ENTERTAINMENT: Halo 3 - The Hype

WHAT: Halo 3. You've probably already heard about it, even if you're not into games. It's the third and "final" installment in the mega-popular 1st-person shooter for Microsoft's X-Box game system.

WHY: It's amazing that Microsoft has sunk so much money into advertising Halo 3. It's everywhere. The previous games - Halo (5 million copies) and Halo 2 (9.2 million) - have sold around 15 million copies collectively. In the gaming world, that's Gold. Solid gold.

So let's do the math: Halo 3 is retailing for $59.99. 10 bucks more gets you a behind-the-scenes disk, a booklet, and a metal case. $129.99 is going to get you the Halo 3 "Legendary" Edition: TWO extra feature disks and a Spartan helmet! Sooo... let's just take the lowest price - $60 - and let's say that Halo 3 sales come up to around 15 million alone (taking into account the growth between Halo 1 and Halo 2, but we're being conservative...).

$900,000,000... and remember, I was being pretty conservative. That's not even counting new X-Box purchases for those who have been convinced that this is the must-play game of the year. Only three films have grossed higher: Titantic, The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.

I want one.

First, I'd need to get $399 to get an X-Box 360. Damn.

Will the game itself be worth it? Probably. Makes you want to get into game development.

www.halo3.com or www.bungie.net

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