*UPDATED* Official Halo 3 release date announced; special Zune-Halo 3 edition on its way, too

 

September 25: Bungie’s Halo 3 officially lands. The countdown begins now.

We’re dead sure those two statements are enough to get you Halo fans giddy with anticipation over the arrival of what is deemed to be this year’s biggest event in the entertainment industry. Says Peter Moore, Microsoft‘s Corporate VP:

Halo 3 is much more than a video game release… On September 25, we intend to deliver a finale that will go down in entertainment history and leave people around the world with an experience that will be shared and enjoyed for years to come.

Running up to that big bang of an event is the kick off of Halo 3‘s multiplayer beta‘s Xbox Live debut on May 16. This will give gamers all around the world an exclusive preview at some of the highlights of the multiplayer elements on the last of the Halo trilogy. And to add some more excitement to all these, Microsoft will even be throwing in a special edition Zune digital media player for Halo 3.

This Zune–Halo 3 player will come with pre-loaded artwork, trailers, and of course, music from the complete trilogy. There will also be an exclusive new episode of “Red vs. Blue” from LLC. Retailer GameStop will be carrying the Zune-Halo 3 exclusively starting June 15, and will be tagged at an estimated retail price of US$ 249.

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Update: We received word that interested folks can now pre-order the Zune-Halo 3 player over at GameStop starting June 15. This deal is exclusive to GameStop, so you might want to check this out immediately as we’re pretty much certain a lot of people will be wanting those exlusive artwork, OST, and videos from Halo, Halo 2, and Halo 3. The limited Zune-Halo 3 players will be going for US$ 249.

 

September 25: Bungie’s Halo 3 officially lands. The countdown begins now.

We’re dead sure those two statements are enough to get you Halo fans giddy with anticipation over the arrival of what is deemed to be this year’s biggest event in the entertainment industry. Says Peter Moore, Microsoft‘s Corporate VP:

Halo 3 is much more than a video game release… On September 25, we intend to deliver a finale that will go down in entertainment history and leave people around the world with an experience that will be shared and enjoyed for years to come.

Running up to that big bang of an event is the kick off of Halo 3‘s multiplayer beta‘s Xbox Live debut on May 16. This will give gamers all around the world an exclusive preview at some of the highlights of the multiplayer elements on the last of the Halo trilogy. And to add some more excitement to all these, Microsoft will even be throwing in a special edition Zune digital media player for Halo 3.

This Zune–Halo 3 player will come with pre-loaded artwork, trailers, and of course, music from the complete trilogy. There will also be an exclusive new episode of “Red vs. Blue” from LLC. Retailer GameStop will be carrying the Zune-Halo 3 exclusively starting June 15, and will be tagged at an estimated retail price of US$ 249.

---

Update: We received word that interested folks can now pre-order the Zune-Halo 3 player over at GameStop starting June 15. This deal is exclusive to GameStop, so you might want to check this out immediately as we’re pretty much certain a lot of people will be wanting those exlusive artwork, OST, and videos from Halo, Halo 2, and Halo 3. The limited Zune-Halo 3 players will be going for US$ 249.