Halo 2 sparks midnight madness

The PC gaming industry is limbering up for tonight's US release of one of the most highly anticipated and highly hyped games of the year: Halo 2.

To see what all the fuss is about check out our sister title PCW's review here.

The latest version of the flagship title for Microsoft's Xbox platform will see US gamers converge at thousands of launch parties as retail outlets stay awake for the game's official launch at one minute past midnight US Eastern Standard Time.

The 9 November launch will extend beyond the US to Canada, Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore and Taiwan as well as throughout Latin America, Australia and New Zealand.

However, British Xbox gamers will have to wait for two days until 11 November, when the game will be unveiled in the UK, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.

"With more than 1.5 million copies already pre-ordered, day-one sales of Halo 2 look to herald the biggest 24 hours in entertainment retail history," said Peter Moore, corporate vice president of worldwide publishing and marketing for Xbox at Microsoft.

Halo 2 will be sold for a recommended price of $49.99.