Dismember Me Elmo

Geoffrey Giraffe vs. the evil mutants from another galaxy?

The video game industry has made another pair of strange bedfellows with Microsoft's announcement that the main launch event for "Halo 2," the sequel to the shooting game that helped establish the Xbox video game console, will happen Nov. 9 at the Toys "R" Us store in New York's Times Square.

An odd choice, given the game is rated "Mature," the Entertainment Software Rating Board's designation for games with content suitable for those 17 and older. In this case, said content consists of hours of blowing other creatures into a pulpy mush.

Witness the following description from our brethren at Gamespot: "Vehicles can blow up altogether, killing the pilot and any crew, and then--in a very cool touch--the smoldering husk of the vehicle's remains blows up one more time for good measure."

Yup, just the thing you'd want to fill out your shopping cart next to that He Knows Your Name (Happy Birthday) Elmo doll.