By: Chella Ramanan

Today Microsoft has finally given us the news we've all been waiting for – the release date for Halo 3. Team Bungie will deliver the goods in North America on September 25th and gamers in Europe will be invited to "Finish the Fight" just one day later.

Jonty Barnes, Executive Producer of Halo 3, is quietly confident, "Essentially at this point in the project all the hard-planned scheduling time is behind us and we're no longer re-evaluating or unblocking dependencies we're moving in to polish the game. External dates and announcements just bring home the excitement and expectation the public has for the game, and this makes the hard work feel worth it."

All this on the day the Halo 3 beta launches on Xbox Live, providing gamers with a glimpse of the game's multiplayer, online action.

"Halo 3 is much more than a video game release. It's the biggest entertainment event of the year," says an excited Peter Moore.

"On September 25th we intend to deliver a finale that will go down in entertainment history and leave people around the world with an experience that will be shared and enjoyed for years to come."

Halo 3 has a lot to live up to, not only its own legacy, but the legacy left by current "Halo beater" Gears of War. Hopefully, Bungie has done away with the bland, repetitive environments once and for all, bringing us more of the fantastic set pieces that made the original such a joy to play.

It's official, we're excited!