In case you haven’t heard, there is a new Halo game coming out.  Dubbed Halo: Reach, it drops on September 14th, 2010 and is for preorder here along with a $20 credit on a future game.  One of Microsoft‘s founding games for the Xbox, this is set as a prequel to the other Halo games.  (What is it with doing stories on how something started, when well, isn’t that what the first game/movie should be about?) 

In Halo: Reach, players experience the fateful moments that forged the “Halo” legend. It’s the story of Noble Team, a squad of heroic Spartan soldiers, and their final stand on planet Reach, humanity’s last line of defense between the terrifying Covenant and Earth. This darker story is echoed by grittier visuals amid a backdrop of massive, awe-inspiring environments. Characters, enemies and environments are rendered in amazing detail by an all-new engine designed to deliver epic-scale encounters against the cunning and ruthless Covenant.

The massive popularity of this game franchise is unquestioned with over 34 million Halo games sold and over 2 billion hours of online Xbox Live gameplay.  If that doesn’t speak to the popularity of the game, what does?  Not only is the game popular, but it has spawned books, action figures, and apparel.  Which truly makes any game in this franchise much-anticipated event.