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Halo 3 "transcended pop culture" by making MC a hero

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Speaking at MI6 in San Francisco Chris Lee, a global group product manager for Microsoft, has explained how making Master Chief a hero in the eyes of the American people was responsible for the series' gigantic sales. From this Gamedaily piece:

Chris Lee, a global group product manager from Microsoft, talks about why putting a human face on Master Chief was so crucial. "We didn't have an awareness problem – people knew Halo 3 was coming out. We had a perception problem."

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.

It's well documented that comic stars such as Superman and Captain America became extremely popular in the US during times of national insecurity, so this could be the same effect, we suppose. Except that Master Chief's green. Although that could be compared to combat fatigues. Ignore us. It's early.

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Halo 3

Xbox 360, PC

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Patrick Garratt

Founder & Publisher (Former)

Patrick Garratt is a games media legend - and not just by reputation. He was named as such in the UK's 'Games Media Awards', the equivalent of a lifetime achievement award. After garnering experience on countless gaming magazines, he joined Eurogamer and later split from that brand to create VG247, putting the site on the map with fast, 24-hour a day coverage, and assembling the site's earliest editorial teams. He retired from VG247, and the games industry, in 2017.

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