BF3: A Mystery Wrapped In A Beta Engima

We know nothing about Battlefield 3. Nothing. We don't even know if there'll actually be battlefields in it or not. Why, they might well be war-meadows instead. Or fight-commons. WE KNOW NOTHING. That hasn't stopped EA from announcing a beta, and using it as a lure to make you buy the new Medal of Honor. Not just its standard copy, oh no. Purely its limited edition. Which is one more degree of abstraction than I believe we've previously had from betas' original purpose.

If you've read beneath the jump because you're hoping there'll be details about Battlefield 3 here, do bear in mind that WE KNOW NOTHING.

All I can tell you is that if you buy the Medal of Honor limited edition, along with a recieving a bunch of exclusive in-game weapon and armour loot which "gives players a tactical gameplay advantage on day one" you'll receive an invite to the BF3 beta "within 12 months."

Unless the beta doesn't actually happen within 12 months, notes the small print, in which case you might not get access to it. Wha... really? Nice. Nice.

Is it just me, or are Chihuahuas a little bit creepy? Also, is it just me or is this beta plan more than a little odd? They're trying to lure people into buying a limited edition of one game with an invitation to the beta of another, made by a different studio, and which might not happen for a year, and of which WE KNOW NOTHING. Can't help but wonder how calculated an attempt this is to lure insta-groats out of the Battlefield community. Very strange business.

And let's go back to the whole thing about the limited edition giving players "a tactical advantage." When did we move past the point where add-on stuff and whatnot is purely cosmetic and full-on into "if you spend more money you will be more effective than guys who spent less money?" I thought there was a gentleman's agreement to be cool about this stuff.

I sincerely hope MOH is a splendid game, because the nodules being stuck to it seem a little distasteful to mine poison eye.

Still, if the idea of getting the earliest possible access to Battlefield 3, no matter what its setting might turn out to be (who owns the My Little Pony license these days? I just bet it's that) tickles your nipples, get thee to this MOH pre-order page.