• The New York Times, Wednesday, May 16, 2007 11:30 AM

Online videogame players are getting their first peek at the third installment of Halo--the company's biggest video game franchise--in a beta version that Microsoft is distributing over its Xbox Live Internet service. It will be officially released on Sept. 25.

The first Halo was essential in building the credibility of Microsoft's original Xbox game machine. Now Microsoft is trying to fend off the latest contender from Sony, the PlayStation 3, with its Xbox 360. Halo 3 will not be playable on the Sony console.

Since the original Halo was introduced in 2001, the series has sold more than 14 million copies. Set in a sci-fi environment, Halo became wildly popular because it was one of the first games to successfully use the first-person shooter technique on a console plugged into a TV rather than on a personal computer.

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