Studio aiming for May MP beta to be biggest ever; "grandiose marketing effort" will proceed sci-fi shooter's fall release; reconfirms no Natal support, next project an original IP.
With the Halo: Reach beta less than two weeks away, Bungie is dispatching some of its 180 staffers to help promote the ambitious online multiplayer test. Community director Brian Jarrard and multiplayer design lead Chris Carney sat down with the Seattle Times to discuss the beta's May 3 launch and the lead-up to the game's debut this fall.
"My expectation is it could be upwards of 3 million people," Jarrard told the newspaper. "I think that's a fairly conservative estimate. Certainly, there will never be a console beta of this magnitude."
While the beta will be available in every country where the Xbox 360 is sold, Jarrard thinks the majority of participants will be in North America. However, he said that a new matchmaking system will let people in other territories connect more easily than they could in Halo 3.
Halo: Reach's beta isn't the only thing that's going to be big. Jarrard and Carney said the game would have "a lot more grandiose marketing efforts" at "a much higher scale" than last year's Halo 3: ODST, a copy of which is required to access the multiplayer beta. Halo 3: ODST was the ninth best-selling game of 2009 in the US, having sold over 2.3 million units domestically as of March 31, according to the NPD Group.
The pair of Bungie staffers also reconfirmed that Halo: Reach will not support the Xbox 360's Project Natal motion-sensing system in any form. "Natal didn't exist until Reach was already two years into development," said Jarrard. "That alone creates issues. Secondly, it's not the type of control experience that we think lends itself to this type of game. We're comfortable with it; Microsoft is, too."
Finally, Jarrard also settled any lingering doubts about what Bungie's next project won't be. "Our next game is definitely not Halo; it's something totally new," he told the Times.
God, I don't recall what I said to offend so many of you. My point is, that it is hard to make a prequel when the original games in the series have progressed in certain design areas and technological advances. Players want the cool new weapons, even if they probably shouldn't be available in that time line. Of coarse, that does not stop Bungie from some creative story telling that allows those gadgets/weapons to be available, but it comes across as POOR storytelling.
Why are there people saying things along the lines of "Lots of people like this horrible game series, why are they so stupid?" Whether a game is good or not to a given person is entirely a matter of opinion. The only objective measure of how good a game is, is how people think it's good. So who's the stupid one?
so that means the 360 is breaking down even more and ps 3 as exclusives like Resistance 1 Resistance 2 Metal gear soild 4 ratchet and clank tools of destruction Ratchet and clank crack of time Killzone 2 Socom Confrontation Uncharted 1 Uncharted 2 Mlb 07 Mlb 08 Mlb 09 Mlb10 god of war collection god of war 3 White Knight Chronicles Demons Souls Little big panet Heavy Rain MAG Gran turismo 5 prougle Gran turismo 5 Final Fanasy 7 remake Blaze blue and alot alot more
@The_crapgamer I guess my problem here isn't really the definition of exclusive, but the fact that anyone is marginalizing PC titles. The only reason the term "" means anything to anyone is because so many people completely ignore PC titles and act like only the 360 and PS3 matter.
@parrot_of_adun I'm not trying to get into a whole "thing" with it, but the whole Console exclusive this is something Sony Fans try to use as an excuse. Halo, Gears, Mass Effect, it's all 360 console exclusive. Most the copies are being sold on that platform and you cant get the games on any other console but the Xbox 360. I can see where you were going, but it's the same place PS3 fan's try to take it.
@The_crapgamer I'm not trying to support anyone in this insipid argument, but Microsoft is in fact Dead, and CoD2 which was merely ported to 360,). No one really cares if it's under the Microsoft umbrella, but rather which platform it's available on.
i'd actually like to play some Reach right now haha and htats coming from a borderline ps3 fanboy :P
@ Spartan809 So nobody is waiting for Crackdown 2 or Alan Wake 2? There is no excitement for it? Fable 2 didn't win game of the Year in a lot of publications and even G4TV's GOTY? Also, Microsoft is also a software company, the largest in fact. If something is on P.C. it's run on a little operating system called "Windows" So it's still Microsoft. Your list was awful and makes my argument for me. Fable 2 Fable 3 Forza 2 Forza 3 Gears 1 Gears 2 Gears 3 Halo 3 Halo ODST Halo Reach Halo Wars Alan Wake Splinter Cell Conviction Crackdown Crackdown 2 Metro 2033 Mass Effect Mass Effect 2 Left 4 Dead Left 4 Dead 2 Banjo Kazooie Nuts and Bolts Perfect Dark Zero Call Of Duty 2 Ace Combat 6 Blue Dragon Chromehounds Dead or Alive 4 Dead Rising Lost Odyssey Ninety-Nine Nights Ninety-Nine Nights 2 Ninja Blade Project Gotham Racing 3 Project Gotham Racing 4 Saints Row Too Human Also, you cant list a multiplatform game like FF13. Also Kingdom Hearts is a PS2 deal, not PS3. I realize it's hard to admit, but the 360 has more exclusives and their games sell better. I don't think MS cares if you buy their games for the 360 or Windows.
@The_crapgamer HAHA ARE YOU HIGH? Here I'll list it for you 360 fanboy. The only good 360 exclusives include: Gears, Halo, and Forza. No one cares about Fable because it sucks and TES/Fallout is better and no one cares about Alan Wake either or Crackdown. MICROSOFT exclusives such as Splinter Cell Conviction or Left 4 Dead do not count because it is also on PC. It must be a SOLE 360 exclusive for it to count. PS3 exclusives: Metal Gear Killzone Resistance Uncharted Demons' Souls Gran Turismo Little Big Planet inFamous God of War A FAR Superior version of FFXIII FFXIII Versus Heavy Rain MAG Ratchet & Clank Jak & Daxter The Last Guardian Heavenly Sword Kingdom Hearts Warhawk Yakuza Not only do we have much more exclusives and a more variety of genresthan the 360, the PS3 exclusives are all of high quality. Adding up all the PS3 exclusives ratings from GS reviews and averaging would be around a 9.0. Not only that, Uncharted 2, and MGS4 are already regarded as one of the best games of all time in multiple editor and user lists. And if you're saying that Halo or Gears sold more than any PS3 game it still does not mean the game is better than any other game because of sales. Just because Gears sold more than Half-Life 2 definitely does not mean it is a more significant game than Half-Life 2.
@Admcad You might want to take a home pregnancy test because you definetly missed a few periods. If you can't write a message clearly, you can't expect anyone to read it. I'm not going to pick apart all the things that are gramatically incorrect in your posts, I'm just suggesting you try to make them clear enough for people to read. Thank you in advance.
fanboys?!!! why do they all post the same things it's either love or hate. peace man!!!why can't we all get along if we are gamers can't we appreciate a good game wether its on 360/ps3/Wii/ds/psp etc. if u have a 360 or ps3 enjoy it and their great games and admit that sometimes the other console does have good games that to be honest you would love to play i think halo reach will be superb. the hitokiri, freema, nnd1 glad to see some people think the same
Ladies,pipe down. Both systems rock, for different reasons. Neither is a stand out, beat-all system. This is a HALO article, remember? If you hate Halo, go post elsewhere. If you're a flaming 360 fanboy, keep quiet, you're every bit as annoying. Anyway, Reach looks amazing. They've balanced the loadouts, added fantastic looking new features, and created what looks like a beautiful looking game, to compare with any other game, be it on the ps3, 360, wii, or pc.
look djin im not ignorant because 360 sucks and my opinion happens to differ from yours look although i admit im a ps3 fanboy your a 360 fanboy sure im trolling on a 360 news statement and sure im getting thumbs down but that goes since im ps3 pro but your getting hate from other 360 fanboys as well plus you have know idea what your talking about you shouldnt need to dust off you consoles as long as you play them.......your just as ignorant as me if not more
I said this before and I'll say it again as it applies to both types of "fanboys". If you don't want to hear someone's opinion, you better keep your own mouth shut. Or if you still choose to make your strongly opinionated (hence biased) comment then don't get all defensive when somebody with a different taste in gaming decides to respond with his/her own equally opinionated post. But whatever, I'm sure it's all in good fun. And it looks like the comments on this site continue to be entertainingly hilarious; PS3 - useless paperweight? SUUURE lol or XBOX 360 and the whole RROD thing - also funny because it is so exaggerated by the Sony fans these days.
LOL @ ODST Ill just get this game when it comes out. I refuse to pay to send feedback they should otherwise be paying people for
@parrot_of_adun yeah I know I hate fanboys too thats why I bought all three consoles because there all pretty good to me
My opinion is like both consoles every1 has 2 be a zealous fanboy bout both systems each systems has a really good variety of games including pc which i play all three. Enjoy yourself if u have the money play wut u wanna play and have fun instead of dogging folks in which games/ console is the best, btw not a big halo fan but Reach is gonna rock fo sho!!
@maverick_76 For me personally it's a paperweight. I use it on average 2 hours a month or so, usually just for media purposes. If you think a $50 Blu Tooth sounds as good as the regular $20 XBL headset then you might need your hearing checked. It's because even if you have a high end model, most other poeple don't, so you receive only as good as the headset sends, so it might not have anything to do with yours. I will say that No matter what headset I've used on PS3, it doesn't compare to the simple standard 360 headset. I've even tried my Turtle Beach on the PS3, it's terrible.
This is a game I would like to get a 360 for, seems like Bungie are going all out for this one but I guess we have to wait until we get our hands on it before we can judge it.
@Spartan809 Please enlighten me as to how the PS3 has won the exclusive war for a while now? Last I checked, the PS3 didn't even get a decent game until after two years into the competition. You might want to do a little homework before you make a fool of yourself. The success of a game is directly related to how good it is. If a game is bad, people wont buy it. If you look at the success of the 360 games compared to the PS3 one's the winner is clear. So please stop trying to be clever.
@Marky360 I don't have a problem with those systems, I have a problem with their zealous fanbase.
@ Admcad. Are you still here? I knew you loved you some M.S., and Halo. Like I said yesterday, come on out the closet, It's ok.
cant wait for REACH!! its too bad that it's not based on the Novel "The Fall of Reach"!!
I don't like the Halo games as much as other shooters, I really liked Killzone 2, MAG is really fun and BC2 is probably my fave right now.
@IDavey420 I am sorry, what? Did you just say God of War was garbage? I am all about people having their own opinion, but it doesn't sound like you even played God of War. Ninja Gaiden 2 was good, but I wouldn't say it was better than God of War on any measure. GoW2 was fantastic, 3 was more of an HD repeat, but it was a fantastic repeat.
@The_crapgamer I also hate trolls but I don't think the PS3 is a paperweight. Also I know there is a lot of cruddy bluetooth headsets out there but the $50 Sony branded one is actually just as clear as the 360 headset IMO. While I do admit that the RROD was the worst this gen I think people need to get over it too. The YLOD on the PS3 also was bad for launch PS3's that had the emotion engine installed on the motherboard, I know my 60gb system crapped out on me and I had to buy a whole new system.
I hate the PS3's exclusives...they're garbage.... omg God of War!!!.....Ninja Gaiden 2 owns that crap, hands down. but wait there was that game that won game of the year.....what was it again?
@The_crapgamer I'm sorry but getting into a fight with PS3 exclusives is suicide. You talk all high and mighty about the 360 yet you foolishly dive into an exclusives war which the PS3 has won for a while now.
@ The_crapgamer I couldnt agree with you more....and I couldnt have said it better myself :)
@ Admcad The RROD stuff is so over, I mean it happens from time to time, but that's why they have a 3 year free extended warranty. You can also install your games to the HDD to cut down noise, if that's a real issue for you. Blue tooth has worked against the PS3, seeing as how there is no quality control on your headsets, a $200 blu tooth sounds just as bad as the $14.99 special because there is no quality control. So we will stick with our crystal clear voice chat and headsets thank you. Also, I am not quite sure I understand the second part of your rant, so we will enjoy out Halo and Gears and Fable and Mass Effect and Alan Wake etc ... etc... and all our games that sell millions and millions and you can enjoy the Paper weight, sound good? Now please troll, go away.
@Admcad: First, MS had to release it's 360 earlier then it wanted because Sony waited and waited for it's overrated Cell to get mass produced and well as BR to drop in price. Sony released the PS3 a yr. later, with a weaker Ram structure and GPU, yet charged more for it's BR player. Second, MS stated this generation and Sony weakly followed suite..pushing it's BR to every gamer, and please tell me how many games need BR to play? None. Third, i have the 'jasper' X360 (250 gig COD model) and the PS3 Slim 250Gig., and the PS3 runs alot hotter and then 360 has the same noise.(i install all my games) Lastly, since i had both, the PS3 has crashed 4 times, and the 360 has crashed once. One more thing, Halo:CE was a landmark FPS, and you cannot say that about Killzone 2.
hajjjustin you honestly have no clue 360 fanboys shouldnt even exist because the system is just a terrible piece of ****. You get Hd I get bluray. you have infrared i have bluetooth. You have 54% failure rate I have 2% failure rate. I have a silent fan you have a vaccumm. O and about our exclusives when ever we loose an exclusive you guys are the reason the series takes a turn for the worst if you like halo great im not saying its a bad series but saying killzone 2 is a generic fps is calling halo an other generic fps they all get boring eventually.....
@The_crapgamer: For me, Killzone 2 was such an overrated game, and i did'nt even fall for it's overrated graphics as well. The colors all seemed to be of a small pallette and there was low res. textures everywhere, the maps were very tiny..and linear and were just not memorable in any which way. The animations looked awful as well and the storyline was decent..at best. The only exclusive that impressed me was UC2, as in every which way that game was top notch, from it's storyline to it's gameplay and it's characters. About Heavy Rain..heck i thought i would love that game, but the game is 70% movie like cut scenes and 30% gameplay, with very little in the way of freedom of movement or exploration in general. Basically it was a modern day Dragon's Lair, and i have played that style of game..over 20 yrs yrs ago. Now i'm not sure how Alan Wake will turn out, but i do know it's fully playable, at all times, and it's a game..rather then a movie with some quicktime game elements determining what will happen in the next scene(s). Honestly, i'm not sure once i go through those exclusives in full, if i will turn on my PS3 for playing games. It makes for a solid BR player in the family LR, but that's about it, and i see no exclusives in the upcoming 12 months that are, in any which way, appealing to me. That is what happened from it's launch to Killzone 2, it just collected dust, as a game console, and that's about to happen once again.
@ MakeHate I kept my version of Crackdown and actually am really looking forward to Crackdown 2. The most I've ever seen people return a game the next day was MAG, there were about 10 people in line ahead of me returning that game, along with me.
@The crapgamer- I bought Crackdown for the Halo 3 beta. I was pretty sure I'd enjoy the actual game itself, but without the beta, I'd probably just rent it. I can only imagine the flood of used Crackdown copies that came pouring into game shops for trade in the day after the beta ended.
Im always curious as to how many people who hate on Halo actually own a copy of Halo. I mean, that game sells MILLIONS. With that many copies sold, and with how many people jump on the hate bandwagon, odds are that some of them actually own the game. Or if they dont, they secretly wish they did.
They should make something like the Orange box a year after Reach it should have Campaign of Halo1-3, ODST campaign (and firefight), and then Reach campaign and Reach multiplayer
Don't forget people bought Crackdown to get into the Halo 3 Beta. I think that game turned out to be underrated. Halo ODST was cool. I enjoyed it. It had a lot of content and free Halo 3 maps. What is there to complain about?
@theend818 Lol, name-calling over people's decisions. $60 is high, but since this is the only way to get into the Beta, I will take it. I'm pretty sure it will be worth the money. I am through here.
I love the Halo series. Great story. The coolest online multiplayer my friends and I have ever played. While ODST may have had it's few "flaws", I still thought it was a great game. And this game looks even more badass. I can't wait to play the beta on May 3rd, and even have the game itself preordered already
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