For those who are still in hibernation, Halo 3 is due out later this year and as part of Microsoft’s huge hype machine, there is a massive beta program surrounding the title. The first of three ways to become part of the beta ended a while ago, a public signup that started with the exclusive commercial and resulted in a few select individuals to become part of the magic. The second route into the beta has also passed, adding another 13,333 salivating Halo fans to the fold. But what of the third way to enter? All Microsoft wants is for gamers to go out and preorder (or buy) a specified copy of Crackdown and poof, they’re in. Not all copies of the game will have a beta invite, but those that do will be specially marked and surely fly off the shelves.

At first glance, there seems something sleazy going on here; individuals can basically buy their way into the beta. It reminded me of the Microsoft Office beta where users were charged for the download and all of the negative press that resulted from it. But there isn’t the same negative press surrounding this circumstance. Sure it is a strategy that will no doubt pay off in the short run, Halo fans will be getting a game that probably wouldn’t be in their library otherwise. Sales of Crackdown will see an initial boost from a fan-base often described in cult-like terms. But what happens after the initial rush, and is this marketing plan shortchanging the gamers?

After playing Crackdown last May at E3, it seemed that the customers would indeed be getting the short end of the stick. My reaction was that Microsoft was using the Halo name to generate sales for a mediocre game because so little about the title at E3 impressed me. Fast forward a bunch of months to the release of the Crackdown demo on the marketplace. I am willing to give games a second shot, especially considering the development crunch publishers faced to churn out content for E3. To my astonishment, the game has left me feeling quite the opposite of its May 2006 showing, its surprisingly fun.


The full free range of the city allows for the explorer in everyone to have a blast and the effort to improve the core skills isn’t nearly as dull as I initially expected. Still, it's not perfect, the targeting could use some work (really, there’s no need to target dead guys to shoot at, I swear!), but no longer does it appear Halo is being used to push a boring title onto consumers that wouldn’t stand on its own.

Yes, Halo will increase the initial install base of the game, there’s no getting around that, but the consumer probably won’t feel shortchanged with getting a solid game.
Word of mouth is one of the most effective and powerful forms of advertising; however, it is also one of the most difficult to harness. Essentially planting Crackdown into homes, Microsoft is bound to generate a grassroots buzz for the title, should it live up to my current expectations. Gamers may play the game with a friend or hear about it, and if all goes as the software giant plans, the beta ticket incentive will just start the hype engine and the game will generate sales on its own merit long after the tickets are gone.

If Redmond had put the beta on a title that currently looked about as exciting as watching paint dry, I would have reservations on the honor or even ethics of the marketing plan. But since I was pleasantly surprised with the scope and entertainment value of Crackdown, those concerns seem to have disappeared and it looks more like your standard cereal box ad, put a toy inside the box and kids might just want the cereal more because of the toy. In this case, the cereal looks like it’ll be pretty good too.