Halo 3 News

OH BOY OH BOY!!! What’s the big word?! Well according to an article from Yahoo news

Microsoft Game Studios and Bungie Studios today celebrated the milestone by announcing an exclusive hands-on experience with “Halo 3,”
….
The Xbox Live® multiplayer public beta, which is a pre-release version of the multiplayer experience of “Halo 3,” is scheduled for availability in spring 2007

milestone of 5 years since Halo’s release btw. What else.

In addition, Microsoft Game Studios and Bungie confirmed today that consumers will be able to experience the “Halo” universe this holiday season through a one-time airing of a stirring, 60-second “Halo 3″ teaser ad.

One time meaning it’s gonna be on youtube forever. And more than likely downloadable off Xbox Live for some points.
And lastly

Finally, it was announced that new, premium downloadable content for “Halo 2,” exclusive to Xbox 360, is scheduled for release in spring 2007.

Alright! New maps!

So what it boils down to

• Multiplayer beta in the Spring of 2007.
• 1 minute commercial this Christmas (supposedly never aired again)
• Maps for Halo 2 in Spring of 2007

Holy hell!!! ALL of that for their 5 year anniversary? I’m amazed. And the best part? Most of it’s not for another few months!! Way to celebrate 5 years of your biggest hit game by announcing stuff that’s gonna come out in a few months. Oh yeah. There was also a screenshot. Little tip, if you’re gonna call attention to your 5 year mark, but only use it as a press release for things that are upcoming, maybe you should just avoid calling attention to that milestone eh?
Don’t get me wrong, a Halo 3 multiplayer beta announcement is cool and all, but I’m just a little miffed that they couldn’t think of anything better to do for a 5 year mark.

Instead of being all “Hey guys, 5 years ago we released our best game evAr. And so today we’ve got the devs out there joining random public games, we’ve got some new maps for you today, and we’ve got some free pre-order Halo 3 copies(the $99 version) we’re giving out to some random lucky players! Happy 5 years!!”

We get

“YAY For 5 years!! So uhh next year, Halo 3 multiplayer beta…we’ve got some new maps for Halo 2…but those are released next year as well…and oh…a one time commercial you’re probably gonna miss. And one last thing, here’s a screenshot. MASTER CHIEF FOREVER!!! Peace out.”

Color me unimpressed.