The re-ordered I Love Bees files continue in their release schedule – episodes 5 and 6 are now available. All of the files so far have been mp3-encoded WAV files… but apparently, some folks have had trouble with them, so we’re also making straight MP3 versions available as well. (If you aren’t having trouble with the WAVs, you should stick with them – the re-encoding process might have degraded the quality of some a bit.) Webshift has also written up an intricate forum post detailing the interconnectedness of this story to the main Halo storylines; Joe Staten has been quoted as saying that the ILB content is not strictly canon… but it’s not really a ‘is-it-or-isn’t-it’ question, there are DEGREES of linkage. Go read. (And don’t forget to grab the latest files!)

Coot dropped us a line about an upcoming Halo 2 Jump Tournament – rules and prizes can be found in this thread on the High Impact Halo forum. Signups close on October 15, so get jumping!

UNSCDF wanted folks to take a look at his website – he and M6D have been working on characterizing the weapons in Halo and Halo 2. It’s a freewebs site, so be gentle.

XerxdeeJ wrote with a weekly update for his Tied the Leader blog. There’s a rant against a modder (who was banned about an hour after the game in question was played), an opportunity to buy a rubber bracelet for a worthy cause, a great recounting of a very personal battle, and a hilarious poster stolen from the 2old2play website. Go read!

For the 8 million people mailing us about the OrigenXbox360.com website… thanks. You can stop now. This has nothing to do with Halo (yeah, I know, it’s another ARG, but it’s a bit wider this time than the Halo franchise), and it seems to be a Europe-only promotion (that is, there is no American flag hanging from the tree – for that matter, there’s no Canada, Australia, NZ, Japan, etc…). I’m sure the details will become clear over the course of the next day or so – but it’s not really relevant to this website.

Bizarre – IN-FUSIO, a French mobile-games maker, has made a deal with Microsoft giving them rights to make mobile games (and other products, like ringtones) based on the game. Ringtones, I can understand… but mobile games based on Halo? What, like Blood Covenant? (Blood Covenant is fan-made, and has nothing to do with In-Fusio… it’s just an example of what MIGHT work as a mobile Halo game.) More info as it becomes available – for now, you can read articles at Yahoo.com (thanks, Douglas Griffith) and Eurogamer.net (thanks, 3Suns).

MLGPro.com has posted a photo essay as a retrospective of their first full Halo 2 season of play. Go put faces to names! Thanks, 3Suns.

Wow, busy morning – lots of Halo news has come in, without being posted. Sorry. First up – it’s podcast day, i guess. Podtacular! has posted episode 10 – 1:24 (that’s hours:minutes, not minutes:seconds), 31 mb large (map focus is Terminal), and H=MC2 has posted episode 3 – 38 minutes long, 17.4 mb, highlight is an interview with Stuntmutt. Go grab ’em both!

After watching the most recent episodes of Sponsors vs Freeloaders, Elnea was inspired to create a piece of fan art illustrating a scene in Episode 7. We’ve added it to her art collection here. As she says, this is “fan art of a fan series about a fan series about a video game” – shades of Oliver Stone. Take a look!

We continue with the release of the remixed I Love Bees audio files Webshift has put together; Episodes 3 and 4 are now available for download. Relive last summer’s magic!

A group called Silhouette-Robin Productions recently came to our attention when the trailer for ArcXnuS, the “first full length halo 2 machinima trilogy” (their description), passed our Movie Peer Review Rating System. They weren’t looking for hosting, just feedback – it’s a short trailer, but the reviewers liked the way it told its story. Go grab a copy from their site!

If you thought One One Se7en was ALREADY too full of puns, stay far, far away from today’s comic. It’s like someone blew up a fusion core that was standing next to a whole TEAM of puns.

I’m announcing this now, because I want to make sure I don’t let it slip entirely – but the full details haven’t been worked out yet (mostly prizes). Last year, we held a pumpkin-carving contest – it went really well, and folks wanted us to do it again. So we’re doing it again. The rules will be pretty similar to last year’s contest: we have to have your results by October 31, it can’t be digitally altered, etc. The one change we’re considering is accepting submissions from outside the US. (While there is no NTSC Xbox to be given away this year, we HAVE been offered gift cards at EB Games – this might make European, Asian, or Australian winners annoyed. We’ll have to see how this works out.) Anyway, there’s time – we won’t begin accepting submissions before October 1, and the deadline is almost 5 weeks away, so you don’t have to worry that you’ve missed the boat. More details – and an honest-to-goodness launch page – coming later this week!

Ten new pieces for you in the Fan Fiction section this morning. Read.

Dustin wrote to tell us about Splode, a new apparel site that caters to gamers; one of their offerings is directly Halo-related. They’re also offering an HBO-only discount; enter ‘hbo1′ (no quotes, and it’s case-sensitive) in the promotion code box, and you’ll receive 15% off that item. Go check ’em out!

Three new movies for download over at Halo2Forum.com – two montage trailers, one full montage. ArKiVe’s Montage 2 Trailer (19.1 mb) is almost all snipes, with an occasional sticky or beatdown. Titan VIII’s Montage 4 Preview (43.7 mb) is heavy on the BR action. And Fyler’s First Montage (91.7 mb) is full of all sorts of stuff. All are in WMP9 format. Go watch. Thanks, Z.

Red vs Blue Episode 62, ‘Lost in Triangulation‘, was a little late in coming this week (congratulations, Geoff!), but it’s here now for sponsors, and should be up in the not-too-distant future for the masses. Almost 6 minutes of RvB goodness, this one follows the three evolving storylines of season 4 – Sarge’s megalomaniacism, the Blues’ interaction with Fluffy (well, I like that better than his REAL name), and Simmons’ attempt to live peacefully with 66 tons of deadly steel. Go grab it!

A new Halo 2 podcast popped up yesterday; the Unofficial MLG PwnCast aims to help folks play Halo 2 better than they did before, and caters specifically to the MLG Customs community. The first episode is three and a half minutes long, weighs in at 4 mb, and introduces the ideas behind the show. Go listen!

Webshift’s re-ordering of the I Love Bees audio continues – Chapter 2 is now available for download. Go listen!

Tom’s Hardware Guide posted a nice article about Red vs Blue yesterday – it talks about how they got started, and where they might be going. Thanks to Spideroptics for the heads-up.