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Some interesting Halo Facts:

• Halo and Halo 2 have sold more than 14.8 million copies worldwide (Xbox and PC versions). By the end of the year, more than £500 million would have been spent on the franchise.


• American gamers have already reserved more than one million copies of Halo 3.


• In May, Microsoft gave gamers a sneak peek at Halo 3 with a multiplayer beta test included with its Crackdown title. It attracted more than 820,000 people to participate from 25 different countries, who spent a whopping 12 million hours playing it online. That is the equivalent of 1,400 years of continuous play by a single person.


• Xbox Live has seven million members, 80 per cent of whom have played Halo 2 online. In fact, 300,000 gamers still log on to play each day.


• Master Chief is the first gaming character to be enshrined in wax by Madame Tussauds and will be seen at the London attraction. The 7ft 2in figure weighs 275lbs and was created using 1,000lbs of clay. It took 10 studio artists 892 man-hours to complete, including 687 hours for sculpting, 168 hours for moulding and 37 hours for painting.

Sony will not be able to match the success of PlayStation 2 with its new gaming console, the PlayStation 3, according to outgoing Electronic Arts CEO Larry Probst. He feels that Sony’s days of dominance of the console market may very well be over.

Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox 360 and Nintendo’s’ Wii games consoles have made rapid strides even as Sony is struggling to deal with production issues that have beset the PlayStation 3. The console was also released one year after the Xbox 360 and appears to have let go of its advantage.

“We expect that there will be a more level playing field this time around than last time,” said Probst. His comments were delivered at an investor conference by Morgan Stanley. Probst added that the main issue with the PS 3 was its cost.

Last year Sony had announced that a high-end model of the console would cost $600 as compared to the $400 price tag on Xbox 360. Nintendo’s Wii is the cheapest of the lot. Probst said that Wii was off to a great start, but it would not be wise to write off Sony.

“No one should count Sony out at this point in the game. This is going to be a long race,” Probst added.

Sony has sold over 115 million PS2 consoles, but is finding it tough to get the PS 3 onto the markets. The latter is set for a European release on March 23.

When Ubisoft purchased the rights to the Driver franchise from Atari last year, question marks surrounded one game that was already in development. Last February, Atari announced that Sumo Digital was working on a PlayStation Portable version of Driver: Parallel Lines, which was released on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox in March 2006. However, after Ubisoft revealed that it had acquired the rights to the Driver name, little was heard about the game.

Now it appears that the PSP Driver game in development was also included in the licensing deal, with a few strings attached. Ubisoft today announced that Driver 76 for the PSP is currently in the works by Sumo Digital and Reflections, the original developer of Driver, which is now owned by Ubisoft. Ubisoft says Driver 76 isn’t a handheld port of Parallel Lines and will feature an all-new storyline.

Driver 76 takes place in 1976 New York City, two years before the events of Parallel Lines. Gamers will once again be able to tackle missions by car or on foot, with side missions available to help pay for car upgrades. Outside of the 27-mission single-player campaign, the game offers several different game modes for multiplayer action and downloadable content.

Driver 76 has not yet been rated and will be released this March.

For video-game players, the holidays are clearly the busiest, most wonderful time of the year. The shopping season is when most of the biggest games are released and when hardware makers like Nintendo and Sony usually unveil their snazziest products.

For people who actually make games, however, the holidays can actually be kind of slow. That’s because by December their new babies have been shipped out the door, the boxes are in stores and warehouses and all that is left to do is sit and wait for the sales data to come back from NPD, the market research firm most everyone in the industry depends on.

For 2006 the big day was Thursday, when the firm released its annual retail report of hardware sales and the Top 10 selling console games of the year. (The data released on Thursday do not include PC games.) The list includes a mixture of sequels and newcomers; some well regarded games didn’t make it at all.

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In a testimony to the subscription-based video game model, Blizzard Entertainment on Thursday announced that “World of Warcraft,” its massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), has reached the 8 million subscriber mark.

“World of Warcraft” has also achieved new regional subscriber milestones, with more than 2 million players in North America, more than 1.5 million players in Europe and more than 3.5 million players in China, according to the company.

“We’re ecstatic that the ‘World of Warcraft’ community has continued to grow steadily since we launched the game,” said Mike Morhaime, president and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “With the release of our expansion pack, ‘World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade,’ coming next week, we’re looking forward to welcoming more players to Azeroth and offering even more quality content for our community to enjoy.”

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Microsoft on Thursday claimed victory for its Xbox 360 games console in the key US holiday season, citing industry sales figures that gave it a 51 per cent market share.

Sony’s PlayStation3 was beaten into third spot by Nintendo’s Wii in next-generation console sales recorded by the NPD group.

Microsoft said NPD put sales of the Xbox 360 at 1,132,000 in December against 604,000 for the Wii – a 27 per cent market share – and 491,000 for the PS3, or 22 per cent.

Microsoft was aided considerably by the Wii and PS3 being in short supply since their launch in November. The Xbox 360 also had a year’s head start over its rivals and Microsoft announced this week the console had sold 10.4m units worldwide since its launch in November 2005.

The figures up to December 31 were half a million ahead of its projection, Robbie Bach, president of the Entertainment and Devices division, said in a speech at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

“That’s a significant milestone,” David Hufford, director of Xbox product management, told the Financial Times on Thursday.

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In what is expected to be another record-breaking year for the more than $10-billion-a-year video game industry, the breakout hit is a science-fiction action game called “Gears of War.”

The game didn’t sneak up on anyone – developer Epic Games and Microsoft hyped it for nearly a year and a half leading up to its release Nov. 12 – but the futuristic sci-fi combat game has overcome an industry hurdle in establishing a new intellectual property as a hit.

It’s not easy to compete in the marketplace with Mario, Madden and other established franchises.

“Gears of War” has sold more than 1 million copies in the United States and an estimated 2 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling game for Microsoft’s year-old Xbox 360 video game system.

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To celebrate the Halo series 5-Year Anniversary, XCN interviewed Frank O’Connor (Frankie), Content Manager, Bungie Studios.

The interview let us know something interesting on the Halo series in general, but it also give us some pretty new info on Halo 3.

If you are a Halo fan, you must read this interview!

XCN: Back in the infancy of the original Halo, what were your hopes for the series?

Frank O’Connor: Halo actually started its life as a real-time strategy game for the Macintosh, but the guys here at Bungie had so many story ideas that eventually it grew out of that genre and into a first-person shooter. It also grew out of the Macintosh and into the PC, then initially it was an Xbox-exclusive title. It went through a lot of evolution and it sounds quite drastic, but actually it was a very smooth process. As it became more fun to use the vehicles and the physics that the guys had created it became obvious it should be an action game rather than an RTS. Luckily it ended up being the game we all know and love today!

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Gamers are invited to join the fight when the beta goes live this spring with Xbox Live and “Crackdown” providing the final two paths.

Microsoft Game Studios and Bungie Studios are ringing in the year with a proverbial bang, as they announced today two new ways for gamers to receive an invitation to participate in the “Halo® 3” multiplayer beta program coming this spring through Xbox Live® Marketplace.

Specifically, gamers will be able to receive an invitation by doing one of the following:

· Qualifying over Xbox Live and then being one of the first 13,333 “Halo 2” gamers to register for the “Rule of Three” program at http://www.halo3.com in early February

· Purchasing the upcoming game “Crackdown™,” which hits store shelves in the U.S. on Feb. 20

The “Halo 3” multiplayer beta, which is a pre-release version of the multiplayer experience of “Halo 3,” is scheduled for availability in spring 2007 exclusively on Xbox 360™. The beta also represents an opportunity for gamers to participate in the testing and refinement of the multiplayer gameplay of “Halo 3,” the most anticipated game of 2007. Through the resulting feedback, Bungie Studios will be able to further hone the end result of “Halo 3.”

Beginning Thursday, Feb. 1, 2007, at 12:01 a.m. EST, all gamers need to do is participate in at least three hours of “Halo 2” multiplayer sessions, via Xbox Live, before Feb. 3, 2007, at 11:59 p.m. EST and then be among the first 13,333 to register at http://www.halo3.com. The “Rule of Three” program is currently planned for gamers in the 50 United States (includes District of Columbia) age 17 years and older who have access to an Xbox 360 Pro console or an Xbox 360 Core console with hard drive, a valid Xbox Live Gold subscription and the “Halo 2” game. Gamers around the world are encouraged to visit http://www.halo3.com in the coming weeks for more information on the “Rule of Three” program in their region.

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Chris and Tim Stamper, which were among the founders of the British gaming company Rare back in 1982, have departed, 1UP reported.

Rare was founded in 1982 by brothers Tim and Chris Stamper as Ashby Computer Graphics (ACG). Rare eventually became a second-party developer for the Nintendo gaming platforms, but in 2002 was acquired by Microsoft. The Redmond giant paid US$377 million for the company, a record for a video game developer.

Microsoft declared to 1UP that the founders’ departure has nothing to do with the lagging sales of the last Viva Pinata game for Xbox 360 (the original idea for the game belonged to Tim Stamper).

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Gamers are in for a lot of new videogames in 2007. Those looking forward to “Halo 3” on Xbox 360 can now see new footage of the game courtest of developer Bungie. Although no release date has been announced, you can bet the game will be out by Thanksgiving of 07.

Sega is bringing its “Virtual Fighter 5” to PlayStation 3 on February 20. But the game is also now heading to Xbox 360 this summer, so both next gen systems will get the newest take on the classic brawler.

Ubisoft is bringing its best-selling “Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Double Agent” to PlayStation 3 in 07. The game’s already been released on every other platform. Ubisoft previously announced that the next “Splinter Cell” game will be an Xbox 360 exclusive.

The last 12 months have proved to be among the most eventful in the history of videogames, with the launch of the PlayStation 3, the Nintendo Wii, the consolidation of the Xbox 360 and gaming being embraced by more and more people.

Lots of videogames proved themselves to be must-have purchases but which ones have been selected by our panel of experts?

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In the accompanying stories, our most frequent video-game reviewers name their favorites of the year.

1. “Gears of War” (Xbox 360). The best next-generation game to date. Extraordinary graphics and strong enough to ease the wait for Halo 3.

2. “Superman Returns” (Xbox 360, Xbox, PS2, Nintendo DS, Game Boy Advance). For no other reason than it’s the first Superman video game to not completely stink. The graphics on the next-gen version could be better, but it makes up for it with fun gameplay and easy use of all of Supe’s powers. Just flying around Metropolis is a game in itself.

3. “Madden 07” (Xbox 360, Xbox, PSP, Nintendo DS, Game Boy Advance, PS2, Nintendo GameCube, PC). For football gamers, it will always be a must-have. The current-generation version outshines the next-gen version with better controls, gameplay and more options.

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It is curious that after securing the licence for this successful film, the game’s developers’ first move was to change the script.

The premise of The World is Yours is that swaggering Tony Montana survives the film’s explosive climax and you must begin to rebuild his nefarious empire.

A word of warning though, the film was a bloodthirsty affair and the game continues with that theme.

Despite the plot tinkering, which film buffs will no doubt condemn, Montana is the perfect character for a Grand Theft Auto-style romp. Fearless, cocky, egocentric and amoral, he fits the stereotype of an urban gangster.

Regaining control of the Miami underworld is achieved by eliminating rival gangs, drug running and seizing both legitimate and illicit businesses. Most missions are challenging and engaging, albeit without deviating that much from the GTA formula of bloody shoot-outs and point-to-point driving quests.

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Sony launched its own somewhat convoluted download-to-own gaming service on Tuesday, forcing PSP owners who want to play PlayStation games on their PSP handheld console to use the recently-released PS3.

The PSP console will emulate the old PSP hardware, Sony said. The five titles released will cost $5.99 apiece: Cool Boarders, Crash Bandicoot, Hot Shots Golf 2, Syphon Filter, and Tekken 2.

Additional first and third-party PlayStation titles will be added on an ongoing basis to the PlayStation Store to keep, with a second batch of PlayStation titles slated for release later this month, Sony said.

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