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November 2009

November 2009 Archived News

News November 30 2009

Unskippable: Halo 3: ODST
JD pointed out that the most recent 'Unskippable' from The Escapist focuses on Halo 3: ODST - if you miss MST3K's humor, check this out. (JD pointed out that the episode number (1143 - 11(4+3) - geddit?) is pretty appropriate for this game...) (Louis Wu 18:22:20 UTC) (permalink)

Tag and Release: Crater (Night)
Bungie's back to updating again - Turkey Week is over! Check out the latest Tag and Release feature - it looks at awesome shots from Crater (Night). (Louis Wu 18:21:22 UTC) (permalink)

Top Ten Halo 3 Screenshots: Snow Bound
Hey, whoa, we missed a Halo 3 Screenshots Top Ten this weekend - go check out 'Snow Bound'. Some VERY cool shots in there! (Louis Wu 18:13:10 UTC) (permalink)

Halo 3 Bungie Tribute: Show Some Luv
This is a few weeks old, but I just stumbled across it today - I Kapture created a Rube Goldberg-esque contraption to pay tribute to Bungie. I thought I was tired of these, but this one was a lot of fun. Update: Wow. nash--housewares pointed out that this map was already front-paged... back in July. When the film was released by its original creator, oMFG Carnage (now Carnage is Ripe). Oops... (Louis Wu 16:12:36 UTC) (permalink)

He Can Get a Bit Handsy
Hawty McBloggy let us know that the latest Grin + Bear It is live on her site - a behind-the-scenes look at some of the seamier aspects of ODST... (Louis Wu 16:05:31 UTC) (permalink)

Rain for Piano (partial)
Over at Rampancy.net, shadeslayer has released a partial version of 'Rain', from ODST - an extended part not found in an earlier transcription. Swing by for a Finale Notepad file, a PDF, and a video showing him playing. (Louis Wu 14:35:24 UTC) (permalink)

Mythtacular Walkthrough
pete_the_duck was a little disappointed with the turnout for his last obstacle course (we first mentioned it back in August) - and his capture card is finally working again, so he's provided you with a run-through of the course, in case you want to try it again. (I have to say say, I'm SERIOUSLY impressed with the course itself, and am amazed by the movement skill it takes to complete it... but you gotta be nuts to want to try it after watching that vid.) (Louis Wu 14:34:11 UTC) (permalink)

Longsword WIP
spartanx5 is back with a new 3d model he's working on - a Longsword. Swing by 3dtotal forums for WIP pics, or read the thread on our forum for interesting speculation about the details of the craft itself! (Louis Wu 14:33:27 UTC) (permalink)

News November 29 2009

Star Fell Release Date Trailer
FireDragon04 let us know that the Star Fell Release Date Trailer (wait, what? You need a trailer to announce a release date? I think there's going to be a Star Fell Thursday Lunch Trailer coming next week) is up on YouTube - go watch! (Louis Wu 17:36:31 UTC) (permalink)

Fan's eye catches out-of-place props
Rather bizarre - over at NeoGAF, DoctorWho explained how he was watching an interview with John Rosengrant, the 'Head Monster Maker' on the crew of 1987's 'Monster Squad', and saw some really odd props in the background. Monster Squad's 20th Anniversary Edition was just reissued last week on Blu-Ray - according to this review, there are no Blu-Ray-exlusive features, so this interview was filmed in 2007. So... was John Rosengrant working on the Halo movie (at that point not quite as shelved as it is today) in 2007? Hmm... (Louis Wu 16:27:43 UTC) (permalink)

No Monks Allowed - Winner Announced
ODST Valsher (who goes by Vandle Valsher on our forum) won the 'No Monks Allowed' contest we ran last week - apologies for the delay in announcing a winner. (Things have been a bit... insane around here recently.) Congrats to VV, and thanks to everyone for participating! And thanks, of course, to Domino Theory, for continuing to supply cool toys for the readers of HBO! (Louis Wu 16:06:17 UTC) (permalink)

Edge Closer
BoRiSoldier stopped in with a piece of artwork he's created - go see what you think! (Louis Wu 16:05:36 UTC) (permalink)

Halopen's The Pen is Mightier Than the Sword Contest
Firestorm12 sent word that Halopen Films is hosting a week-long contest to celebrate their 'birthweek' - the full schedule of festivities is here. To enter, sign up on their forums and post cool Halo-related content in this thread. (Full rules ar at the top of the thread.) Go play! (Louis Wu 16:04:24 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Marathon for Money and Fame
Three guys in Edmonton (CA) put in a 40-hour Halo marathon - they were trying to beat the Guinness world record for consecutive hours on a first-person shooter, and they were trying to raise money for a local hospital. They did both (though they still have to verify with the Guinness folks) - $1300 for the hospital and 16 hours past the old record. Nice work! Thanks, rhubarb. (Louis Wu 16:03:52 UTC) (permalink)

Hard Justice: S2E11
Hard Justice Season 2 Episode 11 is online - lots of shots at Canadian TV, and the plot advances. (Louis Wu 16:03:14 UTC) (permalink)

Inside Gaming Awards - Go Vote
A few days ago, we mentioned that you'd be able to vote in the Inside Gaming Awards 2009 - swing by this video to vote in the Gamers Choice Awards in the next couple of weeks. (You also have a chance to win one of five $1000 shopping sprees, if you can correctly predict the 36 winners of the official awards... more details in the vid.) (Louis Wu 16:02:40 UTC) (permalink)

News November 28 2009

Making of the Duel - on Waypoint now
Just a reminder - if you want a chance to see the Making of The Duel (an 8-minute piece exploring the influences and ideas behind the Halo Legends anime that debuted last week on Halo Waypoint), today is it; it's up for 24 hours, then gone forever. (Well, you'll be able to buy it in February.) While you're there, check out any other content you've missed; they've been adding stuff almost every single day! (Louis Wu 14:24:19 UTC) (permalink)

When it rains, it pours.
A disk malfunction has killed (hopefully temporarily) a significant chunk of HBO's content - you'll find many, many legacy links not working right now. Hopefully, as the days go on, this will change. (Unfortuately, it won't change today; the faulty disk cannot be worked on where it is, and needs to be physically shipped to my location.) Apologies - and please have patience! (Louis Wu 11:08:24 UTC) (permalink)

News November 27 2009

Battle of the Brick - Exclusive Trailer
Kooberz is back, with a new trailer for his upcoming LEGO Halo fan film. The first trailer for this film went live in April - clearly, quite a bit has been done since then. Swing by GameTrailers to watch this version - it's 1:22 long, and available in gorgeous HD. The full film should be out early next year! (Louis Wu 20:05:50 UTC) (permalink)

That's not a basketball - that's my HEAD!
It's Friday, so it's time for another round of Friday Caption Fun at Hawty McBloggy's - she's put up the top responses from the last round (just a couple of weeks ago), as well as a new pic you should have no trouble finding something funny to say about. (Awkward phrasing alert!) (Louis Wu 20:00:14 UTC) (permalink)

Cheapest ODST yet
Halo 3: ODST is available RIGHT NOW as a Lightning Deal at Amazon - $29.99 for a short time more. (You won't see these unless you're logged in as an Amazon customer. If you miss this deal, the regular Black Friday price is $39.99.) Go! (Louis Wu 17:33:19 UTC) (permalink)

Spiral Path MegaBattle - Media Overload at Bad Cyborg
Rockslider's back with a new pair of MegaBattle movies - two different ways to approach the Spiral Path megabattle on Assault on the Control room. Swing by his forum post for links to all the goodies - writeups, screenshots, videos. (His site now has an RSS feed, for those who want more instant notification of updates.) (Louis Wu 17:32:36 UTC) (permalink)

Friday's Fan Fiction
It was a slow week for the Fan Fiction section - only two new pieces for you. (Too many stuffed turkeys?) Go read! (Louis Wu 16:38:28 UTC) (permalink)

Get ODST for free from BGN
Speaking of Black Friday, Dave Kramer from Busy Gamer News let us know that BGN is giving away a copy of Halo 3: ODST in honor of the shopping occasion - just swing by between now and next Thursday and comment on the post! What's cheaper than free? (Louis Wu 15:33:42 UTC) (permalink)

Buying cheap stuff (and spewing cheap lines)
Don't forget that it's Black Friday in the US - lots and lots and lots of cheap deals everywhere (if you're willing to brave the crowds) Hawty McBloggy highlighted the Top 10 Black Friday Deals for Gamers, from 10 FTW - ODST's $35 deal at Toys R Us made the list (though, as we've noticed, it's available from a lot of places, from Kmart to Target to Gamestop, for $35-40 today). While you're over there, be sure to check out her Twitter T&A Thursday - yesterday's question was "Master Chief just called and invited himself to Thanksgiving dinner. What are you going to make him?" See how her readers responded!) (Louis Wu 15:32:04 UTC) (permalink)

News November 26 2009

Marty talks to VGL crowd
Last night, Marty O'Donnell joined the crew of Video Games Live in Gateshead, England via Skype - apparently, he was working on Halo Reach music yesterday! Only one (real) question from the audience... I guess time was short. An interesting little conversation - go watch! Thanks, Gowans007 (and The Crawf). (Louis Wu 12:21:44 UTC) (permalink)

Buy the Book.
It's not Halo-related, but it benefits a friend of ours, and it's an awesome gift in its own right... swing by Hawty McBloggy's to learn how you can buy 'A Gamer's Alphabet', a book created by Marissa's dad (the guy behind Marissa's Bunny), and not only get your friends something cool for the holidays, but raise money to help awareness of Infantile Spasms. Thanks, angel! (Louis Wu 03:31:27 UTC) (permalink)

What? No pony?
nash--housewares noticed that Halo 3: ODST was the only video game (besides DJ Hero... um, yeah) to make Wired's 2009 Wish List. Nice! (Louis Wu 03:30:06 UTC) (permalink)

Visitor
We missed our usual Wednesday Comic Roundup - but really, it's all bs angel's fault. What did you miss? The Chronicles of ODS Steve hit Episode 50 yesterday - 'Visitor' shows why you should think twice before removing your ODST armor. (Louis Wu 03:29:44 UTC) (permalink)

News November 25 2009

TP: How to Suck Less at Firefight Week 3: Chasm Ten
Brian Gilmore let us know that Geekscape's Teabag Prevention 'How to Suck Less at Firefight' series has been updated: Week 3 focuses on Chasm Ten. Go give it a read! (Louis Wu 14:47:21 UTC) (permalink)

Defense of the City
Leviathan continues his work on the image he started last week - the second third is finished, and this piece is called 'Defense of the City'. Check it out - it's also available in a 1920x1080 Wallpaper size! (Louis Wu 13:41:05 UTC) (permalink)

Halo is Big in Japan
Riceatron found a Japanese forum with quite a bit of Halo artwork; he picked out some of his favorites. (If you want to look through the collection yourself, you'll need to register on their site - this might be difficult for non-Japanese readers.) Some pretty cool stuff! Warning: he's embedded a 3.8 mb image file in his forum post; if you're on an older machine, this could crash your browser. (Louis Wu 13:40:11 UTC) (permalink)

Exploring the Geography of New Mombasa
Jordan117 spent some effort checking the geographical accuracy of New Mombasa using the Pan-cam - he found some really interesting things! Fantastic pics, and some amazing detective work! Check it out. (Seriously. Coolest Halo thing I've seen this week.) (Louis Wu 13:34:54 UTC) (permalink)

Mmmm... Free Brains
Narcogen, over at Rampancy.net, pointed out that you can get a copy of Stubbs the Zombie (the PC version) for free by swinging by GameAgent and using the coupon code ASPYRTHANKS. (He found this at WorthPlaying.) Go snag yours! (Louis Wu 13:25:38 UTC) (permalink)

GwF: Chester Bennington
The next Halo-related Game With Fame event is coming up next week, on Tuesday, December 1; Chester Bennington, of Linkin Park and now Dead by Sunrise, will be playing Halo 3: ODST with LIVE members who've been signed up. If you're interested, swing by the Xbox.com page and see what to do! (Louis Wu 13:24:02 UTC) (permalink)

Mr Sark's Top Five Shooters of All Time
G4TV's Mr Sark listed his top 5 shooter franchises of all time - and one that's near and dear to our hearts took the number one spot. Go watch! Thanks, YNation913. (Louis Wu 13:23:35 UTC) (permalink)

Halo 3 Tourney in Minneapolis, MN
LazerBlader let us know that the video game store he's working at is hosting a Halo 3 tournament - you can find full details on this Facebook Event page (no login required). FLIP A GAME in Minneapolis is hosting a 4-hour FFA on December 6 - it's $3-5 to get in, and top prize is the game of your choice. Check it out! (Louis Wu 13:22:10 UTC) (permalink)

Oh, Donut
Hedgemony ran across a 'COD Piece size tester' on DeviantART - apparently, someone's making a new set of Halo armor (in pink, no less) - and the codpiece was too small? Okay, then... (Louis Wu 13:21:20 UTC) (permalink)

News November 24 2009

Break
AssaultGodzilla stopped in with word of another Halo music video set to Three Days Grace's 'Break' - it uses footage from pretty much every Halo-related product under the sun... but it STILL holds together. Amazing. (Timing and judicious matching of clip to lyrics makes the difference.) I think a fun game might be seeing how many sources you can identify... (Louis Wu 21:12:26 UTC) (permalink)

Inside Gaming Awards
Machinima.com is kicking off the 'Inside Gaming Awards' this year - to be held the day before Spike's Video Game Awards. Halo 3: ODST is up for an enormous list of awards: Game of the Year, Best Trailer, Best Narrative, Best Control, Best Original Score, and Best Weapon (for Silenced Pistol). Good luck! (The community will be able to vote starting November 27 - read the press release for more details.) (Louis Wu 20:29:23 UTC) (permalink)

GI's Top 200 Games of All Time
Morpheus pointed out an article in the latest issue of Game Informer - it's their 200th issue, so they put together a 'Top 200 Games of All Time' list. Halo was #39, Halo 2 was #110. Neither Halo 3 nor ODST were on the list. This isn't online at this point. (Louis Wu 18:05:50 UTC) (permalink)

Really, IGN? Really?
So I'm over at IGN, looking for the end of their Top 25 Xbox 360 Games article (no Halo games in the top 5 - I suppose, in hindsight, it makes sense that Halo and Halo 2 didn't even place, since both were original Xbox games), and I run across... this. I mean... really? (Yes, Halo's included.) (Louis Wu 18:03:26 UTC) (permalink)

I'm thinkin' stencils...
Love for Sangheili knows no bounds - or at least isn't stopped by plain old jeans. Blueskyfish added a very cool image to the leg of her pants - and Hawty McBloggy highlighted the image. I'd wear those! (Louis Wu 15:25:11 UTC) (permalink)

Blood Gulch - in Crysis
AngelicLionheart found a Crysis mod in progress - someone's porting Blood Gulch to that engine. Looks pretty! (Louis Wu 15:24:37 UTC) (permalink)

Rampancy.net adds ODST Info to Google Earth
Narcogen has updated his contributions to the Google Earth Network Layer with audio log locations from Halo 3: ODST - swing by to see! (Louis Wu 15:24:09 UTC) (permalink)

Corrinne Yu gets technical
343 Industries' Corrinne Yu, the Principal Engine Architect for the Halo team, talks about programming with Channel 9's tina10. It's pretty interesting to see where she's coming from - and where she's going! Thanks, Zeouterlimits. (Louis Wu 15:16:28 UTC) (permalink)

News November 23 2009

The Feed Bag: ODST Contest
Feed Your Console is giving away a free copy of Halo 3: ODST and some other Halo-related schwag - there are a few ways to enter, but you have to be Canadian, and you can't be in Quebec. Check their contest page for full details! (Louis Wu 22:47:23 UTC) (permalink)

Monday Comic Roundup
Just a couple of tidbits today: Grin + Bear It makes an obvious connection with a humorous outcome, over at Hawty McBloggy's... and also at Hawty's, HolyJunkie has created some fan art inspired by ODS Steve. Go read! (Louis Wu 20:49:45 UTC) (permalink)

No Monks Allowed - Another Free Soundtrack
Hey - want another chance to win a Halo 3: ODST Official Soundtrack? Domino Theory wants to help you! Swing by the 'No Monks Allowed' contest page and fill in your info - he'll be picking a winner later this week! How can you go wrong? (Louis Wu 15:55:26 UTC) (permalink)

Controlling access... or buying good reviews?
There's an interesting article over at Ars Technica about gaming reviews, and how the circumstances under which they take place might affect their conclusions. It focuses on an event sponsored by Activision, in which reviewers were put up at a resort in Santa Barbara, airfare and lodging included, in order to play Modern Warfare 2 for a couple of days straight - but did the perks affect the reviews themselves? Halo is mentioned, since Microsoft hosts its own play sessions for reviewers - though transportation and lodging are NOT part of that deal. Microsoft says Halo is tested this way to control access to copies of the game - but is putting reviewers up in a resort for the weekend, as Activision did, really necessary for that? What do you think? Sound off in our forum! (Louis Wu 15:14:51 UTC) (permalink)

Out of This World
Halo 3 Screenshots has another Top 10 list for you this week - this collection is called 'Out of This World', and contains some really cool alien-looking shots! Check 'em out. (Louis Wu 14:08:24 UTC) (permalink)

Reborn Relic, Transcribed
Over at Rampancy.net, The Halo-Dragon has submitted a transcribed version of Reborn Relic, as heard in Halo 3: ODST. The download includes a PDF, a .MUS file, and a midi version of the piece. (Halo: Reborn appears on the Halo 3 soundtrack; the piece appears only in-game in ODST.) (Louis Wu 14:07:56 UTC) (permalink)

News November 22 2009

McFarlane announces Series 7 Figures
A press release from McFarlane went live on Toy News International on Friday evening - Halo Series 7 contains some interesting figures. Sgt. Forge from Halo Wars, Dare from ODST, and Tartarus from Halo 2 are joined by some standard Halo 3 figures. Swing by and take a look! (A discussion thread on our forum kicked off yesterday, if you want to share your opinions.) (Louis Wu 22:54:13 UTC) (permalink)

News November 21 2009

These things are getting meaty.
Lots of tasty stuff in the Bungie Weekly Update this time around... good stuff about Reach, good stuff from Marty, AMAZING stuff on the Matchmaking front, some great charity stuff, A NEW VIDOC (wait, did I just yell?), some very funny fan mail, and more. You can, of course, read it in our Weekly Update Archive, if you choose. (Louis Wu 01:36:51 UTC) (permalink)

The Duel - watch it Saturday, or wait until February
If you live in Europe (or Asia or Australia or really, anywhere but the US) you can watch The Duel, the second of the Halo Legends anime shorts, showing on Halo Waypoint. (Full schedule is here.) You've got 24 hours from the point at which it starts in your country, so don't miss it! (Initial reviews on our forum are pretty positive.) (Louis Wu 01:07:33 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Epicosity
2good4u2 announced a bunch of new panoramas and composite pics - glorious. Check 'em out! (Louis Wu 01:07:14 UTC) (permalink)

News November 20 2009

Vidmaster Challenge: Deja Vu - a Guide
You might remember Declan Clarke - he's a member of the Spartan I Project at Bungie.net, and is devoted to helping you get Vidmaster Achievements. Back in July, we published his Guide to the Vidmaster: Annual Achievement - and today, we're proud to bring you his Guide to the Vidmaster: Déjà Vu Achievement. Text and videos should help you through this romp - tips for each section, hints for specific strategies, and more. Streaming vids are easy to watch from the page, while downloads are all in 720p HD. Go check it out - awesome stuff! (Louis Wu 20:59:36 UTC) (permalink)

Firefight Solo Guide: Rally Point
Monochron is back, with another very cool Firefight Solo Guide - this one covers Rally Point. Give it a read for tips, tricks, and some super-cool screenshots (click on 'em for much larger versions). Then go shoot some stuff by yourself! (As a recap, he's done the following maps now:

It's gonna be a wild ride.
There's been quite a bit of discussion on our forum this past week about Bungie, and what they're making, and why they're making it, and how much they care. SketchFactor decided to clear a few things up - his post here is worth reading to get a handle on the (near) future of Halo, from Bungie's perspective. Thanks, Sketch! (Louis Wu 20:31:49 UTC) (permalink)

Scoring the VGA Reach Trailer
Lots of action about the Reach footage we'll see at the VGAs next month - bungietweets, Bungie's official Twitter account, has posted three pics of the orchestra working on the score for that piece right now (1 | 2 | 3). Thanks to both Mercury and Dani for the heads-up on these. Be sure to read what both SketchFactor and urk have to say about this video... (Louis Wu 20:31:03 UTC) (permalink)

Friday CC Video Recap
Three new vids for you on Bungie's Comm Chatter today:

• Whitesoxrule made a screenshot montage called 'Knights of Bungie'. Nice pics.
• DaRKFiOS created a mini jump video called 'Reminiscent' - lots of maps. Nice air.
• Wisdom and Friends put some cool clips together to create a Halo 3 Montage. Nice editing.

Go watch! (Louis Wu 20:30:33 UTC) (permalink)

Team Flag went live yesterday
Geez - forgot to point out that this weekend's Double EXP Playlist on LIVE is Team Flag - Bungie.net has the full breakdown of maps and gametypes. You've still got 3 more days to play it - so go capture something! (Louis Wu 17:32:12 UTC) (permalink)

Aesthetic Artist Interview: bs angel
There's a new Aesthetic Artist Interview online (thanks, COL0NEL SANDERS) - bs angel holds forth on the screenshot scene, and picks some of her own favorites. (She doesn't create screenshots herself, but she's done quite a bit to promote the art form with her website halo3screenshots.com.) Go read, and then look at the pretty pictures! (Louis Wu 16:02:40 UTC) (permalink)

Sabotox
TTL Demag0gue stopped in with word of Reclaimer 228 - and the Reclaimer learns more about his ultimate foe. (Louis Wu 15:57:30 UTC) (permalink)

ODST for cheap from GameStop
We've mentioned Black Friday Halo deals from Kmart and Target - now we have one for you from GameStop. According to Gaming Target, GameStop will be selling Halo 3: ODST for $39.99 the day after Thanksgiving. Nice! (Louis Wu 15:54:52 UTC) (permalink)

Master Chief, by L-Boyd
mendicantbias00 pointed out a pretty cool acrylic painting of the Master Chief over on DeviantART - take a look! (Louis Wu 15:32:35 UTC) (permalink)

Rorschach Inkblot Test – Orbital
Hawty McBloggy has put her Friday Caption Fun on hold in favor of another regular feature - the Rorschach Inkblot Test. Go check out the heatmap for Orbital, and tell her what you see! (Louis Wu 15:28:07 UTC) (permalink)

IGN's Top 25 360 Games - Halo 3 takes #6
Avateur noticed that Halo 3 came in at #6 on IGN's Top 25 Xbox 360 Games - Games 1-5 will be posted later today, let's see if that adds anything to the Halo total! (Louis Wu 15:26:11 UTC) (permalink)

Friday's Fan Fiction
Nine new stories have been added to the Fan Fiction section this week - go check 'em out! (Louis Wu 15:23:02 UTC) (permalink)

News November 19 2009

Engineer Evolved
Bungie's posted a 'post mortem' on the Engineer - where the character came from, what it looked like early on, what inspired its creation, both in form and function. Great stuff! Go read. (There are plenty of pretty pictures, too, and a video with pretty awesome sound.) (Louis Wu 22:34:50 UTC) (permalink)

Thursday Afternoon Movies
Video goodies from Bungie.net's Comm Chatter today:

• CSI: New Mombasa wonders what David Caruso would be doing 500 years from now
• Hard Justice S2E10 follows the adventures of our heroes in Canada

(There's a video labeled 'MLG Top 10 Plays 3', as well, but it's identical to an earlier posting called 'Top 10 MLG Plays Episode 10'.) Go watch! (Louis Wu 19:19:51 UTC) (permalink)

The best shirt... EVAR
Bungie is offering what may be the best shirt they've ever created - join the B.U.N.G.L.E. Pro League and show your support! There's a women's version, as well. (The back is pure genius.) (Louis Wu 15:37:10 UTC) (permalink)

VGA'S Reach footage to be non-trivial
For folks worried that the VGA reveal of Reach might be disappointing (they didn't handle the Halo 3 footage very well a few years ago), Geoff Keighley posted a note at NeoGAF that might reassure you. 23 days until the Awards Show! (Thanks, EazyB.) (Louis Wu 15:07:38 UTC) (permalink)

Low Level Strike
Leviathan is working on a large piece of fan art - today, he released a small piece that works amazingly well as a desktop. Serious atmosphere.. go see! (Louis Wu 14:51:44 UTC) (permalink)

Can Jackal teeth handle sugar?
Hawty McBloggy ran across a fantastic-looking Jackal mask that was in the works for this year's Halloween festivities. (No word on whether it actually got finished in time - this was a work-in-progress pic from early September.) The creator, DeviantART's randomflyingpigeons, is no stranger to Halo-themed Halloween costumes - she went as a Grunt in 2005, and then again in 2008 (and MAN did she get better over those three years!). She does commissions - you might want to start thinking about next year! (Louis Wu 14:50:51 UTC) (permalink)

IGN's Top 25 Xbox 360 Games (Day 3)
IGN has returned to the 'Top 25 Games' well - this time, the list is 'Top 25 Xbox 360 Games', and Halo Wars and Halo 3: ODST came in at #12 and #11, respectively. (Games #1-10 will be released over the next two days - it's a good bet that Halo will be represented in that group, as well.) Thanks, Avateur. (Louis Wu 14:49:54 UTC) (permalink)

Blood Line #3 Cover and Summary
CaptainTony noticed that the cover and summary for Blood Line #3 is now available on Marvel's website - go take a quick look! (The actual issue won't be out until February.) (Louis Wu 14:38:47 UTC) (permalink)

News November 18 2009

Aberrant Designs: Favorite Files, Week 2
Last week, we pointed out some of Aberrant Designs' favorite files (in the Bungie Favorites section) - they've put up a new batch. Swing by Bungie.net to read about one of their maps, and then look at the rest of the goodies! (Louis Wu 20:35:58 UTC) (permalink)

Spike's VGA Voting: Open
Bungie's pointed out that polls for Spike's 2009 Video Game Awards are now open - Halo 3: ODST has been nominated in five categories (Best Shooter, Best XBOX 360 Game, Best Original Score, Best Multi-Player Game, and Best Performance by a Human Female). Go cast your votes! (There's a thread going on our forum, if you want to toss in your two cents.) (Louis Wu 20:03:26 UTC) (permalink)

Reach to premiere at the VGAs
If you've been wondering when you're going to see some real Reach material, wonder no more - GTTV's Geoff Keighley just updated his Twitter feed with the following information:

The world premiere of HALO: REACH happens only at the 2009 Video Game Awards, Live 12/12 on Spike.

Mark your calendars! Thanks, Oddworld. (Louis Wu 16:20:24 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Fine Art
GrimBrother One noticed a tidbit at Kotaku about some high end Halo art going on sale soon. There are three giclée prints, framed, published in limited-edition runs of 100, selling for $175 each. (You can actually buy them at Sideshow Collectibles - along with the four previous Halo glicée prints we mentioned almost two years ago.) Just so you're aware: all three of these new prints are avaiable in digital format on our ODST Assets page - they're in resolutions EASILY printable at a large size (24 megapixels for 'A Heavy Toll', 50 megapixels for 'Happy Hunting', 3 megapixels for 'Mombasa Streets' - granted, that one might not be ideal). Googling 'Glicée Printing' shows that a 13x19 print from a digital image will run you less than $40, though you'll still have to frame it. If you want the work done for you, though - this looks like a nice product! (Louis Wu 15:00:25 UTC) (permalink)

Covenant Carrier Pano Fire
Mid7night has recently learned the art of breaking out of maps - and has used this new skill to whip up a gorgeous panorama of a Covenant carrier glassing New Mombasa. Go look! (Louis Wu 14:59:57 UTC) (permalink)

Wednesday Comic Roundup
The regulars are updating on schedule:

• ODS Steve #49 (Finger Lickin' Good) is live at Hawty McBloggy's - oh, the joys of flame grenades...
• TTL Demag0gue keeps us informed about Reclaimer updates - and #227 (Form in Function) is up now. Reclaimer is learning more about the place he's in... and what he's sharing it with.

Go read! (Louis Wu 14:59:19 UTC) (permalink)

Tell 'em you love 'em - with a credit card
Bungie's slowly filling out their merch collection with stuff that isn't Halo IP - and coming soon they've got a Marathon hoodie! (For those of you who came on board with Halo, no, that's not just a UNSC logo from Halo - its origins are much, much older.) You can also snag a classic Bungie T - go see. (Louis Wu 14:58:44 UTC) (permalink)

News November 17 2009

The Halo Community Delivers... Every Day
Goodies from Bungie's Comm Chatter:

• The Spartan I Project wants to remind you that they can help you get the Endure Achievement
• The Running Riot wants to remind you that tonight they're broadcasting The Firestream Firefight at 9:30 Eastern
• Xero, Warkid, and Asidious got together to make Merit, a Halo 3 Teamtage - 9 minutes (well, 3 of those minutes are intro or credits minutes) of heavily-edited gameplay
• The latest Average Joe interview is with Iggyhopper, a Halo fan who hangs out on the Bungie forums
• KnightxofxLight created a Halo 3 jump tutorial focused on Guardian tricks

Pretty wide range of goodies - go check 'em out! (Louis Wu 21:12:16 UTC) (permalink)

Joystiq interview with Frank O'Connor
Joystiq has an interview with Frank O'Connor - it's from a week ago, but we're hearing about it for the first time today (thanks, GrimBrother One). He discusses the market for Halo merchandise, the goals of Waypoint, and what's coming down the line. Interesting read! (Louis Wu 19:09:36 UTC) (permalink)

Pro Tips with Tsquared - Halo 3: ODST
It's been a long time since the last episode - but G4TV's got Tom 'TSquared' Taylor providing tips again. This time, he's giving you some advice about Halo 3: ODST - worth watching! (Louis Wu 18:39:32 UTC) (permalink)

The Spirit of Radio
Paste Magazine has taken a look at Sadie's Story, and compared it to radio dramas of the past. It's a great take on a wonderful sidepiece of the Halo 3: ODST experience - give it a read! Thanks, Anton P. Nym. (Louis Wu 18:06:44 UTC) (permalink)

Improving Firefight
pete_the_duck put some time into thinking about what could make Firefight better; his ideas are totally worth reading. Go see if you agree! (Louis Wu 14:31:08 UTC) (permalink)

K'NEX Halo 3 Shotgun
Someone built a Halo 3 shotgun out of K'NEX pieces - take a look! (Louis Wu 14:30:28 UTC) (permalink)

Best Ads of the 2000s
AdweekMedia has a poll up - what was the best commercial of the first decade of the 21st century? Halo 3's Diorama made the finalist list - go watch 'em all, then vote for your favorite! A few people let us know about this, but Toby Dillman was first. (Louis Wu 14:29:10 UTC) (permalink)

Bungie Pro Video Update
A long-promised upgrade to Bungie Pro's rendering service has been the ability to grab just a piece of a longer Halo 3: ODST Campaign video, by specifying start and end timestamps - that upgrade is here now. Go visit, and see what it takes - and get to rendering that cool clip that happened in the middle of a 90 minute game! (Louis Wu 14:28:22 UTC) (permalink)

I'm on a zebra!
Yesterday, a new Tag and Release feature went live at Bungie.net - screenshots showing off the specialness of Last Exit is what they were looking for. Were they successful? You decide. (You can find your OWN cool Last Exit shots by looking through the Community Files section.) (Louis Wu 14:27:41 UTC) (permalink)

News November 16 2009

Yes, you.
Darkspire Films continues their Candy Coated Wonder Road series, with 'The Cookie Thief'. Who stole the cookies from the cookie jar? YOU, THAT'S WHO! Wait, that's not right... (Thanks, urk.) (Louis Wu 18:39:47 UTC) (permalink)

Monday Comic Roundup
Let's see what we've got for you today:

• Elnea's posted Halo Action Figure Theater #189 - Fixing a Hole. Wuvvy might have a problem.
• luke's latest Grin + Bear It is live at Hawty McBloggy's - are attitudes towards female soldiers changing?
• Bloogyo reported some new Xbox problems, so Rat's Nest is on hold for a while.

Go read! Update: seems I should have waited just seven minutes more to post this... today's Reclaimer (#226, Data Core) just went live (thanks, TTL Demag0gue). The Reclaimer's new surroundings are getting... interesting. (Louis Wu 16:20:08 UTC) (permalink)

Tattoos and gaming and art, oh my!
Hawty McBloggy highlighted another Halo tattoo today - really colorful! Awesome rendition of the image off the cover of the Halo Graphic Novel. Take a look. (While you're there, check out some information about her upcoming Halo 3 Community Playdate, organized by Xbox.com, and take a look at some very nice Halo: Reach iPhone wallpaper created by Halcylon.) (Louis Wu 13:47:30 UTC) (permalink)

Waypoint Goodies
Halo Waypoint has their new schedule up for the week - they're going to be spending a significant chunk of time on Halo Evolutions (the short story collection coming out later this month). There are two 7-minute videos up right now - interviews with Kevin Grace, Eric Nylund, Frank O'Connor, and Jonathan Goff, in which the authors discuss the pieces they wrote, and how the anthology came together in the first place. If you haven't been visiting Waypoint every day, there's been plenty of fun stuff posted recently; yesterday, a bit on the Uplift Reserve went live, giving you some backstory to an area you played through in ODST, and today, a preview of 'The Duel', the next episode of Halo Legends to be shown, went up. Go explore! (There are threads started about the Uplift piece and to the Duel preview on our forum, if you want to discuss them.) (Louis Wu 13:45:39 UTC) (permalink)

Top 5 most incredible war scenes in gaming
MSNBC.com put together a short piece they call the "Top 5 most incredible war scenes in gaming" - the 'Rolling Thunder' segment of Halo (the original) made the list. Nice! Thanks, ArteenEsben. (Louis Wu 13:42:30 UTC) (permalink)

Old Halo magazine article on sale
essentialparadox let us know that he's selling a copy of the July 2000 PC Gamer, which contained an article about Halo before the move to the Xbox. (If you want to see the contents of the article, we posted scans of it back when it was released - but if you buy this, you can actually hold it in your hands.) (Louis Wu 13:41:36 UTC) (permalink)

News November 15 2009

Happy Birthday, Halo!
CaptainTony reminded us that 8 years ago today, the world got to play Halo for the first time on the (then) brand-new Xbox. Wow, how time flies! (Louis Wu 18:02:07 UTC) (permalink)

Solving a five-year-old trick challenge
We got word from grumpy about a Halo 2 trick. Explaining it is non-trivial; if you're not part of the tricking community, it might be difficult to even understand what's being done. Way back in late 2004, a special gun, hidden by Bungie just for tricksters, was found on the Halo 2 level Metropolis - it looked like a regular plasma pistol, but it fired Scarab Gun projectiles. dantheman87 wondered if you could get one from INSIDE the tunnel you drive in on Outskirts, though... which turned out to be a seriously complicated question. grumpy has posted a video which shows how to do this - but you might have to watch the tutorial he posts a little farther down, showing how all of the pieces get in place for the final grab. I can't even imagine how much work went into this. Go see! (Louis Wu 17:11:32 UTC) (permalink)

Edge of Reason
Chaos Theory's Adam Susskind has a new machinima for you - swing by his website for Edge of Reason, a seven minute tale of a cop slipping past the bounds of normal... (Louis Wu 15:10:52 UTC) (permalink)

Chieftan Leviticus
TDSpiral is back with a new piece of Halo artwork; this one is called 'Chieftan Leviticus', and it's a really nice moody piece. Check it out! (Louis Wu 15:08:38 UTC) (permalink)

Robot continues to tweak Halo Wars
Thanks to FyreWulff, who noticed a thread on the Halo Wars forum detailing potential changes coming in a future Halo Wars Title Update. Looks like some Achievements might be getting easier! (Louis Wu 15:01:56 UTC) (permalink)

Starlight Runner surfaces again
rhubarb noticed a mention in the latest Game Informer of Starlight Runner Entertainment, a company we mentioned in passing back in March. A visit to their website turns up a press kit (thanks, General Vagueness) that contains this intriguing paragraph:

In 2008, Starlight Runner was commissioned by Microsoft to prepare the company's multibillion dollar Halo videogame franchise for a global transmedia relaunch. In addition to expanding the breadth of the property by conceiving a series of allnew storylines, themes and characterizations designed to make the property accessible to a mass audience across multiple media platforms and formats, the Starlight Runner team is also contributing strategies for an integrated rollout for all Halo entertainment content over the next five years.

There's also a link to an interview at All Things Fangirl, with some more discussion of what it is that they actually do (or did, for this franchise). Hmm... (Louis Wu 14:40:17 UTC) (permalink)

Shooting for the Stars
rolandk73 noticed a silly auction on eBay yesterday - someone was selling a Halo 3 Legendary helmet for one million dollars. The auction was over by the time I saw it... but the seller relisted (at a FAR more reasonable $100,000) last night (thanks, Mid7night). That auction is still live. Really - can you put a price on that gorgeous helmet? (Louis Wu 14:39:35 UTC) (permalink)

I'd pay for that.
Yesterday, a rather unusual thread popped up on our forum - unusual because it was filled with a level of vitriol that doesn't often show up around here. (Folks are generally more polite than all that...) It's not really worth pointing out, for itself... but one graphical response from a regular made me laugh quite a bit - and THAT'S worth pointing out. Take a look - and thanks, Leviathan. (Louis Wu 14:38:44 UTC) (permalink)

News November 14 2009

The Innies want out
Cody Moore has written a Halo-related song - but he can't play the music needed. He wants your help. Read his post, listen to his vocals, and if you can help, let him know! (Louis Wu 22:23:45 UTC) (permalink)

Watching You...
I <3 Halo 3 Screenshots continues their Top Ten Halo 3 Screenshots series - and in honor of Friday the 13th, the most recent collection is in the horror genre. Scary Pics! (Louis Wu 21:43:33 UTC) (permalink)

Halo 3: ODST passes 3 million
IGN pointed out that NPD data (released yesterday for October) shows that Halo 3: ODST has now sold over 3 million units since its release 2 months ago. Respectable! (Louis Wu 16:12:01 UTC) (permalink)

Saturdays are special on Halo Waypoint
Just a quick reminder; Halo Waypoint is supposed to be posting the 'Behind the Scenes' video describing the making of The Babysitter, the first of the Halo Legends animes we saw last week. It doesn't seem to be up yet (and even in BungieLand, it's a third of the way through Saturday)... but it should still be coming. It's only available for 24 hours - so don't miss it! Update: Nexus let us know that on the Halo Waypoint Facebook page, the team has announced that they're extending the viewing window for this show through Sunday. (Louis Wu 16:08:57 UTC) (permalink)

Short, Sweet... and Short
The Bungie Weekly Update is live - it's pretty short, but there's some nice info in there. A peek at an upcoming goodie coming to an ODST Intel menu near you, soon... reminders about Bungie Pro Render options... and... well, that's about it. A cool screenshot. Worth reading, though! (As always, it's also in our Weekly Update Archive.) (Louis Wu 00:55:15 UTC) (permalink)

News November 13 2009

Phoenix-06's Ultimate Wallpaper Pack
Phoenix-06 has shown up a few times in our news for amazing Halo-related artwork - in February, then April, and again in September. Well, mendicantbias00 just pointed out that he's released a pretty cool Wallpaper pack - it includes 10 images, in a lot of resolutions each, split into two downloads (because the total size is 100mb). Part 1 is here, and Part 2 is here. Only some of these images are Halo-related - but ALL of them are amazing pieces of artwork, and are worth checking out as cool desktops. (Louis Wu 19:44:43 UTC) (permalink)

Epic Films' Infiltration
QuickTactical stopped in with word of the release of Infiltration, by Epic Films - it's a Halo 3 machinima that weighs in at 18 minutes long. He's put up a plot summary, some notes, and lots of download options in his forum post - check it out! (Louis Wu 19:42:28 UTC) (permalink)

Friday CC Vids
Need new vids? Bungie's Comm Chatter's got a pair:

• RippenSkills made a montage called 'SkillsTage' - 4 minutes of Australian play
• Wafflebrains1 created his fourth and final mongoose montage -this one focuses on the riders only. 8 minutes.

Go watch. (Louis Wu 18:37:11 UTC) (permalink)

Teabag Prevention: Halo Waypoint for Dummies
Seems that the Teabag Prevention team has received reader requests for a walkthrough of Halo Waypoint - so they've written up an article that does just that. If you wondered what Waypoint is good for, or what it has to offer, or what the whole 'Halo Career' thing is all about... this article is for you. (My guess is, if you're reading this, and you still have those questions... someone printed this page out and handed it to you.) (Louis Wu 18:24:49 UTC) (permalink)

Frigid Warmth - a Walkthrough
mendicantbias00 pointed out a very cool bit on DeviantART - a few days ago we mentioned a very cool piece of artwork by Rahll - he's put up a walkthrough, showing the steps he took to create it. Awesome for starting artists, and for anyone interested in how this stuff comes to be! (Louis Wu 14:57:15 UTC) (permalink)

Friday Comic Roundup
Two comic bits for you today: Bloogyo has a bunch of new pages available in his Rat's Nest series, and TTL Demag0gue told us about Reclaimer 225 (Precursors to Information) - new place! Go read. (Louis Wu 14:04:17 UTC) (permalink)

Sarkathlon 4 Wrap-Up
G4TV.com has posted the Sarkathlon 4 Wrap-Up - it details the top three finishers in the competition (actually, the top 4, because second place went to two separate people, who turned in IDENTICAL times - down to the 1/100th of a second - for COMPLETELY different routes), plus a couple of honorable mentions. Who won the coveted Flaming armor? You'll have to watch to find out! Thanks, Mr Sark. (Keep an eye on his Twitter profile; he'llbe posting the top 10 runs there sometime today.) (Louis Wu 13:28:51 UTC) (permalink)

Friday Caption Fun, Round 70
Hawty McBloggy has posted Round 70 of her Friday Caption Fun feature - I got a nice laugh from the captions to last week's pic - and this week's pic should provide a decent challenge! Go look, and see what you can contribute! (Louis Wu 13:27:26 UTC) (permalink)

IGN's Top 10 Halo 3 Kills (Nov. 4-11)
IGN's posted their next 'Top 10 Halo 3 Kills' for the week of November 4-11; as usual, the kills are not spectacular, but they're fun, and the vid's under 3 minutes. Go take a look! (Louis Wu 13:22:46 UTC) (permalink)

Another Black Friday ODST deal
Another retailer will be offering a really nice price on Halo 3: ODST on Black Friday, November 27 - Target's price on the game will be $37 that day. Cheap! (Remember, we mentioned a couple of deals from Kmart already...) (Louis Wu 13:21:44 UTC) (permalink)

Broken In: Natalya Tatarchuk
The most recent 'Broken In' article at Bungie.net is focused on Natalya Tatarchuk, an engineering architect at Bungie - there's not a lot of Halo content (read: none), but her views on the industry as a whole (and what she's up to now) are fascinating. If you're interested in a job in the graphical fields of game development, this shouldn't be missed. Go give it a read! (Louis Wu 13:14:46 UTC) (permalink)

Friday's Fan Fiction
Just four new pieces this week in the Fan Fiction section - go read 'em! (Louis Wu 13:09:34 UTC) (permalink)

News November 12 2009

HSH ODST Tourney
Cody Miller is kicking off a 4v4 double elimination tournament - you need the Mythic disc from Halo 3: ODST to play, and you can win some cool t-shirts (that I assume he's making himself). Swing by the High Speed Halo forum for all the details! (Louis Wu 22:10:13 UTC) (permalink)

Control This!
The Double EXP Playlist this weekend is Team Control - Land Grab, Territories, and King rule until Monday. Swing by Bungie.net for a full list of gametypes and maps! (Louis Wu 19:53:57 UTC) (permalink)

Halo, for clarinet and bassoon
rolandk73 stopped in with word of an arrangement of the Halo theme, for clarinet and bassoon, created by a friend of his. You can download the 5 pages off of TwitPic, or you can grab local copies from us: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5. If you play this... record it and send it in! Update: Chryton points out that this is for Bb Clarinet and Bass Clarinet, not clarinet and bassoon. (Louis Wu 18:37:40 UTC) (permalink)

Plant It
urk let us know about a fan-made puzzle game - go read the blog post to find links to the game and map variants, along with the solution (for those of you who simply can't wait). (Louis Wu 18:36:55 UTC) (permalink)

Screenshots for your Johnson
Ready Up Live has a Sgt. Johnson Firefight code to give away - so they're hosting a screenshot contest. Bungie.net has all the details. (Louis Wu 18:35:25 UTC) (permalink)

Thursday Afternoon at the Movies
Late start here... let's begin with the daily video offerings of Bungie's Comm Chatter:

• Kblocker and Outcold have a montage for you to watch - lots of sniping, not too heavy on the editing. Just under 5 minutes.
• Ten FTW modified Halo 3: ODST cutscenes by adding some bleeps and pixellation - changes the whole tone of these things! Obviously, don't watch these if you haven't played the campaign through.
• Chilled Chaos put together 'You Said What?! Episode 1', a Halo 3 machinima - think "Miss Lucy had a steamboat" updated for today.

Go watch! (Louis Wu 18:33:15 UTC) (permalink)

News November 11 2009

Firefight Solo Guide: Lost Platoon
Monochron is back with another Firefight Solo Guide - this one focuses on Lost Platoon. Tips, tricks, and great screenshots - swing by and use this to pile up the points on your own! (Louis Wu 20:16:45 UTC) (permalink)

Wednesday's Comm Chatter
Bungie's community feed offers you the following tidbits today:

• 'Beauty of Halo' is a Scenery Screenshot Montage put together by several community groups - pretty pics.
• 'Whatever' is a tritage (every time I hear 'tage' now, I think of Pure Pwnage's Taji) - Axilo, Magix, and Mick put some of their best clips together to give you a 7 minute montage. (It's totally silent because the audiotrack contained unauthorized music.)
• The Community Spotlight is being shined on Aberrant Designs - go read about who they are, then check out Bungie Favorites for some of their choicest files.
• It's been a long time coming - but you can finally buy extra Bungie Pro Render Minutes. What does this mean? It means you can finally render that 30-minute monster custom game you've been holding on to... Minutes are ten cents apiece - no discount for bulk.

Go watch, go read, go buy! (Louis Wu 20:15:33 UTC) (permalink)

TRR: The Firestream Firefight
The Running Riot is back next week - and this one is special. Kete's calling it "The Firestream Firefight", and it's gonna be Firefight with some community names. Bigwigs like bs angel, Insane54 from Forge Hub, and Jironimo from Ascendant Justice (and some schmuck from HBO, too) will be online playing live. Mark your calendars! (Thanks, urk and Kete.) (Louis Wu 20:09:18 UTC) (permalink)

Halo 3 Mythic Guide Version 2.0 - Floodgate
Daniel 'Tyrant' Morris continues his Mythic Walkthrough, v2.0 - the latest chapter is the easiest level to play in all of Halo 3: Floodgate. Swing by and see how to beat this level in less than 5 minutes, even on Legendary, with All Skulls On! Only two levels remain - Crow's Nest, and The Ark. (Both are massive, and very difficult.) (Louis Wu 17:13:03 UTC) (permalink)

Getting Politically Correct with Game Characters
c0ld vengeance pointed out an article over at Destructoid - someone wondered what sort of role sexual orientation should play in games. Interestingly enough, a character with NO visible sexuality (Master Chief) was less 'real' than one with a sexual preference that differed from the writer's (Uncharted 2)! Not sure I understand that... (Louis Wu 15:00:32 UTC) (permalink)

Wednesday Comic Roundup
Reclaimer's back (thanks, TTL Demag0gue) - Episode 224 (Uncloaked Mysteries) was even posted a bit early last night, to make up for the dry spell. The Reclaimer is beginning to see the lay of the land... and over at Hawty McBloggy's, ODS Steve #48 (Plan Alpha) is online - with a plan that I wouldn't be comfortable being part of... (Louis Wu 14:54:30 UTC) (permalink)

LEGO Frigate
Leviathan noticed a very cool LEGO construction - dark angel built the Aegis Fate (the UNSC frigate hanging over Sand Trap) out of 3500 LEGO blocks... insane! (Louis Wu 14:53:56 UTC) (permalink)

Bungie Store Bulks Up
No Halo goodies - but there ARE some Superintendent ones... swing by the Bungie Store to see the new stuff they've added. (Remember; Bungie no longer owns the rights to Halo, so they can't sell Halo-branded stuff there; don't get on their case TOO much about this. Hey, urk - how about a Superintendent plushie? It would probably look like a giant M&M... but I'd probably love it anyway.) (Louis Wu 14:50:19 UTC) (permalink)

News November 10 2009

How much movie did YOU get?
Cracked has a list of 5 Plot Devices That Make Good Video Games Suck - and Halo 3's penultimate level is their prime example of Device #3. Thanks, Vash10. (Louis Wu 20:14:47 UTC) (permalink)

Know Your Ninja: Duardo
Duardo is the latest Bungie Forum Ninja to be profiled on the front page of Bungie.net. (Aren't ninjas supposed to stay hidden?) Go see what keeps him going. (Louis Wu 20:11:56 UTC) (permalink)

Cardboard Boxes?
College Humor has a series of pictures they call 'Videogame University'... and your favorite green armored supersoldier is a prof. Thanks, wheeler. (Louis Wu 18:26:46 UTC) (permalink)

The Drop
Tony 'ubald' Marcotte continues his work with the ODST model he got his hands on; his latest render is called 'The Drop', and the lighting ROCKS! Check it out in his gallery here. (Louis Wu 18:23:38 UTC) (permalink)

Tuesday Montage Mania
A couple of new montages for your viewing pleasure, courtesy of Bungie's Comm Chatter:

• Top 10 MLG Plays, Episode 10, from B Mc Gann, has (as you'd expect) some impressive matchmaking play. (I sort of wonder what other players on a team are doing when someone's getting back-to-back exterminations...)
• pTw's Tunnel Vision is 90 seconds of noscopes. (It's heavily edited, so the awe factor is reduced quite a bit, unfortunately.)

Go watch. (Louis Wu 18:12:10 UTC) (permalink)

OC's Spike Grenade
You might remember smick6 - he created a pretty cool Brute Spiker last year. He's back, with a spike grenade he whipped up for the Operation Chastity crew - he sent us some pics. (It's hand-crafted, its design a combination of the Weta and in-game versions. The version you see here is ABS plastic - but it can be made with aluminum blades, for the brave. He's considering offering a few for sale, but right now he's focused on finishing the OC work.) Click for larger versions (the first three are 1536x2048, the last is 2048x1536):

604k

546k

512k

288k

Co-Optimus: Firefight High Score Night
Co-Optimus is going to be running a new monthly gaming event in partnership with Halo Waypoint - Halo-themed co-op events that will be featured on Waypoint. First up - Halo 3: ODST Firefight Highscore Night. It's this Friday night, November 13, at 8 pm EST - go learn how you can play! (Louis Wu 16:02:30 UTC) (permalink)

Try not to get that on your shirt.
Hawty McBloggy highlighted a paper-mâché Master Chief Helmet - pretty cool! (Louis Wu 15:41:30 UTC) (permalink)

Frigid Warmth
Bry noticed a new piece of artwork from Rahll (we've got some of his stuff in our Miscellaneous Art section, but he's got TONS more at DeviantART) - it's got influences from Halo, Mass Effect, and Star Wars, among other sources. And it's gorgeous. Check it out! (Louis Wu 15:41:05 UTC) (permalink)

BladedExpert's 3 Minute Montage
BladedExpert posted what he thinks is his last Halo 3 montage - it's 3 minutes long, full of combo-kills, and is very nicely timed. Not a lot of fancy editing - but a good montage doesn't NEED fancy editing, it needs good clips, and good timing. This has both. (Louis Wu 15:40:39 UTC) (permalink)

The natives are getting restless
Fans are getting loud - I guess they want to be heard. A couple of days ago, Hawaiian Pig kicked off a large thread on our forum, asking how many people were still playing Halo 3: ODST? Various arms of the thread debated the replayability of the game, the weaknesses of certain choices Bungie made, or the unreasonableness of the fanbase. Lots of different opinions. (Over on NeoGAF, GhaleonEB wrote up his own thoughts about the game; they're a fascinating read. He put some real time into thinking about WHY he felt certain ways about things... it's interesting to see a seriously pro-Bungie Halo fan explain why a Bungie-created Halo product disappointed him. There are several followups to his post that are worth reading; hit the 'thread' link at the top to see it in context.) This is clearly important to a lot of people; last night, Cody Miller started up a thread he called 'Tips for Reach'; it's full of suggestions he'd like to see in Bungie's next game. What's really interesting is how fast that thread has grown, and how many different opinions have been expressed in that short time. (It's likely that it's WAY too late for a lot of the suggestions that have popped up there; Reach will be going gold sometime next summer, so most of the basic design decisions are probably pretty fixed at this point. The passion of the fans, though, and the strength with which they're expressing their opinions, is remarkable.) (Louis Wu 15:34:48 UTC) (permalink)

News November 9 2009

Chattering Chabobs of Chegativity
Out all afternoon, here's a quick roundup of the new stuff on Bungie.net's Comm Chatter:

• Crazy Fish Productions released a splatter montage. I can't tell you about it, because YouTube seems to be down at the moment.
• Today's Tag and Release feature spotlights images taken on the Lost Platoon Firefight map. 'Epic' comes to mind.
• HaloCharts' Sticktoberfest contest is over - and results are up. The winner played 977 games over the course of October (that's an AVERAGE of more than 30/night), and AVERAGED 6.4 sticks per game. That's rather insane, if you ask me.

Go read it all! (Louis Wu 22:11:33 UTC) (permalink)

Happy Birthday, Halo 2.
Today marks the fifth anniversary of the release of Halo 2 - go play a round on Sanctuary to celebrate! (Avateur kicked off a thread in our forum, if you feel like sharing your views...) (Louis Wu 17:41:24 UTC) (permalink)

Waypoint content grows
Halo Waypoint continues to churn out new content - today a video interview with Frank O'Connor went live, explaining how he found himself in his current position as 'King of Halo' (I made that up). The rest of the week will see a new PSA from Red vs Blue, a collection of Screenshots, a strategy piece explaining your enemies in ODST, a Behind the Scenes video of the making of 'The Babysitter', and more! It's free for all Gold and Silver LIVE members right now; there's no better time to check it out! (Louis Wu 17:38:10 UTC) (permalink)

Guilt O' Lantern Contest: Results Posted
After a week of voting, the results are in - and our winners in the 2009 Guilt O' Lantern contest have been posted! Swing by the Results page for full details. Congrats to EVERYONE who entered - it's because of insanely cool content like yours that we keep doing this every year! (And thanks, once again, to the kind folks who contributed cash or schwag to the prize pool this year; we've never asked for that before, but it went pretty nicely!) (Louis Wu 14:46:19 UTC) (permalink)

Oh, Hayabusa! (Halo 3 Noob Song)
patfan8326 and skullkruncher13 put together a song that will drill its way into your skull and eat your brains. It will make your dreams come true. (Louis Wu 14:42:16 UTC) (permalink)

Keep It Clean... and Tasty
A Hawty McBloggy fan named Skittles created a cool timelapse construction of the Superintendent... built out of Skittles. Bonus: You can eat your work when you're finished! (Louis Wu 14:41:37 UTC) (permalink)

MLG Anaheim: tD beats Str8
Congratulations to Triggers Down, who beat Str8 Rippin 6-5 in the finals at Anaheim to walk away with the MLG First Place finish - and $20,000 - in the last regular-season event of the year. Full results and (rebroadcasts of the matches) can be found at MLGPro.com. (Louis Wu 14:40:22 UTC) (permalink)

Hints of future greatness
Adam Grumbo tells me it's not really news, but I think I disagree. He's posted some pre-production test footage the 405th crew put together while trying to see what sort of low-light capabilities their camera had. The answer seems to be 'pretty nice!' There's no script, no real plot - it's just a few minutes of test footage. The potential, however... is amazing. Folks on their forum were asking for the footage so that they could add sound/lighting effects - he's made the clip available for download on 405th.com. If you want to play, grab a copy and get modifying! (Louis Wu 14:34:10 UTC) (permalink)

Monday Comic Roundup
Bloogyo's back with a new chapter of Rat's Nest (the first three episodes are up), and yesterday's Grin + Bear It contains a double-whammy - condom talk and a shot at the French. Whee doggies! (Louis Wu 14:33:49 UTC) (permalink)

PA Forums 5th Year Anniversary Contest
FyreWulff stopped in yesterday with word of a screenshot contest running on the Penny Arcade forums - it's to commemorate 5 years of Halo love there. Swing by and read the rules - you might win yourself 1600 points! (Louis Wu 14:32:39 UTC) (permalink)

News November 8 2009

Cutting Remarks.
Stuntmutt simply couldn't resist the bait offered by 343 Industries with The Babysitter; a special Sunday One One Se7en looks at the issue. (Personally, I'd hesitate making comments like that next to a guy who obviously knows his way around a sniper rifle...) (Louis Wu 16:49:28 UTC) (permalink)

Star Fell Teaser
A week or so ago, FireDragon04 told us about a teaser poster for an upcoming machinima project, Star Fell - today, there's a Teaser vid up on YouTube. Nice work, if a little light on content! Take a look - it's only a minute long. (Louis Wu 16:01:58 UTC) (permalink)

All people needed to do... was believe.
DesignCritique has a look back at the Halo 3: Believe ad campaign, to see how it worked with the benefit of hindsight. Not surprisingly, it holds up, two years later. Amazing stuff! (Louis Wu 15:58:08 UTC) (permalink)

Halo: FTW 2
Back in January, 2008, we mentioned a mod for Halo PC called 'Halo FTW' - Pepsi and Nessa were adding lots of shiny new textures to the game. The original screenshots and the fly-through movie are long gone - but they're working on releasing FTW 2, a remade version of the mod. If you swing by this thread at ModHalo, you'll find pages of new videos and screenshots (this shot is pretty impressive, though it takes quite a while to load - not surprising, given that it's 11.5 mb). You can also find most of the videos at Pepsi's YouTube channel. Congrats to Pepsi, Nessa, Tucker933, DeadHamster, and Kvasir - this stuff looks pretty good! (Louis Wu 15:52:40 UTC) (permalink)

Flying your own Wombat
Mid7night officially released a playable F99 'Wombat' for X-Plane 9.40 - if you want to fly it yourself, swing by and download a copy! (Louis Wu 15:52:17 UTC) (permalink)

News November 7 2009

Top Ten Halo 3 Screenshots: Nom Nom Nom
I <3 Halo 3 Screenshots has their newest Top 10 Halo 3 Screenshots feature online - this one is called 'Nom Nom Nom', and focuses on taking a bite! Lovin' the shots - some are old, some are new, all are great! (Louis Wu 13:31:32 UTC) (permalink)

Operation Chastity Helmet Shots
Aymeric Neau let us know that Pete Cooper sent three new shots of a Marine helmet being worked on for Operation Chastity to Halo.fr; swing by to see 'em! (Louis Wu 13:30:55 UTC) (permalink)

I Am Legends.
Saturday, November 7 is the release day for 'The Babysitter'(the first of 7 anime pieces that will comprise Halo Legends) on Halo Waypoint (on Xbox LIVE) - it's already online in New Zealand. Stuntmutt couldn't let the occasion pass without comment... swing by One One Se7en and sigh. (Louis Wu 02:36:28 UTC) (permalink)

Letting Feedback Take the Lead
GrimBrother One also let us know about an article on Kotaku in which 343 Industries' Josh Holmes holds forth on the future of Waypoint. It can be what you make it - ask, and they'll try and add. Give it a read! (Louis Wu 02:33:34 UTC) (permalink)

ODST Helmet to be worn in MotoGP WC in Valencia
KP pointed us to a Motorcycle News page (and GrimBrother One pointed us to a Kotaku page pointing to the same MN page) discussing a helmet that will be worn by Jorge Lorenzo as he competes in the 2009 MotoGP World Championship race in Valencia. It's said to 'replicate [the helmet] worn by the main character' in Halo 3: ODST - I'm not sure I'd go that far, but it DOES have a lot of Halo stuff on it. Take a look! (Louis Wu 02:30:13 UTC) (permalink)

MLG Anaheim - Live all Weekend!
Bungie wanted to remind you that MLG Anaheim is being streamed all weekend from mlgpro.com - swing by for the schedule, and watch yourself some sweet pro action! (Louis Wu 02:08:56 UTC) (permalink)

You Get What You Pay For
Bungie Weekly Update is live - mostly, it's urk, trying to weasel out of his promise to offer Grunt Plushies at a reasonable price. There's a nice interview with a US soldier in Iraq. Go see! (It's in our Weekly Update Archive, too.) (Louis Wu 01:59:54 UTC) (permalink)

News November 6 2009

Guilt O' Lantern Voting - last couple of days!
Just a quick reminder: voting is still open for the Guilt O' Lantern entries; we'll likely close it on Sunday afternoon, so that we can sort through the stats for the winners to announce on Monday morning. If you haven't voted yet, do it soon! (Louis Wu 21:03:05 UTC) (permalink)

Halo 3 Mythic Guide Version 2.0 - Sierra 117
It's been on hiatus for almost four months - but the second edition of Tyrant's Halo 3 Mythic Guide (Solo, Legendary, All Skulls On) marches forward with a brand-new chapter for Sierra 117! This contains tips and tricks not included in the first guide - techniques that will shave minutes, nay, HOURS from your mythic runthrough of the Halo 3 Campaign. Go see what he's got for you! (Louis Wu 18:46:57 UTC) (permalink)

Friday Caption Fun, Round 69
Were you missing Friday Caption Fun over at Hawty McBloggy's? Don't worry, there's a new one up today! Good stuff from the fans on Dare's Dramatic Chipmunk image from last week, plus a shot just BEGGING for a caption... check it out! (Louis Wu 18:42:09 UTC) (permalink)

Teabag Prevention: How to Suck Less at Firefight Week 2
Teabag Prevention is back with a new Firefight guide - this one focuses on Lost Platoon. Go read it for tips on staying alive! Thanks, Brian Gilmore and Jake108. (Louis Wu 18:40:20 UTC) (permalink)

Infiltration Trailer Two
QuickTactical pointed out a new trailer for Infiltration (a film in the works for a year and a half) - looks like the final product has a fixed release date (coming in a week). Go see! (Louis Wu 18:39:36 UTC) (permalink)

Friday Movie Offerings
New videos, courtesy of urk and Bungie's Comm Chatter this Friday:

• IGN's Top 10 Halo 3 Kills for the week of October 28 has some fun moments (I especially like 3 and 4)
• Volcomsocom has a five-minute montage called 'Lifeline' - decent gameplay, not too heavy on the editing
• Wafflebrains and Tropical Punch put together a dual Goosetage - lots of splatters and brokeback sniping

What are you waiting for? Go watch! (Louis Wu 18:26:46 UTC) (permalink)

Joe Staten on the Avault Podcast
Mark Turcotte, a host with the Avault Podcast, let us know that the latest episode of that Podcast (#54) has a hefty interview with Bungie's Joseph Staten; it starts about 11 minutes in, and runs for nearly half an hour. Joe discusses motivations, inspirations, and inside tidbits from the Halo development world - go listen! (Louis Wu 16:34:50 UTC) (permalink)

Friday's Fan Fiction
Four new (accepted) pieces for you this week in the Fan Fiction section - go read! (Louis Wu 16:34:05 UTC) (permalink)

Google building mini-Helljumpers
iMonkey777 noticed an ad on TV for the Droid, an upcoming mobile device coming out from Google and Verizon - the delivery system for the units have more than a passing similarity to ODST drop pods. (You can see the ad on your computer at DropaDroid.com - just pick someone to drop one on.) (Louis Wu 16:31:15 UTC) (permalink)

Legends Info and Preview
ElusiveEagle519 dug up quite a bit of new information about Halo Legends, the series of anime pieces coming out from 343 Industries. The schedule for LIVE broadcasts is posted (up to February) - looks like 4 of the 7 pieces will be available on LIVE. And a new preview hit Waypoint yesterday - and is already up on YouTube for your watching pleasure. Lots of interesting comments from folks involved in the Halo world! (Louis Wu 16:30:44 UTC) (permalink)

News November 5 2009

Hammers and Sickles - er, Swords
It's Thursday, so a new Double XP Playlist is live for the weekend - it's the only one for a while that doesn't require the purchase of Halo 3: ODST, so go enjoy some Grifball! (Louis Wu 22:54:36 UTC) (permalink)

Thidio Thursday
Three new vids for you, courtesy of Bungie's Comm Chatter:

• Killomainiac whipped up "Big Bang Theory", with pictures and video set to BNL's song.
• americanista123 put together "Mythic Photographers ODST Pictage", a screenshot montage featuring ODST goodness.
• Twixtor edited a dualtage called 'Anthropy', featuring gameplay by himself and Miizmo (really heavy on the effects).

Go watch! (Louis Wu 18:34:09 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Legends DVD Release Date
Looks like Halo Legends (the full DVD) has a release date - February 9, 2010. You'll be able to watch each episode on Halo Waypoint (on LIVE) for a 24-hour period each... but if you want repeat viewings, or if you miss one (or more), they'll be available in February. (That press release suggests that the first episode will be visible on Waypoint on Saturday.) (Louis Wu 14:48:43 UTC) (permalink)

Waypoint Now Open to the Public
Vincent noticed that Waypoint is now available to the general public on Xbox LIVE - for a limited time, it's available to ALL users (Gold and Silver), though eventually it'll be Gold-only. Go check it out! (Louis Wu 13:09:23 UTC) (permalink)

Never Too Old Too Shame
We missed this on Friday - I'm not sure how - and then again on Wednesday (when we posted its successor). We're not missing it again. Elnea posted Halo Action Figure Theater 187, showing the beautiful (though not quite tearful) reunion of Lois and Steve in more detail - check it out! (Louis Wu 13:08:16 UTC) (permalink)

Customized ODSTs on eBay
Leviathan seems to be taking over the 'find cool customized stuff on eBay' job from Hawty McBloggy; he's pointed out a pair of auctions you might be interested in. The first is a custom-painted Romeo figure, and the second one is the whole dang squad. Check 'em! (Louis Wu 13:05:13 UTC) (permalink)

Real-life Mongoose for sale in Seattle
Lt Col Hurd won an ATV customized to look like a Mongoose at the Halo 3 Launch Event in New York City two years ago; he's never used it offroad and it's still in mint condition. He needs to sell it - if you're in the Seattle area, it's up on Craigslist right now. He's asking $9000 or best offer - check out the pics! Update: oops, Lt Col Hurd just found this - it's not his. My mistake! (Louis Wu 13:04:31 UTC) (permalink)

Child's Play auctions - big bucks from Halo enthusiasts
Laird let us know that the Halo Child's Play auctions he hosted this past week brought in $2,373.06 in cash for the charity! Not too shabby - go, Halo fans! (Louis Wu 13:03:46 UTC) (permalink)

HaloContest's October Montage
Morpheus stopped in to announced HaloContest's October montage - contains top clips and screens from October. Winner gets a 1600 point card - but the more views they get, the more they can afford to spend on future prizes! (Louis Wu 13:03:00 UTC) (permalink)

HBO Regular wins Mountain Dew ODST Xbox
During the run-up to Halo 3: ODST's launch, Mountain Dew held a sweepstakes in which they gave away one ODST-themed Xbox a day for a month. dCon V won one of these babies - and took some cool pics. Now THAT'S a nice Xbox! (Louis Wu 13:01:05 UTC) (permalink)

Bungie Favorites: ReconLIVE, Week Two
We missed it yesterday afternoon, but Bungie updated their Bungie Favorites page with a second batch of content from ReconLIVE - swing by and read about one of the custom maps, and check out the rest of the goodies! (Louis Wu 13:00:28 UTC) (permalink)

News November 4 2009

Firefight Solo Guide: Chasm Ten
Monochron's back with another Firefight Solo Guide - this time he's tackling Chasm Ten. Swing by and give it a read - some great tips, and great screens! (Louis Wu 20:35:28 UTC) (permalink)

Decadence Night - Haloramics
Decadence Night put together a panoramic screenshot montage - swing by for some cool shots in Ken Burns style! (Louis Wu 19:57:48 UTC) (permalink)

Fans Helping Fans
Looks like the Spartan 1 Project is back with more help for Halo fans - they want to help you finish the Déjà Vu achievement, because they've gotten awfully good at it! They've already helped over 200 people get this achievement, and they average 35 minutes per run - if you've got a spare half-hour, and need those 25 points, swing by their Bungie.net group! (Louis Wu 18:07:06 UTC) (permalink)

Forge Hub's 1v1 Conflict Wrap-up
So... way back in August, Forge Hub opened signups for their 1v1 Conflict Tournament - it was another month until the actual tourney kicked off, and two more months until the 512 entrants winnowed themselves down to a single winner. And you can read the wrap-up now on Forge Hub's forum! (Thanks, urk.) (Louis Wu 17:58:09 UTC) (permalink)

Wednesday Comic Roundup
Couple of new comics for you today:

• Halo Action Figure Theater released Episode 188 - "She's Got a Great Personality". Ah, love...
• ODS Steve #47 ("Teetotaler") shows the dignifying power of tea. (I think the Beatles tried to make that point...)

Go read! (Louis Wu 14:43:00 UTC) (permalink)

I'd watch that.
AngelicLionheart pointed out a pretty cool ODST-themed picture created by Halcylon - it's hard to say Dare's not hot in this one! (Louis Wu 14:37:42 UTC) (permalink)

News November 3 2009

Halo CE Pistol 3D Project
Naveeda pointed out a blog post over at 2old2play - Caesar has rendered a pretty cool version of the Halo CE pistol - check it out! (Louis Wu 20:57:35 UTC) (permalink)

November Matchmaking Update Now Live
FyreWulff pointed out that the November Matchmaking Update is live now - if you check his post, you'll get a nice color-coded view of existing playlists, showing what (if any) DLC is needed to play. (Louis Wu 20:33:36 UTC) (permalink)

Sadie's Story - a plethora of options
HBO is still working on a web interface for Sadie's Story, but if you can't wait, there are other options out there - some have been online for quite some time already. StUnNeR H2K posted the entire series of 30 audio logs, in 5 videos, as a playlist back on September 30. More recently, Dust Storm put up each transcript as its own file (though also in a full playlist, for ease of playing). (If all you need is the audio, remember that we pointed out HaLo2FrEeEk's collection of mp3s last week.) Transaction Complete! (Louis Wu 20:10:56 UTC) (permalink)

Now we just need a Grunt Plushie...
Back in June of last year, the Sunrise-run Bungie Store closed its doors... and Bungie fans lost a primary source of cool schwag. Bungie told us all to be patient, though - it was coming back! Well... it took a little while (almost 17 months), but they were true to their word - the Bungie Store is back. It's using an Amazon backend, and currently selling just a limited selection of goodies... but this should build, over time. Go see what they've got! (Louis Wu 19:53:15 UTC) (permalink)

Coolest Halloween Costume... EVAR
Remember that really cool animatronic Elite head we mentioned a few weeks ago? Kre8-fx has put together the rest of the outfit - and made a movie of the process. I'm not sure 'holy crap' does an adequate job of expressing my amazement with this thing. Nevertheless... holy crap! Go watch. (They're not done yet, either.) Thanks, urk. (Louis Wu 19:43:20 UTC) (permalink)

Tuesday Movies and More
A pair of new movies up on Bungie's Comm Chatter:

• Stewie2552 has an eighth episode of Funny Halo 3 Fails and Laughs for your consideration - plenty of wtf moments.
• Darkspire Films is back with Episode 2 of their Candy Coated Wonder Road - this one's entitled "Rudy's Amazing Space Adventure". Cody and Rudy go to the moon, thanks to a FUNSA rocket, but have some trouble. Go follow along!

Go watch! While you're over there, check out info about the ForgeHub Hub of the Dead Contest winners (we mentioned it last month), and see how you can win MLG Anaheim passes from 360sync.com. Whee! (Louis Wu 18:39:07 UTC) (permalink)

Nice ODST deals coming up
CYBRFRK noticed a couple of nice deals coming up at the end of the month, on Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving here in the US) - Kmart is selling an Xbox 360 Elite bundle with Halo 3: ODST for $300, or the game by itself for $40. Mark your calendars! (Louis Wu 15:37:48 UTC) (permalink)

Virgil Audio Clips, for download
Seraph XXVII extracted some of the pithy sayings the Superintendent says throughout Sadie's Story - you can now download them as a zipped collection of mp3s. There are 36 of them total, and the collection weighs in at 1.6 mb. Good stuff! (Louis Wu 14:54:05 UTC) (permalink)

Halo ODST Halloween Costume
Jason Evans whipped up an ODST costume for his brother Tyler for Halloween - apparently, it was quite a success! Check it out: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 (Louis Wu 13:06:08 UTC) (permalink)

Spawn.com teases with a puzzle
InnerRayg stopped in with a teaser released on the Spawn.com forums, hinting at the next lineup of Halo action figures. Most of the clues have been deciphered already - but check it out and see what you can add! (Louis Wu 13:05:19 UTC) (permalink)

Waypoint's Goodies for the Week
Halo Waypoint's Justin Korthof sent out a schedule of the new features that will be released each day this week - Halopedia was kind enough to put this list online. Thanks, CaptainTony. Swing by to see what you have to look forward to! (Even if you're not part of the Preview beta, it'll be available to ALL users of Xbox LIVE in just a couple of days.) (Louis Wu 13:04:34 UTC) (permalink)

Halo charity auctions - ending soon!
There's just a day and a bit left on the auctions Laird is running for Child's Play - these end tomorrow afternoon, so swing by and see where they stand! You can grab yourself some really cool Halo schwag for great prices! (Louis Wu 13:03:02 UTC) (permalink)

Arby 'n' The Chief in L.A. Trailer
Hmm... looks like Arby 'n' The Chief are coming back - in a new venue. (Louis Wu 13:02:28 UTC) (permalink)

MLG Anaheim - just 3 days away!
MLG Anaheim kicks off this Friday - and the official press release hit the newswire last night. You can read it at Reuters. (Louis Wu 13:02:07 UTC) (permalink)

Repurposed Pumpkins and Plastic Pepsi Cans
Hawty McBloggy has some photos of a fan-made Flood infection form created from a box of holiday decorations - amazing piece of work! (Do not visit if you're eating.) Also, while you're there, check out the depressing cake topper you can buy if your fiancée is anti-Halo... (Louis Wu 12:59:28 UTC) (permalink)

News November 2 2009

Touch The Sound: Winner Picked
Domino Theory picked a winner from the nearly 700 entries to our Touch The Sound contest - contratulations to Benn43, who will soon have a fresh new copy of the Halo 3: ODST Official Soundtrack! Thanks, as always, to Domino Theory, for the continuing series of awesome freebies to the Halo community! (Louis Wu 21:21:57 UTC) (permalink)

Tag and Release: Rally Point
The Tag and Release feature on Bungie.net this week focuses on images collected on the map 'Rally Point' - truly amazing shots. See for yourself! (Louis Wu 21:10:41 UTC) (permalink)

Comics and Xboxes
This weekend, Hawty McBloggy posted the latest episode of Grin + Bear It (old joke, new context) and highlighted a ridiculous collection of Limited Edition Xboxes (these are just the NEW ONES, since February), including two ODST models. Oh, to have that much money! Go look. (Louis Wu 21:08:23 UTC) (permalink)

Monday Movie Madness
New vids, courtesy of Bungie's Comm Chatter:

• Day of Recon is two and a half minutes of Recon-seeking Zombies from Team Replay
• Here Comes the Sun is a long montage from LiL PAYN3
• Phurion Presents - Fiesta Weekend is a montage of clips from the recent Fiesta Double XP weekend (nicely timed)

Go watch! (Louis Wu 18:06:19 UTC) (permalink)

Guilt O' Lantern Voting - Now Open!
36 pumpkins made it into this year's Guilt O' Lantern contest - and there are some spectacular entries! Swing by and cast your vote for your five favorite pumpkins - let's see if we can't give some prizes away! (Louis Wu 14:30:20 UTC) (permalink)

Cool and Refreshing - Not Bitter At All
Pwn or Die got their hands on a new product announcement from Lipton - it's Halo 3: ODST Diet Tea, and the description should make you smile. The price, too. (Louis Wu 12:02:30 UTC) (permalink)

News November 1 2009

ODST Panoramic Montage Preview
There's a tiny taste of an upcoming panoramic video using ODST images on YouTube - thanks, Decadence Night. (Louis Wu 21:11:48 UTC) (permalink)

Top Ten Halo 3 Screenshots: Creatures of the Night
The Top 10 Halo 3 Screenshots feature this week on I <3 Halo 3 Screenshots focuses on 'Creatures of the Night' - some truly spooky shots in there! Go look. (Louis Wu 21:01:30 UTC) (permalink)

Brood Gurch Blues
nico (the guy behind Red vs Blue's music, among other things) was cleaning out some old projects recently, and found a funny version of Blood Gulch Blues - its existence owes itself partially to a new (for nico, at the time) guitar, a '73 Fender Telecaster Deluxe, and partially to alcohol - the end result is actually pretty cool to listen to. Classic Telecaster sound, interesting improv... degenerating into chaos, of a sort. (He pulls it back together at the end.) He calls it 'Brood Gurch' ('Brood', in this case, rhymes with 'Blood') - it's 2.1 mb in MP3 format. Go listen! If you like this, swing by the Trocadero website; they've just released a new album (Ghosts That Linger), and several of the songs on it are intriguing varations on this theme. (Louis Wu 19:58:22 UTC) (permalink)

The Cheerleaders all looked like Cortana.
Mad Cow went all out for his college football team (the Boise State Broncos) - he repainted his Spartan Armor orange. Check out the photo! (Louis Wu 19:53:15 UTC) (permalink)

This is Halloween
AssaultGodzilla is back with another Halo Music Video - this one is set to This is Halloween (originally from The Nightmare Before Christmas, here performed by Marilyn Manson), and (as usual) is nicely timed. Go watch! (Louis Wu 19:52:04 UTC) (permalink)

November 2009

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