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Microsoft Apologizes for Issues, Extends Halo 3 Beta
Yesterday, despite assurances that Crackdown owners would be able to participate in the Halo 3 Multiplayer Beta, Xbox 360 users were tied up in knots by unknown technical issues. Though a fix was eventually released, Microsoft is now apologizing for their mistake. They have extended the Beta period to June 10th to compensate the folks who may have taken off of work to play, and for general annoyance. "It's been a long day for a lot of people but we're happy to announce that effective immediately, a title update for Crackdown is available on Xbox Live that will fix the issue that previously prevented you from downloading the beta. The Microsoft team just deployed this fix and when you launch Crackdown you should receive a prompt to download the update. Please note that it could take up to four hours for your console to receive this update based on various factors. However, the good news is that we're in the clear and Halo 3 gameplay is just over the horizon."
halo sucks. this is not news.
Playing Halo 3 beta.
The real news here is that microsoft admitted to a mistake, AND fixed it in short order. Wish they would do the same for operating systems.
I recently purchased a used copy of Crackdown along with other used titles for my first purchases for my Xbox360. The guy at the store warned I wouldn't be able to play Halo with it, but I honestly didn't care.
But, after setting up my home network, I found I could download the beta, so, pleasantly surprised, I tried it out.
I was able to listen to folks shout at eachother over their headsets, then join a game, and run around and shoot other Spartan soldiers. I'd say it was OK, but mostly revolved around people popping out enough to expose themselves to a little firepower, then either dying or falling back to recharge shields. I was disappointed by the firepower of the weapons, compared to the cheapness of either walking through a hailstorm of bullets to melee someone, or just hitting people while they were already engaged. The weapons and even grenades just didn't seem a good trade of deaths per kill compared to the reliability of the pure melee approach.
It was nice to try, but I think I'll stick to single player. My philosophy is that when I play games, I want to fully play games and experience a created world. When I want to interact with other people, I'd rather just have a fully engaged conversation - playing a glorified version of rock-paper-scissors rather than really talking to someone has always been disappointing for me. Though playing coop with another person may be cool - I just feel stagnation whenever playing these "kill eachother and start over, and start over, and start over" games, no matter how subtle the interactions.
Ryan Fenton
People actually stayed home from work so they could be the first people to try Halo 3? Seriously?
"In case of emergency, break glass. Scream. Bleed to death."
http://www.digg.com/xbox_360/Halo_3_Beta_Begins_Bu t_Not_For_Crackdown_Owners_Yet#c6717428
People were freaking out about a 1 day delay. I knew they'd just extend the beta 1 day.
You are going to get a lot of replies, so I thought I would start by saying, good for you. You know what you want and play to enjoy. I don't dig console FPS, but I like they are there. To the inevitable fanboys who will flame you: he doesn't like the game. He doesn't think that the game makes you stupid or that the people who make them are evil, he just doesn't like it. To Ryan, what games do you like?
>To Ryan, what games do you like?
I tend to like a little bit of everything - but the real incentive to get a 360 were the Bioware and other RPGs coming out later. That's not to say I don't like FPSs - I've even gone so far as to do some Unreal modding and dabbled with the classic OpenGL tutorials with FPS stuff in them. I also highly enjoy FPS speedruns and other tricks.
The problem with console FPSs isn't that I don't understand the subtleties of them - I very much appreciate what makes them compelling tactically and socially. I just tend to see the metagame too quickly with them, and then I end up seeing them as hampered social interaction, rather than a game with much new content.
Ryan Fenton
I find that single player games just can't provide an AI experience compared to playing against real humans. It's annoying that I can tell once I cross a certain threshold/doorway in the game, all of a sudden I get attacked. Then when I back up, the attack stops. The WORST of this was Call of Duty 2. WoW! I remember so vividly in the first 10 minutes of the game (I removed it at 15 minuted) I would move forward 1 inch, and the guns all fired at me, I backed up 1 inch and they stopped!
until AI is truely AI and not just triggered effects/responses, multiplayer is all I like to play in FPS games nowadays.
To be fair, the game is more akin to rock-paper-scissors-spartan laser.
I always pick the laser.
There was no mistake, there was a glitch, and nobody had any right to complain about it, as the Halo 3 beta is a BETA. It is not a free preview. Part of the beta process is hammering out bugs. I think Microsoft is foolish to extend the beta to appease people. In doing so, they are admitting that it is actually a free preview. I'm sure they need to test for server stress, but come on.. What right does anyone have to bitch about a product that is incomplete and they have agreed to test for free?
This is precisely why most companies have you fill out a questionaire before you can participate in a beta. So they can weed out the people that just want to take a look at the game before it's released.
After the Forza 2 graphics fiasco, I can't really say I'm surprised. But I am in shock over how bad Halo 3 looks. The game is in no way whatsoever a next gen title. Slightly higher poly counts, slightly increased textures, a few other graphical upgrades here and there. There isn't a gaming forum I've been to the past day that hasn't been filled with gamers laughing at how bad Halo 3 turned out to be.
If what we got yesterday had come out right at launch it would have been decent. But with so many other amazing next gen games already out, I can't believe Microsoft's two huge first party games for 2007 turned out to be the sources of gamer ridicule.
Not necessarily. I mean, if they wanted to have a full 3 weeks, and the deployment was delayed, it seems natural that you'd want to push out the end-date, too. Also, It's pretty clear that this beta has a marketing angle but that doesn't mean that it won't provide useful feedback that Bungie can use.
I'm glad you know what you like. To me these one-player shooter games are not much fun. The AI is terrible and will never compare to the skills of a real human opponent, not to mention the thrill of fragging a real human player. This is why I love BF2 so much.
I do understand the complaints about these very short deathmatch games. There's no strategy in these "everyone run out and shoot" games where the round is over in 2 minutes. Then again, there's almost no strategy in halo. Its just a fun dumb shoot 'em up in a sci-fi setting. In my world its a fun rental. That's it.
Can you use a mouse and keyboard with this FPS game? Or are we stuck with the toy twiddly wink controllers? For hell's sake this an FPS game, not a side scroller!
When I worked there, there was a meme that the Live division was one of the most "living" parts of the company. The guys who work there are younger, faster, and smarter than most of the other divisions' people. They also consistently make quality products (which do lose money, but you can't deny the quality).
It shouldn't be too surprising that they're on top of their game and willing to apologize. They have less to lose and more to gain.
Weak. Crackdown is easily one of the best 360 games - and its being shunned for a crappy beta?! Crackdown is amazing, the co op adds literally end less hours of fun. And don't even get me started on the downloadable content...
Sorry, do people actually do this? I have a hard enough time justifying taking time off work for anything less than medical issues, and people are taking time off work to play a *video game*? That's even more sad and pathetic than people who take off work to go see the latest Star Wars, LOTR, or Harry Potter. No wonder the US is going to hell. :/
You're forgetting that Microsoft offered exchanging game play experience for
the opportunity to monitor how the game performs. Thousands of people
had accepted the offer and were fully prepared to start testing the game, yet Microsoft did not supply the game in a timely manner.
Never mind the legal angle which may be there or not, four days of extended
play time are in my eyes not enough to make up for the disappointment and
anguish caused to the community.
To be assured of a good group, you need a clan, as good random pickup groups (where the majority of your small squad - let alone everyone - actually has a mic hooked up) are rare as hens teeth. Halo 2, for it's part, is entirely built around clans (and I"m sure they won't drop the ball with Halo 3) something Dice could learn from.
I quite agree that BF has the potential to be a much more tactical shooter, but really, it rarely exhibts that - most players just want to run around like rambo and so most games are a random mess, or dominated by the one team that has a 5 man squad on it that are actually working together to cap flags (while 20-30 other players run around shooting each other over who gets to fly the helicopter). On a few occasions I've racked up an insane number of kills after picking a camping spot which was well placed to target people, but right out in the open, where I could be easily picked off by a couple of guys working together - but everyone was doing their own thing and so I just racked up the kills in a way that was almost embarrassingly easy.
I also agree with you in that I too prefer Battlefield 2 over Halo multiplayer - as do over UT or Q3A, for reason is that Battlefield 2 is overall a slower paced and more tactical experience, where you have more time to think about your actions and what you are going to do next. Quick fire deathmatch rounds can last a fair old time though (often 20 or 30 minutes) and I think it's unfair to categorise them as 'dumb shooters'. The likes of Halo, Q3A and UT require plenty of skill, but it's in knowing how to react quickly, knowing the maps and knowing which weapon is best in a given scenario - everything happens at a much faster pace.
I find, though I'm not bad at them, Halo/Q3A/UT style fast-pased action FPS multiplayers are a lot harder to master than games like the BF series (where you can dominate just by being in a squad that works together - yet most players can't even do that). It's inaccurate to trivialize them as "dumb shooters where the action is over in two minutes".