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Crowds turn out locally for release of Halo 3
(The Pantagraph (Bloomington, IL) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Sep. 25--BLOOMINGTON -- If classrooms across the world are empty today or businesses get a rash of employees calling in sick, blame a new video game. -- Photo gallery
It's been six years in the making, but millions of gamers got a shot at Halo 3 when the video was released at midnight.
GameStop, 1615 Empire St., was open at midnight and gamers waited in line for three hours to get their copies. At Eastland Mall, more than 200 people awaited the games release.
"It's Halo, and nothing is bigger than Halo," said Derek Franklin of Pontiac, who was helping GameStop employees. "The ending to (Halo 2) was terrible and we finally get to see how the story finishes."
The first Halo, "Halo: Combat Evolved," was released in November 2001 for Xbox, a Microsoft video game console. Players took control Master Chief; the science-fiction game is based on a first-person shooter as Earth is at war with a lizard-like alien race.
In November 2004, Halo 2 sold a record-breaking 2.3 million copies worldwide in its first 24 hours and grossed more than $125 million in that day. Halo 3, the first game in the franchise released for the Xbox 360, is expected to reach $200 million in the first 24 hours.
"People have been asking for this game ever since Halo 2 came out three years ago," said Karen Burtschi, GameStop manager. "People have been pre-ordering it for over a year and this store alone has about 500 pre-orders all together."
Cameron Cheek, an Atlanta native who now plays for Sioux City Explorers baseball team, explained the attraction.
"I just like the action, the excitement and especially the winning," he said. "We just came out to have a good time."
"I really like the game play, the atmosphere and the graphics, but I really like playing it online," Josh Eilts of Normal said.
Since its release, Halo 2 has set an online gaming record with more than a billion games played online, Franklin said.
GameStop used a tournament to determine who would get the first copy of Halo 3.
"Most of these people should really pick up a different game," said Zach Eckert of McLean County as he got his copy. His team won the tournament.
To see more of The Pantagraph, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.pantagraph.com.
Copyright (c) 2007, The Pantagraph, Bloomington, Ill.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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