'Halo 3' to launch September 25

Microsoft said on Tuesday evening, just hours before the Halo 3 beta was about to open, that the much-anticipated game will launch publicly on September 25.

This is the follow-up to Halo and Halo 2, which have been huge hits for the Xbox platform. Microsoft has been hoping it would be the monster hit it has been missing for the Xbox 360.

But reviews from a press event last week were mixed. Still, the fan base is huge and the game is almost certain to generate tremendous amounts of buzz, especially in the early going.

Microsoft also announced that next month it will launch a Halo 3-themed Zune music player.