Author: halo@bungie.org

LoneRanger 2.5 stopped in to mention that OXM’s newest issue has a cover story on Halo 3: ODST – but warns that it’s full of information that might ruin some surprises for you. Marty O’Donnell backed him up. (Louis Wu 10:58:06 UTC)

Halo Wars designer David Leary has written another Developers Blog entry over at HaloWars.com – this one focuses on playtesting. Give it a read! Thanks, 2900d4u. (Louis Wu 10:57:24 UTC)

Minime637 noticed a new Gamescom-originated video, this one showing off Crater(Day). (We’ve seen the Crater map before – but only the night version.) Swing by YouTube to watch.(Louis Wu 10:56:36 UTC)

FyreWulff thought it might be easier to understand how Halo 3 and Halo 3: ODST intersect if he created a spreadsheet. Nice work!(Louis Wu 10:54:27 UTC)

A new campaign aimed at increasing sensitivity towards hurtful language has been launched – Think B4 You Speak is supposed to teach people that word choice is important. Mike LaBossiere, a professor of philosophy at Florida A&M, has written a piece for Talking Philosophy tying this campaign in to online gaming, and Halo in particular.…

Looks like EBGames Canada is offering their “Gaming Guarantee” to Halo 3: ODST; if you buy it and don’t like it, you’ve got a week to return it for full (pre-tax) credit (spendable only in-store, but still). Not a bad offer!(Louis Wu 10:48:07 UTC)

Bungie’s posted an article they call ‘Early Intel: Rally Point’ – it’s basically a pair of new screenshots from the Campaign, along with a little bit of setup for them. (There’s also word of a new ViDoc, seeing the light of day at Gamescom in Germany this week, but hopefully coming to the web soon.)…

Pup and Friends were back at it in August – there’s another Grifball Double XP highlights reel online for your viewing pleasure. Go watch! (Thanks to urk for the heads-up – and if you read the bnet blog post, you’ll learn some PAX-related Grifball info… check it out!) (Louis Wu 10:43:57 UTC)

Bungie.net has posted ‘Citadel In-Depth’ – it’s a look (an in-depth look, not surprisingly) at the upcoming Halo 3: ODST multiplayer map Citadel. Designer Lars Bakken, art director Justin Hayward (no, not the one from the Moody Blues) and artist Blake Low discuss the layout of the level, and how it came to be. Tossed…

This week’s Community Spotlight is focused on Tactical Gaming, a 5-year-old group bringing gamers together. Swing by to read an interview with members of the group, and check out their files in Bungie Favorites!(Louis Wu 18:18:34 UTC)

GameTrailers has a pair of short videos (one | two) of Halo 3: ODST Firefight mode, recorded at gamescom in Cologne, Germany. Nothing really new here… Thanks to Kibbles, over at NeoGAF, for finding them.(Louis Wu 18:07:03 UTC)

A pair of videos can be found over on Bungie.net today: Inferno Media released a trailer for Shattered 2, a new montage featuring Sargoth (nice editing!), and 8-Bit Halo Episode 5 is out, with the Master Chief going up against Bowser. (No, not the one from Sha-Na-Na.) Out of the frying pan, into the fire…(Louis…

Joystiq is giving away five complete sets of Halo Wars Mega Bloks – that is, five winners will go home with every Halo Wars package that Mega sells. All you have to do is leave a comment. Read the full rules (and make sure you comment before August 20) at Joystiq. Thanks, Dustin.(Louis Wu 16:03:05…

pete_the_duck created some very cool Halo-themed fridge magnets; check out his pics!(Louis Wu 14:03:21 UTC)

The Halo 3 Believe campaign is up for another award – this time, it’s the APG 2009 Creative Strategy Award. 153 entries were submitted, and the committee shortlisted the top 25. Believe made that list. You can read its paper over at Campaign – it’s a nice summary of the ad campaign, and what it…

While you’re at Hawty McBloggy’s, you should check out a very cool fan-made Halo diorama – fantastic detail work!(Louis Wu 14:02:20 UTC)

Whoa – we actually have some comics to announce today.TTL Demag0gue is back from a few weeks of rejuvenation and recuperation – and Reclaimer 207 (Perdition) looks at what’s up with what’s left of Viper. Reclaimer’s back, baby!Hawty McBloggy let us know about ODS Steve #38 (More than Meets the Eye) – I think Sarge…

Bluestrike2 let us know about a new article at Gaming Lessons – it’s all about the Halo 3 spawn system. Unfortunately, it’s not available to the general public; you need to be a member of their Player’s Club. (Membership costs $20/month.) You can read the first couple of paragraphs without paying – this might be…

If you live in Canada, you might want to check out the Toshiba.ca Gamers’ Choice Tournaments; they’re free to enter, and you can win cool schwag. The Halo 3 Tourney is 4v4, starts September 8, and has prizes ranging from DVD players to games for the top three finishing teams. Check it out!(Louis Wu 14:00:46…

Slim30 stopped in to let us know that Lost Levels Episode 8 has been released. I’m not sure I understand the audio, but if you’ve been following the story, this will probably make sense.(Louis Wu 22:48:31 UTC)