Halo 3 Beta went Live 8am EST...and the full game is coming in September!

Today is the big day for all of us commoners that couldn't play the Beta this weekend. The Halo 3 Beta is out, no surprises yet. However, one other announcement was made today all the more Halo-tastic. Halo 3 is being released Tuesday September 25th...are you surprised? If you are a Halo fan or have been following this blog, you shouldn't be. I posted about this not so secret surprise announcement of Halo 3 coming in September before the Beta release was even confirmed. Don't believe me? Check it out for yourself here. Microsoft is definitely a marketing juggernaut and with Sony reporting it's largest quarterly lost in 4 years, it makes you wonder if the next gen war is already over. Where's Metal Gear Solid 4, Killzone 2, etc. Sony? If Sony doesn't bring something big to E3 this summer, they are in for a hurting. I think a pricedrop or a bundle (Sonic 2 and Sega Genesis anyone?) would be real nice and help them out a lot...that would mean more PS3's and Blu-ray players out there, but Sony hasn't listened to me so far, and I don't expect that to change. Anyway

Happy Halo Day! If the Beta isn't enough for you, knowing that the wait for the full game has been shortened by 2 months is certainly something that Halo fans should be happy about. Yes, Mid-June to Late September will be a long and painful time, but I have a feeling some big Microsoft Studio releases (Blue Dragon, Mass Effect) may release in that interim. Can anyone not applaud Microsoft's Crackdown Strategy? Not only were sales boosted because of the Halo 3 Beta, but now that most of us will be logging back into Crackdown to download the Beta, there's new Crackdown content to download for free (and some for $$$). I'll admit that I played Crackdown a lot this weekend. Microsoft may not have the best operating system around, but you have to admit that their damn good at marketing. Maybe it's the competition with Apple, I mean can Nintendo's and Sony's ads and commercials really compare to Apple's? Microsoft has been playing on marketing varsity while Sony and Nintendo were enjoying playing a neck and neck JV game. With the (not so surprising) Announcement of Halo 3 in September, Microsoft has shown foresight. Halo 3 Beta is polished and fun....real fun...and people are going to be talking about it for the next 3 weeks. Then it comes out in September...surely boosting the sales of the Xbox 360. Then the holiday season comes and everyone who didn't have an Xbox or Halo yet wants one and asks for one because that's what all their friends are playing. Checkmate Sony.