(22 September 2007 2:00 pm)

MUMBAI: The competition between Microsoft XBox360 and Sony's PS3 is likely to get stronger, as the former gets ready to release its $60 game - Halo - in its latest version.

The previous two Halo games sold a combined 15 million copies. Halo 3 is being made exclusively for Microsoft's new Xbox 360 console and the company is leaving no stone unturned to create a buzz around the final chapter in the popular science fiction combat game trilogy.

Microsoft's marketing team is using the slogan 'Finish the Fight' to promote the game and it is hoping to outsell its predecessors and encourage gamers to buy and Xbox360 and subscribe to Xbox Live.

Halo 3 comes at the start of the year’s most important season, a period which encompasses the all important Christmas/holiday gift giving season, with Thanksgiving being an important milestone for sales pre-Christmas in the USA which is the world’s most powerful consumer market.

"We are locked in a pretty good fight with Sony and (its) PlayStation 3 to win the generation. That's always been our aspiration," said Microsoft Game Studios corporate vice president Shane Kim. "This holiday season is critical in terms of winning that generation."