Microsoft Announces Halo Nation News

To commemorate the fifth anniversary of Master Chief's talismanic adventures in the original Halo, Microsoft Game Studios and Bungie Studios have announced a raft of developments to keep Halo fans happy - dubbed "Halo Nation".

Confirming that a multiplayer beta-test of Halo 3 will be made available across the Xbox Live Marketplace in Spring 2007, Microsoft suggests that fans can participate in the development of Halo 3 with feedback on what promises to "...expand the innovative and evolving online gameplay and community of Halo 2 on Xbox Live".

To tide Bungie fans over in the time being, a one-time airing of a 60-second "teaser" ad will be available on December 4th during ESPN's "Monday Night Football". Created by the advertising agency McCann Erikson and making sole use of CG as opposed to actual in-game footage, Microsoft and Bungie proclaim the work to be "... easily one of the most anticipated ads of the year..." - it seems that the lid on Halo hyperbole has already blown right off! For those Halo fans that do not live in North America, the teaser ad will be made available across Xbox Live Marketplace in 720p shortly afterwards, along with the next "Making Of..." documentary.

The final part of the "Halo Nation" initiative brings exclusive new multiplayer maps to Halo 2. The maps will be made available in Spring 2007 and exclusively for Xbox 360 owners, while Bungie have confirmed that there will be a cost but Microsoft has yet to determine this. In addition, the extra content will prompt the backwards compatibility team to look at a few bugs and glitches that still feature in Halo 2 when played on the Xbox 360.