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   Sure enough, there's been plenty of Halo 3 news piled up over the last few days, so there's no time to waste: let's dig in. First and foremost, as the Halo3.com website announces, the first phase of the Halo 3 Beta registration process is now closed, and Beta invitations are already being sent off this week! If you're one of the lucky ones selected to participate, Microsoft congratulates you and asks that you "stay tuned for an email notification on the week of January 22-26, 2007". Do you feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?

   If you don't, just hold on tight and get ready for the next two phases, in which more fans will get access to the Halo 3 beta. The first one is the so-called "Rule of Three" program, set to take place over Xbox Live in early February; and the other one is through purchasing "specially marked boxes" of the upcoming game Crackdown (sounds tricky...). More detailed information on these two options are presented on the official Halo 3 website.

   Moving on to Bungie's own weekly update, reading between the lines leads us to believe that Halo 3 is playable "from end to end" by now. That only means that all the raw (more or less) levels are in place, but they still have to pour in "layers and layers of details" - which they're doing indeed, at an "astonishing" speed no less!

   Towards the end of the update, it's revealed that the game's latest build includes "a working, controllable version of a brand new vehicle". Which reminds me that, just a couple of days earlier, Bungie also detailed the MA5C Assault Rifle - complete with full specs, description, observations, remarks, and what not.

   And finally, CVG points us to a Bungie interview from Edge magazine (also available online). "What stands out the most", they notice, "is technical lead Chris Butcher's comments on his disapointment with Halo 2":
"I f**king cannot play Halo 2 multiplayer. I cannot do it. And that's why I know Halo 3 is going to be so much better."    Sure, that may be a bit out of context, but read on to see what led to his perfectly justified frustration.

UPDATE: To clear up the "specially marked boxes" confusion, Microsoft told CVG that *every* UK copy of Crackdown will include a Halo 3 Beta invite. [26.01.2007, 18:26]