The imminent release of Halo 3 is almost upon us as All Halo’s Eve, September 24th, fast approaches. And the Halo 3 Microsoft publicity machine is in full force. Microsoft is planning a number of midnight and early morning launch events all across the US (as well as Australia, but for Europe a day later).
These events will encompass more than 10,000 stores in the US alone, with major events planned for stores in the four corners of the continental US. These events will offer pre-launch playtime against celebrities, professional athletes and Bungie staff members, and they will also offer a ton of prizes and swag for eager Halo fans to snag.
The four-corner store locations are:
*New York City, the Best Buy on the corner of Fifth Ave. and 44th St.
*GameStop at 1000 Universal Studios Blvd. in Los Angeles
*Bungie’s hometown of Seattle at the Best Buy at 457 120th Ave.
*Circuit City at 8575 Northwest 13th Terrace in Miami, Florida.
Swag and prizes to be given away at the events include: Halo Action Clix from WizKids, collectible trading cards from Topps, Halo Ghosts of Onyx by Eric Nylund from Tor Books, Frag Fest T-shirts from Mighty Fine, accessories and hats from Changes, messenger bags from Enmon Accessories, console sling bag and hardware organizers from BD&A, Halo Graphic Novels published by Marvel, 2008 Halo calendars from Trends International, Halo Uprising Comic (issue one) from Marvel, Halo soundtracks from Sumthing Else Music, weapon replicas from Master Replicas, Zune Halo 3 edition, and limited-edition figurines from the diorama created for the Halo 3 ad.
Rated M for Mature, the Xbox 360 exclusive is available in three versions: the $59.99 regular edition, the $69.99 Limited Edition, and the $129.99 Legendary Edition, which comes with a miniature helmet of the game’s hero, the Master Chief. A limited-edition Spartan green and gold-colored Xbox 360 Pro bundle–which includes a matching wireless controller, a 20GB hard drive, a headset, a play-and-charge kit, an exclusive Halo 3 theme and gamer pics, as well as support for HDMI output–went on sale September 16 for $399.