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Bethesda Production Director Ashley Cheng has defended the length of the Halo 3: ODST campaign, but believes Microsoft has itself to blame for the reviewer/consumer backlash.
Cheng, whose credits include Fallout 3 and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, said on his blog:
“Give me a break. First off, most games – especially first person shooters – are anywhere from 5-10 hours. Tops. What makes Halo different from others? You can’t just ping Halo ODST for it.”
And he firmly believes this is a situation that could have been avoided.
“Microsoft and/or Bungie totally bungled the marketing on this,” wrote Cheng. “First saying it was a standalone expansion pack, then coming out and saying wait, no, we’re charging full price because – surprise! – we put “more” stuff in it and it’s called Halo ODST now, vs it’s original title, Halo Recon. Like Microsoft was ever going to sell this for less than full price. It is a new Halo title, it’ll sell like hotcakes no matter what.
“Because of the waffling, reviewers are now mentioning that Halo ODST may not be worth the price point, that it should’ve been cheaper, etc…”
Cheng concluded: “I bet if Microsoft hadn’t screwed up the marketing messaging, there would less talk about pricing.”
