THE UNIVERSITY DAYY KANSAN
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2007
NEWS 3A
GAMING
SUA celebrates release of'Halo 3' with party, discount
BY MATT LINDBERG
mlindberg@kansan.com
Gamers united at midnight and early this morning for the release of "Halo 3" for Xbox 360. Stores in Lawrence did their best to prepare for the video game's highly anticipated release.
The KU Bookstore and Student Union Activities teamed up Monday for a Halo 3 release party from 9 p.m. to midnight in the Kansas Union. Rob Schabel, Overland Park senior and SUA games coordinator, said the group had been expecting at least 100 people to attend because of what SUA and the bookstore had to offer.
"The first 100 copies receive a special student discount of $8 off," Schabel said. Schabel also said the party had Xboxes available for students to play "Halo 2", a trivia contest and a screening of "Red vs. Blue", a popular Halo-based cartoon.
on Tuesday."
Schabel said he thought the game's release would impact class attendance today.
Other stores around Lawrence also were prepared for the video game's release.
Nick Rodekuhr, media specialist at Best Buy, 2020 W. 31st St., said Best Buy had 600 copies of the game and more than 100 pre-orders in its system.
"I know plenty of people will be skipping class or work on Tuesday to beat the game," Schabel said. "I know I'll be coming a little late, too.
"I would expect all 600 copies of the game we have will sell out within the first couple days it's released," Rodekuhr said. He said the store would have a table set up in the back of the store so people could find a copy with ease.
store.
"We're going to have more staff on hand to specifically deal with the release of Halo 3 so that gamers can play the game as quickly as possible." Nall said.
Kenny Nall, sales associate at Wal-Mart, 3300 Iowa St., said Wal-Mart also released the game at midnight and expected a large turnout wanting to get their hands on the new game.
"There a lot of anticipation for the game. We've been getting a lot of pre-orders and phone calls from people asking about when it would be released," Nall said. "We also have had a lot of promotion for the game here."
Nall said Wal-Mart had adopted the motto "Providing the fastest way to play Halo 3" to encourage customers to buy the game from the
Microsoft released three versions of Halo 3 for gamers to purchase: legendary, limited and standard.
Rodekuhr said the legendary edition would cost $130 and come with bonus features, including two bonus discs, a helmet worn by game characters and a display case for the helmet. The legendary edition already has sold out at Best Buy and its Web site.
Steve McDuffie, Wichita sophomore, and Josh Bowe, Bedford, Texas, freshman, play cooperative missions in the video game "Halo 2" on Xbox at a "Halo 3" release party Monday night at the Hawk's Nest in the Kansas Union. Halo 3 for Xbox 360 was released at midnight. McDuffie and Bowe have high expectations for the new game.
Gamers also will be able to buy the limited edition of the game, which comes with a collectible case, or the standard version if they want only the game.
Adam MacDonald/XANSAN
Stephen Scott, Topeka senior, was eager to play the third installment. He said he thought the anticipation for the game was so high because the game was one of a kind.
"The original game was the first of its kind with a first-person shooter mode done right. The controls are solid, and the graphics are
great," Scott said. "I can definitely understand the popularity of the game and see why people camp out for it."
Halo 3 is now available at the KU Bookstore in the Kansas Union, Wal-Mart and Best Buy. Prices range from $59.99 to $129.99, depending
on the version.
— Edited by Tara Smith
ADVISING
Majors Fair to provide information about academics, career options
BY JEFF DETERS jdeters@kansan.com
When Samir Kashyap came to the University of Kansas last year, he wanted to go to medical school. Since then, the Shawnee sophomore decided to narrow his coursework to human biology and psychology.
Students who have not yet declared a major or who might
be interested in switching majors can find valuable information at the Majors Fair from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. today on Level 4 of the Kansas Union.
The fair is free and open to students, faculty, staff and alumni. It is sponsored by the University Advising Center. Shanda Hurla, assistant director of the University Advising Center, said students should take advantage of the
breadth of information available at the fair.
"There's definitely a lot of benefits for students," she said.
Hurla said there would be representatives from about 60 different academic departments, including the Office of Study Abroad and the Global Awareness Program. Students can learn about academic majors, minors and potential careers. Hurla said mostly freshmen and sophomores attended the fair. Kashyap will be one of those attending.
"It's a good way to get informed." Kashyap said.
The annual event had usually been held during the spring semester, but has been moved to the fall semester this year so students could be informed earlier about their educational options. The fair is also just before the fall main
advising period, where advisors meet with students and help them prepare course schedules for next semester.
Andy Haverkamp, Hoyt freshman, said he also was planning on attending the fair. He is majoring in chemical engineering and said he was interested in studying abroad in Eastern Europe. Haverkamp said he had never been overseas before and thought
studying abroad would be more beneficial to him than the typical classroom setting.
"it's such an interesting culture," he said. "You can learn a lot about people."
For more information on the Majors Fair and student advising, go to www.advising.ku.edu.
Edited by Rachel Bock