Early last month, Microsoft announced an alternative way to get into the Halo 3 public beta–buy a copy of Crackdown. Some of the gaming community offered a cynical analysis of the marketing tactic by Microsoft and said that it was just an attempt to sell a sub-par game. Stephen Iannetta, one of the designers of Crackdown, however, took issue with this opinion and says that people should give the game a chance to see how good it really is–not just label it as a means to get into the Halo 3 beta program.
In an interview with CVG, Iannetta discussed the backtalk by gamers, saying, "Prior to the demo coming out there were a lot of people saying, ‘wait a minute, this is just a way to sell Crackdown,’ and I think the more they played the demo the more they realized, ‘no wait, this is a great game.’"
Iannetta didn’t bite the hand that feeds him–instead, he said that the idea of bundling the beta test key with Crackdown was a good idea. "I think it’s really clever marketing by Microsoft. I think the people that have played the demo and seen the game will actually realize it’s a selling point for Crackdown and it’s not used to get more copies out of it."
He felt that the marketing campaign offered by Microsoft appealed to the same sort of gaming demographic because the titles are "complementary products" and "people who enjoy playing Halo will enjoy playing Crackdown".
Initial reactions to Crackdown have been favorable, but being connected so tightly to the beta is reason enough for some to shun the game outright. The practice of bundling is essentially a four letter word in the gaming community, and it will continue to strain the relationship between gamers and the industry–as has been demonstrated with the backlash against Crackdown.
Crackdown will hit store shelves on February 20.
