Why Halo 4 has More Pre-orders Than Black Ops 2

November is always a big month for gaming, and this year is no different. On November 6th, the long awaited Halo 4 is set to launch, followed up by Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 on the 13th. Which of these juggernauts of gaming will sell more? If pre-orders are anything to go by, the answer may surprise you.

[GCO Gamer]

Because it's Halo...

[Seraphemz]

"Why the sky is blue"....

[Gamerpeanuts]

the colors in sunlight, the angle at which solar illumination travels through the atmosphere, the size of airborne particles and atmospheric molecules, and the way our eyes perceive color.

Let's take the sky out of the equation for a moment and begin by looking at color. From a physics standpoint, color refers to the wavelengths of visible light leaving an object and striking a sensor, such as a human eye. These wavelengths might be reflected, or scattered, from an external source, or they might emanate from the object itself.

The color of an object changes depending on the colors contained in the light source; for example, red paint, viewed under blue light, looks black. Isaac Newton demonstrated with a prism that the white light of the sun contains all colors of the visible spectrum, so all colors are possible in sunlight.

In school, most of us learned that a banana appears yellow because it reflects yellow light and absorbs all other wavelengths. This is not accurate. A banana scatters as much orange and red as it does yellow, and scatters all of the colors of the visible range to some degree or other [source: Bohren]. The real reason it looks yellow relates to how our eyes sense light. Before we get into that, however, let's look at what color the sky actually is.

thats why its blue. =D

[Hanuman]

Copy, Paste, Fail...

[ShabbaRanks]

But did Neil Armstrong go to the moon... ?

[Convas]

Did someone actually write an article about this? Call of Duty: Black Ops II will sell more solely because it exists on multiple platforms whereas Halo 4 only exists on Xbox 360.

The only logical thing you can conclude by pitting an exlusive with higher preorders than a multiplat competitor is that Halo 4 is more hotly anticipated than BO2 is.

Halo 4 is without a doubt my most anticipated game of the year, but I'm not discounting Black Ops II. Out of the two Call of Dutys I own, Black Ops is the better.

[Siren30]

I'm getting both. Couldn't care less which one is more popular

[Belking]

Can't wait for Halo4. I do think that COD will outsell it though.

[Angels3785]

WOW......I hate COD and I think you statement was ridiculous. COD will crush HALO in sales....doesn't make it a better game though.

[Belking]

I don't hate COD. Halo 4 will be the better game but COD has a larger fanbase being that it's a multi-plat.

[Angels3785]

Could have sworn your comment had "don't" in there as a reread it 4 times because I couldn't believe it. But yea I agree cod is an unfortunate monster and the sales don't represent the quality of the games.

[Pieface08]

Because halo dont come out every year. Tired of the same cod games...

[Angels3785]

AMEN bro!

[Captain Qwark 9]

almost actually...

2001 - halo combat evolved
2004 - halo 2
2007 - halo 3
2009 - halo odst
2010 - halo reach
2011 - halo combat evolved remake
2012 - halo 4

for the first 3, yes they released at a solid pace. however since 2007 there has only been one year without a halo fps something.

and imo there hasnt been a great halo since 3. i am looking forward to 4 though. i actually feel like dropping bungie is what the series needed. new talent to breathe new life into it

[HarryKawkReturns]

You forgot halo wars

[Captain Qwark 9]

@harry

nah i purposely left it off. while it is tech halo its not an fps so i dont think it counts. its a totaly different genre sharing name only and i think thats okay, as long as its a quality game and different genre then i dont think thats milking the genre. example, i wouldnt count any mariokart game as part of the mario platformer games, same scenario

also i would like to point out my biggest beef with the series sp is the lack of a cinematic campaign. imp with a title this huge, there is no reason it shouldnt be able to compete with a game like uncharted as far as story presentation goes. also the lack of enemy variety. as far as mp, my biggest beef is the level design. it was amazing in the first, beyond amazing in the second, damn good in 3, and awful from there on out.

[Balcrist]

ODST was originally supposed to be DLC for Halo 3, Only by the time they were finished, they realized that it was too big for most gamers to download, and that the most reasonable way to sell it was to put it on a disk....ODST was half a game, so i'm not gonna count that year...

Halo CE Remake I can't count as being a full game either because all they did was through some mp maps together, redo the graphics, and add connect options.... all in all not much to do compared with making an entire game... so i'm not gonna count that year either....

So, in my opinion, Halo comes out with a REAL game every 2-3 years

[Captain Qwark 9]

@balcrist....

well thats funny you mention that a remake and dlc turned game dont count becuase everyone always complains about how the next cod brings nothing new to the table and could have just been dlc so by your logic, cod hasnt had an actual new game since modern warfare.

i disagree, if its a title bringing anything new to the table and still in the same genre it counts. i could agree to some extent that the remake doesnt count but odst most certainly does since it added a new mode and a new campaign, thats not far from what most cod titles do every year

[unchartedxplorer]

Cause Halo is awesome

[DEATHxTHExKIDx]

Ive been done with COD since MW2, MW=Money wasted. Ive been waiting for a proper Halo Sequel. Modern warfare will problly outsell Halo for the simple fact its multiplat.

[Summons75]

Because Halo has a GOOD multiplayer, and actual story (even if some people don't like it), and the most important thing of all...time dedicated to actually developing the quality of the game and giving the players a game worth buying

[jjb1981]

The truth is that black ops 2 will outsell halo 4 and MW3 on release day. Halo is a freakin awesome game but the reigning champ is call of duty whether we like it or not...

[Parasyte]

Probably because Halo 4 has been anticipated by most 360 gamers since after Halo 3 came out in 2007.

Also, BO2 probably has low pre-order numbers right now because people are waiting to see whether they announce a Prestige Edition or not.

[Straightupbeastly]

No wonder why cod is doing preorder incentives this time around. They scurred!

[grahf]

Lets math, shall we. And also, lets just look at the 360.

At the time Black Ops 2 started taking pre-orders in the week ending on May 12th, Halo 4's pre-order count was up to 227k. At the end of June, 6 weeks later, Halo's pre-order count doubled Black Ops, 430k to 207k, and they were stride for stride in the weekly pre-order totals.

Enter July 1st, where Nuketown 2025 was announced.

Black Ops week-to-week numbers have exploded (peaking at 70k last week), and Halo's have diminished slightly then normalized back at 25k this past week.

If trends continue conservatively, Black Ops will overtake Halo in just a few weeks.

This has nothing to do with liking one more than the other, its just simple numbers. The article is misleading, and takes a situation where Halo has been leading the whole time regardless of the fact that it started pre-orders earlier.

Finally lets add PS3 into the mix:
249k + 429k > 507k
By quite a bit.

[greenpowerz]

You shouldn't add PS3 in the mix, the match up is console specific comparing the biggest selling games on the platform.

The return of chief is more powerful than you think.

[grahf]

Argh, I hate using my last bubble, but I guess I have to.

All the figures and trends up to the very bottom of my post are PS3-less, i made that disclaimer at the very top of my post.
Pre-orders to date for Halo 4 = 507k
Pre-orders to date for BlOps2 (360 only) = 429k

The 70k pre-orders last week were 360 exclusive, vs 25k for Halo 4.

PS3 had 43k of their own, and stands at 249k pre-orders, which I didn't mention until the very end.

For the 360 ONLY, I give it 3 weeks until BlOps is on top, unless 343/MS announce something special to bump pre-orders. But then Activision/Treyarch are having the multiplayer event at the end of August, and possibly announce the "Hardened" edition, which will spike pre-orders again.

I don't care how "powerful" the Chief is in your life. Halo 4 will sell VERY well, especially for an exclusive, and will be critically acclaimed.

Black Ops 2 will quite possibly double the sales numbers on the 360 alone, then match on the PS3. Its just the way it is.

[Lvl_up_gamer]

You are absolutely right to leave the PS3 sales out to give a proper comparison.

Halo is an amazing exclusive franchise that has time and time again proven it's a powerhouse for sales alas, there is no denying that the COD franchise has become the biggest selling IP for either console.

Halo 3 is the largest selling Halo game within the franchise at aprox 11.55 million.

Call of Duty's highest selling IP within the COD franchise is COD3 is 14.33 million on the 360 (let alone the 12.14 million on the PS3)with COD BO coming in 2nd in the franchise with 13.42 million on the 360 (let alone the 11.42 million on the PS3).

If Halo 4 sells more than Halo 3 (which I think it will since Halo 3 managed to sell around 7 million with just an 11 million install base) it still won't beat Call Of Duty.

just going by the numbers, COD is the defacto of mainstream franchises on either consoles. It's easy to pick up and play, lacks any real LORE or Back story and is in a genre that is the #1 selling genre this gen. COD is the Ridley Scott game while Halo is the George Lucas of games.

Either way, I enjoy both games immensely and have both on pre-order.

[GhostHero333]

My local Gamestop says black ops 2 currently doubles halo preorders. Also they say that a lot of people are waiting to get black ops 2 hardened edition to pre order.

[Straightupbeastly]

Halo takes skill it does not appeal to all of the 14 yr old kids and females that play call of dooky

[CodCom]

Give it a few more weeks and you can change the title to "Why Black Ops 2 has more pre-orders than Halo 4".

You even looked at the week over week change?

[Intentions]

Remember you have to take into account, some people don't pre order.

[Whore_Mouth]

The author only took into account the COD preorders on the 360. If you add the PS3 preorders, you have about 700,000 preorders to Halo 4's 450,000.

If you're going to write an article about something involving numbers, I would suggest being able to do math.
Or even say it's just on the 360.
Just sayin'.

[nano88]

because its better duhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh hh