Cheats-Area.com

   Just a few days into 2007, Halo aficionados are already being blessed with new ways of entry into the upcoming Halo 3 multiplayer beta. Officially, there are two new ways for their beta-dream to come true, but off the record... well, we'll get there in a bit. For starters, Gamasutra reports that fans can also get in the beta by either purchasing the Xbox 360 game Crackdown (next month), or by following a more complicated procedure of Halo 2 multiplayer playtime and timely registration on the Halo3.com website.

   Naturally, buying Crackdown seems like the easy way out in, althouhgh it won't necessarily be the cheapest. Realtime World's upcoming GTA clone is a full-priced game, but just by paying the price, players are sure to be allowed into the Halo 3 beta. When the program launches this Spring, they will be able to use their Crackdown game disc as a "key" to download the beta through the Xbox Live Marketplace.

   The other way to apply for the beta involves a so-called "Rule of Three" system, planned for the launch of the forthcoming Halo 3 website. Here's how it will work, in theory:
"By playing at least three hours of Halo 2 multiplayer between the Thursday, Feb. 1, 2007, at 12:01 a.m. EST and Feb. 3, 2007, at 11:59 p.m. EST, and then being among the first 13,333 to register at the website, players will receive the beta invitation."    Later this month, the most lucky fans who took a shot at registering on the Halo 3 website during December will already receive their invitation for the beta. And word is there are even more ways to get in! Highly unofficial and not recommended without prescription.

UPDATE: Forgot about the fourth way: getting into the army, fighting in Iraq and early-beta-testing Halo 3 on Christmas. Oh well, too late for that now.