether MW2 will be toppled from its spot on the top of the "charts" it's held for nearly a year.

Interestingly, online platform Raptr has released its own statistics that show that Halo: Reach has beaten MW 2, and that Modern Warfare 2's playtime has dropped by 50 percent since Reach was released. Raptr's numbers reflect Raptr users as opposed to the general population of Live users, though.



Anyway, the weekly top online titles from Major Nelson are below:

Xbox 360 Top LIVE Titles

1 Modern Warfare 2


2 Halo: Reach

3 Halo 3

4 Call of Duty: WaW

5 FIFA Soccer 11 Dem

6 FIFA 10

7 Call of Duty 4 (Purchase the full game for direct download)

8 Madden NFL 11

9 GTA IV (Purchase the full game for direct download)

10 Battlefield Bad Co. 2

11 Gears of War 2

12 Red Dead Redemption

13 Halo 3: ODST

14 Forza Motorsport 3 (Download the demo)

15 Left 4 Dead 2

16 NBA 2K11 Demo

17 NHL 11

18 NCAA Football 11

19 Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 Demo

20 Madden NFL 10

So, what do you guys think? Is next week going to be the first in which Halo: Reach is in the top Live spot?

Get Your Halo Gaming Gear Below:

Halo Reach Midnight Release Madness

Halo Reach Is Here

Halo Reach Officially Launched Midnight On September 14, 2010

Now, there are two reasons why gamers choose to go with the midnight release of Halo Reach other than preorder your copy and have it shipped to your house in the next day. One, they just love the thrill of getting poured on by the rain and pitching a tent in a parking lot. The second is that they don't mind missing work, school, or practically blacklisting their next few days of activity and including nothing but Halo Reach during that time period. Us people that actually moderate gaming , school, work, personal life, Etc, we preordered it online because that's the sure thing that you will receive the copy. Anyways, I just drove by our local Best Buy and Wal-mart here in Duluth, Mn at About 11:30PM and I'm so glad that I relinquished myself from having to stand in line with a bunch of specksters [what I call Video Game Junkies] all night. The line At Best Buy appeared to have about 300 people in size, and the one at Wal-mart about 400!! I'm guessing the people that were at the back of those lines didn't receive their copy until about 3 O'clock and overall just cost themselves Monday Night Football and their self-respect. A Group of these guys had suits all of the Noble 6 Team 1-6!! At First it struck me as cool, but then I realized how pathetic you would have to be to cheer on a game as you do a Sports team! Anyways, long night for them along with wasted gas, money, and time. As for me, I'll have it by The day of Tuesday The 14th and won't jump overboard on the rest of my life just because a new Halo Launched.


     With Halo  Reach now launched we can look back and say thank you to Halo 3. Halo 3 Sold over 650 million copies worldwide and was the most popular game ever,  as far as sale numbers. No more four shots, Squad Battle, or cheap graphics; no where entering a more sleek, advanced era of gaming starting with Halo Reach. The Graphics in Halo Reach blow away Halo 3's specs and I'm so excited about all of the different things you can do in Reach that Halo 3 never had. In Halo Reach you can do a multitude of things: Arena play [Double and solo] , firefight[ team or solo], objective gametypes [one flag/bomb, CTF, Slayer, Team Slayer, Generator Defense, Invasion, Stockpile, Headhunter, and the New Wild-card Team Attack. Halo Reach is going to be everything that Halo 3 is , only multiplied the intensity, enjoyment, versatility, and vision [graphics] by four. If you have a Xbox 360 and haven't purchased this game then you don't know what a good game is!!
Call Of Duty Black Ops Will have the usual COD enticements  but it won't come close to Halo Reach in the categories of intensity, versatility, multitude, and overall quality. I am so excited to get playing Halo Reach, but first I have to take care of a few things [Work, Kids]. So, here's a list of what you should do when you Receive your copy of Halo Reach.

• Get your friends and start up the Co-op Campaign in Matchmaking [in this case up to 4 players]
• Grab a bible or cross and pray to the heavens in grace [do a Albert Pujols]
• Determine whether you want embark  into Halo Reach as an Elite Or Spartan
• Stock Up on ice cream, pre-baked pizzas, diet pop, and Aspirin [trust me this is a no fail equation for bulk gaming]
• Make sure the level of noise on your alarm clock is at maximum [ you'll be having a gamers hangover]
• Pay all of your bills and take care of your work [call in sick or take a few days off]
• Tell your non gamer friends that you'll be real busy for the next few days [you won't want to be caught playing Halo Reach with garbage littered all over your room and your shirt full of pizza sauce]
• Take A few rags to your room and place them by your bedside [you don't want to ruin your Halo Reach disc or Controllers]
• Set the mood in your gaming area: The lights on or off, showered or not showered, room clean and cool, light sweats and a shirt or shorts and a T-shirt, and your home gamer optimized
• Try the firefight mode [it supposed to be the most hyped gametype of them all]
• Don't watch anymore You-tube Videos Because They Can Ruin The Ending On Halo Reach
• Decide what type of gamer and reputation are you going to form in 
• Halo Reach [Sniper, Marksman, Aggressive tactician, Vehicle specialist, Mr. Stealth, Or A combination
• What is your forte and match it to what Halo Reach game-type is Apt for it [Good Sniper-- Objective games, DMR Or Tactician ---Slayer Or Invasion, Or Hardcore Gamer--Team Arena Or Solo Arena.
• Set up your gamer Dashboard and Bio [Just give your friends and other gamers a reason why you're the best to team up with]
• Finally, Get pumped and Start Playing The Most Revolutionary, Bombastic, Hyped , And Explosive Game of 2010!![ Start taking that Aspirin....]

Little late to the party? Go To Microsoft.com Or below  on Amazon to Order Halo Reach And Receive it in the next few days!! Go now, Halo Reach is at full throttle across the gaming community!!

Go Here To Order Halo reach

Halo Reach Vehicles, Armor classifications,Enemies,And Strategy Overview

Halo Reach Recon Armor

                                                                 

Halo Reach Elite General Armor

So, What is the best weapon in Halo Reach? The BMR. The perfect weapon for the BR specialist of Halo 3,it shoots mid-range powerful, concentrated but steady rounds at it's opponent. Once again, like the BR in Halo 3, the BMR kills with four shots to the head. This is my personal favorite because you can use it at all distances and switch to a magnum or assault weapon in close battles. A perfect way to steal some kills from your teammates, am I right! Some people really gravitate to the magnum because of its ability to shoot fast and powerfully. With the magnum, you can really crank out the rounds, minus the cost of perfect aim, to take down your opponent.Much improved, it sure will be a great starter/common weapon to use. And of course, for you sharp-shooters, the sniper rifle reigns king again. Yes, the sniper rifle will be especially a go-to-weapon because of all of the extra shields and health in Halo Reach. However, in contrast to other weapons, the sniper rifle kills in two [or one for a head-shot] shots despite the added health in Halo Reach. Now, for the Covenant weapons. The top three will be the needler, Needler rifle, and plasma launcher. The needler has always and will remain a nub favorite, even despite it's revisions to make it more of a precision weapon. The Needler rifle is going to be a sniper's favorite because of it's ability to embed projectiles that blow up moments later. This is a replacement for the carbine only more deadly and has a longer range.As for the plasma launcher, it's the most fun I've had all year! This beast of a weapon locks four plasma projectiles to it's enemy and blows up everything in the area, decimating your opponents.This is by far my favorite weapon but it is a pretty rare find on most maps.As for the rocket launcher, grenade launcher, and energy sword sure there still vintage but these new weapons surpass the power and ability of the old school weapons.

Here's a video overview of all the new and exciting weapons:




Now, in Halo Reach everything [just about] you do earns you credit. Wins, campaign play, achievements and experience landmarks , and head-shot/kill milestones[ex. 100, 500, 1000, 5000 head-shots] will all earn you credits which accumulate through campaign and online play determine your rank. Yep, that's right. The linear old system of experience points is a thing of the past and two many factors go in to determining your rank now. In essence, the more wins and achievements you
gain in campaign and online play the better your rank becomes. With the growing credits, which determine your rank, you can buy better, sleeker, cooler, and more advanced armor, and not just sets of armor, but piece by piece.

Of course, if you want to get the best armor the way God didn't intend you to do, buy spending more money for the Halo Reach legendary edition which exclusively includes recon armor and other permutation armor or by pre-ordering at Gamestop where you are guaranteed one of the best permutation armor sets then that's your choice. Frankly, I can understand why Gamestop and the Halo Reach Legendary edition grant immediate access to the best armor, that you can otherwise unlock by gaining more credits [lots]. Of course, it's because Bungie wants to make the most money out of their last production with Halo and want to rake in the most profit possible, by all the while destroying any complaints about now knowing how to unlock recon. We all can recall on Xbox live kids questioning incessantly , "how do you unlock recon?" Only to be answered by some a**hole who tells them , "if you drive your warthog over the cliff you unlock recon!" Yes, we all wanted recon and our way of getting painlessly [besides your wallet] and immediately is to dish out the $150.00  for the Halo Reach Legendary Edition which contains the Recon armor with it. As for me and other struggling college students, I'll lean toward the natural way of earning the credits through campaign/online wins and achievements.Enough with recon, back to the customizable  armor. The Spartan Armor, from the current perspective, holds the greatest versatility and overall class to their armor customizations, granted that it contains recon.where Covenant armor doesn't. So, here's your chance, order your Halo Reach copy with recon, or simply pre-order from Game-stop and receive the recon and or the permutation armor. Go Here, to the Microsoft Store: