Yes it does, He's saying that it doesn't come with the HDMI cable that has the optical breakout. The Halo 3 edition 360 comes with the same A/V Connector that the premium 360 comes with and it includes optical audio.

From what i have heard the optical out is very close to the HDMI port so if you use a standard HDMI cable it covers up the optical out and makes it impossible to put in an optical cable. That review implies that the Msoft brand HDMI cable comes with a passthrough optical out on it (at least to me it implies that). Don't take my word on it though - someone will chime in who owns the Halo 360 edition.

edit: That is what i get for starting a reply then not posting it for a while. Martin was more specific than i was so listen to him.

Well, as it seems right now, ive come down with a stomach virus or something, proably from waiting in line last night at my local mall. If everything goes as planned maybe i can finally get my hands on playing it, picked up LD last night.

GamerTag is my sig if anyone wants to play a few.

So I take it that it is only a problem if you want to connect via HDMI but then run an optical cable for sound instead of using the HDMI for sound, correct?

I guess that sucks for HDMI users who don't have a HDMI capable receiver, right?

Just making sure I understand it correctly before making a possible purchase.

Fed Ex now says my circuit city pre-order will be delivered on 10/2 now. Getting better. I can't wait to start getting killed by people in here. My gamertag is in my sig if you want to add me.

Mine is on the way to my house now, but there is no one home to receive it

What you're saying is correct. The guy on amazon was saying that to get that breakout HDMI cable for the Halo 3 Edition 360 you have to buy a proprietary cable from Microsoft, which adds to the cost. So yeah, you either need to hook it up via component, or have an HDMI capable reciever.

Are the multiplayer maps all new? Or, are they reconfigured H1 and H2 maps?

I'll be picking up my pre-order from Best Buy on the way home from work today.

Really they are new.

Blood Gulch was reborn as Coagulation (with changes) and i assume there is another iteration.

The map with the big fan in the middle in H2 was reborn in H3 and fleshed out/expanded pretty significantly.

Any of you folks pick up the Limited Edition yet? Any scratched discs?

Yes (not by choice), and Yes. Not too bad in my case, but both discs refuse to stay on the hubs. What a poor choice of packaging...

Halo...
Is it me youre looking for?
I can see it in your eyes
I can see it in your smile
Youre all Ive ever wanted
And my arms are open wide
Because you know just what to say
And you know just what to do
And I want to tell you so much
I love you

Anyone preorder from Family Video & get theirs yet? Mine said shipped Friday but I've never ordered from them before and don't know how long to expect shipping to take (email said 5-10 days!). Just wondering, since it sure would be nice to get it today...

Hhmm, that's discouraging. Maybe I'll just get the regular version after work.

Well, I had some fun last night on Live. I wasn't "blown away" or anything because it's all very familiar but I can tell this game is going to be a lot deeper than Halo 2 and I'm excited to start figuring out the different weapons/maps/strategies that we'll be immersed in for the months to come. It seems to be such a well-rounded and complete game that I know I'll be putting in my share of hours. I won't even touch Forge or the replays for a while, but things like forge and custom games are what are going to give this pretty much unlimited lasting power in my opinion. First I need to figure out the maps and how to utilize equipment (now that I looked up the button to actually do so this morning )

I picked one up at Circuit City and opened it while I was still there since I've been reading about the scratched discs. The game disc was loose and moderately scratched. The girl who worked there said she'd exchange it so I grabbed another one and the game disc was in even worst shape. At that point I gave up and just went with the regular edition.

It's upsetting considering the collector's edition of Halo 2 came in a steelbook.

Zanzibar was always one of my favorite maps, so I'm glad they decided to put a new version of it in Halo 3.

Really? That's cool and all but I have to say that Zanzibar is (IMO) possibly the worst Halo map so far. Maybe I feel that way because it was matchmaking's favorite map outside of Headlong but I just couldn't stand playing on that map at all.

No, not yet. I'd expect it next week - early.... I hope.

I picked this up on the way to work this morning. So do I need to do anything in terms of joining a clan, etc. to play multiplayer with the DVDTalk crew? I know that during the beta, it was pretty much "Go into the lobby and we'll match you with people of the right skill level." Is that how the real thing works, or can I pick who I play with?

UGH--"next week"?? That blows. I just want it before the weekend really...

picked it up last night at a local shop...showed up at 11:50pm, out the door by 12:03. played for only an hour and a half last night but will be full force after work! can't wait

We'll be starting a DVDTalk Clan (3.0 bitches!), but the Matchmaking works as it did before.

Hopefully this time, the DVDTalk Clan won't disintegrate into a "he sucks, we should form a new clan of just us better players" split. Then again, if we've got enough people, 2 clans might be a good idea.