In a move highly reminiscent of past manuevers such as Konami's bundling of a playable Metal Gear Solid 2 demo in with Zone of the Enders, Microsoft announced today that anticipated sandbox title Crackdown w/Halo 3 beta entry has shipped to retail. Fortunately the game itself also looks pretty good, perhaps making the bundle one of the better values so far this year.

Microsoft Game Studios today announced that the highly anticipated action title "Crackdown" is now available on store shelves. From developer Realtime Worlds and the mind of acclaimed creator Dave Jones, "Crackdown" is currently setting its sights on retailers across North America.

Gamers have already made the "Crackdown" demo on Xbox Live Marketplace the most downloaded demo within the first 24 hours as well as setting a record for total downloads during its first week of release. Since then, the demo has garnered nearly 1 million downloads in less than a month as gamers everywhere have been eagerly waiting the day that they can fully experience this nail-biting, action-packed title.

"Excitement generated by the demo on Xbox Live Marketplace, and the resulting flood of community-generated video that gamers have created, has led Crackdown' to become one of the most anticipated games of this year," said Bob McKenzie, senior vice president of Merchandising at GameStop Corp.

"Crackdown" is also one of the three ways to gain entry into the highly sought "Halo 3" multiplayer beta program. All copies of "Crackdown" available at launch will be specially marked with the "Halo 3" multiplayer beta sticker. Gamers will be able to use their retail copy of "Crackdown" to gain access to the beta when it becomes available later this year.*

From Realtime Worlds, "Crackdown" pushes the action-driving hybrid genre into the next generation with the first-ever truly 3-D playground. Gamers will level up their Agent's strength, agility, firearms, explosives and driving skills while scaling the fully vertical world of "Crackdown." This M-rated game incorporates revolutionary cooperative gameplay throughout the entire free-form campaign.** Creating a volatile cocktail of judicial oppression, players will clean up the streets of a truly interactive world when "Crackdown" hits store shelves with an estimated retail price of $59.99.