Author: halo@bungie.org

If you’ve got a copy of Halo 3: ODST, throw it in your DVD drive, and hit the ‘Play The Beta’ link at the bottom. No, the Beta’s not live yet – but you WILL get access to a very cool preview vid hosted by Aisha Tyler. She’s funny! (Louis Wu 11:45:25 UTC)

Three new pieces up for you this week in the Fan Fiction section – go read ’em! (Louis Wu 11:45:05 UTC)

Apologies for the lightness of news today (I say this in advance); I’m keeping my head down, doing non-Halo-related work, and won’t be around much to update. (Also, I was pretty disheartened by the whole “I didn’t get a code” thing I see everywhere; easier to just stay off forums.) I’ll clear out the news…

The biggest bit of news today was the announcement by Bungie that they’d entered into a partnership with Activision to publish their next game universe. Reaction was predominately negative; Activision has recently gone through some messy dealings with Infinity Ward, and gamers are a little gun-shy. We sat down to talk to Brian Jarrard and…

Trunks and Soto are giving away a few more codes – Jump over to their site to see how to snag one! Thanks, Trunks. Update: Trunks has even more at SureToBeBanned.com. Twitter required. Update 2: kapowaz pointed out that Bungie’s been asking random trivia questions on Twitter for the past hour or so – get…

So last night we put up a fun little Flash game (still up now, feel free to play) to collect data we’d be using to give out some F&F Reach Beta codes. It went really, really well. If you want a summary of how the gifting went, go read this. If you just want to…

Tied the Leader is offering a live feed showing off TTL Reach Beta gameplay… if you wanna watch, read up! Thanks, XerxdeeJ.(Louis Wu 16:46:26 UTC)

dCon V noticed an article on Kotaku (and mendicantbias00 let us know about a similar one on Joystiq) about a rather odd marketing promotion – Microsoft is sending out Reach-branded hair clippers in a fancy case. (I guess the idea is that all you need to be a Spartan is a shaved pate…)(Louis Wu 16:35:20…

How very cool – if you visit Vehicles for GARMIN nuvi, you can download two Halo vehicles to use on your GARMIN nuvi GPS – a Ghost, and a Warthog. (Pics are just screensnaps; the interface is Flash-based.) Thanks to rocketwidget for noticing!(Louis Wu 16:27:23 UTC)

Hawty McBloggy found a guy who is putting on Spartan Armor… with a tattoo pen. Now THAT’S dedication! (Louis Wu 16:03:49 UTC)

pete_the_duck is looking to dust off his gameplay blog – and has some very specific ideas about what he wants to put in it. Go give his post a read, and then keep your eyes peeled for chances to contribute! (Louis Wu 16:00:47 UTC)

Minime noticed a bunch of Reach vids at IGN: IGN_Strategize: Halo Reach Armor Abilities is a video going over armor abilities. IGN Montage: Armor Abilities shows off these abilities in use. There are also a pair of gameplay vids: Long Range and Destroy. (Louis Wu 16:00:23 UTC)

Mid7night got a chance to visit Bungie’s studio – well, at least the lobby. Lots of great pics! Go check it out. (Louis Wu 16:00:02 UTC)

PlatformNation.com is hosting a gaming night for the Reach Beta – Saturday, May 8, from 4-6pm EST. You can swing by their forums if you’re interested in playing along!(Louis Wu 15:59:38 UTC)

Firestorm12 let us know that Halopen has posted Pencast 20, discussing the Reach Beta. Over 90 minutes. Go listen!(Louis Wu 15:59:14 UTC)

BuzzJuice found some cool info at IGN – first, it looks like the weekend of May 14 has been designated a “Halo Multiplayer Unlock Weekend”, so anyone with a copy of ODST can play, whether or not they’re paying for Xbox LIVE. NICE! Second, anyone who plays at least one game in the beta and…

It’s not Halo news – but it’s HUGE. Bungie’s got a new partner: Activision. Go read the details at Bungie.net.(Louis Wu 12:27:56 UTC)

Cool little update from Joe Tung on the Reach Developer Blog this morning – there’s not much info, but what’s there makes me warm inside. Go read.(Louis Wu 12:25:58 UTC)

Halo Waypoint has 40 codes to give away – but they’re spreading them out over 4 days. Facebook and Twitter each get half… full details are here. (While you’re there, check out their article on Beta details…)(Louis Wu 01:42:27 UTC)

The Rooster Teeth crew whipped up a special video to be shown before a screening of Iron Man 2 at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin; Burnie just made the link public, so the world can see it. What’s better than the RvB players plus Iron Man? Not a whole lot…(Louis Wu 01:01:29 UTC)