Those of you who've been following news on the latest Halo title about to hit shelves might remember that back in the early stages of the game, Bungie had announced that they wouldn't charge gamers 60 bucks for the game. However, retailers have shown to be charging $59.99 for the game and $99 for the premium pack which features the Halo 3: ODST controller. So, what's changed since then? According to Bungie, they've added a lot more content than they had initially planned back when the first announced the pricing. They feel that this more than justifies paying for the purchase.

Back when Halo: Recon was announced, and before it became Halo 3: ODST, both Brian Jerrard and Joe Staten at Bungie separately stated that the game wasn't going to be a full retail experience. Staten said, "We do not view this as a $60 title," while Jerrard remarked, "I think this is going to be a good value and a lot of content but we're not viewing this as sort of a full game release in the sense of Halo 3." When pressed further about pricing, Jerrard said that it was too soon to tell, but that they were thinking of something "value-oriented."

We contacted Bungie and Microsoft for comment today, because while pricing was revealed at E3, we didn't have a full explanation for the full retail approach. We've noted that retailers are pricing the game at the standard $59.99 price point, the $99 Gamestop exclusive premium pack being the lone exception.

McClubbin via joystiq.com »