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Microsoft And US Army To Sponsor Halo 3 Tournament

Microsoft announced plans to hold a Halo 3 Championship Tournament, co-sponsored by the US Army. The tournament will be preceded by three online “Training Schools” where players will learn new tips and tricks in “Sniper School”, “Heavy Weapons” and “Vehicles”. The registration for the actual tournament begins in February with prizes like Halo 3 artwork, Microsoft points and more.

Microsoft and U.S. Army Present First Ever “Halo 3” Championship Tournament on Xbox LIVE

Microsoft announces a winner-take-all “Halo 3” tournament March 2008; Gamers can prepare for battle with a series of Basic Combat Training exercises starting Christmas Day 

More than five million gamers have been glued to their Xbox 360s since the launch of “Halo 3” on Sept. 25., including scores of fans in the U.S. Army.  Microsoft Game Studios and the U.S. Army today announced that U.S. gamers will have a chance to prove their fragging skills in the first ever “Halo 3” Championship Tournament, hosted exclusively on Xbox LIVE.  The tournament kicks off this March, complete with prizes for winners and finalists, and registration will begin in February.

In preparation for any battle, a soldier must train and prepare for combat. As such, gamers will have the opportunity to participate in a series of Basic Combat Training exercises leading up to the tournament kick-off. Registration for these training sessions begins on Dec. 18, and the games begin on Dec. 25, exclusively on Xbox LIVE.

Designed specifically to prepare gamers for the Championship Tournament, these Basic Combat Training sessions will help gamers hone their skills with different weapons groups by setting up specific games where only one or two focus weapons will be available to play. Winners of these Basic Combat Training competitions will receive prizes, including Microsoft Points, exclusive “Halo 3” art, and more.

The Basic Combat Training schedule is as follows:

•  Registration begins: 12/18, Training begins: 12/25 – Sniper School
• Registration begins: 1/8, Training begins: 1/15 – Heavy Weapons
• Registration begins: 2/5, Training begins: 2/12– Vehicles
• Registration begins: TBA February, Tournament begins: TBA March – Championship Tournament

To further ensure that players are trained to the top of their games, the Army is also hosting a Destination Experience blade on Xbox LIVE. When the program begins, gamers will be able to access the blade via their Xbox LIVE dashboard, gaining access to multiple videos and a Tips and Tricks section dedicated to providing the best combat strategies and advice the Army experts have to offer.

Training registration opens Dec. 18. Gamers should watch Xbox LIVE and xbox.com for upcoming registration details, full contest rules and regulations.

First Halo 3 Map Pack Download on Dec. 11

Beginning December 11, three new multiplayer maps will be available for Bungie’s Halo 3 (X360). The Heroic Map Pack will contain three new maps Foundry, Rat’s Nest, and Standoff each map presents a totally different play style. All will be downloadable from Xbox Live Marketplace for 800 Points ($10).

• Standoff: symmetrical valley, with its entrenched bases and fields of boulders is ideal for mid-sized objective and Slayer game types.
• Rat’s Nest: vast, labyrinthine passages bring something new to the “Halo” multiplayer experience: an indoor vehicle paradise strongly influenced by the Campaign mode, ideal for big team battles.
• Foundry: is the ultimate Forge map – players can edit every single object in this voluminous industrial warehouse, place stairways, walls, bridges and tunnels to create an entirely new play space and build almost any kind of map they can think of.

CPL announces $1 million Halo 3 tournament

Cyberathlete Professional League has announced today they will be giving away $1 million in total prize money for an open Halo 3 competition at the Extreme Winter Championships taking place Tuesday, Dec. 18 to Saturday, Dec. 22 at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Dallas, Texas.

The Cyberathlete Professional League® (CPL®) announces that it will host a $1,000,000 “Halo® 3″ Xbox 360™ competition at the Extreme Winter Championships taking place Tuesday, December 18 to Saturday, December 22, 2007 at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Dallas, Texas.

The winner of the $1,000,000 “Halo 3″ Xbox 360 competition will receive a $250,000 instant cash payout at the CPL Winter event. Other prizes will be paid to at least 64 places. The competition is open to gamers worldwide and does not require pre-qualification or previous tournament experience.

The online registration will open Tuesday, October 30th. More information will be available on Monday, October 29th at Halo3Competition.com

Bungie Has Droped The Microsoft Partnership .. Its Now Official

Well NOW its official the Microsoft / Bungie partnership is no more. I hope to see some great games come out of the New Bungie Studios in the coming years.

Microsoft Corp. today announced a plan for Bungie Studios, the developers of the Halo franchise, to embark on a path to become an independent company. Microsoft will retain an equity interest in Bungie at the same time continuing its long standing publishing agreement between Microsoft Game Studios and Bungie for the Microsoft owned “Halo” intellectual property as well as other future properties developed by Bungie.

The critically acclaimed Xbox 360 exclusive “Halo 3” achieved $300 million in global sales in its first week. Released in Europe on Wednesday, Sept. 26, “Halo 3” is the fastest-selling video game ever and already one of the most successful entertainment properties in history.

“Our collaboration with Bungie has resulted in ‘Halo’ becoming an enduring mainstream hit,” said Shane Kim, corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios. “While we are supporting Bungie’s desire to return to its independent roots, we will continue to invest in our ‘Halo’ entertainment property with Bungie and other partners, such as Peter Jackson, on a new interactive series set in the ‘Halo’ universe. We look forward to great success with Bungie as our long-term relationship continues to evolve through ‘Halo’-related titles and new IP created by Bungie.”

“This exciting evolution of our relationship with Microsoft will enable us to expand both creatively and organizationally in our mission to create world-class games,” said Harold Ryan, studio head for Bungie. “We will continue to develop with our primary focus on Microsoft’s platforms; we greatly value our mutually prosperous relationship with our publisher, Microsoft Game Studios, and we look forward to continuing that affiliation through ‘Halo’ and beyond.”

Halo 3 Is Top selling Game in Japan … Or Was It?

Halo 3 is the top-selling game for the week ending September 30… in Japan. Unless you live under a rock, you will know that this is a Big deal since most US games don’t normally do very well in Japan.

1. [360] Halo 3 – 59,000 / NEW

2. [DS] Pokemon Fushigi no Dungeon: Toki – 55,000 / 440,000

3. [PSP] Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII – 54,000 / 649,000

4. [DS] Tamagotchi Petit Petit Omisecchi Minasankyu! – 54,000 / NEW

5. [DS] Pokemon Fushigi no Dungeon: Yami – 46,000 / 389,000

6. [PS2] Bleach Blade Battlers 2nd – 31,000 / NEW

7. [DS] English Test 2 – 28,000 / NEW

8. [PSP] Yugioh Duel Monsters GX – 28,000 / NEW

9. [PS3] Oblivion – 27,000 / NEW

10. [PSP] Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops+ – 25,000 / 119,000

Really it’s a trick by Microsoft. They have some guy going around buying all the copies of Halo3 he can get his hands on. So we can say he has …. oh … about 50,000 and Japan really only sold about 9,000

Rumor: Bungie IS Dropping Microsoft Like a Hot Potato

Move along there is nothing to see here, Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain! Says the Microsoft Rumor security Force.

While the majority of Internet denizens are stating that this could never happen and that it’s not true, we’ve heard the opposite. From a source close to Bungie, Game Informer has learned this rumor has some merit. It looks like with Halo 3, Bungie really is finishing the fight.

Game Informer checked with its own sources and reports that Bungie and Microsoft separated on October 1, 2007. According to the magazine, Bungie did not wish to be tied down to indefinitely making Halo games. As a result, shareholders of Bungie bought the studio name back from Microsoft for “an unstated, but significant amount of money.”

Microsoft will retain all rights to the Halo franchise, assuring that the Master Chief will never grace competitors’ systems, and will also hold “the right of first refusal on future games,” meaning that Halo 3 probably won’t be the last Xbox 360 exclusive title from Bungie Studios.

Third Halo Short Film Combat Part II Released

The third short film was released exclusivly on Discovery.com to help promote the series premiere of Last One Standing. This new Live Action Short film picks up directly where Combat Part 1 left off and I have to say this is the best of the three videos that have been made.

The new film is directed by Neill Blomkamp which will also be the director for the Halo Movie if and when they can get a studio to back the project. However, after seeing how well Halo 3 has done and how well these short films are with no studio funding I am sure a Major Studio will pick up the Halo Movie Project.

Halo 3 Pulls Down Over $170 Million in the First 24 Hours

Microsoft today announced that the Xbox 360 exclusive game “Halo 3” has officially become the biggest entertainment launch in history, garnering an estimated $170 million in sales in the United States alone in the first 24 hours. The Xbox 360 title beat previous records set by blockbuster theatrical releases like “Spider-man 3” and novels such as “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.”

Within the first 20 hours alone, we’ve seen more than a million Xbox LIVE members come online to play Halo 3 – that makes September 25 the most active Xbox LIVE gaming day in history.”

More than 10,000 retailers hosted Midnight Madness events to celebrate the launch of this third installment in the billion-dollar franchise. In New York, Seattle, Miami and Los Angeles, Microsoft and retail partners hosted marquee launch events that featured contests and appearances by local celebrities and professional athletes who are fanatical about the “Halo” franchise, including Ludacris and Zac Efron and Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates.

More than 1.7 million copies of “Halo 3” were preordered in the United States before a single store opened its doors at midnight, Sept. 25, making this the fasting pre-selling game in history, surpassing the previous record-setting pre-sales of “Halo 2.” Well beyond just a U.S. phenomenon, the launch of “Halo 3” was a worldwide celebration that released in 37 countries and available in 17 languages.

Halo 3’s Master Chief Goes to Harvard and Gets Statue

I will say the group that pulled this one off gets a Big Prize in my Book WTG people!

It goes without saying that in addition to a stellar reputation for academic innovation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology is renowned for its geeky pranks. The best-known of these was perhaps the time when students decorated the campus’ Great Dome to look like Star Wars robot R2D2 in celebration of the legendary film series’ first prequel in 1999.

But Star Wars prequels are so last decade. These days, it’s all about the much-hyped Xbox 360 title Halo 3. And why prank your own campus when you can pull a fast one on those snotty Crimsons next door?

Consequently, MIT pranksters headed over to the neighboring campus of Harvard University and decorated Harvard Yard’s legendary statue of founder John Harvard to look like a Spartan warrior. Enough said.

[Source Crave]

Halo 3 Mimobot – Designer USB Drives With Exclusive Content

Mimoco announced today a brand new crossover in their line of mimobot Designer USB Flash Drives, the Halo mimobot Series 1, in celebration of the overwhelmingly popular sci-fi shooter’s third and final game. Licensed by Microsoft and Bungie Studios, the Halo mimobot Series 1 will be available in three limited-edition colorways – Master Chief Green (edition of 5,000), Red Spartan and Blue Spartan (3,000 each). Halo mimobot Series 1 is now open for pre-orders at Mimoco and will be released officially at E for All Expo in Los Angeles on October 18th.

The tradition of preloading mimobot Designer USB Flash Drives with exclusive digital content continues with the Halo mimobot Series 1. Each Halo mimobot will contain a wide variety of Halo-related media, from wallpapers, screensavers, and soundBytes™ to unpublished pages from the Marvel Halo comics, sections from the Halo 3 strategy guide, and excerpts from the upcoming Halo novel. Additionally, the in-game talk show “This Spartan Life” has provided Mimoco with an exclusive episode only available on the Halo mimobot Series 1.

Mimobots are the world’s first character-based Designer USB Flash Drives. Previous releases have included Star Wars, Happy Tree Friends, and a variety of artist crossovers, as well as Mimoco’s original Core Series characters. The Halo mimobot Series 1 will be available in 1GB ($49.95), 2GB ($69.95) and 4GB ($109.95) capacities, are high-speed USB 2.0, and are compatible with both PC and Mac platforms. As with normal flash drives, Mimobot Art Toy USB Flash Drives can be used with the Xbox 360 as well, and preloaded images and sounds can be accessed through the Xbox Dashboard. Learn more about Mimoco and mimobot Designer USB Flash Drives at www.mimoco.com.