Bytesector has posted an interview with the 2005 Canadian Halo 2 Champion (from the Worldwide Halo tour tourney concluded this past June. Some of his answers threw me for a loop – but overall, it’s an interesting read.

OperationMEDUSA points a new stats program, currently in beta-test, called ZenStats, being coded by JonathonZenith. (The front-page interface isn’t done yet – but the stats themselves are pretty impressive!) Give it a look.

There’s a really interesting article over at the Economist, looking at how games have become a major form of entertainment in our society. It touches on the controversy surrounding some games, and explores some of the uses that games can have. (It also points out, in a stark graph, the inverse trends in the US in the past 10 years – as video game sales have increased, violent crime has decreased; while there’s not necessarily any correlation between these two, the graph should help illustrate that it’s it’s harder to argue that video games create violent monsters.) Halo 2 is held up as a prime example of the new complexity in games (both technically and intellectually) – if you’re keeping track, you’ll find story spoilers here. Overall, it’s a piece that suggests that the current controversy is simply a matter of folks who grew up without games not ‘getting it’, and once ‘the young are old, and the old are dead’, we’ll move on to fighting about something else. Wonderful to see pieces like this in magazines like the Economist. Several people sent us a link, but it looks like DPowers90, on our forum, was first.

Yeah, that’s the lesson in the most recent Weekly What’s Update, posted over at Bungie.net. Pretty simple, eh? Looks like there are still lots of people who don’t understand what that means. Oh – and if nobody solves the ‘Hi, Ben’ thing by next week, Frankie says he’ll spill the beans. Get to work – you want to EARN this, don’t you? And on a pretty sad front, it looks like Shishka’s last day at Bungie is now over. We’ll miss you, Shishka! Go read. (There was supposed to be hints of The Next Big Thing, but that was just a tease.)

The Halo CE Chronicles episode 14, ‘Searching’, has been released – a description of the episode can be found on the website, and the video is available for download in WMP9 (24.5 mb), QuickTime (22.6 mb), and streaming Flash (9.3 mb) formats. This one reveals some of the motivation driving the Station Commander, and sets the stage for some action-filled episodes – check it out!

My kids and I have been going through the newest Harry Potter novel in the evenings – I think Stuntmutt may have permanently scarred me with today’s One One Se7en.

Samir Patel pointed out Incoming, a mod for Half-Life 2. (It was a mod for Half-Life first, and we mentioned it about 3 years ago.) It’s not a Halo mod – but it DOES ‘feature elements from [Halo] as a token of appreciation’ (specifically the Warthog and the Spartan armor). Go check it out.

imSuck created a new music video, using the Halo 2 engine, for the song ‘Blurry’ by Puddle of Mudd. Video quality is really high, and cinematography is far from the madding crowd. One reviewer for the Movie Peer Review Rating System wrote that “this should be the quintessential piece that wannabes watch.” (I’m not sure I’d go that far – but it is pretty dang well-done.) Grab it in either WMP9 format (52.2 mb) or QuickTime format (53.1 mb).

Halo Babies has a new strip up today (of course they do – it’s Friday)… but they also have a new contest: come up with a Red vs Blue-themed plot for a Halo Babies strip, you could win a copy of the Red vs Blue Season 3 DVD. Nice! (For those keeping track, ‘A Changing of Hats‘ contains minor Halo 2 spoilers.) Hey, and while you’re there… there’s another Humpday-like writeup for a clan match between HaloBabies and the Mob of Angry Peasants.

Dyslexia sat down with Str8 Rippin after their win in Philly – read the interview over at MLGPro.com. Thanks, 3Suns.

Seraphim writes that the Metroid Online Mapping Team is hosting a new logo contest – winner will get his/her alias stamped on the bottom of Samus’ boot. You’ve got a bit under 2 weeks – results can be posted on their forum.

Dicehead Games in Cleveland, Tennessee will be hosting 2v2 tourneys (August 11 and 25), $5/person to get in. Their website includes driving directions. Thanks, Sir Wilshire.

Ajay points out that he’s put together a physics demo for the physics engine he’ll be using for Halo2D, a project he’s been working on. A screenshot can be seen here, and the demo can be downloaded here (4.9 mb). Hold down the left mouse button to move the MC.

Zeke points out an auction on eBay for a patch from the Boy Scouts National Jamboree this year (4 days left, currently at $42) – and in a second post, shows an alternate version. Interesting use of the Master Chief!

In an effort to stem the flood of email, I’m mentioning the GameFAQS Character Battle IV – today, they’re asking you to vote for Master Chief vs CATS, from All Your Base. Later on, the winner will be up against a number of other competitors; I really, really doubt we’ll mention this again, so if you’re interested in the Character Battle, KEEP TRACK OF IT. Folks who send us email about future matchups (assuming MC wins today, which seems likely) will be sent a link to this news post. Thanks.

TeamXbox has put up a review of the Max Shooter, another Keyboard/Mouse adapter for your Xbox. They loved it, especially for Halo 2 – they felt it was the best adapter on the market at this point. If you’re looking for a way to improve your accuracy (for only $20, as compared to a $30 pricetag for the SmartJoy FRAG or the MagicBox XFPS), take a look at this! (Downside – of course – is that you have to have space for a keyboard and mouse in front of the screen you play Halo on.) Thanks, 3Suns.

Anton Ferraro pointed us to a thread on the MLG forum (registration required to see it) about a newly-released mod for Halo 2 – it’s an attempt to recreate Halo on the Halo 2 engine (gameplay-wise). Auto-aim removed, pistol is back to a 4-shot kill, rockets don’t lock, field of view is expanded, and so on. There’s a video showing gameplay on Lockout – it’s mostly a pistol battle, but there are a couple of telling segments with a sniper rifle (it seems like it’s really, really hard to hit with now). Clearly, you can’t play on XBL with this unless you’re willing to be banned from Matchmaking – but it’s interesting that there’s now an alternative for folks who want to play Halo 2, but are unhappy with the changes made to the gameplay since the first game.

Foo Mo dropped us a note about Podtacular, a Halo 2 podcast focused on gameplay. They’re up to Episode 2 (the project started a week ago) – they cover strategy, map-specific tips, and the like. (Episode 2 starts out with a discussion about Major League Gaming, and how the hosts don’t really know anything about the pro gaming scene – sort of odd.) Go listen!

Part 1 of Dyslexia’s MLG Philly writeup is now online – and all the way through it, I was thinking, MAN, those guys think more about this game than I do. (Which is why I lose regularly, I suppose… but geez.) Fantastic writeup – makes me wish I’d been there to see the matches in person. Go read! Thanks, 3Suns.

FireMedic41 wrote an interesting little piece over at GeezerGamers – why do we keep coming back to Halo? It’s a good question. Go see what he thinks.