Surprise, surprise! Microsoft has announced that they will be accepting signups for the upcoming Halo 3 beta (due in Spring 2007) this Monday, December 4th. The beta will be available to gamers in North America worldwide, and only a select amount of registrants will be accepted.

From GamerscoreBlog

The Xbox Live multiplayer public beta, which is a pre-release version of the multiplayer experience of "Halo 3," is scheduled for availability in spring 2007 exclusively on Xbox 360. This beta also represents an opportunity for gamers to participate in the development of "Halo 3." Through the resulting feedback, Bungie Studios will be able to further refine and hone the end result of "Halo 3."

You can sign up at http://www.halo3.com

Surprise, surprise! Microsoft has announced that they will be accepting signups for the upcoming Halo 3 beta this Monday, December 4th. This will only be available to gamers in North America, and only a select amount of registrants will be accepted.

From GamerscoreBlog

The Xbox Live multiplayer public beta, which is a pre-release version of the multiplayer experience of "Halo 3," is scheduled for availability in spring 2007 exclusively on Xbox 360. This beta also represents an opportunity for gamers to participate in the development of "Halo 3." Through the resulting feedback, Bungie Studios will be able to further refine and hone the end result of "Halo 3."

You can sign up at http://www.halo3.com

As JDOGG mentioned, the Halo 3 beta will only be available to a chosen few. Maybe if we all register, one of us might get chosen.

Source = http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/748/748270p1.html

Halo 3 Beta Not Open to All
Plus a new screenshot from the upcoming trailer.
by Hilary Goldstein

November 30, 2006 - Sad news. The previously announced Halo 3 Beta will not be available for every eager Xbox 360 gamer. In a press release teasing the December 4 Halo 3 trailer, Microsoft revealed that gamers will \"register for the opportunity to be one of the select members\" of the public beta. Just because you love Halo doesn\'t guarantee you will be able to enjoy the multiplayer experience this spring.

On December 4, the millions of hopefuls in North America and Europe can go to halo3.com to sign up for the beta. You thought the Internet hit a crawl as consumers tried frantically to purchase a PS3? This could be worse. The good news is that this likely means fears that Microsoft would charge a premium to play the Beta are unfounded. Some thought Microsoft might control the size of the Beta with a small service fee, but since the Beta will be limited by a selection process, that seems highly unlikely.

The 60-second trailer airs in North America during ESPN\'s Monday Night Football on December 4. The trailer, which will be available online and on the Xbox Live Marketplace following its television debut, features live action and in-game footage. It promises to offer \"telling new hints\" about the upcoming first-person shooter.

\"Halo is a pop culture phenomenon! The Halo franchise has changed the face of interactive entertainment and it\'s only fitting that we take an innovative approach to how we market and advertise the brand,\" said Jeff Bell, corporate vice president of global marketing for the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft Corp. \"This invites a new audience with a rich back story, and continues to galvanize gamers around the world for the launch of Halo 3 in 2007.\"

This is one frame from the 60-second trailer. If you blink really fast, it almost appears to be in motion. Enjoy the torturous wait for Monday and good luck in your endeavors to join the beta.

As JDOGG mentioned, the Halo 3 beta will only be available to a chosen few. Maybe if we all register, one of us might get chosen.

Source = http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/748/748270p1.html

Halo 3 Beta Not Open to All
Plus a new screenshot from the upcoming trailer.
by Hilary Goldstein

November 30, 2006 - Sad news. The previously announced Halo 3 Beta will not be available for every eager Xbox 360 gamer. In a press release teasing the December 4 Halo 3 trailer, Microsoft revealed that gamers will \"register for the opportunity to be one of the select members\" of the public beta. Just because you love Halo doesn\'t guarantee you will be able to enjoy the multiplayer experience this spring.

On December 4, the millions of hopefuls in North America and Europe can go to halo3.com to sign up for the beta. You thought the Internet hit a crawl as consumers tried frantically to purchase a PS3? This could be worse. The good news is that this likely means fears that Microsoft would charge a premium to play the Beta are unfounded. Some thought Microsoft might control the size of the Beta with a small service fee, but since the Beta will be limited by a selection process, that seems highly unlikely.

The 60-second trailer airs in North America during ESPN\'s Monday Night Football on December 4. The trailer, which will be available online and on the Xbox Live Marketplace following its television debut, features live action and in-game footage. It promises to offer \"telling new hints\" about the upcoming first-person shooter.

\"Halo is a pop culture phenomenon! The Halo franchise has changed the face of interactive entertainment and it\'s only fitting that we take an innovative approach to how we market and advertise the brand,\" said Jeff Bell, corporate vice president of global marketing for the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft Corp. \"This invites a new audience with a rich back story, and continues to galvanize gamers around the world for the launch of Halo 3 in 2007.\"

This is one frame from the 60-second trailer. If you blink really fast, it almost appears to be in motion. Enjoy the torturous wait for Monday and good luck in your endeavors to join the beta.

We're still waiting for confirmation from Bungie on some of the more controversial pieces of this... but a Microsoft press release sent out this morning suggests that the Halo 3 beta next spring will be limited to North America, and that it will NOT be all-inclusive.

Beginning Monday, Dec. 4, by visiting http://www.halo3.com, gamers in North America will be able to register for the opportunity to be one of the select members to join the unprecedented "Halo 3" public beta program, scheduled to kick off in spring 2007.

Astute readers will have noticed that that Halo3.com url redirects to Bungie.net right now - it remains to be seen if there'll be a special portal next Monday. Thanks to Sep7imus, who found this at Kotaku, and BOLL, who found it at Destructoid. Update: the full press release can be read here, on Gamerscoreblog - thanks, chargeorge.(Louis Wu 19:05:30 UTC)

Dear Mr. Clark,

First, let us begin by saying you are an incredibly strong and handsome man. When we created the "Biggest Hit Ever" Madden '07 commercial featuring your virtual likeness, it was never our intention to portray you as anything...

Over at halowiki.net we have this "Issue of the Week" thingy which tries to focus attention on different Halo 2 Multiplayer aspects. This week we're looking into Turrets.

If you visit live.xbox.com, you can see what the people on your Friends List are doing, if they're online. There were some odd entries this morning, from a couple of Bungie employees... now I'm nearly 100% certain that nobody's actually putting time into building a Pimps at Sea game, fun as it might be - so what could these guys REALLY be playing? Hmm. Well, I know what game Bungie's been focusing on pretty intently for the past year... and I know that a PUBLIC beta of that game will be coming in the next few months. So is it feasible that a PRIVATE one is happening now? (Louis Wu 17:54:50 UTC)

Whoa. Over at Bungie.net, you'll find a screenshot from the upcoming Halo 3 ad, airing this Monday night on ESPN. If you don't have access to ESPN, you'll be able to see a 720p version on Xbox Live Marketplace soon after. (If you don't have a 360, I'm certain a version will be on YouTube within minutes of the airing.) Check it out!(Louis Wu 17:36:57 UTC)

Over at MLGPro.com, you can find a blog entry from Karma, discussing Carbon's success this year - interesting read. There's also a teaser for Episode 4 of the MLG Pro Circuit show coming up this Saturday.(Louis Wu 17:34:16 UTC)