Halo 3 is coming out when? - Next week, in case you hadn't heard. The most anticipated game in history is almost upon us and Microsoft is doing a great job of reminding you and trying to get gamers pumped. So far its working. Despite more hype than even The Simpsons movie saw, I haven't met one gamer yet who isn't planning on getting it. But don't worry, I remain immune. Sure I've bought two Slurpee's at 7-Eleven just for the commorative cups, and maybe I'll be at GameCrazy next Monday (wearing my Bungie shirt) at midnight to pick up my Legendary Edition copy, and perhaps I have a Halo 3 faceplate on my Xbox 360, but I swear I'm not being taken in by the hype. Not me, not ever. Objective to the end, that's my motto.
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Here's the latest on the Halo 3 release, straight from Microsoft. Over the past couple of weeks I swear I've been getting 2-3 Halo 3 related emails a day from these guys. Again, this is straight from MS, my comments are in italics.
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- Midnight Madness: An unprecedented number – more than 10,000 retailers in the United States alone – will be opening their doors at midnight on September 25 to usher in the biggest day in entertainment history. Fans (or nerds like me) will be invited to participate in a variety of activities at local retailers to countdown to “Halo 3’s” launch. Major regional events will be held in select locations including New York City, Seattle, Los Angeles and Miami (sucks for the rest of us). Those who make the trek to be a part of the countdown could (if you can fight off all the other fanboys) score free merchandise and get a chance to play Halo 3 with local celebrities (meaning a local TV weatherman or morning DJ) in on-site Game with Fame sessions. Regional event locations include:
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o New York City – Best Buy, 529 5th Ave, New York, NY, 10017
o Seattle – Best Buy, 457 120th Ave NE, Bellevue, WA 98005
o Los Angeles – Gamestop, 1000 Universal Studios Blvd, Universal City, CA 91608
o Miami – Circuit City, 8575 Northwest 13th Terrace, Miami, FL 33126
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- First to Own: Pontiac is teaming up with Microsoft to provide 1,000 lucky winners a copy of “Halo 3” before it’s available in stores with their “First to Own” promotion. Gamers can log onto http://www.pontiac.com/halo3 now for a chance to win! (What are you waiting for? Save yourself $60!)
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o New York City – Best Buy, 529 5th Ave, New York, NY, 10017
o Seattle – Best Buy, 457 120th Ave NE, Bellevue, WA 98005
o Los Angeles – Gamestop, 1000 Universal Studios Blvd, Universal City, CA 91608
o Miami – Circuit City, 8575 Northwest 13th Terrace, Miami, FL 33126
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- First to Own: Pontiac is teaming up with Microsoft to provide 1,000 lucky winners a copy of “Halo 3” before it’s available in stores with their “First to Own” promotion. Gamers can log onto http://www.pontiac.com/halo3 now for a chance to win! (What are you waiting for? Save yourself $60!)
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- Best Buy Presents Three Days Free on Xbox LIVE: Best Buy is sponsoring Xbox LIVE Gold for free during the first three days of Halo 3 availability - September 25 through September 27. (This of course, doesn't apply to most people who will buy the game anyway.)
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- Xbox LIVE and Best Buy Play & Win Sweepstakes: 8,000 Microsoft Points (Now you have my attention!) will be given away during the free Xbox LIVE period to a total of 144 randomly selected people. Those first prize winners will then be entered for a chance to win one of two grand prizes, which include a Halo themed Pontiac G6 GXP Street Edition (ARV $28,000) and a Samsung home theater entertainment system (ARV $3,499.97). To enter the sweepstakes, consumers can register and then play Halo 3 over Xbox Live (or follow free mail-in entry instructions).
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- Halo 3 Game with Fame: To celebrate “Halo 3’s” launch, Game with Fame sessions will take place during the first week of launch, pitting gamers against their favorite actors, bands, and sports stars over Xbox LIVE. (I'm hoping for Jessica Alba, but will probably end up with Drew Carey)
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- Game with Bungie: The development team behind “Halo 3” will be glued to Xbox LIVE the week of launch, giving gamers a chance not only to play with the talent behind the game of the year, but also to learn the strategies of the pros who know all the ins and outs. (This might be useful to use against my brother and my son who are much better than me.)
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- Exclusive Marketplace Content: For Xbox LIVE Gold members, Halo 3”will be making a trip to their dashboard with a new Xbox 360 Halo 3 theme as well as a Gamerpic, only available “Unite to Fight” week. (Where's the word "free"? I don't think I saw that anywhere.)
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- Unite to Fight: Play & Win: Gamers can register their Gamertag at http://www.xbox.com/unitetofight starting September 11 and then play “Halo 3” between September 28 and September 30 to enter the sweepstakes. Prizes will be randomly drawn and will include “Halo” accessory packs, Xbox 360 Halo 3 Special Edition Consoles, Halo 3 Edition Zunes, Microsoft Points, and the Halo Graphic Novel. (This would be the only way I'd ever own a Zune.)
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- Halo 3 Game with Fame: To celebrate “Halo 3’s” launch, Game with Fame sessions will take place during the first week of launch, pitting gamers against their favorite actors, bands, and sports stars over Xbox LIVE. (I'm hoping for Jessica Alba, but will probably end up with Drew Carey)
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- Game with Bungie: The development team behind “Halo 3” will be glued to Xbox LIVE the week of launch, giving gamers a chance not only to play with the talent behind the game of the year, but also to learn the strategies of the pros who know all the ins and outs. (This might be useful to use against my brother and my son who are much better than me.)
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- Exclusive Marketplace Content: For Xbox LIVE Gold members, Halo 3”will be making a trip to their dashboard with a new Xbox 360 Halo 3 theme as well as a Gamerpic, only available “Unite to Fight” week. (Where's the word "free"? I don't think I saw that anywhere.)
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- Unite to Fight: Play & Win: Gamers can register their Gamertag at http://www.xbox.com/unitetofight starting September 11 and then play “Halo 3” between September 28 and September 30 to enter the sweepstakes. Prizes will be randomly drawn and will include “Halo” accessory packs, Xbox 360 Halo 3 Special Edition Consoles, Halo 3 Edition Zunes, Microsoft Points, and the Halo Graphic Novel. (This would be the only way I'd ever own a Zune.)
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6 comments:
My clan and I (2Old2PWN) are so excited about the release of Halo 3...just 6 more days!
I can't believe this will be the largest media launch ever...including movies. That is nuts!
Anyhow keep up the great work and I enjoyed reading your blog :)
Now you've met one. Frankly, I could care less about Master Chief 3. When you think about it... how lame IS the name Master Chief? Lame. VERY lame. Where did they dig this name up from anyway... the Department of Redundant Redunancies? ;)
Wow...Eli and I on the same page! You've now met two people that could really care less about the hype machine that is Halo 3. If it's that great...why all the hype? Oh yeah, because it's repackaged BS that really doesn't offer anything new. At one time Halo was it, but now most games follow suit, and do it better.
CoD4! Watch out for this one - Shooter of the Year!
with all due respect the the two posts above there's no doubt in my mind Halo 3 will be the game of the year. It's how many years after Halo 2 and it's still the first or second most played game on xbox live.
scrolling through your older posts i'm also excited to see that most of the acheivment points seem reasonably attainable (although admittedly defeating the game on legend will be really tough, maybe with the 4 player co-op it will be possible.)
Oh I have no doubt that Halo 3 has a possiblity of being named game of the year. I mean honestly it looks to me like a rehashed Halo 2. After I play it for awhile tonight I'll decide if playing it FEELS like playing a rehashed Halo 2. COD 4, however, is a completely new game. Nothing like COD or COD 2. Completely redone. Incredible game, having only played the beta. Even if the features in this beta were ALL the full version had to offer, I would still put it above Halo 3.
Plus, COD 4 is going to be on PC as well. Dunno about Halo 3.
Ok..I played Halo 3 multiplayer for about 4 hours and....(drum roll) I was right. The multiplayer plays like a rehashed Halo 2. If you've played alot of PC games that came out with mods to them, Halo 3 will no doubt make you feel like you're playing a Halo 2 mod. A few different/more weapons, some new items, new maps, etc. The theater is cool 'n all, but I'm talking about actual game play here. It feels no different than Halo 2 did to me. I still get killed every couple seconds by some guy that I didn't know was behind me...hehe.
It's got higher fps and higher resolution and the overall graphics are prettier than Halo 2, but not by much. Which is not necessary that terrible of a thing. I mean, Halo 2 looked pretty good for an XBOX game. Some people have pointed out the high fps of Halo 3 and how smooth it runs. Well, it SHOULD run smooth since there isn't much to the graphics.
In conclusion: Fun game...not much new about it. Worth buying? Definitely yes for Halo 2 fans. Probably yes to people who don't have an opinion of Halo 2, definitely no but people that hated Halo 2.
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