Video Games

I'm as excited as the next guy about Halo 3, but the hype around the game is getting absurd.

And what's really funny is Microsoft's insistence that it's keeping the hype to a minimum.

In an interview with Reuters, Steve Schrek, director of franchise development at Microsoft, said the company is carefully deciding how to license Halo for merchandising purposes.

Items that did not make the cut were a Halo-themed lottery ticket, lingerie modeled after a female hologram character and toy guns based on the game's weapons. Instead, he noted, fans can expect action figures from McFarlane Toys, a tabletop game from WizKids Inc. and replica weapons for mature buyers.

"We're very clear with them that this is not about running out and carpet bombing everything. This is figuring out how, in five years, we're hitting new customers, as opposed to: in five years, nobody cares," Mr. Schrek added.

He talks a good game, but let's run down the list of items that did make the cut:

• Halo 3-branded Mountain Dew Game Fuel beverage (with "added caffeine for maximum intensity")

• Halo 3-branded Slurpee cups

• Halo 3-branded Doritos

• Halo 3-branded hamburger wrappers and other packaging from Burger King

• Halo 3-branded NASCAR race car at the Dover 400 Nextel Cup Series race at Dover International Speedway

• Halo 3-branded G6 GXP Street car being given away by Pontiac

The blitz has already sparked plenty of mockery on game blogs and other sites.

I don't really think the marketing is a bad idea – it works for Spider-Man and Shrek and Harry Potter, why not games? – although Microsoft needs to be careful of alienating hard-core gamers who are reflexively cynical about their hobby going mainstream.

But why not go whole hog, Microsoft?

I say crank out the Master Chief negligees, lotto tickets, floor polish, steak sauce, flood insurance (you know, for the Flood?), dental floss, office supplies and lawn ornaments.

Come to think of it, a Master Chief lawn ornament would be pretty cool.

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