Halo 3 Beta: Difference between revisions

[[Image:Halo_3_Beta_Controls.jpg|right|thumb|200px|The ''Halo 3 Beta'' controls on a Xbox 360 controller]]

The '''''Halo 3 Beta''''' was a test video game produced by [[Bungie Studios]] and organized by Microsoft. It was the precursor to the video game ''[[Halo 3]]'', which is to be released by Bungie on September 25th.

The [[Xbox Live]] [[multiplayer]] beta of [[Halo 3]] became available at 7:00 Central time May 16, 2007 (May 11 for lucky Friends and family program nominees)-June 10, 2007 (originally scheduled to end on June 6, but was extended due to problems downloading the Beta through '[[Crackdown]]') for the [[Xbox 360]]. This beta also represented an opportunity for gamers to give information that would help in the development of Halo 3. Through the resulting feedback, [[Bungie Studios]] would be able to further refine and hone the end result of Halo 3.<ref name="http://www.bungie.net/News/TopStory.aspx?cid=9491">Bungie News</ref>

After the ''Halo 3 Beta'' officially ended on June 10, 2007, some players still played it by leaving their Xbox 360 on and glitching the Beta to play in Custom Games (Beta players were only officially supposed to play in Matchmaking). On June 14, 2007, players were stopped from doing so, therefore completely closing the ''Halo 3 Beta'', even to glitchers.

Phase one consisted of getting on www.halo3.com after the [[Halo 3]] [[Starry Night]] CGI Trailer that aired on 12/04/06.<ref>http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Starry_Night</ref>

Players that were selected to participate in Phase one received an email notification on the week of January 22-26, 2007.<ref name="http://www.bungie.net/News/TopStory.aspx?cid=9491" />

==Phase Two: The Rule of Three==

Players interested in access to the [[Halo 3]] Beta test were to play at least three hours of [[Halo 2]] [[multiplayer]] sessions on an [[Xbox 360]] on [[Xbox Live]] during the three day period beginning February 1st at 12:01 am EST and ending February 3rd at 11:59 pm EST.<ref name="http://www.bungie.net/News/TopStory.aspx?cid=9491" />

Afterwards players signed up on www.halo3.com on February 5th at 1:00PM EST for their chance to participate in the [[Halo 3]] Beta Test.  If the player was one of the FIRST 13,333 to do this and meet the requirements* they would receive an invite notification on February 11th or 12th to participate in the [[Halo 3]] Beta.<ref name="http://www.bungie.net/News/TopStory.aspx?cid=9491" />

If not selected to participate in the [[Halo 3]] [[multiplayer]] beta players interested had one more chance to get in.<ref name="http://www.bungie.net/News/TopStory.aspx?cid=9491" />

'''Requirements'''

*Age of 17 and older.<ref name="http://www.bungie.net/News/TopStory.aspx?cid=9491" />

*3+ hours of [[Halo 2]] [[Xbox Live]] play.<ref name="http://www.bungie.net/News/TopStory.aspx?cid=9491" />

==Phase Three: ''Crackdown''==

 

''[[Wikipedia:Crackdown (video game)|Crackdown]]'', a video game unrelated to the ''Halo'' series, was released on February 20, 2007 (Feb 22 - Asian territories, Feb 24 - European markets). Players could get into the ''Halo 3'' beta  by purchasing specially marked boxes of ''Crackdown''. <ref name="http://www.bungie.net/News/TopStory.aspx?cid=9491" />

 

These boxes of ''[[Crackdown]]'' included an invite to participate in the [[Halo 3]] multiplayer beta when it became available. Owners of ''Crackdown'' that had access to an [[Xbox 360]] console with a hard drive and a valid [[Xbox Live]] Gold subscription could simply download the ''Halo 3 Beta'' by selecting "Downloads" on the ''Crackdown'' main menu, then select "Download Halo 3 Beta". After the ''Halo 3 Beta'' finished downloading, players would then select "Downloads" on the ''Crackdown'' main menu, then select "Play Halo 3 Beta".

 

 

The Halo 3 Beta began on May 16, 2007 and ended on June 10, 2007. In an interview with Game Informer, [[Brian Jarrard]] shared some details about the beta. Jarrard stated that there would be more than one map in the multiplayer beta, but far less than will be in the final game. As for [[weapons]] he stated that weapons such as the [[Spartan Laser]] and [[Spiker]] would be in it. He also said that vehicles would be added where needed, including the [[Mongoose]]. <ref>http://www.gameinformer.com/News/Story/200703/N07.0315.1215.33382.htm</ref>

Bungie and Microsoft announced that the Beta would be released for download on May 16th, and would run until June 10th, presumably a sufficient time for Bungie to gather enough information to make the improvements necessary for the final game. Throughout the beta, Bungie looked on their forums for player feedback on the Public Beta. Included were three different maps: [[Snowbound]], [[Valhalla]] and [[High Ground]].

==Early Beta==

On May 11th, both members of the press and people apart of the "Friends and Family" program got the Beta 5 days before everyone else.

Bungie and Microsoft hosted big press parties in New York, San Francisco, and London where the press could play and write up on their experiences. The press featured some of the best out there: IGN, Gamespot, and many more.

The bad thing is that people were selling the codes on Ebay <ref>[[HBO]]</ref>

 

 

 

Numerous problems had been encountered with the ''Halo 3 Beta'', one such problem being a 14-hour setback in its release for many ''Crackdown'' users, downloading errors, and matchmaking errors. To compensate the gamers, [[Bungie]] had extended the period of play until June 10, 2007 At 11:59 PM PDT (from June 6th, 2007, which was the originally intended end date).

The Beta test featured the majority of features from the final multiplayer experience, though it has been hinted that not all will be shown. The features were:

===Weapons<ref>http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/787/787943p1.html</ref>===

*[[MA5C Assault Rifle]]

*[[BR55HB SR Battle Rifle]]

*[[AIE-486H Heavy Machinegun]]

*[[Missile Pod]]

*[[M41 Rocket Launcher|M41 SSR MAV/AW Rocket Launcher]]

*[[SRS99D Sniper Rifle|SRS99D-S2 AM Sniper Rifle]]

*[[M6G Pistol]] (Only available through a glitch in the beta which allowed players to access custom games)

*[[Type-25 Carbine|Type-25 Carbine "Spiker"]]

*[[Plasma Grenade]]

*[[Spike Grenade]]

*[[Needler]]

*[[Energy Sword]] (only available through a glitch in the beta which allowed players to access custom games)

*[[Mongoose|M274 Mongoose ULATV]]

 

 

===Equipment<ref>http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/787/787943p1.html</ref>===

[[Image:H3_Equipment.jpg|right|300px|thumb|A list of the various equipment available in the ''Halo 3 Beta''.]]

 

===Matchmaking===

*'''Big Team Battle''' – Just like it says. Big team based games on maps big enough to support them. In this case, that’s Valhalla. Team Size: 5-6. Max party size: 6.

 

 

===Saved Films===

===Trivia===

*When some people first played the ''Halo 3 Beta'', the loading screen said "Love, Bungie", after the usual "Loading..." and "Halo 3 Beta".

*On the map "High Ground" there is an easter egg where if you look at the smaller of the two monitors in the room next to the flag base an image of [[Cortana]] will flash on one of the screens.