If you were worried about the dilution of the Halo name… it was probably with good reason. The lead producer on Halo Wars is also the overseer of the Halo franchise… and according to Eurogamer, he’s looking for lots of ways to expand the reach of the IP. This COULD be good… but I’m not holding my breath.(Louis Wu 22:54:07 UTC)

Devil mingy pointed out the latest GameDaily coverage of Halo Wars characters; today’s installment looks at Cutter and the Brute Chieftan. Get to know the players!(Louis Wu 22:41:35 UTC)

Nabsuh stopped by with a new wallpaper he created from a scene in his upcoming HD project. Pretty!(Louis Wu 22:38:34 UTC)

Thanks to urk for the heads-up that the Bungie Halo 3: ODST page has been updated with two new wallpapers. Nice stuff from Jaime Jones!(Louis Wu 21:55:22 UTC)

Interesting… an Austrian xbox site called ‘Xbox Austria’ posted an article about the upcoming Mythic maps… and they’ve got a shot of Sandbox. This is the first one I know of; it remains to be seen if it’s real/photoshopped/leaked (I’m sure we’ll hear soon). Thanks to Domino Theory (at NeoGAF), who found it at B.net somewhere. Update: Kibbles, at NeoGAF, put up a full 720p version – pulled out of a press kit. (Thanks, Cocopjojo.) It’s too bad we don’t get press kits…(Louis Wu 21:51:54 UTC)

Hawty McBloggy ran across a photo on DeviantART that reminded the taker of a certain Spartan. Whether or not you agree, it’s a cool shot.(Louis Wu 21:32:37 UTC)

It’s Thursday, so it’s time for another Double XP Weekend to kick off – this week, it’s Living Dead (unranked). Go eat brains. They’re awesome with ketchup.(Louis Wu 20:59:41 UTC)

Okay, so Epic Movie sort of killed the word (‘epic’) for me… but it’s back, now, because urk has pointed out Armeddragon77’s trailer for his 3rd vehicular montage – and it’s epic. (Except for that tank Killtrocity. I mean, hell.. guy 4 wasn’t even moving!) Go watch. It’s fun when people take themselves less seriously. (Or maybe more seriously. I can’t tell.)(Louis Wu 20:55:21 UTC)

Johnny B Good, from Halo.fr, sent along a link to a panorama he’s added a few artistic touches to… check it out.(Louis Wu 20:46:59 UTC)

The ‘Tilt Shift’ effect isn’t unheard of with respect to Halo 3 – we mentioned a site that described a technique for working with Halo 3 screens back in September. However, we just got word from J.R. that he’d found a website that will make these for you… and he used it to whip up some pretty cool-looking Halo 3-based images! (He was quick to point out that not all screens were taken by him – please don’t get on his case if you see your own work in there.) I absolutely LOVE the Sierra 117 shot.(Louis Wu 18:01:36 UTC)

Bungie.net has word of a new ‘ninjatage’ from KillPie – it’s amazing what you can do with an eye on your radar! Death by assassination… lots of it. 2:37 long – enough to really get a sense for his style, not so much you get bored. Go watch!(Louis Wu 17:50:51 UTC)