Mr. Bunny posted in the HBO forum that Halo was mentioned in stories covering the upcoming console wars this holiday season, both in the Washtech section of the Washington Post and the New York Times (registration required). The Post used Halo as an example of how Microsoft's strategy differs from Nintendo's:

The first batch of games available for each console reveal that each one is targeting a slightly different audience. The first title out of the gate for the Xbox will be Halo, a shooter game originally designed for PCs. It's a complex, flashy-looking adventure about Marines fighting aliens, a timeless theme among 18-and-up gamers.

Nintendo's GameCube launch titles will be more kid-oriented, featuring the company's longest-running characters Ч for instance, Luigi's Mansion, a cartoony ghost-hunting game that extends the Mario franchise, and Super Smash Bros. Melee, which incorporates such celebrity characters as Zelda and Pikachu.

For the Times, apparently DOA was more visually appealing... wonder why that is.