Episode 9 of 2old2type, the podcast of the 2old2play crew, is now available for download (you can find it on iTunes, as well). 51 minutes long, 23.5 mb, it focuses on the Tokyo Game Show, and where Nintendo is going. (In fact, there seems to be very little Halo content at all… but we’ll let that go, this time.) Go listen.

The latest segment of ‘This Spartan Life‘ has been released – Episode 2, Module 2 is now available for download in QuickTime format. (WMP9 is coming later today sometime.) It’s 10 minutes long, and Damian talks to Frank Dellario and Matt Dominianni of the Ill Clan about the origins of machinima, the direction it might be headed, and the annoyance of Mr PoopyDoodoo. Thought-provoking dialogue and some great laughs. Go watch!

Z, over at Halo2Forum.com, pointed out a pair of threads with a total of four downloads; the first thread contains two full games captured by ExiT WouNDz member Itwasluck – Game 1 is a CTF Midship game against a variety of players, game 2 is a KOTH Beaver Creek match against some top pro players. (ExiT WouNDz won the second game by a large margin – even though they were outkilled pretty thoroughly. They kept their focus on the game’s goal, though – hill time – and they won because of it.) The second thread contains a pair of montage vids – both are short, I liked the first one better (though the music nearly gave me epileptic seizures). Everything is, of course, in WMP9 format. Go grab something.

I may need to change the title of this newspost, to comply with RSS feed rules… but you should go read the One One Se7en it covers anyway. And make sure your sound is on… Update: I did have to change the title. Bugger.

As many of you have noticed – the server that hosts our forum (as well as the Fan Fiction comments section, and the ClanHBO forums) has been having problems for a couple of days. Hopefully, these will be ironed out today – please be patient!

Dennis Powers wrote to point out that the final two episodes of season 2 of The Halo CE Chronicles have been posted to their video archive. The battle for the energy cannon wraps up in Episode 20… and the relationship between the commander and the station AI is elaborated in Episode 21. There are also some outtakes from the season in that final episode. (More detailed info can be found on the website.) As always, they’re available in WMP9, QuickTime, and streaming Flash formats – go grab what works for you!

Peter Moore gave a few interviews at the Tokyo Game Show – one went to Game Informer. This particular question and answer has already generated quite a bit of email traffic for us:

GI: Anything on Halo 3 yet?
Moore: Bungie is busy (laughs) The boys are busy.

This tidbit has been gleefully picked up by Xbox360News, which apparently is read by a lot of people who visit HBO, and is being touted as ‘the first official confirmation that Halo 3 is in production’. To be clear: it’s completely possible that this is exactly what Moore meant… but it is not official confirmation that Halo 3 is in production. It’s a high-level Microsoft employee making a comment about their most important gaming franchise. Until you see something on Bungie.net, saying “We’re working on Halo 3” – it’s not official. Period. That said – the comment IS out there, we HAVE reported on it, you can stop emailing now. Thanks!

Overswarm has poured a bunch of new content into his Not So Common Sense strategy guide – you’ll find 4 new interviews with top Halo 2 players, an updated FAQ, and a writeup of his MLG Nashville experience earlier this month. Enjoy!

Whew! I feel like a load’s been lifted from my shoulders. 58 new pieces are now available in the Miscellaneous Art section (though only 42 actual entries have been added – the rest are variants of one kind or another). It’s a pretty wide range of material, but three pieces stood out for me; Veegie’s ‘Ambuscade’, Paul Davies’ ‘Destination: Halo’, and Theo Prins’ Wacom’d Master Chief. (That doesn’t mean the rest of the lot isn’t worth looking at – it just means these were MY three favorites.) Go browse!

The HBO-COERCE server mentioned yesterday is now online – TeamSpeak server is coming soon. Our HaloPC query tool is still online, so you can check its status at any time. (I’m kicking myself for this messy office; I can’t find my Halo CD. I’ll have to tear this place apart later.) Thanks, synide.

On October 8, LiL Poison is playing all comers to help charity – $2.00 to participate (you’re welcome to give more), with lots of surprises, giveaways, and media coverage. It’s being sponsored by GameCrazy and Major League Gaming. Proceeds to go to the Red Cross for Hurricane Katrina relief. This is taking place at a GameCrazy in central Long Island, NY, and more details can be found in this forum post on LiL Poison’s website.

[HC]D-Man pointed out that the next episode of H=MC2, a periodic podcast, will feature an interview with Stuntmutt – and he’s accepting questions now. (See the forum post for an email address to send yours to – but do it soon.) He’s also looking for an audio editor…

Robert Cavallucci dropped us a note about Spectre Live Wars, who hosted an Xbox Live Halo 2 tournament recently; 96 competitors played 62 games in a night, making it the largest XBL tourney in Australia. Go check out the details!

trigger119 wrote to point out Oblivion Episode 1, the first in a series hosted by Treeskunk Productions about a group of soldiers who need to stop the Covenant from building a doomsday weapon before Reach falls. WMP9 format, 20.4 mb. It can be downloaded from their Movies page.

Urban Reflex organized a head-to-head tournament amongst the HBO Helljumpers – H3ADSHOT118 came out the winner, and you can see the results on this page Urban put together.

Podtacular Episode 9 has been released – 1:22 long, 57 mb large. This one is all about snipers – sniping guide, sniping tips, snipe hunting. Available either from their website, or via iTunes.

lAbsolutel has started up a Halo 2 Strategy blog – you can find his suggestions on a variety of weapons in the first few posts. Comments can go here.

Stuntmutt reveals his secrets in today’s One One Se7en. (Well, not that you thought he actually came up with these jokes on his own, or anything…)

CYBRFRK pointed out that last night, the MPRRS passed the 500 movie reviews mark – 90 of the first 500 vids passed, an 18% approval rating. (This means that there were more than 400 movies I didn’t have to watch or evaluate, saving me more than a full day’s worth of watching time. If I could watch Halo vids for 24 hours straight, that is…) I’m pretty sure that the overall quality of released vids has increased because of the system – a number of films have passed through more than once, improving due to feedback and therefore reaching the public in a more polished form than originally envisioned by their authors. For this, and for the saved time, I say a hearty ‘Thank you!’ to the reviewers – this system wouldn’t exist without you!

You may notice the large red cross on the right side of this page – thanks to Boxer for giving us the idea to provide handy links for folks looking to help with the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. As a community, we’re as strong as our actions!