A very astute Bungie.net denizen pointed out a new forum at Bungie.net – devoted to a game called ‘Halo: Reach’, apparently. His post (and the new forum) were removed posthaste… but in these days of Google caches, it’s hard to make ANYTHING go ALL the way away. Cocopjojo pointed out that the cached version of the deleted post is here – and a screenshot (assuming it wasn’t faked) showing the new forum is here. More speculation can be found in our forum… (Louis Wu 00:36:22 UTC)

z0mbyjr pointed out that Grind Rider: The Preview was posted last month. (Last we heard about this machinima, it was summer 2008 – and THAT was 5 months after the time before.) Check it out – decide for yourself how Just Another Fan is doing! (Louis Wu 00:32:10 UTC)

Halopedia’s CaptainTony was the first to notice that the a cast photo for Halo 3: ODST was visible on the set of the GameTrailers TV vid (shown Thursday night) – and the first to point out another pic that showed the last ODST off to the left. (Kotaku picked up on this on Saturday evening, almost 36 hours later… but they were just grabbing the pretty shot from Geoff Keighley’s Twitter feed.) Interesting speculation in the thread about who’s who… I’m guessing we’ll know more, for sure, this week!(Louis Wu 00:29:45 UTC)

Fragclone noticed that Arby ‘n’ the Chief S3E13 is now up on YouTube. Commentary on machinima fanbois, and machinima in general. Long. (18 minutes long.)(Louis Wu 00:29:09 UTC)

Not sure how widespread this deal is – but if you need a new copy of Halo 3, this might be the cheapest way (ever) to get one: according to a posting at FatWallet.com, some FYE stores are offering Halo 3 for $29.99… with a $25 mail-in rebate. That leaves you with a final price of about $5, plus a little tax and a stamp!(Louis Wu 15:55:06 UTC)

Stuntmutt read the news about the new screenshot printing service offered by haloscreenshots.com in last night’s Weekly Update, and was moved to send us a his thoughts in the form of a One One Se7en comic. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.(Louis Wu 15:54:35 UTC)

The Bungie Weekly Update is live – and it’s a rambling, almost ramshackle affair… sort of like a sprawling 1-story ranch that’s been abandoned for a while. Wind is whistling through the hallways, and it’s picking up some interesting tidbits from the tattered carpet. (There are also some fun stats based on how we present ourselves in Xbox LIVE Matchmaking.) Give it a look-see! (You can, as always, read it in our Weekly Update Archive, if you choose.) You just KNOW they’re ramping up for E3… Update: if you visited the Weekly Update when it was first posted… you might want to revisit. There’s a new section (in the middle) that’s definitely worth reading. As in… definitely.(Louis Wu 23:56:23 UTC)

Got a question about pro gaming? Swing by the Ask Str8 Rippin Straight Up Q&A on Facebook, and if your question gets answered by a member of the Str8 Rippin pro team, you win a prize pack including a $20 GameStop GiftCard, an official MLG Pro-Circuit hat, and a 12-pack of Dr. Pepper. (Full contest details are here.) Nice!(Louis Wu 20:08:10 UTC)

The latest Aesthetic Artist Interview is live – Supergrunt19 (known on Xbox LIVE as privat3 caboose) talks about videogames, sports, and (of course) Halo 3 screenshots – swing by and get to know him! Thanks, Jdars.(Louis Wu 18:31:58 UTC)

a cuban cat has put together a montage of screenshots captured on Snowbound, showing off just what you can do with this map (and how to get there). Fun stuff! (Thanks again, urk)(Louis Wu 17:05:54 UTC)

Late, but not TOO late – RandomSauce sent along the latest Director Dialogue, this time with machinima maker kootra. Swing by to read what he’s done, and how he’s done it!(Louis Wu 16:38:08 UTC)