Game Judgment is not condoning what these guys have done but we have been following this story rather closely since the whole fiasco began. Apparently hackers have managed to trick Microsoft’s servers into letting them download a copy of Halo: Reach, they’ve been periodically posting videos of game play ever since. They didn’t even have to pay the $1250 or scrounge together 99999 MS points to get the game.
It seems like Microsoft’s plan to combat piracy has completely backfired. Although after doing a quick search on the most popular torrent sites it seems this group of “modders” from game-tuts.com have stayed true to their word. Earlier they stated that they would not release their copy of Halo:Reach on any P2P file sharing website and so far a copy of it hasn’t turned up.
Update: A full copy of the Halo:Reach ISO has been found on a number of file sharing websites this morning.
This seems to happen with every major video game release, it never impacts sales for the most part it just gets people even more excited about the game. This makes me wonder if leaks like this are some sort of publicity stunt created internally by Microsoft and Bungie.
Microsoft has however stated this,
“We are aware of claims being made regarding a security exploit related to ‘Halo: Reach’ and are aggressively investigating the matter,” a spokesperson said. “We have no further details to share at this time.”
Check out the video below but be warned it is full of spoilers.
WARNING IT CONTAINS A LOT OF SPOILERS DO NOT. DO NOT WATCH THIS VIDEO IF YOU ARE WORRIED ABOUT SPOILERS.
This is the first video released by the hackers showing off the multiplayer maps, Boardwalk, Glacier and Countdown.
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I didn’t notice that weapon at the end of the firefight video until the second time through, it looks really cool.
That’s why I think it’s weird, these hackers seem a little to friendly. They seem to have refrained from releasing anything that might completely ruin the game’s story. Strange stuff, like I said before I get the feeling that it might be some sort of viral marketing campaign.
Having had a look through the first video, there’s not a huge amount that Bungie hasn’t already revealed. The space segment is introduced and there are a few cutscenes which I’ll probably have forgotten by the time I get to it in a few weeks. And the last bit is a new firefight map. Looks like they’re not only not releasing it, they’re also trying not to spoil it for the rest of us too much. Friendly modders? Who’d'athunkit?
Cannot wait for the 14th. Shame I’ll only get around 14 days to play before starting my Uni course. Sadface.