Bungie Salutes the Halo Nation

Five years ago today, Bungie made history with the release of their much revered first-person shooter Halo. Many consider Halo to be not just one of the finest FPSs ever made but also the game that managed to make Microsoft one of the major players in console gaming. To mark the occasion, Bungie announced a number of Halo related goodness in a press release and there’s good news for old and new players alike.

On the Halo 3 front, Bungie announced that a teaser advertisement will be airing on television in December. It will be approximately one minute long and will air only once during ESPN’s Monday Night Football broadcast on December 4th. Bungie did not reveal whether or not this teaser will show off new footage of the anticipated sequel. Additionally, Bungie will begin public beta testing of Halo 3’s online multiplayer features on Microsoft’s Xbox Live service in spring 2007. This marks the first time that beta testing for the Halo series will be made public.

The other major announcement was that Xbox 360 owners will be receiving exclusive downloadable content, including new multiplayer maps, for Halo 2 come Spring 2007. Halo 2, which has broken a number of sales records since its release in November 2004, continues to be strong seller for Microsoft and Bungie despite being developed for the original Xbox.