But Halo came out at a critical time for the Xbox (launch title) and most gamers don't know a decent FPS from a hole in the ground. Thus, everyone loves Halo and Doom 3. Go figure. IMO Halo wasn't any better than Red Faction (I'd say I liked Red Faction a bit more, actually).

Then again, if joe sixpack liked the games I like, then we'd be seeing a shit load more vertical shooters in the US and we'd be playing Need for Speed Porsche Unleased 3 instead of Need For Speed Underground 2.

Also, Gearbox did a pretty shitty job of porting Halo over to the PC and I really hope that someone competent (ie. in house production team at MS or even Bungie themselves) ports Halo 2. I have no doubts that Halo 2 is far superior to the first game.