Halo 3 release month announced? Not likely
by Alexander Sliwinski 
{ Nov 28th 2006 at 10:50PM }
See past the commercial young Jedi. Look at the license plates. We don't know if this was planted viral marketing to generate hype, but we'll bite and let the masses take over from there. The license plates of the cars in this Xbox 360 ad are: "GOW 1106" and "HA LO307." GOW 1106 could stand for Gears of War, which was released in November of '06 (11/06). Now look at the other license plate, HA LO307, which can clearly be seen at the :50 marker. Does this mean we'll see Halo 3 in March of '07 (03/07) or does it mean "HALO3 / 07" meaning Halo 3 comes out in '07? The commercial definitely lends itself to some speculation and -- considering there is no confirmed release date -- speculation is all anybody has at this point. However, companies are more than happy to take your pre-order money now if you wish.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
FrenchPoodle @ Nov 28th 2006 10:53PM
Its definitly Halo3/07... now if it said "Halo3307" Then that would be a different story
Lone Starr @ Nov 28th 2006 10:56PM
I don't think that would leave time for the beta.
Noxat @ Nov 28th 2006 10:58PM
Maybe this just means a major Halo 3 announcement will happen on 03/07. I doubt it means its the release date.
Trey @ Nov 28th 2006 11:05PM
Definetly just Halo 3 on 07. As with the first comment if it had two threes then it would have been different.
Saint Jouten @ Nov 28th 2006 11:09PM
Halo 3 will be launched July 7, 2007 (7/7/07).
Red Dog @ Nov 28th 2006 11:08PM
I think that HALO307 is simply the beta release date (March '07). Didn't all the articles about the beta say it would be around March next year that it would be released? I'm sure I read that somewhere.
Dark-Pen @ Nov 28th 2006 11:13PM
well..... isn't the beta supposed to come out in march?
Kimosabae @ Dec 1st 2006 6:38PM
Could possibly be the release date for the beta, though, they may just not have wanted to make it too obvious with two threes. Remember, Bungie did officially state the beta is due out in the spring, and everyone already knows the game is to be released in 2007.
-SynikaL
Free Wii @ Nov 28th 2006 11:13PM
Sneaky, I hope thats the right release date
SonicRift @ Nov 29th 2006 9:40AM
Clearly this means that Hal is coming to the 360 this March. So when your ring of light turns completely red...
A Reader @ Nov 28th 2006 11:15PM
Consider the big picture here folks: Gears of War XI, 2106. You heard it here first.
Turo @ Nov 28th 2006 11:24PM
to joystiq:
i hate to have to read this when it comes to something not out yet. so what if the retailers "take" money from u? ITS FULLY REFUNDABLE AND GOES TOWARD THE PURCHASE. what about that do u not understand??? geeze...
Iced_Eagle @ Nov 28th 2006 11:25PM
I'm in the crowd of Halo 3 in '07...
Or else it would just read Halo in 03 / 07 which doesn't make any sense (like any of it does though is another story).
Abhinav @ Nov 29th 2006 1:32AM
Halo 3 in 07... maybe we'll get the beta in March so it might be hinting at that as a double message.
AJ @ Nov 28th 2006 11:47PM
I have a better theory, at the end when the guy is counting he skips to 11, 12. If we are going along the dates theory 11/12/07 could be the release date which is a Monday and in November which is when the other Halo games and the Xbox & 360 launched, just a thought though.
JustEaton @ Nov 28th 2006 11:52PM
It's not March 07, it's just Halo 3 is coming out in the year 2007. It's a very interesting and rather cool marketing technique, but it has nothing to do with a release month.
Dan @ Nov 29th 2006 12:28AM
Just saw on Sportscenter that a new trailer for Halo 3 will be shown during Monday night football. A reason to not tivo past the ads.
matt @ Nov 29th 2006 12:34AM
i'm with the other guy who thinks it's for the beta. it's supposed to come out in march anyways. either that, or it's bungie messing with us.
Mr. Noodles @ Nov 29th 2006 12:52AM
Oh, come on people, it'll be out in November.
Nov 2001: Xbox
Nov 2002: MechAssault [to keep people subscribed to Live]
Nov 2003: Crimson skies [see above]
Nov 2004: Halo 2
Nov 2005: Xbox 360
Nov 2006: Gears of War
Nov 2007 Halo 3
Nov 2008: Peter Jackson's Halo? GoW 2? I dunno, let's wait and see.
The basic point is that if major releases are in November, people stay subscribed to Live, and more people join around the same time of year. Nov is also always very Live-heavy as far as marketing goes.
D O W N @ Nov 29th 2006 12:54AM
HALO307 is leetspeak for HALEOT, which is "LATE HO" scrambled up.
OH MY GOD.. SOMEBODY KILLED PARIS HILTON.
Balla360 @ Nov 30th 2006 4:26PM
Mr. Noodles wins. For the junior high kids who are posting: there's simply no good business reason for Microsoft to advertise the date Halo 3 is scheduled to go to beta. Don't you have school tomorrow?
homer @ Nov 29th 2006 1:21AM
Bungie has long been obsessed with the number 7, you can see it in all of their previous games in map design and other areas... it's definitely coming out on 07/07/07. That sounds about right if the March beta is true.
Chris @ Nov 29th 2006 1:15AM
halo 3 2007
the end
monkeyboy @ Nov 29th 2006 1:31AM
Ok, so I agree that its probably not coming out in "3/07" however, the extra 3 argument is a poor one. Think about it, how many characters on a license plate? An extra 3 would make 8 characters, one more than a license plate can have. Intuition, not the lack of an extra 3, tells me later than March.
gabur @ Nov 29th 2006 4:03AM
It could be Q3 07 as well...
Johan @ Nov 30th 2006 9:36AM
What about the numberplate CCK NO3D on the renault? What does that one mean?
matt @ Nov 29th 2006 9:37AM
@ balla360.
so just because we voiced our opinion on what it MIGHT be, it makes us jr high kids. it's posts like yours that discourage exchange of ideas on the interweb. go back to your hole and play some more video games. let people speculate and discuss without your ignorant commentary.
Thomas Crymes @ Nov 29th 2006 9:34AM
"i hate to have to read this when it comes to something not out yet. so what if the retailers "take" money from u? ITS FULLY REFUNDABLE AND GOES TOWARD THE PURCHASE. what about that do u not understand??? geeze..."
What you say is true, but what you don't seem to realize is that the money out of your pocket is money you can't spend, save, or donate. You are also giving companies money for no goods or services. Money that they probably park in an interest bearing account so they can benefit from having it before the product ships.
Plus is virtually guarantees a sale. So it makes perfect sense for them. Makes no sense for you since games are very cheap to make and typically plentiful. Game Stop has started ordering only enough games to meet pre-orders on Day 1.
They think this will make people clamor to pre-order. For me it only means that they will no longer be getting my money.
Extracheese @ Nov 29th 2006 10:04AM
Johan:
Could it be cholecystokynin non-oxygenated-3-dehydrogenase? Just a thought. :-)
JGE @ Nov 29th 2006 10:04AM
Whatever it means, it accomplished what it was intended to do. Got people to read and talk about it.
32_Footsteps @ Nov 29th 2006 10:28AM
I'd laugh my ass off if it turned out they just rereleased the first Halo, updated for the 360, in March of next year. It'd be easy enough to do, probably sell a few million copies, and mess with so many fanboy minds.
Sneaky? It would be. But possible? Without a doubt.
MaX PL @ Nov 29th 2006 10:30AM
its 3/07 as in the release of the beta.
if they give us the specific date of gears, why would they just toss in some random halo in 07 thing when everyone already knows its out in 07.
btw, i feel bad for all other developers cause i'll only be playing halo 3 beta til halo 3. i'm gonna pass on forza 2, mass effect, and too human just because i know the halo 3 beta will be better than all of them.
Jonah Falcon @ Nov 29th 2006 10:32AM
(cough) Doesn't anyone remember the Halo 3 multiplayer open beta will be in March 07?
Steven @ Nov 29th 2006 10:32AM
I agree that its got to be talking about the beta test.
NoOne @ Nov 29th 2006 6:02PM
Just some facts about the video. It was shot somewhere in Romania. Over there the standard for the registration plates is xx ## yyy where xx is the first or 2 first letters for the county, ## is a 2 digit number from 01 to 99 and yyy is combination of 3 letters.
P_40E @ Nov 29th 2006 3:24PM
Why is everyone saying the beta will be out in March? They only said "Spring 2007".
Ross @ Nov 29th 2006 7:11PM
It's definately not talking about the beta, why the hell would they advertise that? That would serve them no purpose. It is definately Halo 3, 2007...or...
Halo Wars anyone?
And what about the Renault? Johan has a good question.
Ross @ Nov 29th 2006 7:15PM
Another thing: a lot of people are saying that everyone knows that Halo 3 is coming out in 2007, but fail to neglect that everyone already knows that Gears of War already came out. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.
Corellia @ Nov 30th 2006 1:13PM
To quote Yoda. "There is another"
At 00:30 the parked car on the left has license plate: "CCK N030" or "CCK N03O" or "CCK NO30", which could stand for "Seek Number 30"? Just happens to correspond to the ad. reel time?? Eh?
Just adding my observation.
C.
CYRiX @ Nov 29th 2006 8:49PM
Too bad I can't even see the license plates for myself cuz all there is is a reduced youtube video of it.
Bob McPherson @ Nov 29th 2006 8:39PM
could just be saying Halo 3 is out in 2007
cus i seriously doubt it will be out that soon
Marquee @ Nov 29th 2006 10:52PM
I betting it will come out in May and crush the sales of Spiderman 3 just like they did with the halo2/spiderman 2 weekend.
Vironex @ Nov 29th 2006 10:07PM
I submit unto the community that this is nothing more than Halo 3 '07.
Cullens @ Nov 29th 2006 9:54PM
Did anyone else notice the 3rd license plate???
.... it says "4ZA MTR2" (Forza 2)... no date attached to that though.
Cullens @ Nov 29th 2006 9:56PM
Also for those who want a better (non Youtube) version you can actually download this in high-def on the Xbox Marketplace... its been there for at least a week or two now.
JesseRiddle @ Nov 29th 2006 10:29PM
CCK No3D at the 30Sec mark.
Possibly stands for CapCom/Konami No 3 Dimensional
Hale @ Nov 29th 2006 10:42PM
@17, Xbox Live came out in Nov 02, and XBL2.0 was Nov 03, so I think a better list would be..
Nov 2001: Xbox and Halo
Nov 2002: Xbox Live
Nov 2003: Xbox Live 2.0
Nov 2004: Halo 2
Nov 2005: Xbox 360
Nov 2006: Gears of War, HD-DVD, and Fall Update Patch
Nov 2007: Halo 3 and Grand Theft Auto IV
G-Labor @ Nov 29th 2006 11:29PM
How the hell do you people see those kind of things
Mike Mills @ Nov 30th 2006 12:35AM
I am pretty sure that Halo 3 won't be released until around November 2007. The reasoning is that Microsoft is using the Christmas shopping season to take sales away from Sony.
The 360 came out in November 2005. They wouldn't have brought Halo 3 out for Christmas 2006 even if it were ready - there's no need to. Sony hasn't manufactured enough units of the Playstation 3 to present any threat to Microsoft this season. So Gears of War makes a nice substitute as a console-seller.
But by next Christmas, Sony will of course have caught up on manufacturing, plus there will be more games available for PS3. The real war will be fought over Christmas 2007. If Microsoft can use Halo 3 to steal customers from Sony during next year's pivotal shopping season, that should seal it: Microsoft will have "won" the next-generation console war.
I predict that, by the end of the 360/PS3 cycle, Microsoft and Sony will have pretty much exactly swapped places. Microsoft will have sold about as many 360s as Sony has PS2s, and Sony will have sold about as many PS3s as Microsoft has first-generation XBoxes.
That's assuming that Microsoft wins Christmas 2007. I think they will, because they'll have Halo 3, plus Grand Theft Auto IV will be released for 360 at the same time as PS3 (so there will be no advantage for PS3.)
I also expect to see one more GOW-quality game for the 360 around Spring/Summer - whenever the PS3 gets caught up with manufacturing. Microsoft has a serious advantage _this_ season, and their not just gonna let it slip away.
IMHO, of course!
john downs @ Nov 30th 2006 4:54AM
HALO 3 November 07 do your really think they would only let gears of war stick around for 5 months and lose that popularity to Halo 3 which everybody whose on GOW now knows Halo 3 is gonna make that one lonely xbox live game, where are your marketing brains guys Halo 3 November 1 07 but watch it be delayed a week b4 black friday 07 so dont get everybody hyped cause Gates it smarter than all the Gamer Enthusiasts oh and was it suppose to be out the same day as Ps3 and The Wii Bungie is clearly procrastinating but it should cause I want a Glitch free 360 Halo experience, and Dont forget Kill Zone for Ps3 is under 20 mIllion dollar development so if u remember how good it was on Ps3 im sure bungie is making sure it will not be a halo Killer
Johnny D