Microsoft and Bungie Studios Provide New Ways to Join the Halo 3 Beta Test

There is good news for gaming enthusiasts who have missed the beta test for Halo 3 in spring. Microsoft and Bungie Studios have announced two more ways for enthusiasts to get on board the beta test for Halo 3.

Earlier, the only way gamers could get on board the Halo 3 beta testing program was to register at the Halo 3 website and hope that Lady Luck smiled on them. Gamers who entered by this route and got accepted to the program were to be notified by e-mail this month.

Now there is fresh hope for those that missed the bus. Microsoft and Bungie Studios have both announced two new routes for gamers to come on board. Microsoft confirmed earlier reports that it would include keys for Halo 3 in specially marked boxes of the upcoming Xbox 360 game offering, Crackdown.

Crackdown is a crime-busting game by Real Time World. The game is being released across the US on February 20, 2007, and three days later across Europe, on February 23, 2007. If you are the lucky owner of the specially marked copies of the game containing the key, you can download the required data for the Halo 3 beta test from the Xbox 360 Live Marketplace.

The other way to join the beta test is to sign up for the ‘Rule of Three’ program being floated by Bungie and Microsoft. The program has certain ground rules that apply to all aspiring participants. The first is that anyone who wants to participate in the program must have an Xbox 360. The second rule requires participants to have a valid Xbox Live Gold membership.

The program itself is pretty simple. Gamers in the US will have to play three hours of Halo 2 over Xbox Live. This is scheduled to happen from February 1 to February 3, 2007, and will be the qualification parameter for entry. However, only the first 13,333 gamers who have played Halo 2 over Xbox live during the time frame mentioned will be able to enter the beta program.

For gamers outside the US, the rules for the ‘Rule of Three’ program might differ for different regions, which means that gamers need to really keep their eyes open and ears tuned for news from local sources.