Author: halo@bungie.org

There are seven new stories up for you this week in the Fan Fiction section – go read ’em!(Louis Wu 12:59:39 UTC)

urk higlighted a truly rockin’ video called ‘Applied to Life: Territories’. Go watch it – you’ll be glad you did.(Louis Wu 23:28:39 UTC)

The latest entry in the ‘Breaking In’ series at Bungie.net focuses on Shi Kai Wang, Bungie Artist and Grizzled Ancient. If you want to see how a top-notch artist makes it into a top-notch company… go read.(Louis Wu 23:27:18 UTC)

It’s Thursday, so it’s time for another Double XP Weekend to kick off – this week it’s V-Day Massacre, a ranked team doubles list. With chances for Recon. Go read about it on B.net.(Louis Wu 20:09:43 UTC)

Red_Breast noticed that the Halo Wars demo is now available for everyone on LIVE – Gold accounts had access last week, but Silver accounts were locked out until today. If you haven’t tried it, now’s your chance! There’s also a new ViDoc available on Xbox LIVE Marketplace – ‘Strategy on Xbox’ discusses designing a strategy…

Phurion is known for impressively edited Halo 3 montages – and now he’s going to help you create your own. Swing by Halo3Forum.com for a thread full of practice clips and advice. (There’s also a video on YouTube showing what you can do with this stuff.) Thanks, urk. (Louis Wu 20:06:46 UTC)

An interview in a recent issue of The Blue Skittle, with Zach Wigal, a gamer who turned a bad experience into the inspiration for some really good work (search our news for details, or read the interview), reveals a tournament coming up at the end of February at Eastern Michigan University. $1000 cash and Recon…

Bungie.net has word of a new Grifball Highlights film. No commentary (yet), but the gameplay’s pretty cool.(Louis Wu 17:54:09 UTC)

Dennis Powers let us know that Shipwrecked 54 is now online. Everyone needs a break sometimes.(Louis Wu 17:52:41 UTC)

Hawty McBloggy has gathered up 28 different Halo-themed Xbox 360 faceplates, from the subtle to the over-the-top. Check out what people are fronting their gaming consoles with!(Louis Wu 14:48:30 UTC)

quququ1 let us know that Dobermann, the guy behind Halo Zero 2, has released a new tech demo – you can download it (3.2 mb, Windows .exe) at his website. If you’re unfamiliar with Halo Zero/HZ2, they’re fan-created 2D sidescrollers with cool Halo sprite art. (Louis Wu 14:44:22 UTC)

The Catfish stopped in to let us know that 2501 Episode 14 is now online – with a new character.(Louis Wu 14:44:04 UTC)

gunluva noticed a cool piece of RvB fanart at DeviantART – and HawaiianPig was happy to see his original poster work used as inspiration. Fans loving fans loving Bungie… that’s what we’re all about! (Louis Wu 14:43:38 UTC)

CaLL Me ZeNy was the first on our forum to notice that the Mythic Maps are now included in Bungie’s Heatmaps. Now’s a good time to check out their layouts… while the maps are still clean! (You can, of course, always look at a version filtered for some obscure death – try Elephant Turret on…

Last night was pretty productive for urk, over at the Bungie Blog – lots of local content, and even one new fan bit:The Sandbox screenshots that were unveiled in the recent IGN/T3 interviews (sometimes in really small sizes) are now all available, in beautiful hi-res, in the Halo 3 Screenshot Gallery. Swing by and feast…

Pete Cooper stopped in this morning to unveil the latest – and last – piece of concept art for the ‘Operation Chastity’ project. These pieces are so spectacular, we’ve collected them to make a small gallery; they deserve close attention. Check ’em out.(Louis Wu 19:22:46 UTC)

Goodies via the Bungie Blog: ‘First Contact’ is a Halo machinima with some great graphics and a taut story. The date work could use a little help, but mostly, this is top-notch. View/download at Machinima.com.Halo Final Fantasy: It’s not the first time someone’s made an RPG in the Halo engine (check these posts – 1…

New comics released today: we heard from TTL Demag0gue that Reclaimer 148 (“Veil”) is live – and Ferial runs up against more than he expected. We also heard from Rob Tracy, who pointed out that the last of the Halo/Grifball comics (“GOAAAAAAAAAAAAL”) went live at Remedial comics today. (He also mentioned that his thoughts on…

bluerunner experienced a bizarre glitch while playing the Halo Wars Demo last night… here’s hoping it’s an isolated incident! Anyone seen this before?(Louis Wu 13:36:31 UTC)

The Halo 1 Tricking continues apace. Latest cool trick: slYnki has managed to get a Scorpion Tank onto one of AotCR’s suspension bridges. A trick long thought to be impossible… now on film! I heard about this one from lots of people – Dark Helmet even posted it in our forum.(Louis Wu 13:34:37 UTC)