oriol, from Grunts R Us, let us know that they’re back online, with new goodies for you. There’s a “mega Halo 3 Easter egg list” (it’s a pretty impressive list, but – in my opinion, at least – some of the tidbits aren’t really ‘eggs’, in the true sense of the word… which shouldn’t stop you for a second from looking through), and Version 2 of their Halo TV Channel, with 24/7 Halo coverage. Check ’em out! (Louis Wu 15:57:47 UTC)

I’ve been feeling really lousy about my seriously late PAX writeup – this week has been very, very hard from that standpoint. Turns out I’m not alone, though; a bunch of new stuff went up recently. CrypticGuardian, over at Bungie.net, posted a MONSTER 3 hour video of his experience (740 mb!), along with lots and LOTS AND LOTS of pictures. Go see. (The video includes recordings of several full panel discussions – I watched a couple of these in person, and I could hear what was going on better in CG’s vid than I could at the panels!)(Louis Wu 20:38:13 UTC)

Hawty McBloggy let us know that I <3 Halo 3 Screenshots has a new feature – Wallpapers. The section is being managed by Halcylon, and images are being included at a variety of resolutions, and will be added to every week. Check it out!(Louis Wu 20:36:44 UTC)

Have you been feeling a little frustrated about the lack of information about upcoming Bungie projects? You’re not alone. MTV’s Patrick Klepek pointed out that Bungie isn’t talking (Luke Smith said that news has to come from Microsoft), and Microsoft isn’t talking (Aaron Greenberg said that they “hope to have information to share sooner than later” – implying that it’s not entirely up to them). So… who knows this stuff? Geez.(Louis Wu 20:17:48 UTC)

Pyrosmile Productions has posted the first episode of Season 2 (the opening of Halo 2, Cairo Station), along with a blooper reel for members. Go check ’em out!(Louis Wu 20:03:16 UTC)

The newest piece of Halo 3 machinima from DigitalPh33r is a piece called ‘Final Moments‘ – it’s viewable on YouTube, and it’s based on the story of the UNSC Marines’ first encounter with a dangerous life form in the first Halo game. Done in the style of the Halo 1 Helmet-cam sequence, it shows a couple of hours of Eric Dennison’s life. Nice use of Halo 3 locales! Thanks, Spartan Jag.(Louis Wu 18:50:10 UTC)

lostguru has created a ‘weapon/vehicle sounds song’ – a percussion piece based on sounds collected from Halo – and is wondering about turning it into a video. Go listen, and give him some feedback!(Louis Wu 18:45:29 UTC)

gunluva found a Kotaku mention of a GamePolitics news piece on an 11 year old boy who accidentally killed himself while trying to recreate some events in Halo. There’s an interesting discussion about responsibility in the resulting thread.(Louis Wu 14:41:21 UTC)

The Handmade Hero is back with a video that shows off the first 25 of the in-game portraits he’s created for Halo players; there’s some extra information about how the project is going. Check it out!(Louis Wu 14:38:34 UTC)

The Bungie Weekly Update is live (though you can, as usual, read it in our Weekly Update Archive) – there are random questions asked by Bungie.net denizens and answered by Luke, there’s smacktalk about last week’s Recon Challenge at PAX (most of the smack is reserved for Bungie employees who didn’t do what they needed to do), there’s some information about the upcoming September Update… but the stuff that will grab the most eyeballs is the information about new Halo 3 Achievements, coming with the September Update (known as Title Update 2). These achievements were noticed by snooping fans at PAX, but haven’t been confirmed as real or fake until tonight; the information included in the Weekly Update should lay to rest some speculation (and confirm still more). Go read!(Louis Wu 00:51:42 UTC)

Hawty McBloggy posted a piece a couple of days ago about a fan-made Brute Spiker; if you liked what you saw, but were hungry for shots of the piece under construction, and comments from the creator, swing by the gallery page for smick6’s Brute Spiker. Awesome work!(Louis Wu 14:57:24 UTC)

TTL Demag0gue is back with a new Reclaimer – #83 shows Viper that they might have more of a problem on their hands than they understood… (Louis Wu 14:56:48 UTC)

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, reactions are faster and accuracy is improved. (There were some negative findings, as well, especially related to attitudes towards violence.) The APA press release doesn’t mention Halo – but the Boston Globe editorial that refers to its findings does.(Louis Wu 14:49:21 UTC)

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 Wu 14:38:36 UTC)

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)