Year: 2004

Dolbex writes to point out that MLG’s Kickoff Tournament in Washington, DC next month is fast approaching – if you’re planning on getting in on the $10,000 in guaranteed cash for Halo 2, you better get to signing up!

Net stories for Friday: INQ7.net (from the Philippines) says Halo 2 rocks, but still was a huge disappointment, and the Washington Post points out that soldiers in Iraq are still playing Halo 2 to relax. (Thanks, Dry Ice, for finding this first (on MSNBC), and thanks, Anton P. Nym, for grabbing the original.

We don’t allow political discussion on our forum, for a simple reason: we’re a gaming fansite. That said, one of the funniest Halo Launch Day pieces I’ve read to date was posted on a blog that will almost CERTAINLY rile up anyone missing a sense of humor. Please – if you go and read this,…

Today’s One One Se7en suggests that Stuntmutt may, or may not, have been run over once or twice during his Campaign play. Or maybe 3 times.

Bah. It’s been almost 2 weeks since I remembered to add new images to BOLL’s amazing HALOrama2 collection – so you can find 25 new panoramas at this link. SIngle player, multiplayer… tons of stuff. Go look!

Rare. Ben Nissim sent along a link for a rather odd eBay auction – Halo 2 cookies. Yep – $10 or so (plus $6 shipping) will buy you 6 cookies with a big ‘2’ on ’em. We’ve put up a local copy (all links removed), for when this auction ends, because I must say, this…

Dennis Powers reminds us that there are only a couple of weeks left to get your entry in for the Halo CE Movie Contest over at Halomaps. There are already 8 entries posted (1 is a demo, not qualified to win), so check out your competition (broadband or dialup). Warning – these are utterly Mac-unfriendly;…

Thanks to David Simon, who points out that SidneyAnglicans.net (a Christian website) has reviewed Halo 2. Interestingly, it’s not the ending, nor the graphical glitches, that got the nay vote here… it was the fear that painting religiously driven enemies might lead to an unhealthy view of religion. Well-written.

Tina Leyk gets a double spotlight today over at Halo Babies; she’s created a guest strip (“To see… or not to see…”), and she’s been interviewed by mrsmiley. Go read about what drives her!

Red vs Blue Episode 45.9, The Greatest Episode Ever, is now up for sponsor download, in WMP9 and DivX formats. It’s… not what you’d expect. Thanks, Altodarknight.

Gameheads is running some Halo 2 tournaments coming up in January – details (and signups) are available at their site. If you’re near Marlboro, NY, check ’em out!

Bungie is looking for a new Interface Designer – and there are still other jobs open. Go see if you qualify! Thanks, John Rivas.

Another rash of articles about videogame violence, and how awful Halo 2 is for the youth of America (and, I suppose, the world):Washington Post – the governor of Illinois wants to enforce age restrictions on game purchases… and Halo 2 is right up there in the ‘evil’ bunch. (Thanks, Johngremm.)MTV.com – another take on this…

MacSoft has released Mac Halo v1.5, to bring the mac version into parity with HaloPC v1.0.6. (It also fixes a number of other issues – you can read the entire version history for full details.) The updater is 3.5 mb, and can be downloaded from a number of sites, including files2.bungie.org and MacGameFiles.

prometheus has put together a nice little guide on creating wallpaper – it’s like an art guide, but specifically tailored to making images that work well as a desktop pattern. There’s plenty of good advice in it – if you’re interested in creating wallpapers, you should read this!

Wow, nice. Tarzan posted a couple of pics on our forum of a wall mural he’s painting in his room. Fantastic work – even MORE impressive when you know it’s coming from a 13-year-old!

Wheee… Goldman Sachs raised estimates on Microsoft today, citing (among other things) ‘upside from the company’s Halo 2 game’. When was the last time a company that grosses $40 billion a year had its bottom line affected by a video game?

MR-T posted a few Master Chief renders on our forum – nice work!

And still MORE awards – Lawrence.com has posted its 2004 Gamer’s Voice Award nominees – Halo 2 is up for a whole PASSEL of goodies: Best First-person Shooter, Best Presentation, Best Replay, Best Online Multiplayer, Best Graphics, Best Soundtrack, Best Audio, and Best Overall. Winners will be announced on December 21. Thanks, Mothergoat.

A new Subzero Rivalries has been posted. I’m listing it because we’ve listed all the previous ones – but this one’s humor is rather juvenile. If you’re easily offended, don’t bother visiting, and if you do, we don’t need to hear about it. Thanks, MarkHawk.