Sunday, March 18, 2007

Halo 3: Three Editions

So the upcoming Halo 3 is going to come in three editions:

The Microsoft/Bungie marketing machine is cranking up.  We now have more details for the upcoming, sure-to-be-blockbuster Halo 3 versions you will be able to purchase this Spring (southern hemisphere)
Fans can shell out US$129.99 for the Legendary Edition of Halo 3, three disks packaged in a 'Spartan Mjolnir Mark VI helmet' shaped case.
Disk one will obviously be the much awaited final installment in the Halo trilogy, seeing the Master Chief back on Earth defending against a Covenant and Flood invasion.
The other two disks contained in the Legendary Edition will feature supplemental bonus material such as a HD "making of Halo 3" doco, behind the scenes footage, early game concepts and evolution.  There will be featurettes concentrating of the Bungie Halo 3 team showing them working on graphics, audio and creative design for the game.
The disks will also include an audio-visual calibration tool so that players can optimise their specific home theatre set-ups to get the most from a Halo 3 experience.

No doubt someone is already working on what they're going to put in the fourth different release for Halo 4.

Skype Developments

Skype seems to be adding features to its services after its being bought by e-Bay.

Skype Ltd. has released a new version of its Internet telephony and instant messaging software that adds a feature to let users create business reviews, and another one to sell expertise, as the eBay Inc. subsidiary promotes interaction among its users.

Skype 3.1, available for Windows, features SkypeFind, designed to let Skype users post and find reviews of business establishments. It also introduces a test version of Skype Prime, a marketplace where Skype users can market knowledge and advice to others.

The company unveiled SkypeFind last month in a beta version of Skype 3.1. Already, SkypeFind contains around 4,500 listings from 124 countries and Skype expects it to have over a million listings by year's end.

Meanwhile, Skype Prime made its debut last week in another prerelease version of Skype 3.1, as an expertise marketplace open to both individuals and businesses interested in selling their advice. Unlike SkypeFind and Skype 3.1, Skype Prime is still considered to be in a beta, or test, phase.

SkypePrime looks interesting. I wonder if the world would actually be interested in a scandium expert online?