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Halo: Reach beta to attract 3 million-plus - Bungie

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.

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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.

Bungie is expecting over 3 million people to play the Halo Reach multiplayer beta.
Bungie is expecting over 3 million people to play the Halo Reach multiplayer beta.

"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.

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Avatar image for MasteroChieftan
MasteroChieftan

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I don't care, I want it now, stop teasing me lol

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xApocalypse2012

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Going to be a great end to the Halo Universe. I'm pumped!

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Raiden004

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And thats why Bungie made ODST. Cant deny that Bungie knows how to advertise and make money.

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Akijo

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Well, at least I AM looking foward for this. I have Halo 1, 2, 3, ODST and they are pretty darn good all of them. I pretty much like the fact that you can customize more your armor. Obviously this is gonna looks like Halo 3, this is a freakin prequel, why would they change the whole gameplay for you Fanboys, if I remember Halo is still pretty darn active, oh what did I heard? Your laggy PS3 can't support this trash talk, sad fact. You deserve that for blasting a game that is not even released.

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Jaggermaster

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So much crying yet the Ps3 is still DEAD last place :lol::lol:

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metalkid9

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3 mil? DAYMMM!!

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Steffl3r

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Cannot wait, people can hate all they want til the MW2 servers go black =D

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Medic_B

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Can't wait ... the Halo series is the greatest of all time hands down

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Avatar image for deactivated-6127ced9bcba0
deactivated-6127ced9bcba0

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Can't wait for Reach. Halo 3 is starting to show it's age.

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HALO_3_R3CON

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THE DEFINITIVE GAME OF PAST AND CURRENT GENERATION. THE KING IS BACK !!!

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gamer082009

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Boy they are sucking Halo dry aren't they? I'm assuming you had to buy something to get into the beta. aw well

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BK-Sleeper

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I hope Bungie's next IP won't get exploited to hell.

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Death_Knight9

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pretty cool but im not geting it because i dont want to get a 360 and breaks on me like 4-5 times so not getting it if it comes out on pc yes maybe

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megamega777

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I have been screwing around and keep on forgetting to pick up a new copy of ODST... Going to get it when i get my new xbox VGA cable (believe it or not, got cut open... could fix it but I doubt HD will work after I am through with it!!!)

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Avatar image for deactivated-57ad0e5285d73
deactivated-57ad0e5285d73

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@Djin Halo is better than anything that you like, including your girlfriend who is probably Milo.

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Admcad

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Well its is sad VenomousDB because this kid only talks about fps and thinks every halo game deserves to be game of the year and when your this person's friend and try to carry on a normal conversation somehow he'll bring up halo being the best game ever

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Toysoldier34

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Just in time for Crackdown 2 lol

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beprice3

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@ Admcad. For someone that seems to dislike so much about the 360, Halo, and controller's you sure cant seem to stop talking about them on a Halo article. C'mon out the closet, you know you love them.

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purecontrol

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Halo reach could posibbly be the best game of this console generation

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erix43

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@djin Hey there djin, do you even have a gf? You sound angry and immature to me. Hmm.. why don't you leave us alone and go leave negative comments on another site for attention. We are happy here. So you have no interest in games since 91 eh? WTH are you doing here? LEAVE GOODBYE LOSER.

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beprice3

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[This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]

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Jaggermaster

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[This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]

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Admcad

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@djin the ps3 has good games halo is just not one of them. O and the controller for the 360 makes my hands sweat so much that i feel like i might drown in it. plus look at the ps3 controller you will see a "X","Box(square button)","360(circle button)" The next gen xbox will be xbox360 triangle perhaps?

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AlfaxD_Centauro

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Good game, looks like a game for my little brother.

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freema

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WOW Djin, your hands must be huge. Your girlfriend is one lucky gal ;) .

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VenomousDB

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@Admcad thats kinda sad how you let other people influence what you like or not.

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erix43

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I just... in my pants! I LOVE YOU HALO!!!!!

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Avatar image for BelmontMaster
BelmontMaster

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@Djin Dude, I think you are just butt hurt that no one shares your opinion. Get over it.

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Twin-Blade

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@Djin I'm not Asian, but you shouldn't stereotype a race like that. Also, I could be wrong, but I think most people here are commenting on how much their looking forward to Halo Reach & the Beta. Do you honestly think we want to hear how much you don't like it? You shouldn't flatter yourself.

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ColonelX24

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13 days to go

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Gregdawg08

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The game looks excellent so far.:)

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Arkady_16

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im hoping it will have more in common with halo 1 than halo 3, hoping the storyline will be engaging and fun to play through. also hope firefight will make a big return really enjoyed that mode with a few friends on ODST.

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Djin

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@Admcad I agree with you and Halo, but everything else I have to say you're wrong. If Microsoft won the HD wars, I guess we could say "It only does everything" for the XBOX, but SONY got the Blue-Ray HD format. I never had a single issue with my XBOX and I also own a PS3, but I gave that to my 8 year old son. I personally cannot stand the controller for the PS3. They [SONY] did nothing but push the same controller design from PS1 - PS3. I am not Asian and my hands do not fit well on the controller. The PS3 is only used by me for watching movies, and that's if I even dust the darn machine off.

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freema

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This actually has a chance of becoming 5th best game of 2010. I might even give it a spin, if it brings anything fresh to the stale FPS genre. Go Halo!!!

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Admcad

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@ shockful0011 haha sorry didn't mean to offend you the disgust part was a bad joke but the reason i hate halo is cause others ruin it for me like a fat troll at my school walks around preaching how halo is the greatest game ever.....abnoxious ass made me hate call of duty series...sorry for the rage

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creamyboy1325

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That estimate may be a bit of a REACH... yeah I went there.

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Darkmoone1

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Too bad I only go on X-box live on the weekends. But when the weekends hit, ill be on ALL weekend. If anybody bothers me they will wish they didn't. :lol:

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Twin-Blade

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@GeneralHawx CoD isn't a bad game by any means, but once you're tired of camping, spraying, getting a ton of cheap kills & the perk gimmick has worn off, it get's stale fast.

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Gothic-360

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this may will be so great..

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funnysplay

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i'll be one of the 3 million i can tell ya that if it sucks or not.

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MrBubbles59

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Not gonna get 3 million plus.

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Cwagmire21

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Calling server problems day 1 with a statement: "higher volume of activity than expected." :P

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Djin

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@GeneralHawx Both games that are made for the simple minded people who enjoy flash, but no substance. Me, I actually enjoy a game that has story and meaning, not just going out, getting the dumbest "perks" and just camping. That to me isn't fun. Too bad most FPS games are just made with pretty graphics and created by every other "Tom, Dick and Harry".

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shooters125

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@ GeneralHawx True but BFBD2 kinda took that away. Halo: Reach is probably gonna take it down anyways.

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escherfied

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I am excited to play Reach.

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GeneralHawx

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@Twin-Blade Are you kidding me? Since MW came into the scene for multi-player it practically removed Halo from its multi-player king title.

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Twin-Blade

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Most anticipated game this gen. Halo 3 destroys all other console shooters, multiplayer wise at least. Reach will be looking to improve the already near perfect multiplayer.....

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SonicRaptor

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I'll give Halo: Reach a spin, I couldn't get into ODST once I beat the single player. Maybe Reach will get me back into things.

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