Source: A daisy chain involving Xboxic.com, computerandvideogames.com, and theabovedomain.com--all begun by an Internet-translated forum post from someone representing XboxPortugal.com.

　　The official story: See below.

　　What we heard: Halo fans are all in a tizzy about the upcoming Halo 3 multiplayer beta, but their calendars remain unmarked since Bungie hasn't announced when the darned thing will start--Bungie merely says "this spring." However, some reports on the Internet not only claim to have a start date, but they claim to have two start dates.

　　TheAboveDomain.com points out a forum post from gamer XboxPortugal, representing the Web site of the same name, who claims that the Halo 3 beta will be split into two waves. The first will begin near March 21 and will be limited to those who were admitted into the beta through the "Rule of Three" program or the first phase of beta registration. A second phase will begin sometime in May, will end in June, and will be open to those who got access to the beta by purchasing Crackdown.

　　Microsoft and Bungie have never made any announcement that would indicate the beta would be in two phases--because it won't be. Quick to squash the rumor before it got out of control, a Microsoft rep told GameSpot, "There will be just one beta phase. The rumors that there will be two are false." However, Microsoft was unable to comment about the date of the beta.

　　Bogus or not bogus?: Let's put this one to bed right now--bogus.