RSSHalo 3 Set to Debut September 25
By Nate Mook | Published May 16, 2007, 10:35 AM
At a special event in Los Angeles late Tuesday, Microsoft announced that its highly-anticipated "Halo 3" title for the Xbox 360 will hit store shelves on September 25. A multiplayer beta for Halo 3 begins today, and Microsoft is launching a Halo-styled Zune next month.
Halo 3 is the final installment in Microsoft's most popular gaming franchise, which was created by developer Bungie Studios. The game promises to "set a new standard for interactive storytelling and social gaming by engaging consumers worldwide in Master Chief’s epic battle to save humankind." Multiplayer support through Xbox live is a major selling point.
Peter Moore, the head of Microsoft's entertainment division, says that Halo 3 isn't just game, but "the biggest entertainment event of the year." While its easy to shrug off the hype, it's clear the title is of critical importance to Microsoft.
Company executives hope that Halo 3 will spur sales of the Xbox 360, which is seeing increasingly fierce competition from its competitors, especially the Nintendo Wii. The title is to be released in the fall, right before the crucial holiday season.
Halo was largely responsible for making the first Xbox a success, and Halo 2 was a huge hit for the company, selling some 2.5 million copies in just the first day of availability. Microsoft expects a similar reception for the third installment.
Those interested in joining the multiplayer beta of Halo 3 must purchase a specially-marked copy of the game "Crackdown," which was released in February. Crackdown will serve as a "key" to access the beta on Xbox Live, Microsoft said.
Three maps will be made available within the beta: "Snowbound," "High Ground" and "Valhalla." Gamers would also be able to play with the new weapons, vehicles and game types that are to become part of the larger Halo 3 release due this fall.
Beyond the beta, Microsoft is releasing a special edition Zune portable music player to aid in promoting Halo 3. The $249 USD player comes pre-loaded with artwork, trailers and music from all three "Halo" games, as well as an exclusive new episode of "Red vs. Blue." The Halo Zune will go on sale exclusively at GameStop on June 15.
Im a big halo fan and cant wait. Main reason i bought the xbox360. Ill buy the ps3 when gran tourismo comes out for it. Bout time they gave a date for the game, yippie!!
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|...and Halo 2 Vista will be released...when?
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|H2 is coming out on the 22. Games do get delayed and it happens often. I guess other game makers never have delays.
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|???
It was a simple question.
Thanks for the answer, but no thanks for the snarky comment that followed.
I was making no innuendo about any delays it might have had. Frankly, I didn't even know it had been delayed.
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|Yes it had and sorry if I offened. I just see so many people looking for cahnces to take shots at MS.
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|May 22nd?
*checks bank account*
Yeah, we're good.
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|The screenshots I have seen, Halo3 looks bad. Nowhere as near as pretty as Gears Of War..
If this is all the 360 can offer as it's flagship title, then I'm glad I bought a PS3...
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|If you don't own and obviously hate the 360 so much why did you even bother to post something here.
Game looks great to me. To me a fun game is much more important than one that looks good. I have seen many stellar looking games totally stink.
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|lmao.
Comparing a shipping title with one in early beta.
Now *that* takes brains, style *and* class.
/sarcasm
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|then I'm glad I bought a PS3...That has crappier games than the 360 and a far less variety.
There I fixed it for yah.
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|When you had your PS2 I thought graphics didn't matter, it was about the gameplay?
Your kind of contradict yourself. You first say it's "Nowhere as near as pretty as Gears Of War.." then say "If this is all the 360 can offer as it's flagship title,".
You shouldn't base how good a system is just by looking at one game either. There's many other games out there for the 360, more than the PS3. There's actually more exclusives out for the 360. That article also says the Wii even has more exclusives than the PS3. If you had to choose one system the choice is obvious to me. Save $200 and get the Xbox 360 with more games and exclusives. Or save $350 and get the Wii also with more exclusive games. You could even get both the Wii and the Xbox 360 for about the same price as the PS3. Though the Wii does come with a game so it would make it cheaper than the PS3 with a $60 PS3 game.
You have to consider though too that the game is still in beta so they still have time to make the graphics better if they wanted, but me personally I'd rather have better gameplay over graphics.
And everybody knows, your just a Sony fangirl and will try to spin any 360 news into negative news.
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|Exactly! You beat me to my long and drawn out post and got to the point. :)
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|Lol I like to keep it short and sweet. However much it takes to get my point across.
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