Halo 3 beta isn't "a tease"

By Tom Bramwell Published 16 February, 2007

"Don't call it a demo" - MS man.

Microsoft's Phil Spencer has advised gamers not to get overexcited about the Halo 3 multiplayer beta this spring, despite heavy promotion in the media.

"It isn't really a tease," he told MTV recently. "People should expect a pretty robust experience when they're playing. Don't call it a demo."

His comments came to light as Bungie starts to open up a bit more about the beta, with a list of frequently asked questions now up on its official site, explaining things like how the Crackdown-related invites will work.

"Once the Halo 3 beta has been activated (start date is still TBD) you simply go to the 'Downloads' menu in Crackdown to download the Halo 3 beta. After that, you will need to launch the Halo 3 beta from within Crackdown. You will need an Xbox 360 with a hard drive and an Xbox Live Gold account," the developer says.

Sign-ups are apparently now closed, but we wouldn't be surprised if there are a few more invite giveaways to come before the beta kicks off. Whenever that is - for now, all Bungie will say is "spring".

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About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000. Follow him on Twitter.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (64) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • speedtrax #1 5 years ago

    slow news day?

  • skillian #2 5 years ago

    Microsoft's Phil Spencer has advised gamers not to get overexcited

    Am I reading this article wrong? It sounds like he's saying don't get UNDERexcited.

    :/

  • JediMasterMalik #3 5 years ago

    It's called a beta for a reason. Anyone expecting a completely robust, full game atmosphere will be dissappointed.

  • BM #4 5 years ago

    "Don't call it a demo" - MS man.

    Can we call it Bert?

  • Steroyd #5 5 years ago

    Calm down love it's only a Beta....

  • skillian #6 5 years ago

    @JMM

    "People should expect a pretty robust experience when they're playing"

  • JediMasterMalik #7 5 years ago

    Calm down love it's only a Beta....

    Shouldn't that be dear?

    Michael Winner? Official ugliest twat on telly?

    @Skillian - If they acheive that, good on them, just don't expect it so you won't be dissappointed.
    Edited by JediMasterMalik at 16/02/07 @ 16:48

  • dllord #8 5 years ago

    Its calm down dear isn't it?

    Danm you Jedi! you beat me to it! LoL!
    Edited by dllord at 16/02/07 @ 16:50

  • spongebob #9 5 years ago

    Call it Al.

  • Totoriko #10 5 years ago

    too much Halo talk recently.

    I bet they are doing all this on purpose.

  • kangarootoo #11 5 years ago

    "slow news day?"

    SLAP!

  • dadrester #12 5 years ago

    haha... microsoft are making people pay in order to be allowed to test an unfinished game. most companies actually pay QA to test, not the other way round... xbox fanboys are suckers. halo is meh!

  • L42yB #13 5 years ago

    @kangarootoo - U gonna slap everyone who says that from now on?
    Edited by L42yB at 16/02/07 @ 16:52

  • kangarootoo #14 5 years ago

    @JediMasterMalik

    A beta should be pretty close to final though. No severe or frequent bugs, certainly nothing that prevents normal play on a regular basis. I would be very surprised if the experience had wasn't very similar indeed to that of playing the final version.

  • kangarootoo #15 5 years ago

    @L42yB

    Yep :)

    Its something I started a while ago, but then I kind of let it slide. But recent events have prompted me to renew the crusade. I have a whole bag of slaps right here under my desk, all of them keen to show their worth.

  • OfficialBlue #16 5 years ago

    The most over rated game of all time Ladies and Gentelmen

  • kangarootoo #17 5 years ago

    "The most over rated game of all time Ladies and Gentelmen"

    Yaaaawwwnnnn....... and SLAP.

    P.s. Gentlemen is spelt thus.

  • Steroyd #18 5 years ago

    Shouldn't that be dear?

    Who the f**k cares it's the same message. :)

    A beta should be pretty close to final though. No severe or frequent bugs, certainly nothing that prevents normal play on a regular basis. I would be very surprised if the experience had wasn't very similar indeed to that of playing the final version.

    Bungie and Microsoft are holding back Halo release CONFIRMED!!

    Wow i just can't type properly today.
    Edited by Steroyd at 16/02/07 @ 17:04

  • JonFE #19 5 years ago

    "Bungie and Microsoft are holding back Halo release CONFIRMED!! "

    Confirmed??? Really?? When did that happen and How would you know?
    Edited by JonFE at 16/02/07 @ 17:23

  • SBfistfun #20 5 years ago

    A beta should be pretty close to final though. No severe or frequent bugs, certainly nothing that prevents normal play on a regular basis. I would be very surprised if the experience had wasn't very similar indeed to that of playing the final version.

    I'm afraid that's untrue of at least 50% of titles that pass through a QA department

  • kangarootoo #21 5 years ago

    I heard that release was tagged for Dec this year (rather than the March date still mooted by some places). I thought that was common knowledge now though (thgough it may also be commonly believed bu nonsense).

  • kangarootoo #22 5 years ago

    @SBfistfun

    "I'm afraid that's untrue of at least 50% of titles that pass through a QA department"

    I take your point, I wasn't really being very clear.

    The difference is that we are talking about a public beta. Your project can be at beta stage, but until it enters format QA (the console owners own QA that decides whether you can release your game on their format) you are dealing with your own internal QA. There are no rules as to how a dev runs their own QA and so whether they are "at beta" is simply between them and their publisher. And so I agree, quality can be extremely subjective.

    As soon as you release a disc to the general public however, you will (I imagine, I don't know much about 360 sub). MS have proper rules about this sort of thing, so if the Halo3 beta sucks ass they won't a license.

    On that basis, I expect this beta to be pretty good :)

  • Yossarian #23 5 years ago

    if you think Microsoft are going to allow Bungie to release code that isn't rock solid stable onto consumers' hardware you're crazed

  • matrim83 #24 5 years ago

    This really is old news.
    This news is completely pointless.
    Who cares about this.
    Halo was so overrated.




    /Wants to be slapped.

  • JonFE #25 5 years ago

    matrim83, I surely hope kangarootoo sees right through your little pathetic charade :)
    Edited by JonFE at 16/02/07 @ 18:24

  • DrunKao #26 5 years ago

    Will we be seeing anything that we have not yet seen from the Alpha screenshots (and leaks) in the beta?

    There are bound to be a few surprises in store for fans. And seeing a fuzzy cell phone video of the alpha doesn’t even begin to come close to actually playing yourself on an HD television with maps that are several months further along in development.

    YES! Can't wait :)

  • captainrentboy #27 5 years ago

    haha... microsoft are making people pay in order to be allowed to test an unfinished game. most companies actually pay QA to test, not the other way round... xbox fanboys are suckers. halo is meh!

    We ignore comments like this nowadays do we? Fair enough I will too :) I'm not expecting this Beta to be life changing or anything,I'm just looking forward to giving Halo 3 a blasty a good few months before release.
    Ohh and working in Game I hear all the classic conspiracy theories with regards to Halo 3,the main one being that Bungie have totally finished the game and there are millions of them already made stocked up in warehouses,released in March yeah?......Do you know how hard it is not to burst out laughing in their faces?

  • Steroyd #28 5 years ago

    Confirmed??? Really?? When did that happen and How would you know?

    It was a joke about the media, all you have to do is abstract vague data like Hideo Kojima is interested in the Xbox 360 = MGS4 going to Xbox 360 Confirmed.

    Or some pathetic crap on the lines of that.

  • Xerx3s #29 5 years ago

    haha... microsoft are making people pay in order to be allowed to test an unfinished game. most companies actually pay QA to test, not the other way round... xbox fanboys are suckers. halo is meh!

    And then you have the irony of calling others fanboy's.

  • morriss #30 5 years ago

    I've got mine!! \o/

  • fluff_the_tiger #31 5 years ago

    @matrim83

    .
    .
    .
    SLAP!


    Halo 3 is indeed big news

  • The-Bodybuilder #32 5 years ago

    sign ups are closed? What the?
    Crackdown isn't even out here yet.

  • The-Bodybuilder #33 5 years ago

    >"This really is old news.
    This news is completely pointless.
    Who cares about this.
    Halo was so overrated. "

    SPANK!!!

    Kang may give out bitchslaps, I give out bumspanks. :)
    Edited by The-Bodybuilder at 16/02/07 @ 20:42

  • Drakron #34 5 years ago

    Another Halo 3 non-news.

    I am starting to get feed up with this, MS either start to push other games or the old joke that the Xbox only have Halo becames truth.

  • chiz #35 5 years ago

    IMHO, this really is where PC games excel. A couple of analog sticks and a few buttons is no substitute for a keyboard and mouse. Try playing someone at quake3 on the dreamcast with someone on the pc > owned.

    Edited by chiz at 16/02/07 @ 22:43

  • Les #36 5 years ago

    "And then you have the irony of calling others fanboy's."

    But still, Halo is pretty meh

  • kangarootoo #37 5 years ago

    @The Bodybuilder

    The principle is much the same I'm sure. Everyone is of course free to select their own weapon of choice :)

  • admir #38 5 years ago

    this game is so fucking hyped come on halo 1 was OK 7 from me Halo 2 never came out do we all agree H3 is being hyped way too much

  • Lukus #39 5 years ago

    You can call me Al

  • smelly #40 5 years ago

    I was gonna say "Halo really is most overrated game away from oblivion."

    but

    a) I dont want a slap
    b) it's not overrated when you look at the pc reviews.


  • Pulsar_t #41 5 years ago

    Na na na na

  • SeesThroughAll #42 5 years ago

    @smelly: Spot on. Except that I do like Oblivion. :)

  • bioreit #43 5 years ago

    @Chiz

    IMHO, this really is where console games excel. A stable, secure online experience is no competition for a bug-ridden, cheat-laden, hacked-to-the-gizzards, probably copied version Try playing someone at any equivalent online game on any console with someone on the pc > haxxored.

    Fixed.
    Edited by bioreit at 17/02/07 @ 12:35

  • captainrentboy #44 5 years ago

    What I don't get is why more of you don't follow the simple formula,
    Eurogamer news headline (Clearly about a game you have no interest in) + You NOT clicking said news headline and reading story = You happy,and not getting all irate about said game.
    But no, you click, read the story that you know is of no interest to you, and then go on to complain about it, therefore wasting even more of your time on something you aren't interested in. Silly really!
    I have no interest in MGS4, the games bore me to death, but I don't go and click on every news story about MGS4 and then moan about it :/

  • SomaticSense #45 5 years ago

    "if you think Microsoft are going to allow Bungie to release code that isn't rock solid stable onto consumers' hardware you're crazed"

    Not played Oblivion yet have you? Great game, but the code couldn't exactly be described as "rock solid stable" in it's original release guise.

  • J*C #46 5 years ago

    Bollocks

  • ~magicool~ #47 5 years ago

    UNBAN ME PLEASE!!!

  • ~magicool~ #48 5 years ago

    UNBAN ME PLEASE!!!

  • ~magicool~ #49 5 years ago

    UNBAN ME PLEASE!!!

  • ~magicool~ #50 5 years ago

    UNBAN ME PLEASE!!!

  • ~magicool~ #51 5 years ago

    UNBAN ME PLEASE!!!

  • ~magicool~ #52 5 years ago

    UNBAN ME PLEASE!!!

  • ~magicool~ #53 5 years ago

    UNBAN ME PLEASE!!!

  • ~magicool~ #54 5 years ago

    UNBAN ME PLEASE!!!

  • ~magicool~ #55 5 years ago

    UNBAN ME PLEASE!!!

  • Xerx3s #56 5 years ago

    But still, Halo is pretty meh

    No, it's not. Now back under your bridge.

  • Xerx3s #57 5 years ago

    Not played Oblivion yet have you? Great game, but the code couldn't exactly be described as "rock solid stable" in it's original release guise.

    Well, it is when you compare it to some of the original games. Now that's what I call bugs.

  • Xerx3s #58 5 years ago

    What I don't get is why more of you don't follow the simple formula,
    Eurogamer news headline (Clearly about a game you have no interest in) + You NOT clicking said news headline and reading story = You happy,and not getting all irate about said game.
    But no, you click, read the story that you know is of no interest to you, and then go on to complain about it, therefore wasting even more of your time on something you aren't interested in. Silly really!

    And miss a chance to moan about how 'meh' halo is?! SURELY NOT!

  • SeesThroughAll #59 5 years ago

    But no, you click, read the story that you know is of no interest to you, and then go on to complain about it, therefore wasting even more of your time on something you aren't interested in. Silly really!

    Oh, you mean like the XBox fanboys who go to every PS3 related story just to troll?

  • Rambaldi #60 5 years ago

    2.38 million copies sold in one day and it's overrated?

    Whatever.

  • JediMasterMalik #61 5 years ago

    So you're going with sales = good then?

    I thought we'd gotten rid of that train of thought a while back...

  • Rambaldi #62 5 years ago

    No, I'm actually going with: sales + critical acclaim + live games logged + franchise longevity + personal experience

    I'm also going against every miserable git who whinges about Halo news stories: there's MILLIONS of us who DO care about it so if you don't, why not move along to the next piece of news in an orderly manner instead of clutching at straws?
    Edited by Rambaldi at 18/02/07 @ 22:37

  • SeesThroughAll #63 5 years ago

    As for people making negative remarks in Sony/PS3 related threads, again you can't deny there is often good reason, Sony rootkits, delay after delay, loss of important exclusives, price, ect, blah blah,

    Nobody here denied the rootkits story from two years ago, nor the high price, for instance. But I didn't see any Windows Vista thread with meh-sayers complaining about the WGA screw ups, DRM, delays and feature cuts, imposed software incompatibilities meant to force upgrades, etc, blah blah blah.

    And I'm saying this since Vista is supposed to have more to do with games than Sony's fabled rootkits... ;)

    MS gets an easier treatment around here for some reason, although they manage to do at least as much wrong as Sony (in my opinion, a lot more, but that really must be just me).

    Again, since you're so unhappy with Sony, why not just ignore the PS3 stories instead of wasting time posting there? None of what you said is a valid reason for trolling. And I'm not saying it's constructive to troll in a Halo thread either. If you say otherwise, that's a little bit one-sided of you.
    Edited by SeesThroughAll at 18/02/07 @ 22:59

  • Carrybagma #64 5 years ago

    I don't see the problem with this article. It's not exactly hype as such.

    Besides - it's been over two whole weeks since the last technical specification of an imaginary weapon or vehicle was published, and I'm looking forward to the next. Anyone share my desire for some cool data on an AWESOME HANDGUN?? Woot-woot!


    (Did I get the woot right? I don't actually know what it means.)