Halo 3

By Luke Plunkett But Modern Warfare 2? We all knew it was coming, sure, and everyone knew it was going to be popular - the first Modern Warfare, after all, has sold well over 10 million copies - but I don't think many people realised it was going to "maybe biggest game of all time" big. There were some game traile...

By Mike Fahey Halo 3: It's Halo 3. Of course this is an Xbox 360-exclusive, so PlayStation 3 and PC players can't use this as an option, but it's an excellent alternative for Microsoft fans. You prefer your shooters a little more futuristic. We get that completely. Carry on.

By Owen Good • Guitar Hero 5 took a $24 haircut on Buy.com and is only $69.99, game and git-tar. Deal's good for Wii, PS3 and 360 versions. [Dealzon] Software • James Bond: 007 Quantum of Solace on Xbox 360 for $14.99, free shipping, through Newegg. [TDD]

By Brian Crecente Incensed politicians, angry fans, boycotting retailers: What might be the biggest video game launch in history has more than its share of controversy. And Bowling denies that Infinity Ward and Activision are more focused on making the console versions of the game than a solid PC version.

By Michael McWhertor While our cats have been enjoying the comfort of Halo helmets for years now, the human market is sadly underserved. At least one human will be well protected, thanks to this Halo 3 ODST motorcycle helmet. Exclusive: Jorge Lorenzo to wear Halo 3 ODST helmet at Valencia [MCN - thanks, Jorge!]

By Mike Fahey So now the fans are watching Halo Waypoint. They're keeping track of their progression; replaying Halo 3 and Halo Wars in order to complete innovative achievements that span all the Halo 3 360 titles; and learning about the Halo Universe through an stylized information database.

By Luke Plunkett The Mongoose is actually a modified Kawasaki ATV, and was used rather publicly during the big Halo 3 launch event in New York City a few years back. Should still be in good shape if the seller's appraisal checks out, but Halo 3 purists please note: no mention is made of whether you can actually...

By Michael McWhertor They're certainly not what we'd call quality shots—it's doubtful that Bungie or Microsoft would be pleased about the leak, given their quality—but at least it gives the hardcore Halo fans a taste of what to expect when Halo: Reach ships next year.

By Luke Plunkett The handheld RPG sold 3.93 million units, well clear of Wii Sports Resort, the game in second place (with 3 million). In third was Madden 10, on 2.6 million, while Pokemon Heartgold & Soulsilver sold 2.1 million and Halo 3: ODST 1.8 million. Dragon Quest IX is Q3 global best-seller [GI.biz]

By Brian Crecente There will also be a silent auction for a number of items including a copy of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Fortune Hunter's Edition, which comes with a CD of the game's soundtrack and a copy of the Brady Games guide; a 3L etched bottle of 8BitVintners wine, rare Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 mixtape vinyl...

By Mike Fahey We sought out writers who came to the table with an obvious passion for Halo and amazing story ideas." says Eric Raab, Tor editor. "We got stuff for every kind of Halo fan from straight up action with the Master Chief to glimpse into the Elite mindset post Halo 3, and some really cool exploratio...

By Owen Good Williams was the first (and so far, only) writer to produce a walkthrough for Halo 3: ODST for GameFAQs, not that he's bragging about it. He found it to be almost a fluke experience, owed in part to ODST's notoriously short campaign mode that's drawn some complaints.

By Stephen Totilo Waypoint will allow Halo fans to watch Halo videos, track their quest for new Halo gameplay awards, brush up on Halo lore and learn about great Halo players. It will also likely be something that they can someday play. Another sample of an award would be a career-completion tracker than leve...

By Stephen Totilo Notable new releases that failed to make the overall software top 10 (With no console or handheld version selling more than 208,600 units in the U.S. by October 3): Dirt 2 (September 8), LittleBigPlanet: Game of the Year Edition (September 8), Mini Ninjas (September 8), Muramasa: The Demo...

By Michael McWhertor 01. Halo 3: ODST (Xbox 360) - 1,520,000 02. Wii Sports Resort (Wii) - 442,900 03. Madden NFL 10 (Xbox 360) - 298,600 05. The Beatles: Rock Band (Xbox 360) - 254,000 07. Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 (Xbox 360) - 236,000 09. Guitar Hero 5 (Xbox 360) - 210,800 10. The Beatles: Rock Band (Wii) - 208,600

By Brian Crecente The biggest promise the Games for Windows initiative made when it initially was unveiled was that it would be backed by a huge marketing campaign, one similar to the push Microsoft gave the Xbox 360 when it hit. Microsoft declined to comment for this article.

By Stephen Totilo The video marketplace on the Xbox 360 has been re-branded with the Microsoft Zune brand. I checked that out as part of my preview of the new features coming to the 360 for Xbox Live users next month. Check out part 3 of this November Xbox 360 Dashboard Update preview, which shows Last.FM on my 360.

By Mike Fahey Master Chief is such an iconic gaming figure that it almost seems wrong to have an FPS with the Halo name on it without him. It's like a Mario game without Mario in it, or a Team Ninja game without breasts. Yet here we are, with a brand-new single-player adventure in the Halo universe with no sign...

By Stephen Totilo Bungie's fourth Halo game, Halo 3: ODST, will officially be released for the Xbox 360 this week. A side story of a campaign that leads into the events of Halo 3, the game stars less powerful protagonists than series champion Master Chief. It is packaged in a way that has provoked consumer doub...

By Stephen Totilo Free Drinks: I posted a batch of images from my visit last week to Microsoft's Washington State Xbox 360 offices. I showed statues and banners but decided to save the images of Xbox champagne for a more frivolous moment, like the moment you're taking to read this. At the top of this post you'll...

By Owen Good Microsoft Taking Action Against Those Who Buy and Play Halo 3: ODST Early Universal Ratings Raises Its Head Again, ESA Responds Xbox 360 Not Even At Halfway Point, No Slim Planned PS3 Slim Vs. Xbox 360 Elite: Tale of the Tape Microsoft Confirms Xbox 360 Price Drop, Denies Slim 360 Rumors

By Michael McWhertor O'Connor says that Waypoint, accessed from the Xbox 360 dashboard, and likely from the My Xbox section, will be a "really good place for you to interact with other people." As far as pricing, O'Connor says that Microsoft is still figuring out whether Xbox Live Silver members will need to pa...

By Mike Fahey We were pretty certain this was the case over the weekend, but you know how much we like to have solid facts to back up our solid rumors. Microsoft verified the date in a press alert today, which highlighted the three new Halo 3 maps along with the new Gears of War 2 maps due out on the 31st of this m...

By Luke Plunkett 3. PS3 DUALSHOCK 3 WIRELESS CONTROLLER SONY 4. 360 LIVE 1600 POINT GAME CARD MICROSOFT 5. 360 LIVE 1 MONTH GOLD CARD MICROSOFT 6. 360 LIVE 12 MONTH GOLD CARD MICROSOFT 8. WII CHARGE STATION NYKO 9. WII WHEEL GRIP NINTENDO OF AMERICA 10. 360 HEADSET MICROSOFT

By Luke Plunkett In 2007 she was also lucky enough to win tickets to attend the launch of Halo 3 where she walked the red carpet with Master Chief, Pharrell Williams, Christian Slater amongst other celebs. THE UK'S "HOTTEST" "HALO FAN" [UK:Resistance]

By Luke Plunkett Best feature of the New Xbox Experience isn't avatars, or a new UI, it's the ability to install games to the console's HDD. It was - in our wildest dreams, anyway - meant to cut down on two of the 360's biggest problems: loud DVD drives, and long waits for load times/disc caching. But does it? Eur...

By Stuart Houghton With the help of Xbox 360, they have come up with a custom painted Halo 3 Xbox 360 — one of only two in existence — that has been signed by the entire Halo 3 development team. This console is being auctioned on eBay, with all proceeds going to Make-A-Wish.

By Brian Crecente Bungie unveiled the new Halo 3 map at Penny Arcade Expo, giving convention attendees a chance to beat each other up. The map, formerly known as Purple Reign, is now officially called Assembly and it's pretty impressive looking. No word yet from Bungie on when or how they're going to be sendin...

By Michael McWhertor The Ministry of Information at Bungie has seen fit to provide those of us who aren't attending PAX this year a look at the newest of Halo 3 maps, known as Assembly. Formerly known as the infinitely more ear-pleasing "Purple Reign", the map will be playable by Halo uber-fans at the Penny Arcad...

By Brian Crecente I received a box set of Halo 3 Covenant Plasma Pistols in the mail yesterday. The two guns and two targets are sold together as a Halo-themed laser pursuit game. I haven't had a chance to play yet (that's for this weekend), but they seem like they're pretty well put together and have a nice set of...

By Leigh Alexander Imagine this: You designed missions and gameplay for Halo 3 alongside lead designer Jamie Griesemer at Bungie. After wrapping up one of the hugest hardcore smash successes of all time, what's your next move? Hang around to help continue the Halo franchise? Parlay your way into a choice ro...

By Luke Plunkett In January, $297 million was spent on the Xbox 360 platform (hardware, software and accessories combined), compared to $244 million on Wii and $219 million on PS3. (U.S. NPD, January) Six of the top 10 best selling games in January are on Xbox 360's platform. (U.S. NPD, January)

By Michael McWhertor 2008 is looking to be replete with video game shoes, with Nike issuing Skate or Die and 720-inspired shoes under its Nike SB line and Adidas pumping out a Halo branded pair of kicks. The Adidas Gil II Zero Halo Sneaker is one of many Gilbert Arenas-approved designs—remember the NBA Live 08 sh...

By Mark Wilson Fast forward to 2007. The Xbox 360 is beating the golden boy PlayStation 3. And Halo 3 is the top selling game—on any platform—all year in the US. Because these two audiences have different understandings of Halo 3 and the Xbox 360 brands, Wunderman must also present that Halo/Xbox relations...

By Mike Fahey After seeing the Evlmidget25 Halo suicide clip I posted back in late December, Games Radar's Chris Antista took it upon himself to go about creating his own, 2-person suicide, involving multiple plasma grenades, a destroyed vehicle, multiple explosions, and exactly the sort of music...

In a licensing agreement with Microsoft, McFarlane Toys is producing action figures based on the video game series Halo®. Last few week we dazzled you with photos of the Arbiter (see it here). Now we're proud to bring you the Series 2 Master Chief, Spartans, ODST Soldier and Brute Stalker.

By Luke Plunkett We've featured both McFarlane's and Kotobukiya's take on a replica Master Chief previously, and while both are great, they lack the detail to be found in these mini-busts from Gentle Giant. Available in March for USD$55, they'll ship in three variants: one with an assault rifle, one with...

By Brian Crecente Just minutes after the Halo 3 map packs were supposed to hit, and hadn't quite yet, we had already received an email from a very antsy and very agitated Halo fan. So it's probably worthwhile to note that the Halo 3 Heroic Map Pack is now available.

By Mark Wilson Wired's Clive Thompson has written a thought-provoking piece on Halo 3 multiplayer, explaining how his lack of time with the game has led to his general suckage, and how his general suckage has led to a strategy eerily parallel to that of real-life suicide bombers, in which he runs Kamika...

By fdemarco After some trial and error, he was eventually able to host a Halloween Halo 3 LAN party at his house with ten Xbox 360s all run through his cell phone's internet connection. I don't pretend to understand all the technical aspects of this amazing feat, so if you wish to learn more, go check out D...

By Mark Wilson Granted, the addition of two letters would bring us Halo 3DD, which would be appealing to at least a niche market. So maybe once we get sick of looking at Master Chief in 3D, we can learn to love his...other traits. How To: Make Stereo 3D Halo 3 Screenshots [via gaygamer] [flickr]

By Brian Crecente o Xbox 360 sales built upon its growth from last month, showing a 50 percent increase for the month of September selling an average of 105,600 consoles per week. Total sales were more than 528,000 Xbox 360 consoles sold, compared to 501,000 for Wii and 119,000 for PS3.

By Brian Crecente Thanks a lot, guys. Now Billie Edington over at MTV's Multiplayer thinks we all have some sort of odd body paint fetish. Remember last week when I posted about her quest to build a Halo 3 costume? Remember when nearly half of you suggested she go the body paint route? Well, Billie does.

By Maggie Greene It's nothing that hasn't been noted in a million blog posts over the years, but in an op-ed piece in the New York Times, Daniel Radosh is saying it again. Too much emphasis on graphics, not enough emphasis on narrative - and sometimes those purty cut scenes can be a hindrance to a satisfying ga...

By Brian Ashcraft Today, when in the bathroom, I noticed a chart of hiragana characters. In Japanese, there are three basic writing systems: hiragana, katakana and Chinese kanji. Kids start learning hiragana first, then katakana, then kanji. Mini Bash is learning hiragana. It's not *that* hard as compared...

By Brian Crecente In the great tradition of decades of "hacks" (us, non-collegiate types call them pranks), the folks at MIT snuck into Harvard Yard on the day of the Halo 3 launch and dressed book-donor John Harvard up as the Master Chief, complete with a fancy Spartan Helmet and Battle rifle. What amazes me...

By Brian Ashcraft All considered, campaign, presentation, the replay mode, online/multiplayer/co-op modes, I'd give the game a solid 9.5/10 Single Player: Multiplayer: I hate when people refer Halo multiplayer as FAST PACED. Unreal Tournament is fast paced, Halo 3 feels like Doom. God, I hate Halo!

By Brian Crecente You've read my review of the single player and multiplayer portions of Halo 3. You've seen our Frankenreview of a lot of other peoples reviews. But with the game now available in stores, now it's time to tell us what you think of the game. Here's the deal, we're using the honor system, but I'd lik...

By Mark Wilson Eurogamer IGN Let's get the Arbiter clear. He's the bad ass "Chief" of the Elites. He should be able to handle his own. In the campaign, the Arbiter and Master Chief are BFF. If you play alone, the AI takes control of the Arbiter and allows him to tag along. Enjoy watching your supposed equal gettin...

By Mike Fahey On the left you will see Rufus. Rufus didn't want a replica Spartan helmet, so you might have him to thank if you run out to the store real quick and still find a preorder available for the Halo 3 Legendary Edition here in the states. A Microsoft spokesman told GamesIndustry.biz that while there...

By Mark Wilson In a Best Buy promotional event, Microsoft is offering Halo 3 gamer pictures along with one theme for free for a "limited time." Here's our five second review: If you do download the theme, know that it's categorized under "Best Buy" and not "Halo 3."

By Michael McWhertor Bungie's Halo 3 may seem like the kind of game that doesn't require anything beyond pocket change to effectively advertise. Day one sales are practically guaranteed to be in the bazillions, netting Microsoft an estimated trizillion dollars by the holidays. Regardless of the game's pred...

By Flynn De Marco Games Radar has posted an interesting interview with Editor-in-Chief of Official Xbox Magazine, Francesca Reyes who apparently has gone to Bungie and played through and beaten the entire of Halo 3. When asked about the experience, Reyes who lives in San Francisco, had this to say: ...I thou...

By Brian Ashcraft What better way to introducing consumers to your game by frightening the shit outta them! Since most South Koreans don't know Halo, Microsoft Korea thought it would be HILARIOUS have a guy in a Master Chief costume spook innocent bystanders and film it Candid Camera-style and use cheesy...

By Brian Crecente It looks like the Halo 3 achievements have popped up over on the official Xbox site, I've posted pics of them all on the jump, but be warned, the names for the game's nine campaign missions are in there so don't look if that bothers you. Xbox]

By Luke Plunkett After stowing away on a Forerunner spacecraft, Master Chief, a genetically altered, cybernetically enhanced Spartan supersoldier, must race back to Earth to stop the Covenant once and for all and save mankind. With his artificial intelligence companion Cortana in the grip of the Floo...

Back in March, we brought word that collectible knick-knack maker Corgi International struck a deal with Microsoft to churn out Halo 3 goodies. An update: the line-up will be dubbed "Master Replicas" and contain scaled replica weapons, helmets and vehicles. That's not all! It will featu...

By Brian Ashcraft To bring late-comers up to speed: Make a Master Chief costume, snap a picture and send it to kotakucontest@gmail.com by June 1st. Any material may be used — creativity encouraged! The catch is that the costume must be made by you, and you must be 18 years or older. Brian Ashcraft

Contest time! Earlier, Crecente posted these two limited edition, very cool Halo 3 Beta shirts he swiped. Now, we want to give them away. To you. To keep in the clothes theme, this round is going to be a cone hat cosplay contest. Here are the details: Make a Master Chief costume, snap a picture and...

By Michael McWhertor When Halo 3 beta testers get their sweaty hands on the beta test version this week, all hell will break loose online. Bungie's Frank O'Connor tells MTV News-man Stephen Totilo a handful of things every beta tester simply must do during the three-week trial. No, sleep's not on the list.

At the New York City edition of the Halo 3 press preview, the Bungie tame found time for a quick Q&A before hands-on time. Some known, some new info within, so keep reading. 16, same as Halo. It is modified, but we do work with the TrueSkill guys in Cambridge, yeah.

By Brian Ashcraft A while back, Wired mag's Editor-in-Chief, The Long Tail author and LEGO lover Chris Anderson got sauced on wine with Bungie's in-house composer Marty O'Donnell, who promised the editor a Halo 3 voice cameo. And yesterday, it happened. Anderson saw a big chunk of the game, but is NDA'd so is...

By Brian Crecente In his weekly update, Bungie's Frankie says some big things are coming this week. You've got the two new Halo 2 multiplayer maps, Desolation and Tombstone, for $4 hitting next week. Also, there will be a new auto-update for the game, new playlists and they will be resetting all rankings. Bung...

By Mike Fahey HALO 2 MULTIPLAYER MAPS REVEALED Microsoft Game Studios and Bungie Studios today confirmed the upcoming release of two new, eagerly awaited downloadable maps for "Halo 2." The maps will be available as premium downloadable content for Xbox and Xbox 360 on April 17.

By Michael McWhertor The official Bungie site has a fascinating look at the monumental amount of work involved in making Halo 3: The Legendary Edition a reality. Adding in a replica Spartan helmet for the uber version of the game just makes an already complicated product even more challenging.

By Mark Wilson We've all heard about Realtime Worlds' latest Halo 3 demo GTA-clone (can we all stop using this phrase already) Crackdown for Xbox 360. You play a supercop who can use "any means necessary" to take back a city dominated by a geopolitically diverse selection of gangs.

By Mike Fahey On this, the five year anniversary of the release of the original Halo, Bungie has unleashed a storm of Halo news in honor of the newly christened Halo Day! The biggest news by far has to be the announcement of a Halo 3 public multiplayer demo hitting Xbox Live this spring, which will give mil...

By Brian Ashcraft Over at 1Up, their intense Halo 3 coverage is getting underway. Luke Smith gets the ball rolling declaring his undying affection for things Master Chief: I like the Metal Gear games, I think Zelda games are consistently excellent, but there's something about Halo (for me) that's just dif...