We got word of a vid called ‘Ultimate Slayer’ – it’s a 7:24 long machinima… of sorts. It’s actually the story of a Team Slayer game in Coagulation. Nice filming, and some funny moments! The actual vid is 113 mb, but it’s stored in zipped format, and the download is only 56 mb. DivX 5 format. Go grab a copy from the Final Supremacy website.

Video Games Live, the upcoming concert tour involving video game music, has announced 17 new dates, with tickets going on sale this Friday. You can find the full press release in our misc section. Looks like I’ll be in Boston on August 22! Update: whee… the PR company has asked for a ‘recall’ on that press release. Sorry about that. Dunno WHERE I’ll be in August, I guess. More when we know it. Update 2: Minor corrections have been made, the press release is back online.

Last week, Stuntmutt commented on the unintended side effects of one of the more powerful weapons in Halo 2. A lot of people were confused. Today’s One One Se7en is another try at the same message.

F13ND, over at Team3D, has written up a pair of articles – an interview with Ogre 1, one of the top pro players, and a series of interviews with 4 top players (the same five questions to each), in preparation for MLG St. Louis. Go read!

J. Paradise over at Daily Game, has written up part 1 of ‘Confessions of a Girl Gamer’, in which she talks about the abuse she takes online due to her gender. Narcogen, over at Rampancy.net, has written a retort – it’s not that he approves of the behavior she deplores, it’s that he doesn’t believe she’s any more abused than male players. Interesting pair of reads.

DSmooth writes to let us know that 2old2play.com’s 3rd weekly podcast episode is available for downloading – in two versions (one with the pg-rated words bleeped). 36-38 mb, depending on rating. The Halo 2 content includes a discussion of upcoming maps. Go listen!

Jamie Noguchi’s brother works for Bungie. Jamie writes a comic called Angry Zen Master. Jamie’s latest strip takes a calculated, insider look at Bungie’s latest doings – go read. And if you’re disappointed that the secret’s out… blame Jamie’s brother Mat. That guy just can’t keep his mouth shut. (Thanks, mnemesis.)

Last month, we posted a short trailer for ‘Noobs, Experts, and In Between’ – it hadn’t passed the MPRRS, but I liked it, and it had been close. The creator has redone it a bit, and this time it DID pass – so we’re hosting ANOTHER copy. 1:16 long, 4.3 mb in WMP9 format, or 4.1 mb in QuickTime format. Enjoy!

Playfeed wrote a review of Halo 2 that starts with “Last week I found Halo 2 in a Limited Collectors Edition tin a pawn show for $15 bucks…” – what blew the reviewer away was how much fun the game actually was. He admits that he ridiculed the game when it came out, entirely because of the massive hype… but he now regrets that. Interesting!

Two more of the high-quality flythrough trailers, commissioned by Microsoft, have been released – Gametrailers.com has both HD (640×472) and regular (480×360) sizes, in both WMP9 and QuickTime, while TeamXbox has 640×480 WMP9 versions. The Turf film, in particular, is a fantastic example of how to marry audio to video, even without ‘action’. Thanks to all who let us know – 3Suns was first. Update: These are available for Gamespot Complete members, as well, over at Gamespot. (No streaming versions yet.) Thanks, Kliend. If you want streaming, head over to IGN. Update 2: Both Sanctuary and Turf are also available, in the 640×480 WMP9 versions, at CANOE.

Stryke Force has posted a teaser for episode 6 on their website – the WMP9 is up now, and weighs in at 8.5 mb. The QuickTime should be up soon, at roughly the same size. They’re also recruiting for an XBL clan, so if you like their stuff, check out the clan!

DoctorEvol pointed out a site called ‘Kiss The Chief‘… a series of pics of the MC, after he gets out of the military and stops working out. Bizarre stuff.

I think this was the last big challenge from Halo, trick-wise… Ms. Man has gotten to the bottom of Truth and Reconciliation, in single-player. (He did this in Co-op mode back in October.) You can find the vid in WMP9 format linked off the High Impact Halo forum (26.6 mb), or grab a QuickTime version from bungie.org (27.5 mb). Warning: the music will make your brain explode. And not in a good way.

LordGideon has written up Lesson 3 of his Video Production Guide – this one looks at how to use Adobe Premiere Pro 1.5, for folks who want to take a step up from Windows Movie Maker. Clear, concise, helpful – go give it a read!

Hardcore sends along word of a Halo 2 4v4 Slayer tourney hosted by Storm Gaming Ladders – more details can be found on their website. $1/player, money is due by July 31. Go look!

They say it’s not cheating, really – but it can be pretty darn annoying. What? Well, you’ll have to read One One Se7en to find out.

DarkChief writes to point out First Drop, a fanfic he’s writing on his website, Halotips.net. Give it a look! (Check out the rest of the site while you’re there.) Update: eep, looks like his account has gotten suspended. Skip this one for now – it’ll be back soon.

Marl heard one too many Livers call someone a n00b – and snapped. You can read his rant on his Xanga site.

The top two guys on Project Torlan (the Halo to UT total conversion project) have dropped out, for personal reasons, which will likely bring this project to an end, though they still plan on releasing most of their work in development this summer. Sadness. Thanks to zugy for the heads-up.