Joystiq (and the MTV Multiplayer blog before it) are discussing some new job postings on Microsoft’s Careers website, that point to (and this is now confirmed) an expansion of the team for Peter Jackson’s ‘Halo’ project. Does this mean that the game is just now getting into the engineering phase? Or has it just grown beyond its original scope? More when we know it! Thanks, JeBr0nie.(Louis Wu 21:28:52 UTC)

trigger119 let us know that MLG is hosting a rebroadcast of ESPN Saturday Night from the Meadowlands… in 11 parts.(Louis Wu 21:15:51 UTC)

AoD Deadite dropped in to point out a new teaser from Dispatch Films – Phoenix will be out this summer, the YouTube flick will only take 45 seconds of your time.(Louis Wu 21:13:43 UTC)

PEZ let us know that there’s a new Team Doubles strategy guide posted up at Halowiki.net – go give it a read!(Louis Wu 21:12:09 UTC)

I’ve said it before – we’re not going to get into the habit of front-paging every screenshot (or screenshot collection) that comes to our attention; the risk of being flooded is too great, and there are already great places to see cool screenshots (try I <3 Halo 3 Screenshots or haloscreenshots.net, for example). However, there are occasionally collections posted on our forum that I like a lot – Leviathan stopped by this morning with a handful that are pretty cool. Check ’em out!(Louis Wu 16:27:09 UTC)

Free at Last noticed an NPR piece on machinima – and two major Halo players (Red vs Blue and The Codex) get mentions.(Louis Wu 16:15:58 UTC)

Some nice goodies over in Hawty McBloggy’s little corner of the net – she found a fun site that shows you what might get lost in translation… and while her Halo 3 pickup lines might lose some of their efficacy, they absolutely gain some hilarity. She also found a truly gorgeous set of customized input devices – a keyboard and two controllers – painted with a Halo 3 theme. I’d buy those… in a heartbeart.(Louis Wu 16:06:55 UTC)

MasterChief2829 pointed out Major Nelson’s weekly Top Games on LIVE list – the release of CoD4 DLC has kept Call of Duty on the top of the list, even with the resurgence of Halo 3 play due to the Legendary Map Pack. (This news shouldn’t bother Halo fans too much – regardless of who’s on top of that list, the simple fact is, there are a lot of people playing Halo 3 these days, and the new maps are… spectacular.)(Louis Wu 16:01:33 UTC)

ryu9921 let us know that Larry the Marine Part 18 is up – another ‘How it all began’ piece. Poor Larry…(Louis Wu 15:47:08 UTC)

Xavier pointed out a pretty interesting thread over at the 405th Forums – Belakor (we’ve mentioned him before, he’s building some real-life Recon armor) went to the Armageddon Con in Wellington, NZ, and took a whole bunch of pictures. They’re not all online yet – but the ones that are are great. Weta was there, with their Warthog… the shots he took in full Recon gear next to the full-sized hog are just glorious.(Louis Wu 15:28:34 UTC)

Spartan Jag noticed a Halo reference in Married to the Sea a couple of days ago – I forgot to post this. Good stuff!(Louis Wu 15:15:48 UTC)

kilaMOMjaro let us know that it’s time once again for the PraetoriaGuard-sponsored Frag a Friend event that happens each month. Attendance is open to community leaders (clan leaders, website maintainers, etc) – you have to sign up, and your eligibility will be screened by a human before you’re added to the roster (last time, there were almost too many people to play), but it should be a good way to get together with others who are shepherding the fan community! If you’re signed up, look for gamertags Smackafied or kilam0mjaro at 9pm on Friday, April 25!(Louis Wu 19:18:11 UTC)

If you’re curious about Someday-Night Grifball, the live rebroadcast of a league game that happens now and again, tonight, Pandamonium will be playing Team Russia, at 11 pm EST. You can watch it at GamingTV (thanks, trigger119) or justintv (thanks, Quikthnkr). (Louis Wu 18:26:00 UTC)

Okay, the replay was probably a bit excessive (I don’t think we needed to see the banshee and chopper kills again), but overall, this betrayal is pretty entertaining. When you’re in a tank, beware of the debris you generate. The life you take might just belong to a teammate.(Louis Wu 18:05:51 UTC)

In the world of Halo weaponry, everything’s relative. Nobody knows that better than ZZoMBiE13, as shown in today’s Another Halo Comic Strip.(Louis Wu 15:24:34 UTC)

Sane Intolerant let us know that two new episodes of Halo Toy Box Theater have been posted – the first one makes sense, the second… less so.(Louis Wu 14:22:26 UTC)

XerxdeeJ stopped by with news of updates at Tied the Leader – there’s a field report from a Halo tournament at the University of Michigan, and an exhortation to see what clan play is all about. Go read!(Louis Wu 12:25:27 UTC)

We mentioned the Legendary Map Pack Weekend Play & Win Sweepstakes last week – but the page on Xbox.com has some extra info now; they’ve put up a list of Cavegirls who’ll be playing on Saturday, so you can look for their gamertags – and a list of Xbox Ambassadors who’ll be playing Sunday night, to help you out. It’s not ‘Game with Fame’ so much as ‘Game with Fun’.(Louis Wu 12:17:59 UTC)