Richard Dean Anderson to launch Halo 3 in Dublin; Record breaking attempt planned
Actor Richard Dean Anderson is to launch Halo 3 in Dublin on Tuesday, forming one of the main elements of Microsoft’s Irish high-profile release of the highly anticipated Xbox 360 game.
News that the actor, most famous for playing MacGyver and more recently Jack O’Neill on Stargate SG-1, will launch the game was confirmed this evening to Games Toaster by a Microsoft spokesperson.
However, his visit to Dublin is still somewhat shrouded in mystery as there is still little detail of Anderson’s visit.
Record breaking attempt
Meanwhile, tomorrow - in the build up to the European release on Wednesday September 26 - Irish gamers will attempt to set record breaking times completing Halo 2.
The Guinness World Record - also organised by Microsoft - will start midday at the Dublin city centre in the morning. Microsoft expects hundreds games to turn up to the event at the Xbox Live Gaming Centre / Xbox Live Cafe.
The current record holder is Cody Miller who finished the game in three and a half hours with the ‘legendary’ difficulty setting on in August 2005. The publisher and console maker will be incentives such as prizes of
the limited edition ‘Legendary Edition’ of Halo 3, Marvel Halo graphic novels, and Halo 3 branded merchandise.
Promotion around Ireland
Microsoft also said that the game will be promoted across mediums and are aiming to make it one of the most high-profile entertainment launches. The Halo 3 TV advert, a still of which is pictured above, is just one example.
On the streets, Halo’s star Master Chief - or at least a person dressed as him - will appear on Grafton Street in Dublin this Saturday and Sunday, and move on to Cork, and Galway after that.
By the time of the launch, shoppers entering the main entrance of the St Stephens Green Shopping Centre will be greeted by Halo branding. This will link in with retailer Gamestop’s midnight launch at their new store at the shopping centre. Full details of of Gamestop’s midnight opening across Ireland can be viewed here.
GameStop opens midnight for Halo 3
Gamestop say they will open 14 of its 46 in the Republic and Northern Ireland at at midnight on Tuesday for the European release of Halo 3.
The retailer are to have midnight openings at Henry St, Stephens Green, and Clare Hall in Dublin, along with their outlets in Belfast, Derry, Limerick, Drogheda, Wexford, Tralee, Letterkenny, Mallow, Midleton, Killarney, and Bangor.
Other retailers, such as HMV, GAME, and Smyths, are also likely to have midnight openings in at least the main cities.
A Microsoft spokesperson told us this evening that, in Ireland, “Michael Finucane from Game stop says that pre-orders are running at twice the rate of Halo 2″, while a statement released this afternoon says the company worldwide is “running off 81 games per second to ensure that they meet global demand for this title”.
“It is fantastic to see the level of interest shown by Irish gamers, all of whom are eager to be one of the first people in the country to get their hands on what is set to be the must have game this Christmas,” said Orla Sheridan, country manager at the entertainment and devices division of Microsoft Ireland.
Halo 3 demand high says Irish retailer
Microsoft Ireland are reporting “Huge demand” for pre-orders of Halo
3, what it is calling the fastest pre-sales in video game history,
while Gamestop are say the
demand has been “nothing short of phenomenal”.
Worldwide pre-orders of Halo 3 have exceeded the 1 million according
to Microsoft, the publisher of the game and maker of the Xbox 360 games
console. No Irish sales numbers were released.
It’s set to be released in standard, limited, and “legendary
edition” - according to the publisher, the ‘legendary’ version is
expected to sell out before its September 26 launch.
Midnight openings are expected across Ireland for the launch of the latest Halo game.
“What we’ve experienced is nothing short of phenomenal, Halo 3 has
eclipsed the previous record set by Halo 2″ said Michael Finucane,
commercial director at Gamestop.
“It set a benchmark for others to follow and is a real indication of
how video games has now come to the forefront of the entertainment
industry… The excitement for Halo 3 is incredible”.
GAME: Ireland UK sales boosted by PS3
Retailer GAME says that the PS3 pushed sales up; pictured: a customer handing over cash at the PS3 midnight launch at GAME on Dawson Street in Dublin.
3 has accounted for over 40 percent in growth in sales at the games
retail giant GAME according to a statement released today by the firm.
GAME have stores around Ireland but it is hard
to tell what trends are exclusive to the State or the island as the
company treats the UK and Ireland as the one market.
“In the UK and Ireland, total sales were up by
71.1%” the statement says “The Sony Playstation 3 launched on 23 March
2007. If we exclude all sales of the PS3 product category the UK and
Ireland [like-for-like] sales were up by 24.6%”.
The retailer says it has also seen strong Wii sales, but did not expand on detail.
GAME say they are expecting a net profit
before tax between £1m and £3m (
PlayStation 3 price questions for Ireland
Details on prices and versions of the PlayStation 3 that will apply in the Republic and Northern Ireland are still uncertain…
Weeks ago, Sony offered a “Euro” price of 499/599 euro (20/60GB
versions), and last week Ray Maguire MD of SCE UK said the 60GB hard
drive version would be £425 UKP. The UK MD gave no price for the lower
version that is rumoured not to be available in the UK.
However, this afternoon Sony Computer Entertainment Ireland could not
confirm to Games Toaster if either price point could be applied to the
south or north of Ireland, saying that they “don’t have any further
details on this at the moment but as soon as we do, you’ll be the first
to know”. Like SCE UK, they also couldn’t confirm details of the
versions that would be available.
In coverage of the revealing of PS3 price points
and hard drives, we noted that “If, like other releases, the Republic
of Ireland will have a higher price is currently unknown”. It’s
also worth noting that similar incidences have occurred with the
release price of competitors’ prices, tax rates differ, and a European
Union law on recycling has been enacted in the Republic but not some
other member states.
Sony’s PlayStation 3 is set for launch on November
17, 2006 in Europe
and North America. The console will have a Blu-ray DVD disk drive,
which allows storage of more data for games, and the playing of Blu-ray
films. It will use a Bluetooth wireless controller (pictured, top),
similar in shape to
the PS2 controller with the bottom buttons acting as triggers,
a attachable (USB) cable, and the addition of six-axis motion sensors,
but the removal of the Dual Shock rumble feature. The new PlayStation
console was playable at the ‘E3′ games industry show early this month
(pictured, right). The PS3 is priced at
$499/$599 in the United States; $549/$659 in Canada; 59,800Yen/(set by
retailers) in Japan, and 499/599 euro in, err: somewhere.
Dublin - Belfast rail line halved for PC game
A computer game depiction of the Belfast to Dublin ‘Enterprise’ train
The ‘Enterprise’ rail service from Belfast to Dublin has been cut
in two, at least in a computer game add-on. ‘Irish Enterprise
North’, an add-on for the Microsoft Train Simulator, will feature the
Belfast to Dundalk section of the service. It is set for release on May
26, at around £24.99 (or about 35 euro). While a planned released,
‘Enterprise South’, will
continue to Dublin, completing the line.
“After about a years work the team building the route have had to
come to conclusion that the original scope of the route was too large
to manage in a reasonable time frame”, stated a release. The company
realises that this could be a disappoint to
some and apologised, explaining, “There are genuine reasons for
making this change, mainly a re-evaluation of the amount of extra work
a non freeware involves”.
The UK based developer “Making Tracks” previously released ‘Ballyshannon Route’ with Irish rail stock as
freeware, and the full product ‘London South East’, another
add-on for the Microsoft Train Simulator. Enterprise North, and South
are to be published by First Class Simulations.
As well as the inter-city services, both add-ons will feature commuter and freight services. The 
games will encompass the years between 1995 and 2005, including rail
speeds of up to 90mph after the Belfast line was updated around 1999.
The real Enterprise service is jointly operated by Irish Rail (Iarnróid