E3 2013

[Jonathan Meer]

I think the arguments that the Xbox will get sold 5 to 1 forget that the average consumer probably didn't watch E3, doesn't follow forums and blogs or reddit about it. They just heard there's going to be a new Xbox and they're totes psyched. They'll queue up outside of their closest store and buy it on the release for the new Halo. Or they'll ask their parents to get it because they loved the 360 and want the new one.

The average consumer might not have watched E3, but the average consumer is probably friends with someone who did, and that friend is almost certainly chattering about how the Xbox got WHUPPED.

Halo won't be around for the new release. All we have is an enigmatic '2014', and since we haven't seen gameplay, I'm guessing that'll be a late 2014. With no backwards compatibility, I seriously doubt we'll see many launch purchases from the 'Johnny Halo' demographic.

Regardless, as best as I can tell, the Halo demographic is really young-to-middling teenagers. Kids who don't have $500. Microsoft's best hope is to solicit the Call of Duty crowd (teens to early-20s), but the CoD franchise will be around on the 360 and PS3 for awhile. Why upgrade?