How to reach the Reach beta on ODST

I agree, a great beta will come along with a great game.

And just like crackdown, those who use "backups", will also have a "backup" access to the beta!

It's in the past now? Dammit.

they made graphical improvements to ODST

Don't worry I love halo too and I'm able to admit its graphically dated! Hopefully REACH will be this gens HALO2... top tier in the graphics department.

I think so mean this gens GT4, the best looking game of the last generation.

My first comment didn't show up?
Anyways I was saying: The last gens best looking game was GT4

Still is. You're dumb.

Remember when Uncharted 2 multiplayer went from tacked on crapfest to multiplayer game of the year overnight? I'm definitely up on the idea of public betas. Multiplayer demos are nice and all, but they always have this nasty habit of coming out after you've made up your mind wether to get the game or not.

Community testing is vital anymore. Sure the hardcore 24/7 players are going to provide the most reliable information for their dime, tweaking information down to the bit, but the vast community that is going to play your game over the coarse of a year (because he/she has time as he/she isn't beta testing 24/7) will gladly help you fine tune your game for free as long as you give them a tasty portion of your game to run amok in.

It still is. But these are less of betas, more of RCs. Real beta testers run on way way less and less fun versions. Less fun in the sense that you play levels/scenes over and over in different ways trying to get the game to have problems.

Don't confuse multiplayer beta testing with actual game testing.

Online MP beta testing has always been free. Companies do it because you can't simulate thousands of people in an office setting :P

"Remember when Uncharted 2 multiplayer went from tacked on crapfest to multiplayer game of the year overnight?"

no, i actually don't remember that. yeah the multiplayer is good, but there's no way it'll be better than modern warfare 2's multiplayer.

also, gobo, go back to the CoD:WaW DLC article... i have 2 replies for you.

MW2 is going to trounce Uncharted 2's multiplayer, but if you were being hyperbolic, then I totally agree with you (it went from "Boo Uncharted multiplayer, booo" to "OMG I got in the beta, this is the best thing ever" overnight)

As for Beta testing being a job...eh...I've been in many real "Beta's" (and one Alpha which I shan't mention, all of them on the PC) that were almost completely broken, and which so killed any enthusiasm I had for the game that I didn't even bother to purchase the end product. I didn't get paid for any of the testing I did, and the prize was usually an in-game item or something of that nature. It's quality testing that is an actual job, and it is such an awful way to make money that even the most hardcore gamers give up after a short period. You have to play games specifically to break them...over...and over....and over. It is easily the worst job in the entire video game industry, and I pity the people that have it.

The difference is MW2 multiplayer, as amazing as it is sure to be, is going to be exactly what we played in CoD4 and even W@W with a few marginal and one or two substantial enhancements. No question that it will be the biggest most played MP game for the next year / year and a half.

Uncharted 2 completely wowed me though, it was different, and damned if it wasn't concise and very much a calculated game. I'm the type that prefers that kind of game though. I mean my favorite online MP games if all time are Lost Planet and Conker: L&R (I know, proceed to hate me), and this brought back a lot of great memories playing those games with friends. Sure, it may not be the de facto biggest multiplayer game, but it will be for me, at least from what I've played of it, what I've played of other games this year, and pending other releases. I'll get sucked into MW2 like everyone else, but I've stated this before, I wouldn't play it if it weren't for the fact I had to look forward to every single one of my friends playing it exclusively every time I sign on.

Anyways, I was just trying to make a point on the positive impact of public beta programs, especially on myself.

but still pending other releases*

uncharted 2's beta wasn't that "tactical". it was more like everyone scrambling to find the dragon (dragunov) sniper or the M4, or just spamming grenades, finding more, and spamming them again. at least in the matches i played.

pretty much... hahahaha!!

ya you're right.. when I saw the article, I hoped for some new information, but this was already explained in detail when Reach was announced at E3... oh well.

what button the press: a year in advance

I think this is a pressing question. Fanboys all over the interwebs will be furious if the beta isn't available when they expect it, and most people think it will be on the day ODST releases, even though there is no evidence to support the claim.

some time next year i believe the post said! lol

THIS.

From my point of view, what I'm getting is

a short campaign - if the numbers i've heard thrown around are correct, around 5 hours. That's about the size of an expansion.

Firefight - AKA Halo Horde - it should be a lot of fun. This is the biggest selling point as far as I'm concerned.

Three new multiplayer maps - $10 value if it were DLC

And a bunch of multiplayer maps I already paid for when I bought Halo 3. These maps have no value to me, as I already paid for them once.

And an invite to a beta for a game that I know nothing about that won't be out until sometime next year (or later).

So, as someone who owns Halo 3 and all the existing maps, I'm getting a short campaign, a new game mode, and three maps - $40, tops. If you never broke down and bought Halo 3, it's a pretty solid deal, but I can't justify paying for content I already own. I'll probably wait a little while, and buy it used from gamefly when it comes down in price to somewhere near the $40 mark.

You could wait for the game to drop in price, I probably would if I had already bought the Halo 3 maps. But in the UK it's not a full price game.. I find it hard to believe it is in the US, as we're the ones who usually get ripped off.

@ Mike:

Sure, the main missions of the campaign may lead up to only 5 hours, but that's if you just blow through it, though.

You have to remember, the New Mombasa portion of the campaign is practically open-world (I won't say completely because I have to experience it myself). This space is the largest environment Bungie has ever created for a Halo game. EVER. You could spend hours and hours just exploring the city alone, killing off bad guys that come in your way. ]

Also, in the leaked achievements list a while back, it said that there's audio clips (or something like that, can't remember the exact name for it) to collect around the city, as well, giving you more time spent in the campaign just looking for them.

So, overall, I don't see ODST's campaign only 5 hours long. I believe it's much more: probably about at least 10 hours if you actually spend time in the city, not to mention that the main missions can be done in any given order.

from my point of view (a person looking to buy a 360), this game is very much worth it. halo 3 multiplayer but with all the content, firefight, and a decent campaign. since i'm a multiplayer guy, those first 2 features are MAJOR selling points.

As far as we know it wont and i hope if it does it doesn't in a big way. Theres big rumors of it being in a brand new engine though.

natal would be cool for chucking grenades and melee. that's about it.

The game is most probably a squad based shooter, I'm thinking something along the lines of Republic Commando.. And I wouldn't be surprised if the multiplayer is similar to Team Fortress, it's about the one type of match Halo 3 doesn't have.