Halo 3 Trial Download
As the last game in a trilogy, Halo 3 was wildly anticipated. That led to the Halo 3 trial download becoming the most downloaded game demo in Xbox 360 history. The Halo 3 trial download also helped another game, Crackdown, become successful.
What does the Halo 3 trial download have to do with another game? Crackdown was originally planned for the Xbox, and so needed an extraordinary marketing effort for the 360. People became worried that a delay and new system would result in failure. So they used a marketing gimmick – bundle Crackdown with an access code to the Halo 3 trial download. It worked to the tune of Crackdown selling 1.5 million copies in the first six months of release. Halo 3 did much better, selling over 8 million copies in a year, but it was a huge success for Crackdown.
Microsoft had turned to the Halo 3 trial download because of poor opinions given to the game by the playtesters. They found the nonlinear nature of the game to be confusing, often leaving them wondering what it was they were supposed to do next. That led Microsoft into coming up with a clever marketing plan. Some people may think it’s underhanded to trick people into buying a game, but Crackdown was a good game that needed a little push.
In crackdown, including the version bundled with the Halo 3 trial download, people play as an agent who are assigned to defeat the kingpins, or leaders, of various gangs. Like superheroes, the agents have powers such as super sight and speed. They accumulate these powers by building experience by taking orbs from defeated enemies. The orb released depended on the manner in which the enemy had been killed. Kill an enemy with a gun to gain a firearms orb.
So because it was bundled with the Halo 3 trial download, Crackdown became a game many people liked.
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