Issue date: 9/27/07 Section: Features

Media Credit: Associated Press Photo Dominique Wilson gets excited while holding the toy rifle of Carlos Cubas, who is dressed as Master Chief, the hero of the video game Halo 3 on Monday, in York, Pa. Cubas was waiting at Game Stop in York, Monday night for his copy of Halo 3, when he went next door to meet Wilson, who is a big fan of the game.

(U-WIRE) ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Most college students probably don't need an introduction to "Halo" and its superhuman star, the Master Chief. The first game, "Halo: Combat Evolved," revolutionized first-person shooters on the Xbox. Its sequel, "Halo 2," thrust gamers onto an online battlefield, making it quick and easy to play with friends, no matter where they are.

The series, which is developed by Bungie Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios, has achieved enormous popularity and immense commercial success. "Halo 2"'s $125 million opening shattered records. It even eclipsed the biggest Hollywood opening at the time, "Spider-Man," which took in a "mere" $114 million on its first day.

Bungie and Microsoft are expecting to top "Halo 2"'s sales with the third and final episode in the Halo saga, which launched in the early hours of Monday morning. They probably won't be disappointed, as "Halo 3" surpassed 1 million pre-orders in early August, already setting records before it had even been released. Most major retailers in North America hosted a "Halo 3" midnight launch event. One such event took place at Game Crazy on the Loop. The store had taken 600 pre-orders and was expecting around 130-150 people to show up at or after midnight.

If you're among the few who hadn't heard of Halo before, there's a good chance you've been unwittingly exposed to the series in the past few months. It's been hard to avoid Microsoft's marketing onslaught.

While gaming fans have probably been anticipating "Halo 3" since they first played through "Halo 2," the mainstream ad campaign only began in early December 2006, when the 60-second "Starry Night" commercial aired during "Monday Night Football" on ESPN. From there, the marketing for "Halo 3" has only gotten bigger and bigger. By now, it's not uncommon to see Master Chief's helmeted face plastered on anything from Mountain Dew to NASCAR racecars.

Earlier this year, Bungie hosted a public beta test, where hundreds of thousands of fans got the chance to play an early and limited version of "Halo 3"'s online multiplayer.

While Bungie certainly got useful results from the public beta, it also served as an excellent marketing device for the game. Freshman Evan Carey said he wasn't even much of a "Halo" fan until he tried the beta.

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