Halo 3 Demo Date Announced

CVG has word that the Halo 3 Beta is coming May 16th. "The beta will run through to June 7 at 7:59am - giving you just under a month to tone your Halo 3 fragging skills. Three maps will be available for you to stomp around in your 360 Spartan armour; Snowbound, High Ground and Valhalla ... New guns and vehicles available for sampling include the nippy Mongoose all-terrain vehicles, Brute Spiker, Spike Grenade, all-new Assault Rifle and Warthog-smashing Spartan Laser." They also point out the functionality behind the much-talked about X button: "The secret function of the little blue button is for deploying equipment and you see three different kinds in action in the latest video documentary. While the developer doesn't specify exactly which pieces of equipment are exposed in the video, we're guessing that the new bubble shield, trip mine and mobile gravity lift are all assigned to the fancy new X button functionality."

Re:

[Exsam]

Well, frankly...because its popular and there is a large group of people who are interested.

Re:

[jonnythan]

Because Halo 3 will probably be one of the most popular games ever released - and this site is crawling with gamers.

Re:

[CogDissident]

Based on Xbox360 sales and the sales of Halo 1 vs Halo 2, I'd certainly contest that statement.

Re:

[Code Master]

I'm sure a playable Zelda demo would also make headlines, and in the games section of slashdot even.

Halo news also has an appeal to me as a Mac user who still misses not getting the Halo we though we would way back when.

Re:

[jonnythan]

HALO was a killer app for the XBox. Halo 2 was the sequel on the same machine. It sold five million copies.

HALO 2 sold *seven million* copies.

There are already 10 million XBox 360s out there. This game will certainly sell more.

HALO 3 is going to be huge.

Bad Day Back On Earth

[FictionalAccount]

Morari stepped back from the data terminal with a huff. He was pissed, and in his mind, rightfully so. The Swarm was advancing on Earth, and all Master Chief wanted to do was fight the same fight in the same way. Sure, they had success on Ring One, and probably fought the same battle in the same way on Ring Two, but this time was different dammit! This was Earth! They were here and unless the United Earth Defense Forces came up with a different control scheme for their Elite Armor 5000 remote units, they didn't stand a chance.

He picked up his soldering iron and got back to work integrating the piece of shit X 3600 Controller and Imaging module into the Armor's mainframe. In his haste one of the Connectitron wires slipped and smashed into the wireless control unit.

"FUCK" he shouted. Three hours of work down the drain. This was BULLSHIT. He sat down and lit up cigar, looking at the pile of junk the Chief wanted him to get ready. His gaze wondered over to the corner, where his PicoComputer Rig sat gathering dust. The datapad and optical rodentialscanner alone would make the difference in this fight! Plus the units trained to use these controls knew their stuff: THEY had been around far longer, had seen far more combat across a variety of environments. Only THEY understood correct comm procedures - half the Newlies coming on board these days only sounded like twelve year olds over the air. What's more they only understood the Chief's control rig and didn't care about the superior advanced imaging services that the old timer's knew would make the difference.

Making up his mind, Morari snuffed out the cigar on the workbench and strode over to his Pico rig, welder in hand. The Chief would understand, they all would. In the end, he would save Earth, and they would thank him for it.

Re:

[MBraynard]

Excellent. DO ME NEXT!!!

Re:

[morari]

You seem to sense plans within plans. I didn't realize I was quite that transparent... :)

Hahaha, oh wow

[ClamIAm]

This is the first I've heard about the "much hyped" X button. I have to be honest: I'm really not sure what to think. Sure it's cool that they're adding new features to the game, but is Halo really so starved for innovation and/or hype that they need to detail exactly how they're changing the control setup?

Re:Hahaha, oh wow

[drinkypoo]

is Halo really so starved for innovation and/or hype that they need to detail exactly how they're changing the control setup?

It's a first person shooter. The whole fucking genre is starved for innovation.

Even the gravity gun in HL2 is just a pissed off version of a grappling hook. The most innovative thing I've seen in FPSes since Quake 2 is Garry's Mod.

Re:

[Das Modell]

Since Quake 2? Wasn't Half-Life innovative at all? or Far Cry?

Re:

[drinkypoo]

Beautiful games, wonderful storyline, but innovative? From a technical standpoint, I'm sure you could make that description. But a new storyline does not a new gameplay mechanic make. Nor some cute new gimmicky weapons. We could sit here all day and think of different ways for weapons to behave (like the goo gun in hl for example, or the hornet gun thingy) but it would just be refinements on existing ideas.

Perhaps I should tip my hat to narbacular drop as well. That's pretty different. Portals are an old i

Re:

[Das Modell]

I think your criteria for innovation may be a little too narrow. Like Doom before it, Half-Life had a major influence on the genre. It took the genre into a new direction. I'm sure there's lots of stuff in HL that can be found in past games, but that's almost always the case if you look hard enough.

Stalker was an interesting attempt at a different kind of FPS but I don't think they pulled it off as well as they could have.

Re:

[mattatwork]

...is Halo really so starved for innovation and/or hype that they need to detail exactly how they're changing the control setup?

No...it would be nice if they worked on the different level layouts.... H1 and H2 have repetitive layouts and textures...it'd be nice to play a version of Halo without the cookie cutter levels....

Re:

[ClamIAm]

I've played very little of Halo's campaign, but I've also heard a lot of people make the same complaint you did here. I guess I was commenting more on the PR angle, where it seems (to me) that they're making a huge deal out of a tiny tweak. Of course, any change in the Halo formula probably results in Bungie receiving thousands of death threats from 14-year-old forum nerds who know everything.

Misleading headline

[Have Blue]

It's not a demo, it's a [b]beta[/b]. A closed beta, too- if you're not already signed up for it it's too late.

Re:Misleading headline

[Asmor]

Not true, you can still buy your way into the beta. You even get a cool game to tide you over called Crackdown.

Re:

[deuterium]

Really? I recall when I first got Crackdown that the game was supposed to alert me when the beta was available. It never said anything about registering. Damn you, Realtime Worlds!

Re:

[Loadmaster]

You don't register. When the Beta becomes available you can download it from the download menu in Crackdown.

Swi

Re:Halo 3 Is No Resistance Killer - Sorry Microsof

[personman21]

Ahem, I believe they were trying to make a Halo 2 killer. It's 49.99, not $60, fool. I'm sure they would have all dedicated services like Resistance, but people actually buy the 360, unlike with the PS3. After $659+$30ish in tax, you better get free online play. No lag, ever? EVER? Sure... If anything, Resistance is a Gears of War 'killer.' That is all.

Re:Halo 3 Is No Resistance Killer - Sorry Microsof

[EGSonikku]

So...how well has resistance sold compared to Halo or Halo 2?

How many people have played it online compared to Halo 2?

If 1 of 4 360 owners buy Halo 3 there will be more copies of Halo 3 than there are sold PS3's.