Author: halo@bungie.org

Two years ago, we mentioned a study being done in New York that found that laparoscopic surgeons who played video games were faster than those who didn’t. Last month, at the Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, a number of studies were discussed that showed similar findings – cognitive and perceptual skills are increased,…

Hawty McBloggy is back with another What If, Halo Style – Round 5 asks you what you’d set up if you had the ability to create a Double XP Weekend Playlist. Good question! (There is also a summary of the last question she asked, concerning dream vehicles – go see what people want to add!)(Louis…

After a break, Larry the Marine is back – #33 introduces a new hero to save Larry’s butt. Thanks, 2phast.(Louis Wu 14:38:05 UTC)

Ten new pieces went up this week in the Fan Fiction section – largest batch in a while! Go read.(Louis Wu 14:36:13 UTC)

You might remember the video series from Jamie98s entitled ‘Oh So Beautiful’, in which he took a close look at the natural wonders in Halo 2… he’s back with a version updated to Halo 3, and you can watch it streaming on his website, or download it from ours (WMP9 format is 135 mb, QuickTime…

Captain Spark posted a YouTubed montage he found – there’s some very nice coordination between the music and the gameplay. The embedded version is standard-res (YouTube’s standard), because that’s their policy; if you click on the vid and go to the YouTube page, you can watch the High-res version. If even THAT’S not enough for…

Bungie has activated this weekend’s Double XP Playlist – and it’s the return of Three Ball! Three balls, four teams. Can you hear the music playing? Thanks, RevDotNed.(Louis Wu 20:36:55 UTC)

Sad that you didn’t make it to PAX? Wishing you had a shot at some of the cool booty being given away there? Never fear – there are always more chances for that stuff. We’ll be giving away some of what we collected over the weekend… but not yet. And not in anywhere NEAR the…

The latest Halo Wars Monthly Update has been posted; there’s information about basic progress, upcoming changes to the website, and Halo Wars’ showing in Leipzig. There’s also a scramble picture with some mysterious alert messages; the last time they did this, we got to meet the Sparrowhawk. Thanks to Planet Halo for the heads-up.(Louis Wu…

tombodemon created a Halo-related project for an art assignment – he wanted to show off the use of video games as an escape from real life. There are a few screenshots, and a fun video. Check it out!(Louis Wu 13:30:08 UTC)

Wasabi Entertainment is running a Sig of the Week contest – and the theme is Halo. Top entry gets a Halo-related prize (unnamed so far). Thanks, Jamie Hutchinson.(Louis Wu 13:29:49 UTC)

Over at Ascendant Justice, vociferous created another of his thorough and well-written analysis pieces – this time, the subject is Assembly, the new map shown at PAX. Using information gleaned from hours playing and watching others play, along with discussions with the map’s designer, Dan Miller, vociferous has managed to create a look into this…

There’s an intriguing editorial at The Escapist, discussing the copying of game features without understanding why they were there in the first place, and what that does to games. Halo’s health system plays a large role in the examples, but it’s really more general than that. Thanks, Nokterne.(Louis Wu 11:26:26 UTC)

Halo.fr’s Johnny be good let us know about the first Halo 3 montage from Shinato, a top Dutch player. It’s REALLY heavy on the effects and cuts; so much so that it’s hard to see the action a lot of the time. That said, the gameplay is pretty sick. 9 minutes long, in MLG’s Gameroom.(Louis…

Sean Bradley sent word that a rather large contingent of the 405th Infantry Division (the armor guys) showed up at DragonCon in Atlanta last weekend; there’s a thread on their forum with pictures and discussion, but Sean also passed along some specific photo collections from members:SKG’s DragonCon AlbumScaryMonkey75’s DragonCon Parade CollectionScaryMonkey75’s DragonCon Saturday CollectionScaryMonkey75’s Arbiter…

Dennis Powers let us know that Shipwrecked Episode 40 is up – bovines and reptiles, oh my! (Louis Wu 19:25:20 UTC)

You might remember a post about a reality show that will focus on finding the ‘ultimate gamer’ – tryouts are coming up this weekend in four cities (NYC, LA, Austin, and Chicago), and they’re hoping that you come prepared. We got email from Sha-hid Ealy, the Casting Producer, who sent along a flyer for the…

Hawty McBloggy continues to add fun content from PAX – today she told us about PAX 08: Red vs. Blue Edition, a look at the goings-on in the RvB booth over the course of the weekend, but there’s also this little tidbit that might be of interest to some of you. That’s Ken Taya’s handiwork……

KBC let us know that Podtacular has reopened its doors – the first podcast will be coming later this month, so if there’s something you want to tell them or ask them, now’s your chance.(Louis Wu 16:19:24 UTC)

Looks like Play N Trade is having a national Halo 3 tournament (well, international, actually); local rounds are this weekend (September 6), with winners from local stores going on to play in the regional tourneys on the 13th, and the finals (in Chandler, AZ) on the 14th. (Hi, Cybrfrk!) Grand prize is $2000, local tourneys…