Gamasutra has an interesting piece up (free registration required) on game marketing – and ARGs like “I Love Bees” got high marks from readers. Once again, Halo 2 ends up on top of the pack… thanks, Deanero.

Yet another interview up over at MLGPro.com – this one with Str8 Rippin, talking about MLG Orlando and how it went for them. (Thanks, trigger119.) There’s also more info about MLG’s 2v2 Online League – go read if you’re playing.

For those waiting for news about the second volume of the Official Halo 2 Soundtrack… Marty posted a note on the Marty Army 7th Column Group’s website last night, with a bit of information:

I finished the Halo 2 Soundtrack Volume 2 today and listened to it (all 70 minutes worth) in one sitting. I liked it, and I hope you will too. I’ll tell you more about it soon.

Good news! Thanks to both Rampancy.net, and Anton P. Nym, who posted this information (with different sources) within minutes of each other this morning.

PingZing dropped off a fun dialogue snippet – you can find it in our Dialogue Databank.

Finn thinks it’s still winter, or something – or at least, he’s chosen to shake the Halo Story Page Mailbag out all over his floor and actually READ stuff in it, instead of going outside to play. Bad for his complexion, good for your speculation. There’s a TON of stuff in this update… make sure you don’t have any plans for a while. And, because, you know, clearing out the mailbag isn’t really ENOUGH work… he decided to create the Spartan Roster page, a work that keeps track of who is who and where they all ended up. And because THAT wasn’t even enough, he also updated the Resources page. My guess? He’s checking into the Betty Ford Clinic this week, and wanted to minimize the chance that someone would actually NEED him for anything in the near future.

More Halo Machinima out there: trigger119 points out Starship Troopers Part 1, hosted at halomachinima.com (though he’d be thrilled if anyone wanted to help mirror – this puppy is 109 mb), and gearboxgamezone.com has the Sponsors vs Freeloaders trailer (originally a contest winner, hosted at SvF.com in AVI format, GBGZ has it in WMP9 and QuickTime formats) and the Fallout Preview Trailer (another project from the guy who brought you Platoon), among hundreds of other vids. It’s truly an amazing time for Halo video enthusiasts! Update: GrantBauer88, of the Necrosis Clan, has mirrored the original Starship Troopers, and Feenix, of That Weasel Television, has put up a smaller version (60.2 mb). Update 2: GearboxGameZone has put up two 320×240 versions of Starship Troopers that are much smaller – you can find them here.

Static Bursts points out a thread at the Gearbox forums about an upcoming Halo CE map, a remake of Headlong. There’s a RapidShare-hosted vid (13 mb, WMP9 format) showing the new map, as well as some cool weapons in a tweaked Hang ’em High, and there are pics in the thread. Looks pretty nice! Update: mirrored now at GearboxGameZone – thanks, Dennis!

Over at Bungie.net, there’s a large article with info about upcoming Bungie-related events: Wednesday, May 4, stats will be reset, and the Matchmaking Playlists will be updated. Details about the new playlists can be found in the article, so go read! (Details about the stats reset are pretty straightforward – they’re getting reset, so you’re starting at Level 1 again tomorrow.) Thanks to the eight billion people who wrote to tell us about this.

We don’t usually post pre-written press releases from other Halo sites – but That Weasel TV ain’t just any other site, and this seems pretty cool. Straight from Ferret Boi himself:

That Weasel Television is proud to unleash the *New* Movie News Section. Now, not only can you have your video hosted by TWTv, but you can also just announce your newest videos on TWTv to the raving hordes of the Halo Community, even if they are hosted somewhere else or you would like to just draw more attention to your personal TWTv Halo Exclusive. So why aren’t you submitting you movie and links already?

He also points out that there are quite a number of new Halo Exclusives available at TWTv, including

• RvB Music Video by Joeseph Geiss
• Rocket Fest 2005 by Crab Angel117 and Zerofender
• Halo Moddage by Pie Movies
• Bridge Glitch by The Guardian

If you’re feeling movie-deprived… get on over there!

MLGPro.com continues their pro series interviews with a chat with IGameSpot, the team that took second place at MLG Orlando. Money, rivalries, and Halo – it’s like a soap opera. Thanks, trigger119.

Eep – forgot to post this… The Necrosis trailer we mentioned yesterday has been mirrored and converted to QuickTime – you can find both versions at Gearboxgamezone.com. Thanks, Dennis!

Logical2u points out a new update at the Halogen website – model shots of the new units they’ve added to the C&C Generals Total Conversion. Visit to see the Firefly, the Cobra tank, and the Ghost.

We got mail yesterday from Vampire Flight, who’s posted a trailer to an upcoming Machinima project called FATALrecon over at HaloGrid.com. It’s 28.2 mb, WMP9 format, and I liked it – so I converted it to QuickTime, using Apple’s new H.264 codec. Grab the WMP9 from HaloGrid, or grab the QuickTime (QuickTime 7 REQUIRED, 27.5 mb) from us. Update: seems I might have been wrong; H.264 is really, really cool… but it’s also really, really processor-intensive for heavily-compressed vids. Here’s a Sorenson 3 Pro version (30.7 mb) that should be viewable by everybody, not just those with tricked-out G5s. Update 2: looks like Gearboxgamezone made their own QT version, as well – 28.6 mb. Multiple mirrors!

Overswarm has updated his Not So Common Sense Strategy Guide with two new vids; these are 4v4 games on Midship (one CTF, one Team Slayer). They come with commentary, letting you know what OS thought was done right, what could have been done better. Watch ’em – and then try out some of the strategies in games of your own!

After a month and a half of quiet, Tina Leyk returns with a stunning image from the opening of Uprising. What a combination of beauty and sinister overtones! You can find it on her (newly-rearranged) Fan Art page – new artwork is now at the beginning, instead of the end.

Eleven new pieces for you in the Fan Fiction section today… see what you can find!

Comics, comics… Last Stand was updated with Page Fourteen yesterday, and w00tness found a new home; every time we mentioned the strip, the page would go down for bandwidth issues… so we Did The Right Thing, and offered space. I’m sure, once I get to the forum, that there’ll be half a dozen other comics I forgot to mention… but for now, these are your funnies.

Thursday marks the one year anniversary of Halo CE, and Sir Bobbington and friends are organizing a party. You can read about it on the Gearbox forums – join ’em online and see if you can help push the player total over 1000 simultaneous users!

Walshicus pointed out a BBC article looking at future revenue streams for game-makers (using Halo 2, and the new maps, as an example). This is a bit misleading; Bungie is hardly the first Xbox developer to charge for after-release content… but I suppose when you’re one of the biggest, folks notice. And the concept of micro-transactions for weapons upgrades, new armor, whatever… that HAS been a hot topic of discussion recently, at least among those who see a chance to make large sums of money doing it. (To me, these two ideas – microtransactions and major downloads like new maps – are completely separate, and shouldn’t really be considered the same sorts of money-making material.)

MLGPro.com has posted an interview with Team 3D – formerly StK, one of the best-known pro Halo teams on the circuit. Ever wonder what makes these guys tick? Go read. Thanks, Quinion.