Halo 3 goes gold

It's official - Halo 3 has just gone gold and is now on its way to manafacturers and disc-makers everywhere.

For those not in on the gaming lingo, 'gold' is the penultimate stage of a games development. First comes the Alpha, then the Betas, finally it 'goes Gold', meaning the game is finished and in production, then the game hits the shelves - but given how massively anticipated Halo 3 is, we doubt it'll stay on the shelves for very long.

Further chronicling the adventures of Master Chief and The Arbiter as they try to stop the alien forces of The Covenant and the deadly Flood from destroying all human life, the release is now only a few weeks away.

The game, which has been in development for three years at Bungie Studios, recently set new records as the fastest preordered game in history, exceeding a million preorders in North America alone. Halo 3 is going to be available worldwide for the Xbox 360 on September 25th - the same day that the Crysis PC demo will hit the 'net.

So, which game do you give your attention to? It's a tough choice to make between the most graphically accomplished game ever seen and the continuing console battles of a robotic man and an alien - thankfully though we've previewed both Crysis and Halo 3 for you, so you can get more info before you decide.

“This is the game we’ve always wanted to make and certainly the best game our studio has developed. We can’t wait for gamers to get their hands on it." Said Harold Ryan, Studio Head at Bungie Studios about the impending release.

Do you have a favourite Halo game, or do you think the whole series is over-hyped and a bit weak? Let us know in the forums.