Roughly a month before its November 9 release, a pirated version of Halo 2 began to be widely circulated around the Web. Now, it seems the game is once again falling into gamers' hands earlier than Microsoft and Bungie had planned.
Numerous reports surfaced today from the Midwest claiming several retail chains had broken Halo 2's street date. Several reports on the Gaming Age forums--which included photos of the limited edition of the game--said that several individual Meijer stores, a self-described "grocery and general merchandise retailer" that operates in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Kentucky, were selling the game early. Outlets in Toledo, Ohio, were mentioned specifically.
However, calls made by GameSpot to several Meijer outlets made it sound like the franchise was sticking to the deadline. "Halo 2? That doesn't go on sale until next week," was the typical response. Regardless, people have already gotten their hands on copies of Halo 2 from somewhere, because several "in-hand" copies of the game are already on sale on eBay, some with options for next-day shipping.
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