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Bungie: Do they deserve more credit?

Valve and Blizzard are on a different level, aside from having more franchises they also have built entire online services like Battle.net and Steam. People hesitate to name EA alongside them with Origin, much less Bungie with only Halo.

Also, everyone forgets SOCOM was the first "truly great online (shooter) game for consoles." That game was huge back then.
 
Nope.

They followed a tried-and-true route for gameplay and became popular due to Microsoft's advertising, then used their fame to ruin the console online scene.

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What's the point of this? Since when was Bungie "under appreciated"?
Those folks fucking rule.
They made an awesome franchise, practically invented console FPS (yes, I know about Goldeneye and Perfect Dark, but you know what I mean), got their independence back and now they're working on something they love and OWN. Not to mention that they probably have the most valuable contract in gaming existence today (that 10 year partnership with ATVI).

These guys deserve A LOT of respect.
 
Really the only thing they did right in Halo 2 was the party system. The rest of the game was pretty terrible.
 
More credit?

Nah, Bungie gets enough credit, and deservedly so. They did a fantastic job with the Halo series (REach easily being among the top tier on consoles), and they introduced amazing features like Party System, and Theater mode.



Surprised at some of the hate for Halo Reach. I'm not a crazy Halo nut or anything, but I still played the shit out of Reach multiplayer and thought the campaign was tons of fun co-op.

Are you new to GAF?
 
They are truly dedicated to their community, which they should get more credit. Very few other developers interact and care for their community as much as Bungie. The only other one right this second I can think of is Rockstar.

I don't see Valve interacting with their community very much (might be different to other franchises, but the L4D community hardly gets any interaction with valve).
 
Funny, I always thought they deserved less. Halo 1 was good, but they haven't told a good story since. Their graphics were top notch, but now they are pretty middle of the road.

The most impressive stuff they have done with online, but I personally don't agree with a lot of it. If they were going to take away freedom of maps and modes, I think we should have gotten something more in return. Not that Killzone is great, but they had some neat ideas.

Take a look at what they tried to do when they added a horde mode. There was an opportunity to take a proven format and create something more. I don't think they matched Gears of War.
 
Are the people saying bungie needs more than halo 15 or somethin? Myth, Oni, Marathon. Not really bungies fault they became 2nd party and were forced to make nothing but halo.

As far as Valve is concerned, while awesome, seem to be content with taking mods and making games out of them recently (and steam)


Genuine question here: why is Halo heralded as practically inventing console fps when Goldeneye/Perfect Dark were brilliant as well?

Dual analog control. Golden Eye and PD aren't in the same league as far as controls are concerned, due to obvious limitations of the N64. Halo was (one of?) the first console FPS that didn't revolve around auto aim, instead using the sticky aim system
 
Sounds like you haven't played any of their games before Halo. Bungie is known as a badass developer for the games that you didn't mention -

http://www.bungie.net/inside/history.aspx

1] Minotaur, always had a mind on multiplayer experiences http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minotaur:_The_Labyrinths_of_Crete

2] Pathways Into Darkness, really set themselves up as sci fi story tellers, and adept devs.

3] Marathon 1,2,Infinty - "spiritual birth" of Halo, actually most Marathon fans find Halo to be dull compared to Marathon. Marathon is hard core sci-fi, Halo is popcorn sci-fi. http://www.bungie.net/inside/history.aspx?link=juggernougat Frog Blast the Vent Core

4] Myth 1&2- the games that IMHO really turned them into a top tier developer. They took a break from sci-fi, and went fantasy. Took a break from FPS and showed they could make not only an RTS, but a new style of strategy game that to this day, no one has really figured out how to reproduce. http://myth.bungie.org http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myth_(series) Myth is also where they showed how truly badass of a community they could make, and a ton of the ideas for halo multiplayer were obviously born.

4.5ish?] At some point in here, they were doing some publishing. WEEKEND WARRIOR!!! http://bungie.wikia.com/wiki/History_of_Bungie

5] Oni - people like Oni but I don't count it as one of the core Bungie games. It probably should be, I don't know. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oni_(video_game) I count it on the same lines as "Abuse" even though I know that's not true. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abuse_(video_game)

6] Halo at Macworld 1999 - I count this as its own game, own category, separate from Halo. This sort of defined the next 5-7 years of gaming for a lot of people. In '99 I was making mods for Myth, hoping one day to work for Bungie. I skipped class to watch the Macworld stream. If I had one nerdgasm in my life, this would be it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2RVje3MyhQ

7] Halo, 30 seconds of fun, the Megg, Warthog Jump etc - you know the rest. http://halo.bungie.org

So, in conclusion, Bungie was super-badass, long before Halo. They took risks, made great shit, knew how to get massive fans behind them, and obviously have shown their talent. I never did work there but I have friends there who love it. I took a different path, trying to make my own Bungie. Turns out, that's pretty tough (see also: they are badasses)
 
Bungie has nothing to prove to armchair gamers.

They blew everyone away with Marathon and Myth and then laid the groundwork for an entirely new generation of FPSs.
 
Dual analog control. Golden Eye and PD aren't in the same league as far as controls are concerned, due to obvious limitations of the N64. Halo was (one of?) the first console FPS that didn't revolve around auto aim, instead using the sticky aim system

Goldeneye and Perfect Dark had dual stick control though.
 
I feel like Bungie already gets credit as one of the top tier developers and rightfully so. It really seems like they are going all in with their legacy on this new IP though so that should be interesting.
 
The difference between Valve, Blizzard and Bungie is that Valve and Blizzard have made more than 1 popular game franchise. Bungie only has Halo.
 
I think them making 4v4 and matchmaking the standard has been one of the worst things for gaming. Played the hell out of halo 1 and 2 though.
 
Sounds like you haven't played any of their games before Halo. Bungie is known as a badass developer for the games that you didn't mention -
4] Myth 1&2- the games that IMHO really turned them into a top tier developer. They took a break from sci-fi, and went fantasy. Took a break from FPS and showed they could make not only an RTS, but a new style of strategy game that to this day, no one has really figured out how to reproduce. http://myth.bungie.org http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myth_(series) Myth is also where they showed how truly badass of a community they could make, and a ton of the ideas for halo multiplayer were obviously born.
So, in conclusion, Bungie was super-badass, long before Halo. They took risks, made great shit, knew how to get massive fans behind them, and obviously have shown their talent. I never did work there but I have friends there who love it. I took a different path, trying to make my own Bungie. Turns out, that's pretty tough (see also: they are badasses)
This right here especially the part about Myth! I never played a PC game as much to this day. The community aspects, ranking and chatting in a room before a game still haven't been surpassed on a console for me. Also as a little extra bias they sent me 2 FREE tickets to E3 where they were previewing Myth2 since I was registered and lived in the area. Never forgot that and I couldn't believe it at the time. I'll always have respect for them for it.
 
Haven't released a remarkable product in more than half a decade, absolutely atrocious post-launch support for its supporters. CE being a landmark was more of a happy accident than anything else. From what they've said, Halo 2 MP was a bit of an accident too but it was amazing so I won't hold it against them. Have yet to be impressed with the scope or quality of their work this generation.

lol
 
How can you even compare Bungie to Valve and Blizzard?

Just because Britney Spears sold butloads of records, will you compare her to pop legends like MJ?

Bungie hit a gold mine with the Halo franchise. It filled a very big void in the console market at that time. I would give a lot more credit to MS for figuring they NEEDED to lock halo on the xbox (with the initial exclusivity deal and posterior sequels) and the fantastic PR they maintained throughout the saga!

That said, I've played all the halos and even with all the promos for XBL gold I've never considered playing Halo online since I always played FPS on the PC. I also dislike pop music and dislike even more the kind that come from people like Britney Spears, but that doesn't mean I can't compare her with the other best selling names.

what?

sorry this is confusing and using pop star names is.....

cmon we're talking about one of the most influential developers of all time

can we come up with some better analogies?
 
Haven't released a remarkable product in more than half a decade, absolutely atrocious post-launch support for its supporters. CE being a landmark was more of a happy accident than anything else. From what they've said, Halo 2 MP was a bit of an accident too but it was amazing so I won't hold it against them. Have yet to be impressed with the scope or quality of their work this generation.

yeah pretty much this.
 
Nope.

They followed a tried-and-true route for gameplay and became popular due to Microsoft's advertising, then used their fame to ruin the console online scene.

One trick pony. An unoriginal one trick pony, no less.

Bungie has been making the exact same game for 10 years, so no I don't think they are particularly noteworthy, no more then say Tiburon.

I expect that Bungies hands were tied and could only work on Halo. It's not like they had time to make anything else when as MS. They were in a contract to make 4 Halo games after CE, that's four in 10 years so roughly 2.5yrs per title. Where would they find the time to make something else? Even if they did there might've been something in place that anything made while under MS thumb would belong to MS.
 
Halo 3 was incredible from a feature set standpoint. The constant recording of gameplay, no matter what mode you were in; the Forge mode, even if it was undercooked; the ability to create your own gametypes... I spent a lot of my university education playing Halo 3. It was, in my opinion, better than CE, something Halo 2 failed miserably to be.

Unfortunately I have not played ODST or Reach so I can't comment on them.

Genuine question here: why is Halo heralded as practically inventing console fps when Goldeneye/Perfect Dark were brilliant as well?
Because those games were good "for the time", and then only by console standards, not by today's standards. Lots gamers never understood the fuss because they had been used to much, much better for years on PC.

The original Halo is still fantastic by today's standards. Even if you were a PC gamer back then, you had to appreciate Halo. It was the first console FPS that we really, really wanted to come to PC because it was as good as 'the other guys'. And it did.
 
yeah pretty much this.

Because those games were good "for the time", and then only by console standards, not by today's standards. Lots gamers never understood the fuss because they had been used to much, much better for years.

The original Halo is still fantastic by today's standards. Even if you were a PC gamer back then, you had to appreciate Halo. It was the first console FPS that we really, really wanted to come to PC because it was as good as 'the other guys'. And it did.

oh god im confused
 
The original Halo is still fantastic by today's standards. Even if you were a PC gamer back then, you had to appreciate Halo. It was the first console FPS that we really, really wanted to come to PC because it was as good as 'the other guys'. And it did.

Good god no.
 
not by today's standards....

.... The original Halo is still fantastic by today's standards.

<Mortalkombat>double fatal crit hit hyper self combo defeat contradictionality</Mortalkombat>


one day, i swear, i'll learn to read.
 
Bungie deserves credit for what they accomplished on consoles. But to be categorized with the likes of Blizzard and Valve? Heck no. That's just crazy talk.
 
We all bought an Xbox just for that game.

Speak for yourself. I bought one for DoA3 and only got Halo later. I found it very overrated outside of the console FPS controls that have become ingrained in the genre.
 
I expect that Bungies hands were tied and could only work on Halo. It's not like they had time to make anything else when as MS. They were in a contract to make 4 Halo games after CE, that's four in 10 years so roughly 2.5yrs per title. Where would they find the time to make something else? Even if they did there might've been something in place that anything made while under MS thumb would belong to MS.

How does that make them noteworthy? The thread isn't asking if they were screwed under MS's yolk, it's whether they deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as real industry luminaries.
 
I don't think so. Sure, they have great ideas for the online and other related features, but after Halo: CE they've always fucked something up for the gameplay.

Halo 2 - Horrible balance, most weapons were pea shooters. Melee lunge was at it's worst here.
Halo 3 - Slow movement speed, BR spread was too great, maps sucked.
Halo Reach - Bloom and armor abilities are terrible additions.
 
Good god no.
Good god yes? There were three types of people 'back in the day':
1 - Those who wanted to play Halo but couldn't justify the XBOX
2 - Those that didn't like Halo despite never playing it because
3 - Those who already had Halo

Near enough every PC Gaming magazine at the time were running features on Halo, wanting Halo to be ported to the PC, the works.

PD and Goldeneye were nothing to us.
 
I love Bungie to death, but I already hear their name on that short list of top tier developers most of the time. I think they get as much credit as they deserve.
 
They deserve credit for the game that they made and how that has influence the console fps scene (which they get quite often). They aren't as notable as Valve, Blizzard, or Bethesda because they don't self publish and they don't carve out gaming niches in quite the same way. Bungie will earn there true praise I believe over the next generation now that they are publishing outside Microsoft's realm.
 

People aren't oblivious to Bungie's past, but those franchises are inactive or dead. Meanwhile both Valve and Blizzard have several franchises all with the same level of fan hype as Halo, something those other Bungie titles can't claim.

Their past games weren't massive sweeping successes like their Halo games have been. Lots of developers have brilliantly designed titles that don't explode in popularity, and Bungie's past titles are just a few examples of many. Valve and Blizzard on the other hand have several iconic, massively popular, and influential titles. It's not that Bungie is worse than those two, they're just at a different scale.
 
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