Halo has long been the flagship franchise of the Xbox console. Practically anyone who has ever owned an Xbox 1 or 360 has owned or at least played the game, and everyone else has at least heard of it. For years, it was prophesized that Sony would release a “Halo Killer” on one of its Playstation consoles, but it is evident that they have failed every time, as Halo 3 and Xbox Live are still going strong and losing barely any steam to the PS3 and its varied strong titles.

 

Let’s get the obvious stuff out of the way first: one of the problems is, admittedly, the PS3. The console has long suffered from a lack of exclusive titles and has done little to justify a purchase to people who have been comfortable with the Halo and Gears of War franchises on Xbox. However, what about the really amazing titles that the PS3 offeres? Resistance: Fall of Man was a good title, with its sequel receiving rave reviews for its well-handled, 60-player online capability. And let’s not forget about Killzone 2, which also garnered stellar reviews from almost all sources, particularly for its ingenuity on the multiplayer front, which was much more multi-faceted than Halo’s.

 

It is evident that the true reason why Halo never dies does not lie in the difference between the PS3 and Xbox 360: it lies with the developers. Without a shadow of a doubt, no Sony console has ever seen a game developed by developers who would sacrifice life and limb to do right by their fans. Bungie Studios built a game that was brilliant in its simplicity, and as it became more popular they expanded on the community exponentially, blossoming into one of the most visited game websites on the Internet, and they continue to grow even today as they continue to work in tandem with the community to implement new features.

 

I challenge anyone reading this to show me a community that more readily involved PS3 users with a game than Bungie does with Halo. I doubt you will be able to. Having gone from merely offering new map packs and forums as they did in Halo 2, Bungie’s website has gone all-out with Halo 3. The game, the second anniversary of which is fast approaching (its one-and-one-half birthday is today), features the ability to take screenshots and video from any point of view in any game you have played, the ability to alter maps, and the ability to share all of this content through the File Share system, was revolutionary in and of itself at launch. However, the fact that File Shares were only accessible by one’s online friends may have hampered the feature, had it not been for Bungie’s innovation.

 

Today, Bungie.net is larger than most PC mod communities. The developers have gone to a level never seen in any other console title in order to allow the propagation of great content throughout the community. At present, ever single File Share is accessible online, for free, using the same username that people must have in order to use Xbox Live in the first place. That’s the first way that Bungie became so big: ease of access. Also, anyone with a gamertag on Xbox Live can go to any other File Share and set up a download of any map, picture, game mode, or video, that will begin as soon as he/she logs onto Halo next. Also, content can be tagged by people so that people can find what they’re looking for even if what they type in isn’t in the file name. With an ever-vigilant community, the sharing of content has become self-perpetuating, with anyone who is active (and believe me, there’s a lot of active users) finding out new content every day.

 

Bungie also continues to directly interact with its fans and keep them updated. While most video gaming sites post updates incrementally, few of them go through the forums, take the best user questions, and answer them in these updates. In addition to pertinent news and Q&A, these updates also feature some lighthearted comedy, with plenty of inside jokes, memes, and funny photographs to keep fans entertained and make sure they don’t see Bungie as a faceless entity, as most developers decide to remain.

 

Bungie never ceases to interact with its fans. Whenever they demo a new feature, such as the content tagger or the render-to-video (which will soon allow people to turn their video clips from the game into video for their computer, eliminating the need for expensive capture software), they allow betas. These user tests give them immense community feedback, and, unlike most other developers, they take it to heart. Fans of Call of Duty may go on and on about guns that are obviously imbalanced, but the developers will not change a thing. Bungie, however, not only listens to the community on site features, they always make the effort t implement in-game changes that users are crying out for, even if it’s just adding a popular playlist to the list of regularly-available choices. Community input keeps the game moving forward, which keeps Bungie moving forward. It is the very definition of a symbiotic relationship.

 

At the end of the day, Bungie employees are satisfied first and foremost that they made and are maintaining a great game with a massive community. Money is a secondary thing. With other developers, that’s not always so. While without a doubt some people aren’t just in it to make a quick buck, never has any console community sprung up behind a game as much as it has done with Halo. Bungie provides more than stat-tracking and a forum. Between the game and the website, there are no walls between anyone involved with Bungie.

 

It is because of all these aforementioned reasons that no one will leave Xbox 360 to buy a PS3 and play Killzone or Reisistance. It is because of this that Halo 3 consistently dominates its own console, remaining the most-played game on Xbox Live for weeks and weeks, interrupted only by promotional offers on other titles. It is because of this that developers always launch websites, but it is also because of this that those sites pale in comparison and show that Bungie is king. The enigma of Halo 3’s brilliance transcends games, consoles, and even world borders. So until another developer completely and totally devotes itself to the gaming community, Halo 3 will not die. Not for Sony, not for Gears of War, not for anything.