Halo 3 launches in Europe!.

Wednesday 26th September 2007 - 17:00


Polished entrance for Master Chief, new Tom Clancy title announced and Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games Wii screens



Xbox 360 gamers across Europe finally got their chance to get their hands on the full playable version of Halo 3 at the game's show-stopping midnight launch earlier today. Uber hip-hop producer and all round entertainer Pharrell Williams flew over from the good'ol U S of A to show us Brits how to get the Halo party started. He was joined by fellow American Christian Slater alongside Carmen Electra in Paris and LL Cool J in Amsterdam. The London event also had Big Brother winner from yesteryear Chantelle and up and coming dance act The Mitchell Bros who happen to have a very good tune coming out about dancing like Michael Jackson. It was that kind of event.

Microsoft reckons Halo 3 is going to be one of the biggest entertainment releases of the year, and based on the number of pre-orders (in excess of one million) combined with the excessive excitement, we reckon there's only one sure fire winner for next week's chart top spot. Be sure to check our review of one of the hottest Xbox 360 games ever this Friday.

Meanwhile there's news from the Tom Clancy camp at Ubisoft; apparently we're about to get a brand new Tom Clancy franchise! Forget all your stealth shenanigans as seen in Splinter Cell or trudging through the jungle in a Ghost Recon game. Now prepare to take to the skies in a forthcoming flight sim called Air Combat that promises extreme multiplayer action in addition to a compelling single player mission structure.

Ubisoft's Sebastien Delen told trade publication MCV: "With this new brand we're redefining the aerial combat genre and extending the Tom Clancy universe to deliver a compelling new action title to next-generation gamers." There's no word on either release date or formats of choice - but our money is on early next year for next-gen platforms and PC.

Finally have a gander at the freshest screens of Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games forthcoming on Wii courtesy of Sega. In Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games, players will compete in events that take place in environments based on the official venues of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Think Track and Field but with a Wii controller and a collection of Nintendo and Sega's greatest ever characters. A release is scheduled in time for Christmas.