Who Leaked "Halo"?

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I'm tired of letting the bloggers have all the fun, so I figured I'd better come up with my own conspiracy theory to explain the much-discussed but mostly meaningless Internet leakage of Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) "Halo 2" for the Xbox.

Let's get the basic facts out of the way: The game's predecessor sold more than 4 million copies. A French version appears to have been leaked from a disc-stamping foundry a full month before the official launch. Yada yada yada. Now, on to the conspiracy.

You ready for this? Get your ear right up to the monitor. Microsoft did it.

Yeah, you heard me. Elementary detective work, Jackson. Ask yourself: Who benefits from this leak?

Certainly not the miniscule number of gamers out there who 1) have modified their Xboxes and flashed the system with an illegal, karma-wrecking, copyright-avoiding BIOS, and 2) managed to find and complete the 3-gig download before all heck broke loose, and 3) read French.

Redmond issued stern warnings for gamers to ignore the release, but you know they're enjoying a round of free PR courtesy of the world's nerd and financial media. It's cheap advertising and may just help drive a few more players toward the Microsoft box and away from competitors such as Sony's (NYSE: SNE) Playstation 2 and Nintendo's Game Cube.

In a world where everyone wants to be in ahead of the curve and tech piracy is the norm, what better PR could there be than a leaked preview? Activision (Nasdaq: ATVI), Motley Fool Stock Advisor pick Electronic Arts (Nasdaq: ERTS), THQ (Nasdaq: THQI) -- they should all give this some serious thought. Think about it. Make it work only on hacked machines. Force gamers to cope with oddball languages such as Lithuanian or Dutch. Just for fun. Hamstring the leaked version in new and interesting ways. In the French version, have the characters drop their plasma rifles at the first sign of trouble! (Hey, I'm just kidding, France. You're all right.)

The point is, with a bit of creativity, the leak culture can be made into an asset. The future of game marketing would be a lot more interesting.

For related Foolishness:

• Check out Nintendo's interactive multiplex.
• What's up with THQ?
• Timing and Star Wars.

Seth Jayson spends his spare time reviewing the Zapruder film. At the time of publication, he had positions in no company mentioned. View his stock holdings and Fool profile here. Fool rules are here.