Halo 3 Free Trial
The release of Halo 3 was wildly anticipated, as the game was the third in the original three-part series of the Halo games. Therefore, the Halo 3 trial download was one of the most downloaded game demos in the history of the Xbox 360. But what many people don’t remember is that the Halo 3 trial download went on to make another game ie Crackdown.
But what does the Halo 3 trial download have to do with any other video game? Well, it has a great deal to do with the distribution and marketing effort for a video that was originally meant for playing on the Xbox system. Microsoft had become concerned that Crackdown would not sell well.
Therefore, they employed a marketing tactic, the one of bundling Crackdown with an access code for the Halo 3 trial download. And it worked a treat in that Crackdown sold 1.5 million copies within the first half year of its release. Those aren’t Halo 3 numbers, which sold 8.1 million units in slightly over a year, but for a lesser well-known game that’s absolutely terrific.
Microsoft had turned to the Halo 3 trial download tactic because of poor opinions about the game from the play testers. They thought the nonlinear nature of the game off-putting, often leaving them asking themselves what they were meant to be doing next.
As a result of this, the powers that be knew that something had to be done or the game would be a loser. It may appear dodgy practice at first to attempt to push sales of a game that’s expected to be unpopular, but in hindsight people love the game and it was a good thing that they were able to get the chance to play it.
In Crackdown, and that includes the version bundled with the Halo 3 free download, people play the role of an agent who is assigned to defeat the kingpins or leaders of various gangs. To do this they make use of some superhuman powers such as super strength and super agility. In order to gain these powers, players have to accumulate experience by beating enemies who then release experience orbs. The interesting idea in the system was that the kind of orbs released was reliant on the manner in which the agent killed the enemy. For example, a firearms orb appears if the enemy was killed with a gun.
So, although at first sight this game bundled with the Halo 3 free download appears to be nothing but a veiled marketing trick, in reality, it exposed gamers to a fascinating new gameplay experience.
If you like Halo 3 and are interested in learning more about it, why not visit Halo 3 Info on our website entitled Halo 3 Insider Secrets
