The biggest video game of the year has been launched and the reviews are coming in thick and fast. We are providing extensive coverage including news, videos and in-depth reviews.
Blown away
With its big guns and sci-fi plot, the Halo video game series is undeniably the province of the teenage boy, yet it is one of the most lucrative entertainment franchises of all time. Sam Leith meets the programmers and professional gamers to find out why.
Videos:
Watch the making of Halo 3 Telegraph
Watch the trailer for Halo 3 Telegraph
Halo 3 in pictures Telegraph
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Halo 3 enters the fray in £19bn video games battle
At first sight it is just another fantasy-science fiction-shoot-em-up, the staple diet of teenage computer gamers. But the launch of Halo 3 at midnight last night represents the latest shot in what is becoming the entertainment industry's most lucrative battleground.
In just six years Halo has sold more than 15m copies worldwide and become the most profitable video game franchise in history. Thousands of gamers turned out at shops around the country overnight to get their hands on the final instalment in the series, underlining the growing importance of console games to the entertainment industry - and Halo's vital role in the war to control the £19bn market.
Just 24 hours after it went on sale in the US on Monday, the game had racked up $125m (£62m) in sales. By comparison, Spider-Man 3 - which broke box office records when it was released this summer - made $151m in its first three days.
The numbers underscore the growing value of the games industry, estimated to be worth $38bn worldwide. Although the movie business is still larger - thanks to DVD sales - profits made by gaming have quickly elevated its position. The launch of new games and consoles are now staples in the entertainment industry calendar.
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The Harry Potter of video games
This year's trio of box office big-hitters share a number of traits. They are all male, they all have special powers and they have fans across the globe. But while most of us have heard of a certain adolescent wizard and of a certain Spandex-clad arachnophile, the third member of this exclusive club is something of a mystery to most film fans and bookworms.
Everyone knows about Harry Potter and Spiderman; but Master Chief? The chances are that the name means nothing to you – even though, in commercial terms, he is as big as, if not bigger than, either of his rivals. The difference is that his fame is not down to a bestselling book or blockbuster movie but to a video game. But that game is, by any standards, a blockbuster.
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