At last week's MI6 Conference Microsoft discussed just what it took to market one of the most anticipated Xbox 360 titles of 2007. Apparently, it's a little harder than you would think.
Microsoft knew Halo 3 could be big, bigger than gaming itself. As West says, it "wasn't about video games, wasn't about video games press," but the franchise had to become part of pop culture. "You have to be very articulate about the tactics."[...]You can find out just how Microsoft pushed to make "Master Chief" a household name.
People thought the game was hardcore, and not mainstream. To change that perception, the team wanted people to think about Master Chief as a hero. "That's how we transcended from video games to pop culture," he says.