It's out. After one of the longest, most torturous waits in gaming history, Bungie's epic Halo 3 has finally been released in North America. The rest of the planet will be hooked up by the end of the week, and there can be little doubt that last night's launch reached fever-pitch levels of excitement.

At the time of writing, and according to our U.S. limited edition copy of the game, there are a little under 100,000 gamers logged in and seeking online gameplay sessions. With pre-orders for Halo 3 having reached beyond 1.5 million, it'll be interesting to see if the game will break all-time records for sales figures and number of units shipped in a short space of time.


GameSpy is planning much more Halo 3-related content over the coming weeks, including reader-fueled 'Spy-Hunter sessions, roundtables and other opinion pieces. Stay tuned for a whole lot more from your favorite Spartan warrior.