Author: Louis Wu

Back in early November, MTV put up a special called ‘Making The Video Game: Halo 2’, which took a sort of documentary look at the making of the game. (It wasn’t very much like the DVD that comes with the Limited Edition… but it was interesting. Bungie.net mentioned it here – we put up some…

Dennis Powers points out that you’ve got a little more than one day to get your entry in to Halo Maps’ Halo CE Video Contest – there are 2 dozen entries already submitted (high and low res), check ’em out and create something better, but do it FAST!

Ross Mills found another couple of Master Chief statues on eBay – one is 3 feet tall, the other is 6 feet tall. They’ve both got a few days left on their auctions – if you want one of these puppies, go bid!

Oh, the lessons of the holidays… today’s Calvin and Halo hammers home that it’s better to give than to receive. (At least, if you’re gonna be receiving later on…)

Goose241 writes that he’s set up an online wiki to collect Multiplayer Strategies – this is a place you can contribute your own ideas to. (While we’re on the subject of wikis… Khas wrote a few days ago that he’d added an article to Wikipedia about MAC guns.)

We mentioned a Canadian tourney about a month ago, sponsored by the Maasai Clan – it looks like it’s been delayed until mid-March, in order to get the Canadian Gaming League involved. Thanks to Narcogen, at Rampancy.net, for the heads-up on the delay.

BBC Online has put up their own Editors’ Picks for best games of 2004 – Halo 2 was one of four games tapped. Thanks, MadscientistUK.

This is a new stance – according to James Pinkerton, of Newsday.com, Halo 2 (and games like it) serve a necessary purpose in our society – they ‘hone the killer instinct’, and ‘prep the next generation to do the hard work of freedom’. Whoa. There’s already a lively discussion on our forum – please try…

GameDaily wrote up a Halo 2/Half-Life 2 Face-Off, comparing the two games feature for feature. We won’t spoil the surprise – go read it. Thanks, TricKy.

A recent Silo Roberts comic looked at Christmas presents… and why some are not interchangeable. Thanks, Annie Muske-Dukes.

IGN has posted a Sniping Locations FAQ for Water Works. Just what it sounds like.

For anyone who wanted to grab the Spike TV Ultimate Gamer piece we released earlier today, but didn’t feel like dealing with QuickTime… you can nab it in WMP9 format (75 mb) off files2.bungie.org.

Because the next few cutscenes are so short, we’re releasing four at once – they all take place around the Gas Giant. Check out Juggernaut, Hey, Watch This!, Hot Pursuit, and Dead or Alive… Actually, Just Dead – all over at our Cutscene Library.

There’s a new Dialogue update from Captain Spark on his website – 62 new snippets, including an old favorite. Details in his forum post. (These will make it into our Dialogue Databank in the next couple of days.)

There’s a Mac Halo 1.5.1 patch out now from MacSoft. It fixes a few things in the recent 1.5 release – you don’t need to download this unless you’re having any of the problems listed below. Fixed a Software rasterizer model animation bug on ATI 8500/9000/9200 hardware. Fixed a Pixel Shaders bug where drop shadows…

Interesting article over at BusinessWeekOnline… a look at Bungie as a success story, and the role that Halo 2 has played in that. With the exception of Marty O’Donnell, all quotes from the inside come from FORMER employees… pretty odd, until you realize it’s a look at where they came from. Go read! (Thanks, Marty.)

DLX (Gamespot’s download site) gave out awards for the Best Trailer of 2004 – Halo 2 was nominated, but Grand Theft Auto beat it out. Thanks, TricKy. Update: Halo 2 (well, the Plantronics Halo 2 headset, anyway) was also up for a pair of awards in the Gamespot Hardware Awards… but lost those, too. Thanks…

Red Leader points out that Afterwar 9 has been posted… Master Chief bests a Hunter, and a Grunt is about to be surprised.

Wolfy, from Sector 7, has posted a direct download of the Spike TV Ultimate Gamer feature – and just so they don’t get too swamped, here’s a local mirror of it, as well. The BitTorrent seed is still running strong, but if you want a direct download, this should help. (If you’d rather have a…

Just 7 new pieces for you in the Fan Fiction section today – easy reading!