Yet another one of those Top X lists – Gamespy put up a ‘Top 5 Xbox Live Games‘ recently, and Halo 2 took the number one spot. Nice! Thanks, Promotheus.

Yesterday, a fun Flash piece passed our Movie Peer Review Rating System – it’s the first episode of ‘Life in General’, submitted by Tim Murray, and it tells the tale of four friends playing Halo. It weighs in at about 9 mb, and we’ve put it up on a page for viewing. Enjoy!

The Halo Humpday Challenge happened a bit late again this week – the Bungie guys played Xbox Taiwan this time around. Mintz found 4 matches, with Bungie winning the first and last, but losing 2 and 3. (He missed this game, which came between his first and second game, and was won by Bungie… and this one, which came between his 2 and 3, and was won by Xbox Taiwan.) Shishka said that the writeup won’t be up until Monday, but that Bungie didn’t lose… as I see it, they won the first two out of three, and overall they won 3 out of 6. I guess we’ll have to wait to see what’s what.

Okay, I’ve got no confirmation on this (my copy of OXM usually comes weeks after everyone else’s), but Mars Man 0013 just wrote in to say that his copy just arrived… and the demo disc contains all 9 multiplayer maps! The cover price of a newstand issue with a CD is probably around $7 (I can’t find it online, but the no-CD cover price is $5), so this is probably the cheapest way to buy these maps – even cheaper if you’ve got a subscription! The September issue will be on store shelves during the first week of August. Update: DeadGeneration passes along the info that the newsstand price of an issue of OXM is $10 – still less than buying these puppies online, especially if you’ve got more than one Xbox!

Hikaru, of Halo Arena, took some time out to ask KP a few questions. (KP can occasionally be seen forgetting to delete the ‘KP’ from the bottom of his ‘Badmin’ admin posts on our forum.) I can’t believe there’s no mention of that life-altering whiffle-ball game anywhere! Good read, otherwise, though. Except for the goats.

A couple of weeks ago, GameTrailers posted video coverage of the Video Games Live kickoff concert in LA – Geary just noticed that there’s an interview with Marty O’Donnell from there up now at Gametrailers, as well. (There are a few other interviews, as well, for folks interested in the tour.) Marty mentions a super-secret guitarist who performed on the Soundtrack, with no credit (by choice) – hmm…

Today’s Weekly What’s Update got an awful lot of its questions from a thread started by Frankie in our forum a few hours ago. Some of them are good, some of them aren’t. The liquid Mister Chief is particularly disturbing. Overall, though, it’s worth a read – and don’t forget to take Frankie up on his challenge! (It’s about a third of the way through.) Thanks to the billions and billions of people who pointed this out while I was at dinner.

Wow… that took a LOT longer than I’d expected – but the Wallpaper queue has been cleared out. 23 entries – 38, if you count all variants. Some are amazingly good. These have built up over the past two months in our uploads folder, our email, the forum… go see what you can find! (Be sure to check the ones you like – some have color and style variants hidden on the display page.)

The Codex, Episode 17, has been posted over at their website… and man, this one’s pretty cool. The Praeceptor has been awakened! Really nice video and audio effects… though I gotta say, I’m not particularly happy about how the battle went. 46-60 mb, depending on the flavor you choose.

MLG has posted another Dyslexia interview – this time it’s Havok and Acidian, a pair of rising stars. These are two of the guys from the much larger pool just outside the limelight… read the interview for a sense of what it takes to break into the ‘big leagues’! Thanks, 3Suns.

Halo 2 CE is DONE! Swing by the EPGServers.com site to grab your copy… this puppy has been a LONG time in the pipe. Beautiful! Thanks, DevilsKnight666.

Chris Bryan continues his rendering efforts on the Master Chief – you’ll find a test render in this post, and another in this one. All I can say is… wow.

Dennis Powers writes to point out that Episode 12 of the Halo CE Chronicles, ‘Bonding’, is now available for downloadin on the Halo CE Chronicles download page. The Spartan finds himself in… strange circumstances, while a rescue party sent to save him runs into pretty big trouble. Roughly 30 mb, in both WMP9 and QuickTime format – go grab a copy!

Ajay pointed out that a recent comic from NEWBS was Halo2-related – if you like it, check out their other stuff!

I usually use this space to take a cheap shot or two at Stuntmutt, but today’s One One Se7en doesn’t deserve any cheap shots – I loved it. Through and through. Go read it.

Eight new stories in the Fan Fiction section today. (I had to delete a few whose authors thought that the ‘Do not use the Poem button for a story simply because you don’t have 750 words’ directive didn’t actually apply to THEM.) Go read.

Doug Griffith let us know about a Halo 1 and 2 tourney in Aurora, Ontario (about 30 miles north of Toronto). $25 pre-registered, $30 at the door. Rules and Prizes aren’t posted yet – event will be held the weekend of August 12-14. If you’re in the area, check back!

XerxdeeJ put up a note on our forum – it’s time for another weekly recap of Tied the Leader, his Halo-related blog. The two most recent, No Games Played and Open Letter to the Sniper, both resonated with me. Go read!

New comic over at Halo Babies – I think Gruntsbane is letting those little tykes grow up.

Jon McFarlane and some friends put together a Halo 2 radio project at University – it’s in MP3 format, just over 7 minutes long, weighs in at 9.7 mb, and follows some of the marines on the Athens before and during its boarding at the start of Halo 2. It’s a pretty interesting concept, and sound effects are done quite nicely – give it a listen!