Author: halo@bungie.org

Hawty McBloggy highlighted a tattoo of a Battle Rifle… in a flower. …wait, what?(Louis Wu 17:25:18 UTC)

Morpheus let us know that the last montage from HaloContest is online – for a little while, at least. Go watch! Update: Morpheus uploaded a new copy – watch this one instead.(Louis Wu 17:23:07 UTC)

Gilver pointed out that an article at IGN discusses the licensing of Image Metrics’ facial animation code, known as Faceware – they don’t mention Reach by name, but Xmoosev3 reminded us that the Game Informer article confirmed that Reach would be using this middleware. If you’re a fan of what Image Metrics can do, this…

MAX2107 sent us word that he’d created a “simple wallpaper showcasing the previewed armor ability emblems from Halo: Reach that were shown in the recent multi-player trailer”. Simple, yes – the part he neglected to mention was ‘super-cool’. Go look.(Louis Wu 22:19:11 UTC)

TheGelo, cousin to Cody Brigan (check our news for info about his contest trophies), stopped in with word of a custom-painted Spartan of his own. Check the link for some really impressive shots!(Louis Wu 22:14:44 UTC)

Today’s Tag and Release feature at Bungie.net hinges on the word ‘Bomb’ – the results aren’t quite as explosive as I’d expected, but they’re still some great shots. Go look.(Louis Wu 22:06:45 UTC)

Some awesome suicides in the latest Top 10 Halo Countdown from Anoj – go watch. Thanks, urk.(Louis Wu 18:03:50 UTC)

Reclaimer is back, with Episode 241 (Race) – you might want to review the last few episodes to bring yourself back up to speed, since it’s been a few weeks. It’s definitely a nailbiter! Thanks, TTL Demag0gue.(Louis Wu 14:42:27 UTC)

The Teabag Prevention Team is back after a hiatus – they’re back with a new website design and a new article. Swing by to make the most of Halo 3: ODST’s Last Exit! (They’ll be doing Firefight tips map-by-map while waiting for Reach news.)(Louis Wu 13:08:08 UTC)

Hawty McBloggy uncovered a cool mashup image at DeviantART – SligarTheTiger combined two exciting games to create Left 4 Sangheili 2. (If you like the work, you should check out his gallery – he seems to be obsessed with Elites.) (Louis Wu 13:07:45 UTC)

HaLo2FrEeEk took a lot pictures to put together a pretty impressive panorama of the interior of Epitaph; swing by his forum post to read the steps he took, or just visit Infectionist.com to see the final product. (Louis Wu 13:07:03 UTC)

Rockslider’s back, with new megabattles. This time, he’s focusing on the early section of Truth and Reconciliation. It’s dark, and there are a LOT of baddies around – check out his writeups, pictures, and movies, then go make your own fun! (Louis Wu 13:06:32 UTC)

NeoGAF’s Warm Machine posted an image of some Mega Bloks stuff that looked fantastic – so I did a little digging. Came up with this. I know there are folks who aren’t happy with Mega Bloks… but I’m lovin’ some of this stuff.(Louis Wu 13:06:09 UTC)

MattDratt created a two and a half minute trailer for Red vs Blue’s Reconstruction series (which originally ran from May through October of 2008) – it gives away a tad too much (in my opinion) to be great for folks who haven’t seen the series yet, but is nicely frenetic, and fits the style of…

Arithmomaniac whipped up a Jackal costume for Purim this year – check out the pics!(Louis Wu 19:16:10 UTC)

pennyzyj stopped by with a link to a cool speed painting of an ODST – check it out!(Louis Wu 19:15:37 UTC)

Marcus Fenix sent along a link to a band page for Modern Athletics; why is this Halo news? Well, because three of the four band members are Bungie employees working on Halo. Cool!(Louis Wu 19:15:05 UTC)

Awesome. RvB’s OboeCrazy had a big concert a couple of days ago – and decided to play some ODST music (on an oboe) to warm up. Just 36 seconds long – go watch it!(Louis Wu 19:31:19 UTC)

Two Halo-related deals popped up in the Google news feed this morning. Amazon.com will be offering a pretty cool bundle, starting Tuesday: an Xbox 360 Elite, bundled with Halo 3: ODST and Forza 3, for $300. And Buy.com is offering the Halo Wars Limited Collector’s Edition for $30 – well below its original $80 pricetag.…

The Halo Waypoint team sent word of cool stuff you can find on their channel this week – The Halo Reach Multiplayer Vid is there, along with the final episode of Rooster Teeth’s ‘Grifball Expansion’. Tomorrow, there’ll be a new feature on the Forerunner Fleet, promising a look at the mysterious ships as they appeared…