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Should Halo Infinite be
on Xbox One
or the Next Xbox ?
T
by Alex St-Amour
his is a bit of an odd place for the Xbox One and Microsoft as a whole as they
seem to have lost a bit of momentum against their competitors. Both the
Nintendo Switch and the PS4 are selling far better than its Microsoft
counterpart and the lack of first-party titles makes it even more discouraging
and a harder sell to consumers to invest their hard-earned funds on an Xbox
One.
With falling a bit behind, the Xbox One’s presence on the
gaming market is taking a serious hit, but could their
flagship franchise be able to turn the consoles fortune? Let
us weigh in.
Both Master Chief and the Halo franchise have been the
marquee series for the Xbox brand and has helped
establish a loyal fan base not only dedicated to the mascot
but the consoles themselves. The impact that Halo has had
over many gamers over the years has helped Microsoft
establish themselves as one of biggest and well-beloved
video game companies of the last decade and for good
measure. Halo: Combat Evolved delivered on a fantastic
single player shooter all while offering a terrific multiplayer
aspect as well, and this only carried forward through each
iteration the reafter.
The franchise peaked during the second and third
installments, reaching critical acclaim and beloved by fans,
even those for who didn’t have an Xbox 360 in their homes.
(such as myself). The series has had phenomenal success
over the years and is carried from one title to the next, but
with the departure of the creators behind the space shooter
epic in Bungie, the series has had a bit of an identity crisis.
Sure, it carries over the same values and visual
representations that we all know and love but can’t seem to
get over that leap it did between the first three instalments
that kept improving the series and making it a must play for
every Xbox owner.
This becomes the principal point for Microsoft as to how
to tackle the lack of first party installments on their current-
gen home console. While both Nintendo and Sony are
churning out game after game, it seems as though the
Xbox One is having a difficult time keeping up with this
slew of titles. While there are some highly anticipated titles
in the works for the Microsoft home console, some have
been stuck in development and delayed for some time now
which doesn’t help in getting people excited for these
upcoming releases.
Having said all of this, will releasing a new Halo title be
able to get Microsoft and the Xbox One out of the rut it has
been in? That becomes a truly difficult question to answer,
depending who you ask as there is a valid argument on
both sides of it all and for every point made, a counterpoint
can easily be drawn. On one hand, you’d want to see first
party games come to the Xbox One, but waiting for the
next console could be a viable option for Microsoft if they
so choose to go that route.
Drawing the comparison with how Nintendo went about
with some of their titles like Super Mario Odyssey and The
Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and seeing how well
they have helped push the Switch’s success and it can
easily be said that Microsoft could make a new console
look all the more enticing for consumers by simply waiting
to release the next Halo game. Make it into a packaged
deal and you already have a fantastic line-up with just a
single title that will surely get the dedicated Microsoft
supporters behind it from the start.
The major fault in this idea is that you are purposely
pushing a title away for those who have already invested
on an Xbox One, Xbox One S, and Xbox One X console in
the purpose to make it easier for the long game. Sure,
people will be ecstatic that a new Halo game will be
making its way on the newest Xbox, but at the same time,
you are neglecting those 30 million people who invested
into your current gen console, just to have them go out and
pick up the latest tech. It doesn’t help the argument with
the two mid-gen refreshes that Microsoft did for the Xbox
One brand and could aggravate people more than
anything else rather than having them excited about a
future project.
Speaking of mid-gen refreshes, we still haven’t even
seen what the Xbox One X is fully capable of and what a
way to be able to highlight the power and tech behind the
console by boasting the most prolific mascot that Microsoft
has to offer. This could help bring out even more first party
entries to follow suit and grace the most powerful console
in gaming and potentially boost the appeal in spending so
much for an upgraded version of a previous device. Sure,
it may just look better on a higher spec console, but to
some, that is enough incentive to get behind the idea and
purchase an Xbox One X entirely.
But then there comes timing and not just with current
projects by the company but also with the competitions
calendar of games. When do you release this new entry to
the Halo franchise? Are you putting it up against a
competitors holiday title? Do you try to rush the game out
or wait a year or two? This all boils down as to how long
Microsoft believes that the Xbox One is going to last on the
market and will play dividend as to if we see Halo makes
its way to the current gen or the next.
Now when it is all said and done, a new Halo game is
coming sooner rather than later, but the question still
remains, does it come out on the Xbox One, or awaits to
be the flagship titles of a new generation of gaming?
Again, the argument can easily be made for both sides and
as of right now, there are no right or wrong answers, only
speculation. How this plays out is all up to Microsoft and
co. as to how they wish to position the next Halo entry, but
one thing is for sure is that it will surely be a title worth
waiting for, whether it on the Xbox One or not. LC