Get this:

  • 820,000 unique participants.
  • 12 million hours+ of online gameplay.
  • That's more than 1,400 years of continuous play by one person.
  • 350 terabytes of data downloaded from Live and collected for analysis by Bungie.
  • 580,000 saved films created by users.
  • That's more than 2.7 terabytes of data.

What am I talking about, you may ask? Well, that's the stats for the Halo 3 Multiplayer Beta. And as if to say thank you, today Bungie have released details of some new Halo 3 merchandise that will be going on sale nearer the time of the game's release.

First up there'll be some limited edition wireless controllers that will be available in either the Covenant Brute or Master Chief themes, and have been designed with original artwork by Spawn artist Todd McFarlane. Each controller will come packaged with a collectible figurine made by McFarlane Toys. To accompany these, a limited edition wireless headset sporting the Spartan green and gold colours will also be released, and will go on sale for the same price as the controllers at $59.99 (£30.43) each.

Other things to look forward to is a new comic book series from Marvel. Entitled Halo: Uprising, it will be a four-part mini-series written by Brian Michael Bendis and drawn by Alex Maleev, with issue one destined for sale on 25 July at $3.99. Looking slightly further away than that will see the Halo book series being continued on 2 October when Halo: Contact Harvest will be released ($12.95), telling the tale of the first encounters between UNSC forces and the alien Covenant race.

Finally, Bungie's press release took the time to re-confirm the release of the Halo 3 Zune edition ($249), which you can read more about here. And, yes, these are all American prices and details, with no word of any European releases. You're probably gonna have to look towards eBay if you want to get your hands on some of this, folks.