Halo 2 and 12 months on Live for £60

By Tom Bramwell Published 22 October, 2004

A perfect excuse to go online if you haven't already.

As if you needed more incentive to buy Halo 2, Microsoft has just announced a new limited edition Xbox Live bundle featuring a copy of the game, a headset for voice comms and twelve months subscription to the broadband-only gaming service.

The Halo 2 Xbox Live Starter Kit (is that the snappiest title they could come up with?) will be available on the same day as the game itself - November 11th in the UK and most of Europe - and will retail for £59.99, which is around £20 less than you'd expect to pay for the individual bits.

Xbox related person Richard Teversham reckons it's a fabbo deal. "Halo 2 is the most highly expected game this Christmas and this offer gives all gamers a great way to experience the best game on-line on Xbox Live," he says. "It is a fantastic offer for gamers throughout Europe - the most talked-about Xbox game of 2004 and the best gaming experience available at the best value."

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (21) Latest comment 7 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • fergal_oc #1 7 years ago

    And SimplyGames don't have it yet? Grrr wan't to cancel my order for H2 and swap it for this.

  • Tricky #2 7 years ago

    Yeah it's definitely up there with Half Life 2 and GTA:SA I'm afraid Nibbles and no amount of rampant fanboy-ism on your part is going to change that. If you don't want to play it then that's your loss but personally I'm going to be enjoying all three games this winter.

    Does this bundle have that nice headset that I seem to remember Bungie going on about? - the new one that's apparently a lot more comfy...

  • Nemesis #3 7 years ago

    Kudos to Microsoft, they do this for every big title. The last one I remember with this deal was PGR2 and Live for 60 quid. Bloody BLOODY good deal if you ask me.

  • chronom4n #4 7 years ago

    gotta hand it to them m$they sure know how to give the customers a good deal!

  • Lothar Hex #5 7 years ago

    *Ignores Twatty Nibbles*

  • IronGiant #6 7 years ago

    hmmm, might even tempt those with chipped xbox's to get involved.. though they can only play on LIVE with originals.

  • kram #7 7 years ago

    I saw a deal yesterday, it was PGR2 + 12 months of Live for £45 or £50. Why not use Halo 2's two month trial, then get that deal above.

  • uiruki #8 7 years ago

    Same day release, eh? I've been waiting for a Live kit thinger to appear since my Live started to be charged monthly to my credit card, and £60 for the pack (which will be less if you go anywhere except Game) is a great deal. I already have a headset, but never mind...

    edit: also, M$ M$ MICROSHAFT GAYBOX LOLAASRFFGGGHHHHH
    Edited by 1 at 22/10/04 @ 20:22

  • Lothar Hex #9 7 years ago

    uiruki, you can change how your xbox live account is charged by phoning Microsfot Customer service. I only pay £40 per year. Instead of what a fiver a month is it?

  • Dizzy #10 7 years ago

    And apparently also an XBox Halo 2 bundles...

    Pictures:
    http://www.xboxwor ld.nl/news/5918/
    Edited by 1 at 22/10/04 @ 20:49

  • uiruki #11 7 years ago

    Lothar: yeah, it's £40 a year from the dashboard, or £5 a month. But that's how much the starter kit from shops costs, and I figure I can quit it when I like if it's monthly. I've only had it like that a few months. I'd have bought the PGR2 kit if it weren't for the fact that I bought PGR2 on release, and I'm too damn lazy to put up the £40 in one go. But £54 (including student discount) for Halo and 12 months sounds like a good way to get me off my arse and actually pick up the kit. For example, the splinter cell 2 kit's been going quite cheap recently, but I can't stand stealth games. I'd have gotten the Rallisport 2 kit too, till I noticed that you only get 3 months' Live with it.

    edit: Just looked at the pics on xboxworld.nl: it looks like it's just a 3 month thing again. Oh well, cancel that...
    Edited by 1 at 22/10/04 @ 21:20

  • Toby #12 7 years ago

    Hmm. I'm intending to purchase another xbox when I get Halo 2 (for live), but I'm not sure what to do now. I assumed they'd have a bundle with the Limited Edition version of Halo 2, but that now seems to not be the case.
    Edited by 1 at 22/10/04 @ 21:45

  • Zero Beat #13 7 years ago

    I expect MGS still have a few more announcements to make regarding bundles.

  • Zero Beat #14 7 years ago

    Microsoft Game Studios.

  • phAge #15 7 years ago

    Really couldnt give a flying about the 10/10. Was never really into Half-life 1, and IMO the whole experience of gaming on a console is far superior to that of gaming on a PC. But thats just me - Im sure HL2 is a great game - I just prefer Halo.

  • #16 7 years ago

    And very soon you'll prefer Halo 2! hoho!

  • #17 7 years ago

    ..you're still buying it, right?

  • space_ace #18 7 years ago

    copy halo 2 and you've got 12 months to live!

  • #19 7 years ago

    you get a year of live subscription if you download halo2? man I'm totally down with that shit! woooh. I'll start the download later today! can't wait! wo hoo.

  • bunglebonce #20 7 years ago

    HALF-LIFE 2 got 10/10 in EDGE magazine.

    Why thanks for letting me know, in a Halo 2 article, and ruining the excitement of opening the magazine, reading the review the whole way through and coming to what they say at the end, with the score. I've only been waiting to do it for the best part of a year.

  • #21 7 years ago

    That's what I do each time a new game is announced aswell. I wait and wait, for the Edge review. I don't have to actually play any games this way. Not at all time-consuming. Just as fulfilling. Ah, look at the time. I've got the rest of the day to do absolutely nothing with.. and it's all thanks to Edge.

    Thank you, Edge!

  • #22 7 years ago

    next year, for hl2xbox, if it's still coming at all

  • elvenearth #23 7 years ago

    Hey Tony Nibbles,
    If Microsoft is still losing money on every Xbox they sell you could justify a purpose for buying one that way, couldn't you? Besides its not like Sony isn't a mega corporation, if you buy from them you are contributing to their global video game dominance. Based on your argument the only console you could buy with any justification is a Nintendo console, because Nintendo are solely (well mostly) a games company.
    Now here's a question for you, what if a game or series of games you absolutely loved was only available exclusively on Xbox, would you buy one then?
    Oh hey, I'll do one more: What if Microsoft one day (hypothetically) has the only decent console around, what would you do then?

    Now I don't own an Xbox myself, but I am not opposed to owning one if the right game comes along.

  • #24 7 years ago

    Your looss.

  • #25 7 years ago

    You know. I just had a great idea.

  • elvenearth #26 7 years ago

    Off topic, but what do ya think of this idea?

    I think it would be a great idea for blizzard to port over Starcraft 64 to the upcoming Nintendo DS (Dual Screen) system. With 2 screens and the bottom screen being touch sensitive it would be much more intuitive then a normal console or mobile platform. For strategy games like Starcraft this would be ideal, finally it would be possible to have a good strategy game outside of the PC. Better yet, the DS has wireless lan and can go online via wi fi. Sounds pretty ideal to me, what do you guys think?

  • #27 7 years ago

    I think it's a bad idea.

  • #28 7 years ago

    if you've got a 4gb attachment I'll send it to him. what's your mail address?

  • Sponz #29 7 years ago

    get a life satan, go and play a game of something rather than spending your entire day spamming every comment. look at the "recent comments/more comments" list and almost every single thread has you as the latest poster.

    me /ignores satan.

  • #30 7 years ago

    Heh. Just because I say something everywhere doesn't mean I don't have anything to say about everything.

  • BartonFink #31 7 years ago

    So it this going to be the most highly expected game this Christmas?

    Well this and PES4 on Live

    w00t