Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Gamers united at midnight and early this morning for the release of “Halo 3” for Xbox 360. Stores in Lawrence did their best to prepare for the video game’s highly anticipated release.
The KU Bookstore and Student Union Activities teamed up Monday for a Halo 3 release party from 9 p.m. to midnight in the Kansas Union. Rob Schabel, Overland Park senior and SUA games coordinator, said the group had been expecting at least 100 people to attend because of what SUA and the bookstore had to offer.
“The first 100 copies receive a special student discount of $8 off,” Schabel said. Schabel also said the party had Xboxes available for students to play “Halo 2”, a trivia contest and a screening of “Red vs. Blue,” a popular Halo-based cartoon.
Schabel said he thought the game’s release would impact class attendance today.
“I know plenty of people will be skipping class or work on Tuesday to beat the game,” Schabel said. “I know I’ll be coming a little late, too, on Tuesday.”
Other stores around Lawrence also were prepared for the video game’s release.
Nick Rodekuhr, media specialist at Best Buy, 2020 W. 31st St., said Best Buy had 600 copies of the game and more than 100 pre-orders in its system.
“I would expect all 600 copies of the game we have will sell out within the first couple days it’s released,” Rodekuhr said. He said the store would have a table set up in the back of the store so people could find a copy with ease.
Kenny Nall, sales associate at Wal-Mart, 3300 Iowa St., said Wal-Mart also released the game at midnight and expected a large turnout wanting to get their hands on the new game.
“There’s a lot of anticipation for the game. We’ve been getting a lot of pre-orders and phone calls from people asking about when it would be released,” Nall said. “We also have had a lot of promotion for the game here.”
Nall said Wal-Mart had adopted the motto “Providing the fastest way to play Halo 3” to encourage customers to buy the game from the store.
“We’re going to have more staff on hand to specifically deal with the release of Halo 3 so that gamers can play the game as quickly as possible,” Nall said.
Microsoft released three versions of Halo 3 for gamers to purchase: legendary, limited and standard.
Rodekuhr said the legendary edition would cost $130 and come with bonus features, including two bonus discs, a helmet worn by game characters and a display case for the helmet. The legendary edition already has sold out at Best Buy and its Web site.
Gamers also will be able to buy the limited edition of the game, which comes with a collectable case, or the standard version if they want only the game.
Stephen Scott, Topeka senior, was eager to play the third installment. He said he thought the anticipation for the game was so high because the game was one of a kind.
“The original game was the first of its kind with a first-person shooter mode done right. The controls are solid, and the graphics are great,” Scott said. “I can definitely understand the popularity of the game and see why people camp out for it.”
Halo 3 is now available at the KU Bookstore in the Kansas Union, Wal-Mart and Best Buy. Prices range from $59.99 to $129.99, depending on the version.
— Edited by Tara Smith
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