Crackdown beta invites not working
by Richard Mitchell 
{ May 16th 2007 at 10:15AM }
It seems that Crackdown still isn't allowing users to access the Halo 3 beta. We checked our own copy and sure enough, the beta option is still unavailable. Bungie is aware of the issue and Frankie has commented on it, saying it should be a short delay (hopefully). Those entering by other means shouldn't have any problems. We'll let you know as soon as we hear anything different.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in.]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
the Dandy p @ May 16th 2007 10:23AM
Who reckons this will actually work at all today, or be set back for a release on say hmmm...friday?
Arno @ May 16th 2007 10:23AM
Yea not the end of the world. Just let me know when it is.
Man, a lot of people sure don't understand the concept of a 'beta.'
Tony @ May 16th 2007 10:25AM
Yeah, this was something I was just about to look for info on.
On the plus side, the game patched itself again... I wonder if that was to fix that lost orbs issue?
ANt @ May 16th 2007 10:25AM
Screw Halo
ProjectEkim360 @ May 16th 2007 10:25AM
This really sucks im not blaming anyone but its very diapointing
Jon @ May 16th 2007 10:27AM
Very dissapointing in deed. After buying crackdown for $60 and having it just collect dust for months...I am very upset.
Was hoping to start downloading before heading off to work today. Sigh.
Josh @ May 16th 2007 10:28AM
I have been waiting for this for ages...I'm impatient wont lie. Nothing to do but sit and wait now though.
Sam @ May 16th 2007 10:28AM
Well you were a fairly stupid individual to buy crackdown just to test a game for three weeks.
Seriously.
So its a few hours late...cry more.
jimhuf @ May 16th 2007 10:30AM
Its probably all been planed so the VIP's and media all get the beta without having us grunts clogging up the download servers. Then let us in when all the reviews are on the shelves
Josh @ May 16th 2007 10:31AM
In response to Sam, I didn't buy crackdown just for Halo 3 Beta, the game looked cool. It is pretty cool, just didn't like it as much as I thought. I KEPT it for the beta.
Also, on the buying a game for the beta for three weeks, so what? It's Halo. No need to get rude, it's our money.
Stephen @ May 16th 2007 10:45AM
Sam + ANt = Grumpy pants
Jonah Falcon @ May 16th 2007 10:32AM
Dustin, you forgot to put tags on the article. lol
John Williams @ May 16th 2007 10:44AM
It's a bummer, sure, but they'll get it fixed quick. Just relax
Jonah Falcon @ May 16th 2007 10:35AM
Latest news: it's supposed to start at 11AM EST (30 min from now.)
jimhuf @ May 16th 2007 10:39AM
@13 wheres your info come from?
iRoy @ May 16th 2007 10:46AM
Hey guys go watch the Halo Beta Red Vs Blue episode on Marketplace!
VampireHunter Z @ May 16th 2007 10:51AM
LOL!! majornelson.com is temporarily unavailable due to high load. Are you guys serious? I didn't even turn on my 360 this morning to see if the download was up. I'm sure everyone can wait until after work or school.
KilgoreTrout XL @ May 16th 2007 10:55AM
HAH! And here I was at work, pissed that I couldn't play while everyone else was enjoying the demo.
Well, your revolution is over, Lebowskis! Condolences! The bums lost! My advice is to do what your parents did; get a JOB, sirs!
The bums will always lose! Do you hear me, Lebowskis? The bums will always lose!
;)
joe @ May 16th 2007 11:00AM
is there a complete lack of QA in the 360 at all? WTF did anyone think to test the halo 3 download functionity with this patch of crackdown, renderware and microsoft fuck up a simple thing.
i mean listen everyone has their fuck ups and bad bulids that go out, but this is your flagship product
see the videomarketplace discription for Chromehounds ; "test" yea great QA.
This is like buying a Mecerdes SLR taking it home and then going to turn it on and their not being a engine. I could say whatever if this was some no name game, but this your your flagship title their should be no exceptions, your trying to prove yourself still here, and this constant simple QA fuck ups kill me.
just get the shit fixed already hired more QA testers, do something its like a running joke, but's its really not funny.
Drav @ May 16th 2007 11:01AM
It's now 11AM EST. And... ?
John Williams @ May 16th 2007 11:11AM
Joe,
You're surprised that the BETA has a bug? If September 25th comes around and the ACTUAL flagship product is released, if at that point the game is a buggy nightmare, then you may actually have a point. But as of now, the only problem is the method of delivery for a beta release of a game that's not shipping for another 4 months. You really need to calm down.
Also, your car analogy makes no sense. I assume the Mercedes SLR that you bought is supposed to be Crackdown, because that's the only thing that would remotely even make sense and even still, comparing Crackdown to a car that costs half a million dollars is laughable. So let's assume that's the case. A car can't run without an engine. Last I checked, Crackdown as a game works just fine. Maybe if you said it's like buying a Honda Accord only to get home and realize your coffee mug doesn't fit in the cupholders, that would be a more apt analogy.
Use this opportunity to go outside, get some fresh air, and calm the fuck down.
T Ghost @ May 16th 2007 11:11AM
I asked for a day off at work just to calmly download and play the Beta that I'm waiting since crackdown release, that I got because of the game itself, finished with it within less than a month and just kept it till now because of Halo 3 beta.
Now instead of being working and getting paid I'm here in a stupid day off alone at home waiting for Beta to come up...
I understand that shit happens and probably must be chaos at live headquarters/bungie by now, they must be turning stone into gold in order to fix whatever happened, but still a bummer being here, not getting paid, not working, wasting one of my already few vacation days, alone, with no family, nothing to do with no beta.
Oh well...
Phoenix @ May 16th 2007 11:12AM
After being dissapointed time after time, this is just par for the course. I agree, this is Bungies baby and they keep taking it away from us. If you can't get the release date right, beta or not, don't tease people. I bet the same thing will happen with the actual game too, set to release September 25th. I mean, if they can release all those videos of testers playing with it, then why can't we test it too?
m3at @ May 16th 2007 11:14AM
On the xbox website (http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/h/halo3/) it says, "The "Halo 3" multiplayer beta is running on Xbox LIVE from 1pm, 16 May until 8am, 7 June." Hmmmm... 1pm you say?
larsu @ May 16th 2007 11:19AM
Latest message on Major Nelson's website:
"We're aware that some users are having difficulty downloading the Halo 3 multiplayer beta via Crackdown. Bungie Studios is working with the Xbox Live team to resolve this as quickly as possible - stay tuned. Gamers entering the beta through other means, such as the Friends and Family remain unaffected.
I am headed back to Seattle in a few hours, so I’ll be offline while I am in the air. For the most up to date information, keep an eye on Bungie.net for the latest from Frankie regarding this issue.
This site is experiencing an excessive traffic amount of traffic at this time, so sorry for the temporary nature of this message. We’re working on getting back online as soon as we can."
Seems to me that ALL users cannot download the Halo 3 Beta from Crackdown. At least I haven't seen a single confirmation of a successful download, just a lot of angry comments from people who have been trying for more than 3 hours to get the Beta...
David @ May 16th 2007 11:19AM
Getting sick of this, see the GB in the web address you posted, it stands for GREAT BRITAIN, 1pm is the correct time. Its now 16:17 here, wanker.
jimhuf @ May 16th 2007 11:19AM
Its not the beta thats the problem its the deployment system. It cant be that hard to make a time activated link.
Grant @ May 16th 2007 11:20AM
"24. On the xbox website (http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/h/halo3/) it says, "The "Halo 3" multiplayer beta is running on Xbox LIVE from 1pm, 16 May until 8am, 7 June." Hmmmm... 1pm you say?"
the the UK site, gotta love time zone differences.
John Williams @ May 16th 2007 11:20AM
Phoenix,
Maybe if you worked for a very high profile game development studio, you could answer those questions. The fact is, the beta is working, and people are playing. The only part not working here is the Crackdown method of getting in. And last I checked...it's still May 16. Nowhere did it say that on May 16 at 12:01am the beta would be released, so by my calculation, they have about 12 and a half hours to make good on their deliverable.
Grant @ May 16th 2007 11:21AM
this just in:
Bungie eats live kittens for pleasure.
Grant @ May 16th 2007 11:23AM
"And last I checked...it's still May 16. Nowhere did it say that on May 16 at 12:01am the beta would be released, so by my calculation, they have about 12 and a half hours to make good on their deliverable."
actually, they did give a time, which is why everyones pissed.
They also put a time on bungie.net which had a countdown clock. People have a reason to be pissed, this is one out of 21 days that they cannot play. 3 weeks seems alot shorter when you realize it's only 21 days.
joe @ May 16th 2007 11:24AM
I am calm, in fact i could care less, im at work anyway. But will your agree with me that their is a downward trend with MS in the QA department?
and think of it this way when you got a game thats got 4 million preorders ($200+ million in sales sitting there), you dont just let shit slide, it should be prefect becasue your still selling yourself as a platform, just being like oh shit ill just deal with it lets them off the hook. Im not saying boycott bungie, but they should extend the public beta a day becasue of all of this.
Also i doubt this is bungie fault at all, its more the patch for crackdown wasnt QA right by renderware and MS, not bungie.
and my anlogy is quite on point. see halo 3 is MS $500,000 SLR, its got all the nice hyper around it. but when you get home you find out the shit doesnt work right, you be pretty disapointed to have to send it back to the patch shop to fix it, which is whats happening now, crackdown is just the greasy car salesman that told you your SLR was prefect.
there is that simplifed enough now for you to understand.
when you say your product is the shit you should back it up by not fucking up the lanuch of it. i dont think im asking for too much.
Drav @ May 16th 2007 11:31AM
http://gaming.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=8740
Beta delayed until tomorrow?
Microsoft and Bungie have been advertising the beta version of Halo 3 for some time now, but it's now 2.40pm on the 16th May, more than an hour and half after the client was supposed to be made available, and the community is in uproar.
Whilst those gamers who managed to bag themselves a code from one of the Xbox community sites are quite happily enjoying Halo 3 as we speak, those people who forked out for a copy of Crackdown have been left out in the cold.
There's currently no official word from Bungie or Major Nelson, who have been been inundated with angry posters, including school kids who hoped to download the client before they left for school and people who have taken the day off work just to get their first glimpse of the anticipated title.
Bungie have stated that they have informed the guys at Xbox live and the problem should be rectified shortly, but we've heard different. A source close to Bungie tells us they've had huge problems with the server that unlocks the client to those who have a copy of Crackdown and that it will be some time before the problem is rectified; it's been suggested that the client download may not be available until tomorrow.
It's annoying we know, we've been waiting patiently by our Xbox 360 for the client to go live, but alll we can do is keep our fingers crossed and hope that we won't have to wait another 24 hours. We're just hoping that it can be fixed, even if we have to wait another day we're sure it will be worth it.
Update: According to the Bungie forums,the Xbox Live helpdesk is now quoting 24 hours before we can play Halo 3
Another day of hanging around? Someone wake me up when they're ready.
Josh @ May 16th 2007 11:32AM
Hey I'm pissed too. However, it is NOT the launch of the game. It's the launch of the beta through Crackdown.
I want my beta as much as the next. And I mean I'm well aware this is largely a stress test for Bungie as much as it is a beta, maybe even more so.
See, I do agree with the QA though, I do a mix of QA and Software Development part time for a living(internship). I know damn well if something like this were to happen and I was in charge of it, even in a beta form it would be my head. Customers expect the best from day one, even initial releases.
In other words I see both sides of the argument.
BDB @ May 16th 2007 11:35AM
Didnt they say that the Crackdown codes would work shortly after the first 2 rule of 3 codes worked. meaning cracdown was supposed to be slightly delayed??? thought i read that somewhere...
Joshua @ May 16th 2007 11:40AM
gay!!!
Stephen Knowles @ May 16th 2007 11:53AM
I just don't like the fact that this legitimizes all those complaints of "Let us play before the Crackdown people."
Who's to say that the Crackdown people aren't as big of fans, or bigger fans than the "selected" players? I personally kept up with all the ILoveBees stuff before Halo 2, played the game, and even went to the exclusive event to play Halo 2 before everyone else. Yet some kid who happened to make the luck of the draw now gets to think that he's better than me. That's what sucks about all of this.
I paid $60 for a $50 game months ago....they should have had the time and the money to get these "server problems" under control ahead of time.
Muffin_man @ May 16th 2007 11:43AM
The Halo 3 Beta forum is in a shambles with complaints.
Bud @ May 16th 2007 11:46AM
i have to agree with joe on this one. How long ago did they have this planned out..since the release of crackdown?? i'd figure they would have this all ironed out..but hey no use complaining about it...it's not like they are really listening anyway. i too bought the game thinking it'd be cool..and honestly, it's ok when you just want to jump around and blow shit up. it's 15 to 12 right now..any news on it so far?
Stephen @ May 16th 2007 11:47AM
PR disaster.
John Williams @ May 16th 2007 11:54AM
Joe, you're wrong. Plain and simple. You're equating the launch of a free public beta (You didn't have to buy Crackdown to get on the beta) with the purchase of the final build of Halo 3. You'll get that opportunity in September.
You can't compare buying an expensive car with no engine to downloading a free beta of a video game. It doesn't make any logical sense.
And as of right now, Bungie does seem to be taking responsibility for this. You don't have any real insight as to who's fault this is. It's all conjecture
Tony @ May 16th 2007 11:53AM
Seriously, they could have planned this out and had it all written down, scheduled and what not. Sometimes shit just happens. I'm sure it happens at your jobs, your schools and on your own stuff. I don't make games, but I work on a lot of websites and such (which I'm sure kind of ties into this) and sometimes things just don't work like expected... regardless of the planning involved.
They're working on it, it's the same day and, really, some people have been bitching since two minutes after the supposed release time.
"actually, they did give a time, which is why everyones pissed.
They also put a time on bungie.net which had a countdown clock. People have a reason to be pissed, this is one out of 21 days that they cannot play. 3 weeks seems alot shorter when you realize it's only 21 days."
Well, they did start the beta when they said then. Not all of us can play it, but it did start lol.
snsr @ May 16th 2007 11:54AM
FCUK BUNGIE.
Brian @ May 16th 2007 11:57AM
Come... on... This is the only reason I'm holding onto my copy of Crackdown!
Bring on the beta!
intRvenous @ May 16th 2007 12:02PM
Here's my $.02 that I'm sure no one will read.
I work for a technology company and I realize technical miscues happen all the time - it's the nature of the beast. However, Bungie and MS (most likely MS in this case, since the Beta appears to be running fine) have a responsibility to deliver when an app is as high profile as this. There's no excuse. You can't tell me there was no way for someone to do a trial-run of the download a week ago to make sure everything was set to go. It unconscionable.
PR nightmare indeed. Three steps to tarnish your image and alienate fans:
1. Make fans buy a game (albeit excellent game) just for a chance to play a Beta.
2. Hype said Beta to a fever-pitch.
3. Screw-up the release of said Beta.
Sure they'll resolve the issue today or tomorrow and it won't hurt sales. But good luck pulling that stunt again MS: say... some new IP + a Gears of War 2 Beta? I don't think so.
VIlhelm @ May 16th 2007 12:05PM
I bet this is going to be the last time anyone is going to do a public beta. All these people are bitching because its going to be a couple hours "late". Wow. Would all you rather they didnt offer you a beta at all? Stop your bitching, seriously.
Bud @ May 16th 2007 12:14PM
it's not so much as a "couple of hour late" as all the hype they put out and the expectation that things should work...but we're talking about M$ and bungie...i guess we should't expect anything.
moore @ May 16th 2007 12:14PM
A bit lame. Now instread of playuing when we all get home from work, we get to download. Nice.
Glad they added the low power download thing, that would have been pretty helpful to download while at work so it was ready tonight.
Josh @ May 16th 2007 12:17PM
I've wasted my morning both bitching and defending microsoft...time for class now! It'll be up when it's up, I just agree that you don't hype something up so much and have so many people buy a game with a promise of a beta then delay it. Given now it's only 4 hours if it were up now, it'd be acceptable...but the rumors of tomorrow, I do believe they should extend the beta.
It would be in their best interest.
Also, in the notes of lack of QA, given they have had people QAing this, developers playing it...but there is no better QA then having thousands of players playing it to find your bugs. I'm still looking fwd to the final release in September, I love bungie...
It's not bungie who is dropping the ball time and time again, it's other companies and parts of microsoft. Just think back to windows 98 for those of you old enough to remember, the first version was insanely bugged out. Worse than any other windows product to my knowledge. Just saying this isn't a first for them, it wont be the last...but still all hail bungie.
Toph @ May 16th 2007 12:17PM
...This is funny!