Blockbuster consumer brands including 7-Eleven, Burger King Corp., Comcast, Mountain Dew and Pontiac unveil unprecedented support for the launch of this year’s biggest entertainment event.
REDMOND, Wash. — Aug. 9, 2007 — As the countdown continues for the entertainment event of the year — the launch of “Halo® 3” — the video game continues to set records and establish new precedents for an entertainment launch. Today, Microsoft Corp. announced that preorders in North America for the exclusive Xbox 360™ title have exceeded the 1 million milestone. In addition, Microsoft unveiled the first exciting details of upcoming promotions from leading consumer brands, including Mountain Dew, 7-Eleven, Pontiac, Comcast and Burger King Corp.
In a strategy utilized in other big entertainment launches, retailers around the world have begun taking preorders, enabling consumers to order one of the three versions of “Halo 3”: Standard Edition, Limited Edition and the ultra-collectible Legendary Edition. In fact, demand has been so strong for the Legendary Edition of the game that it is expected to be sold out by the time the game launches on Sept. 25. Retailers have also noted that the presales for “Halo 3” are the fastest in video game history.
“What we’ve experienced is nothing short of phenomenal,” said Bob McKenzie, senior vice president of merchandising at GameStop Corp. “‘Halo 3’ has eclipsed many previous records and will prove to be one of the must-have items of 2007.”
“The excitement for ‘Halo 3’ is incredible,” said Jill Hamburger, vice president of movies and games at Best Buy. “From our preorders online and the buzz we’re hearing in our stores, we know this release is going to be one of the biggest entertainment events of the year. We’re thrilled to be able to bring it to our customers.”
For the first time in video game history and on par with the scope of major movie releases, some of the world’s biggest consumer brands have aligned to support the launch. Many plan to offer a variety of promotions that give consumers the opportunity to obtain unique “Halo 3”-branded products and prizes and participate in one-of-a-kind “Halo 3”-themed events.
“This September, ‘Halo 3’ will push video game entertainment into the forefront of mainstream culture,” said Chris Di Cesare, director of creative marketing at Microsoft. “Teaming up with some of the world’s strongest and most recognizable brands is trailblazing new paths and cementing video games as big entertainment on par with major event films, and is a testament to the excitement and anticipation intrinsically linked to ‘Halo 3.’”
Mountain Dew will unveil the first beverage co-branded with a video game, Mountain Dew Game Fuel. Game Fuel has the same great taste of Mountain Dew with an invigorating blast of citrus cherry flavor and added caffeine for maximum intensity. Game Fuel will come in 20-ounce bottles, 2-liter bottles and 12-packs of 12-ounce cans and will be available nationwide for a limited time starting Aug. 13, 2007.
7-Eleven today confirmed its plans to support the launch of “Halo 3” through a variety of in-store promotions, including three “Halo 3”-branded collectible Slurpee cups. In addition,7-Eleven will run a “Halo 3” promotion with Mountain Dew Game Fuel and Doritos, with thousands of “Halo 3”-themed prizes, including, as grand prize, a chance to win a minor role as a voice actor in the upcoming Xbox 360 video game, “Halo Wars™,” by Ensemble Studios. In a few select markets, Mountain Dew will offer a special-edition aluminum bottle of Mountain Dew Game Fuel with an exclusive design created by Bungie Studios, the developers of “Halo 3.” This bottle will be available in very limited quantities, making it a highly sought-after collector’s item.
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Get ready for hot Arcade nights! Building off of last Wednesday’s launch of “Marathon: Durandal” and “Spyglass Board Games,” August and the rest of the summer are shaping up to be scorching hot on Xbox LIVE Arcade. Perfect for whittling away the long days of summer are a bevy of unique sports games, classic and futuristic fighting games, as well as a few other surprises, all of which will be making their way to Xbox LIVE Arcade in the coming weeks.
Hot August games also releasing this month:
Ecco the Dolphin
“Ecco the Dolphin” (Sega) Cool off with this fun, whimsical update of the classic undersea exploration game featuring everyone’s favorite bottlenose dolphin, Ecco!
Hexic 2
“Hexic 2” (Carbonated Games) The highly anticipated sequel to the popular puzzle game “Hexic HD” will have gamers racing to solve brand new challenges, including an all new two player Battle mode.
War World
“War World” (Ubisoft) A pure adrenaline rush, War World features powerful armored mechanoids battling head-to-head in all-out savage single and multiplayer battles that combine action and strategy.
Sizzling summer launches hitting in the coming weeks:
Geon: Emotions
“Geon: Emotions” (Eidos) Engage in the unique sport of Geon, where you must master a diverse range of emotions to best your opponents.
Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords
“Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords” (D3Publisher of America, Inc.) Addictive and easy-to-learn, this game integrates story and character progression elements found in RPGs delivering a brand new type of game that pushes the puzzle genre to a whole new level.
Space Giraffe
“Space Giraffe” (Llamasoft) Created by genre-defining game designer Jeff Minter, “Space Giraffe” is a psychedelic shooter that spans 100 levels, all set against vivid, pulsating backgrounds that synchronize with any custom music selection.
Streets of Rage 2
“Streets of Rage 2” (Sega) One of the most popular side-scrolling beat ‘em ups of the 90’s gets the Xbox LIVE Arcade treatment, complete with enhanced graphics, sound, Achievements and multiplayer modes.
Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
“Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix” (Capcom) This game combines addictive puzzle action with favorite Capcom fighting characters including Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li and Morrigan.
There have been over 45 million Xbox LIVE Arcade game downloads as of July, and the popularity of the service continues to grow. Over 100 games will launch on Xbox LIVE Arcade by year’s end, including dozens of original IPs and classic titles updated for this generation.
Japanese RPG “Blue Dragon” Lifts Its Wings and Flies To North American Shores
U.S. gamers will finally have the chance to join Shu and his friends in the eagerly awaited “Blue Dragon” for Xbox 360, when the game journeys to retailers on August 28
Microsoft Game Studios today announced that the highly anticipated role-playing game (RPG) “Blue Dragon” will ship to retailers throughout North America on August 28 for the estimated retail price of $59.99. Rated “T” for “Teen,” “Blue Dragon” will usher in the next generation of RPG exclusively on the Xbox 360, with a combination of realistic environments, anime-styled characters, unique battles and a deep, compelling storyline.
Bringing top Japanese developer talent to the Xbox 360, “Blue Dragon” is a culmination of the work of famed game producer Hironobu Sakaguchi of Mistwalker game studio and developer Artoon. This epic RPG features the character design of Akira Toriyama, who designed “Dragon Ball Z,” and music by Nobuo Uematsu, the composer for “Final Fantasy.”
Gamers will find themselves exploring and discovering the vast world of “Blue Dragon” as they assume the role of Shu, a young boy who along with his band of four friends, embarks on a quest to combat the evil forces that have come to their world. These unlikely heroes possess miraculous strength and the magical power to control their phantom shadow creatures that range from a Minotaur to a phoenix to a dragon and more.
“Blue Dragon” will be available on August 28, but anxious adventurers can head over to http://www.xbox.com/redwhiteandbluedragon now to check out the “Red, White and Blue Dragon” feature, based on the premise of “American Independence and Japanese Games.”
In addition, adventurers can bring Shu, his friends and their quest to save the world to their websites with the official “Blue Dragon” Fan Site Kit, which is available for download from http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/b/bluedragonxbox360/. The Fan Site Kit includes artwork, skins, screenshots, forum avatars and more assets for webmasters to create their very own “Blue Dragon” fan site.
Xbox 360 games rated 8/10 or above: Gears of War 2006 94
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, The 2006 94 (93 on PS3) Guitar Hero II 2007 93 Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2006 90 Forza Motorsport 2 2007 90 Call of Duty 2 2005 90 Castlevania: Symphony of the Night 2007 90 Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2006 89 Blue Dragon 2007 89 Burnout Revenge 2006 89 Project Gotham Racing 3 2005 88 Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles, The 2007 86 Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2005 86 Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 2007 86
Fight Night Round 3 2006 86 (83 on PS3) Elder Scrolls IV: Knights of the Nine, The 2006 86
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Double Agent 2006 85 (78 on PS3) Dead or Alive 4 2005 85 Dead Rising 2006 85
F.E.A.R. 2006 85 (72 on PS3) Viva Pinata 2006 84
NBA 2K7 2006 84 (81 on PS3) Need for Speed Most Wanted 2005 83 Crackdown 2007 83 Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars 2007 82 Test Drive Unlimited 2006 82
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2006 82 (78 on PS3) Hexic HD 2005 82 Hitman: Blood Money 2006 82
Call of Duty 3 2006 82 (80 on PS3) Football Manager 2007 2006 82
College Hoops 2K7 2006 82 (81 on PS3) Condemned: Criminal Origins 2005 81
Tony Hawk's Project 8 2006 81 (76 on PS3) Football Manager 2006 2006 81 Saints Row 2006 81 LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy 2006 81 Catan 2007 81 Uno 2006 81 Table Tennis 2006 81 NBA 2K6 2005 81 Perfect Dark Zero 2005 81 WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2007 2006 81 Cloning Clyde 2006 81
NBA Street Homecourt 2007 80 (81 on PS3)
Madden NFL 07 2006 80 (76 on PS3) Peter Jackson's King Kong 2005 80 Tomb Raider: Legend 2006 80
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 2006 80 (81 on PS3) Moto GP 06 2006 80
Virtua Tennis 3 2007 80 (80 on PS3) Doom 2006 80 Winning Eleven: Pro Evolution Soccer 2007 2007 80
PS3 games rated 8/10 or above:
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, The 2007 93 (94 on Xbox 360) Resistance: Fall of Man 2006 87 Virtua Fighter 5 2007 85
Fight Night Round 3 2006 83 (86 on Xbox 360) Gran Turismo HD Concept 2006 82 MotorStorm 2007 82 Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection 2007 81
NBA Street Homecourt 2007 81 (80 on Xbox 360)
College Hoops 2K7 2007 81 (82 on Xbox 360)
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 2006 81 (80 on Xbox 360)
NBA 2K7 2006 81 (84 on Xbox 360)
Call of Duty 3 2006 80 (82 on Xbox 360)
Virtua Tennis 3 2007 80 (80 on Xbox 360)
(Removed #4 Motorstorm JPN Import)
Xbox 360 has 7.8 times as many 8/10 games exclusive to their console. Also, NBA Street Homecourt and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2007 are the only ports that rank higher on the PS3 and are above scores of 8/10.
Does this, for now, prove that Xbox 360 has better games than PS3 at this point? Also, will the PS3 be able to catch up and then keep up in the coming years? There's a long way to go, but for now, the claims that PS3 doesn't have many good games... is true.
Ratings taken from MetaCritic.com. To be in the top scores for each console, each game had to have at least 5 ratings from seperate sites.
Hot off the press from Microsoft is the fact that Xbox LIVE® have just reached 6 Million Members 4 months ahead of schedule. :) This is good news for all us Xbox fans.
Press Release in Full:
Xbox LIVE Connectivity & Usage:
* More than 6 million people are members of Xbox LIVE.
* Following the launch of the Xbox LIVE online gaming network in November 2002, gamers have spent over 2.3 billion hours on the network playing games online with their friends around the world. This is equal to 95 million days of gaming or over 260,000 years. With our top title, Halo 2, which is being played on both the Xbox and Xbox 360, gamers have spent over 710 million hours playing online with over a half a billion games played.
* Xbox LIVE on Xbox 360 continues to grow as a social community; we are seeing an average of over 2,000,000 text and voice messages sent every day between members on the service.
· The average Xbox LIVE Gold subscriber has 22 friends on their Xbox LIVE friends list.
· To date, Xbox 360 owners have unlocked nearly 300 million Achievements. All of those unlocked Achievements have created a total combined Gamerscore of nearly 7.5 billion.
Top WW Xbox LIVE Titles on Xbox 360 to date:
1. Halo 2
2. Gears of War
3. Hexic HD
4. Call of Duty 2
5. Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter
6. Call Of Duty 3
7. Oblivion
8. PGR3
9. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six® Vegas
10. Perfect Dark Zero
Pacific City notes a dramatic increase in crime as the city’s gangs prepare for the ultimate “Crackdown,” exploding onto store shelves and Xbox Live on Feb. 20.
Microsoft Game Studios today announced that the highly anticipated action title “Crackdown™” has gone gold. From developer Realtime Worlds and the mind of acclaimed creator Dave Jones, “Crackdown” is poised to raid retail throughout North America on Feb. 20.
Boasting an immersive — and highly explosive — three-dimensional world in which players can rain down justice from rooftop to road, “Crackdown” offers gamers the opportunity to take down the gangs of Pacific City in a massive, single-player campaign or with a friend over the title’s cooperative mode via Xbox Live®.
“The excitement for ‘Crackdown’ is evident through the significant number of pre-orders and affirms the continued Xbox 360™ momentum in 2007,” said Jeff Bell, corporate vice president of Global Marketing in the Interactive Entertainment Business Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft Corp.
Those gamers anxious to get an early glimpse at the title will be able to enjoy the “Crackdown” demo available through Xbox Live Marketplace this month. And, as previously announced, “Crackdown” fans will be offered a special bonus with the purchase of each specially marked copy: access to the coveted “Halo® 3” multiplayer beta program.*
From Realtime Worlds, “Crackdown” pushes the action-driving hybrid genre into the next generation with the first ever truly 3-D playground. Gamers will level up their Agent’s strength, agility, firearms, explosives and driving skills while scaling the fully vertical world of “Crackdown.” This M-rated game incorporates revolutionary co-op gameplay throughout the entire freeform campaign. Creating a volatile *****tail of judicial oppression, players will clean up the streets of a truly interactive world when ”Crackdown” hits store shelves at an estimated retail price of $59.99.
Terminator: Survivors confirmed for Xbox Series, PS5 & PC via Steam Play as a survivor in the aftermath of Judgment Day in Terminator: Survivors, a new open-world survival game by NACON (@Nacon). Build the resistance and defy the machines in Terminator: Survivors, com..
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