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In this article on Advertising Age, there is speculation that the poor box office is a result of the ‘Halo Effect’ (ie: Too many people buying and playing Halo to go see a movie).

I disagree. Let’s look at the three big mediums creating entertainment that are fighting for movie-goers time.

Movie Theaters:
- Turn around time to DVD is faster than ever before.
- Movie piracy is higher than ever before.
- Fall 2007 has produced very, very few ‘must see’ movies. (Did anyone really line-up early on opening night for The Heartbreak Kid, The Game Plan or We Own the Night?)

Video Games:
- Downloadable content, persistent worlds and multiplayer on console are all booming.
- Piracy counter measures continue to grow.
- Fall 2007 has produced some of the highest rated video games of all time (Bioshock, Halo 3, World in Conflict, Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, World in Conflict, COH: Opposing Fronts - and the deal of the century - Orange Box.)

Television:
- Serialized content results in live broadcasts being ‘events’.
- Piracy? Screw that! We’ll put our own episodes online for free. TV beats them by joining them.
- Fall 2007 sees the return of some of the most successful, cult followed TV series ever. (Heroes, Lost, Avatar and a ton of new series trying to steal their thunder.)

This isn’t a question of a ‘Halo Effect.’ It’s a matter of quality. Gaming simply put together its most anticipated fall line-up ever and TV is at the peak of a new revival in televised entertainment. Both mediums are adapting fast to piracy.

Movie Theaters on the other hand, put out a terrible Sept/Oct line-up. Summer was great (if for nothing else, Superbad), but the fall releases have been pretty weak. Piracy is running rampant in Hollywood, and the only weapon left in the arsenal is ‘the theatre experience’.

Now I’m not hating on theaters, I love to go see movies. But if they want to blame someone for a drop in box office, they had better start with themselves.