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Press Release: Halo 2 Set to Make History on November 9
Microsoft Game Studios and Bungie Studios today announced that Halo 2, the highly anticipated sequel to the hugely successful and critically acclaimed Halo: Combat Evolved, will land on store shelves on November 9, 2004. In what promises to be one of the biggest launches in videogame history, Halo 2 will be the focus of an extensive marketing campaign that includes cinema, print, outdoor, online and television advertising.
Gamers should mark Halo 2's official launch date of November 9 on the calendar. To mark this occasion, Microsoft Game Studios will soon announce pre-order availability of a limited edition copy of Halo 2, packaged in a unique metal box. In addition to the game, the metal box will contain a second DVD loaded with special content. This exclusive two-disc set includes:
The Making of Halo 2: Behind the Scenes of Bungie Studios
"Featurettes" on game design, animation, music, and more
Cinematics and characters that were cut from the game
Art Gallery: From Concept to Game
Commentaries from the development team
And much more
Gamestop president Dan DeMatteo predicts that a flood of holiday shoppers will be lining up for Halo 2 this fall. "We're expecting Halo 2 to be one of the most successful launches in Gamestop history. This holiday is going to be a very exciting time for us."
Pushing the Xbox hardware to its very limits, Halo 2 will expand on everything that made the original game great, plus add a wealth of technological and gameplay advances. Significantly improved graphics, enhanced AI, an advanced real-time lighting engine and destructible interactive environments are just a small part of Halo 2’s evolution of design and technology. Every improvement in Halo 2 is designed to take gameplay to a new level; and in the end, to tell a better story.
Utilizing Xbox Live to redefine online play, Halo 2 delivers superior online multiplayer capabilities. Whether playing with a clan on a new multiplayer map, boarding a friend's Warthog, watching a game replay or checking player stats, Halo 2 will bring the social experience to a higher level via Xbox Live.
Bungie was founded in 1991 with two goals: to develop games that combine brilliant technology, beautiful art, intelligent stories and deep gameplay, and then sell enough of those games to achieve the real goal of total world domination. Over the past 10 years it produced games like the "Marathon Trilogy" and the first two "Myth" games, hailed as classics by critics and gamers around the world. "Halo: Combat Evolved," its latest game, has achieved phenomenal success on the Microsoft Xbox video game system. More information on Bungie can be found at http://www.bungie.net/.
Microsoft Game Studios is a leading worldwide publisher and developer of games for the Xbox® video game system and Windows® and online platforms. Comprising a network of top developers, Microsoft Game Studios is committed to creating innovative and diverse games for Windows (http://www.microsoft.com/games/), including such franchises as Age of Empires®, Flight Simulator and Zoo Tycoon™; Xbox (http://www.xbox.com/), including such franchises as Halo®, Project Gotham Racing and MechAssault; and Zone.com (http://www.zone.com/), the official games channel for the MSN® network and home to such hits as Bejeweled and OutSmart™.
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