Halo 3: Not Game Over, But Awful Close

[portfolio_slideshow id=28223]The CE and tech media is billing Halo 3 as the "PS3 killer." While that may not be too far from the truth, it may also be a bit premature. Either way, time is running out.

PERSPECTIVE It's just what the doctor ordered. After a rough couple of months, the launch of Halo 3 is giving the Xbox franchise the good swift kick in the pants Microsoft needed to get itself back on track.

The company had just made its way through an embarrassing admission that as many as 30% of its consoles may have been defective. It also watched as Nintendo seemingly came out of nowhere and took the wind from both its and Sony's sails.

However, Halo 3 could mark Microsoft's comeback in the console space. The game is the Xbox 360's so-called "killer app:" that piece of software or feature that sells the product for you. The numbers for pre-orders were simply astronomical: 1.5 million plus, the highest for any game ever.

For those living under a rock for much of this decade, here's a quick rundown of what the Halo story is about. The game centers around the travails of Master Chief, who leads a band of marines on a quest to save humanity from an alien invasion.

The story is pretty much your classic first-person shooter game, allowing you to blast your way to rid the earth of these vile creatures. You can also choose to play in multiplayer mode with a group of friends to finish the 'campaign,' or choose to play against one another.

It's not too much to assume some of those pre-orders came from customers new to the console. Monday night, the manager of my local GameStop told me that, in her experience, games like BioShock were able to sell consoles on their own. She was almost sure that Halo's allure would be able do the same.

Believe me when I say the graphics are as good as the promotional pictures show: Even on a standard definition monitor they look as good as some of the high-definition shots of early 360 games. Better yet, the game is easy to pick up, even for the casual gamer, and the blood and gore is not too in-your-face -- making it more palatable to parents.

All of these factors add up to a game with mass appeal, and enough attraction to lure consumers into spending the $350 to 'finish the fight,' as Microsoft's PR team has asked gamers to do.

This now puts tremendous pressure on Sony to produce. The PS3 is still without that "killer app" spoke of earlier: too much longer without one, and it may be too late for the console to ever pose a credible threat to either the Wii or the 360.

Sony's only hope may come in the form of Final Fantasy, which in and of itself is as big a game for its platform as Halo is to Xbox. While some may argue that it wouldn't be fair to compare the two side by side, in actuality it is.

Let me ask those who may say that if FF is not enough for a gamer to pick up the PS3, what is? Blu-ray is certainly not selling the consoles either.

To some extent, Halo puts the squeeze on Nintendo as well. To date, there are really only two standout games on that platform: Zelda and Metroid. The console's price and haptic capabilities will only take it so far. Too many of the Wii's games are simply too simplistic right now to satisfy many.

Microsoft's next moves are very important. Since this Halo is billed as the last, the 360 will soon be without a standout franchise. What does Redmond do? Does it take the risk and try to create an all new one, or does it attempt to lure others to the platform, possibly even Final Fantasy?

Only time will tell. But the ball is in Microsoft's court, and they are amid a full-court press for next-generation console supremacy.