Bungie’s own madmax has put up a facebook gallery of photos from Bungie’s Halo 3 launch party. You can see Louis Wu doing shots, Bill Gates playing Halo 3, and, of course, the Master Chief hugging Cortana.

Man Demon says he’s found the first Halo 3 box acronym on his Limited Edition copy:

JLTLEBLC

Gentlemen, start your engines.

For those that have pre-ordered or intend to pick up their Limited Edition of Halo 3 today, a word of advice: open the case and inspect the game disc in the store before you leave. I had heard about problems with the Limited Edition having discs come loose during shipment and rolling around in the case, which can end up scratching the game disc pretty badly.

When I picked up my LE at a local GameStop, I opened mine right away and turned right around. I walked back to the counter, told them what I saw and they knew immediately what I was talking about, and apparently Microsoft knows about the problem. The clerk I dealt with just cut open a regular Halo 3 edition and swapped the game disc with me, so that’s probably your best option if you can swing it.

Again, be sure to check your game before you leave the store, because otherwise, if the game is unplayable, you’ll have to return to the store or possibly even have to send the game back to Microsoft, which might take days.

With Halo 3 unleashed across the East Coast about half an hour ago, the Internet is still teeming with Halo-related… stuff. Here are a few items:

News.com knows people who are waiting in Times Square right now.

XBL subscribers will be able to get some exclusive Halo 3 content starting on the 27th. Included are videos, gamerpics and themes.

BusinessWeek thinks Halo 3’s social interaction features may be the future of gaming.

Shacknews takes a nice look at Halo 3’s map editor, Forge.

The Seattle Post Intelligencer wonders if Halo 3 can ‘turn things around’ for Microsoft’s Xbox 360.

While I know from personal experience that copyeditors are sometimes pressed for time, I’m still at a loss to understand that headline.

 Click here for the complete text.

Weekly Porridge makes its triumphant return with the launch of Halo 3!

Just in case anyone hasn’t been paying attention, the wait is over and tonight you’ll be able to grab a copy of Halo 3 at midnight launch events across the globe. If you’re going to a midnight launch event, be sure to spread the word and represent Podtacular to as many of our fellow Halo fans as you can.

Foo Mo Jive and JVB will return soon with a new episode discussing their thoughts on Halo 3 and their experience so far, and we’ll be jumping back into our episode rotation, including episodes focused on strategies and tips for multiplayer, discussion of campaign tactics and encounters, and of course, custom games and saved films. Podtacular is coming back in a big way with Halo 3, so be sure to tune in for each episode to get the most out of the game.

Also, tomorrow you can expect to see a new face to Podtacular as well. Even though our discussion forums are currently in a lockdown (to prevent posting of spoilers), the site will have a few new features that we think you’ll like and get some use out of.

Otherwise, if you’re jumping in line tonight, have fun, stay safe and we’ll see you soon in a game of Halo 3!

At the ancient site of a once grand civilization there has been an occurrence. The former vanguard, suspected to be named KIMO23, has granted a portion of his powers to the forces calling themselves: CapnKrunk and Logan Payne. These adventurers have dusted off the arcane relic and discovered this: The Old Podtacular Bungie.net Group!

So, me and CapnKrunk dusted off the Bungie group in prep for Halo3…Halo 3 players from Podtacular should sign up and use this as an easy recruiting tool. If you encounter any people interested in Podtacular please refer them to the group since many of them will be going to Bungie.net anyway. This will allow for easy access to the Podtacular community and Bungie.net’s new features at the same time.

Also LET US KNOW ABOUT YOURSELF! We’re going to be just another group of players to alot of people in Halo 3 and the people who join the group need to know about you and Podtacular.

Disclaimer: what have you achieved if all you have done is watched a video or read a tutorial showing you where the skulls are? Go hunt them. Hunting skulls is a ton of fun and they aren’t meant to easily be found.

Bungie has hid one golden skull all campaign levels of Halo 3. There are nine gold skulls to be found that each unlock 10-point gamerscore achievements and give you multipliers during the campaign (if you enable them – which makes getting the “meta-game” achievements a lot easier). If you find a skull with friends, everyone in the party will get credit for finding the skull.

All of the skulls are off the beaten path. That’s the point. Bungie wants fans to spend a lot of time walking all over their maps hunting these things.

One skull in particular is terribly hard to find. That skull is different than the rest because of where it is and how you get it. It’s clever. It’s fun. The skull is called “Fog” and it’s hidden somewhere on the campaign map Floodgate.

Here is a guide to finding all of the gold skulls in Halo 3.

Sierra 117

This skull is located near the of the level after you’ve fought your way through the jungle battles. Cross the bridge to the far side of this open space. Stay on the right side of the bridge as you cross it and keep jumping up to the level’s that are above you. Before long, you’ll be on the long ledge that leads you to the far corner to find the Iron skull.

–—

Level: Crow’s Nest

The skull requires a couple of precision jumps. It is located at the very beginning of the level above your spawn point. Jump your way up to the pipe that is above you.

–—

Level: Tsavo Highway

This skull is located about halfway through the level on a ledge that is below the highway. A few technical jumps are required to descend to the area where this skull is.

–—

Level: The Storm

A grenade jump is required to find this skull which is found on the first outside battle in this map. It’s on the far storage tank.

–—

Level: The Floodgate

Since this skull is the most difficult skull to find, I will be releasing the steps to getting this skull in the form of clues down in the comments section of this post until it is fully revealed.

1. This skull in a place that you can not access
2. This skull is time sensitive
3. This skull is viewable with the free cam
4. You only have a small window of time to find this skull
5. This skull requires a weapon being fired
6. This skull must fall down to you
7. This skull is moving
8. This skull will be picked up on the ground
9. You must kill an enemy to get to this skull
10. This skull is not located inside
11. The name of this level gives you a clue to this skull’s discovery
12. This skull is being carried
13. The skull is near the beginning of the level
14. The skull will be both on the roof and street level
15. Just kill the dang Flood member holding the skull on the corner of a building roof before he jumps away just after your spawn as you enter the town

–—

Level: The Ark

This skull is found on top of the bridge-like foundation under which you battle a Wraith and some Ghosts. It’s located up high on the last arm of the bridge and required a timed grenade jump to reach. You can get to the bridge by climbing up the wall behind the bridge.

–—

Level: The Covenant

This was a very easy skull to find. It’s located on the first tower after you get your Hornet.

–—

Level: Cortana

This was a tough skull to find because it requires technical jumps in the middle of a Flood battle. About halfway into this level is a big open room. Jump on the little shelves until you get to the top of the level and the skulls waiting for you.

–—

Level: Halo

This is perhaps the easiest skull to find. After spawning at the beginning of this level, stay to the right. You’ll eventually find a narrow and foggy crevasse. The skull is at the end of this crevasse.

You can also find the “white” skulls hidden in the campaign. These skulls do not unlock achivements, however, you they can add neat effects to your campaign experience. For instance, check out the Grunt Birthday Party skull:

Headshot the grunts and their heads will explode with confetti following by audio of little kids cheering.

Sierra 117

This skull is located near the of the level after you’ve fought your way through the jungle battles. Cross the bridge to the far side of this open space. Stay on the right side of the bridge as you cross it and keep jumping up to the level’s that are above you. Before long, you’ll be on the long ledge that leads you to the far corner to find the Iron skull.

–—

Level: Crow’s Nest

The skull requires a couple of precision jumps. It is located at the very beginning of the level above your spawn point. Jump your way up to the pipe that is above you.

–—

Level: Tsavo Highway

This skull is located about halfway through the level on a ledge that is below the highway. A few technical jumps are required to descend to the area where this skull is.

–—

Level: The Storm

A grenade jump is required to find this skull which is found on the first outside battle in this map. It’s on the far storage tank.

–—

Level: The Floodgate

Since this skull is the most difficult skull to find, I will be releasing the steps to getting this skull in the form of clues down in the comments section of this post until it is fully revealed.

1. This skull in a place that you can not access

–—

Level: The Ark

This skull is found on top of the bridge-like foundation under which you battle a Wraith and some Ghosts. It’s located up high on the last arm of the bridge and required a timed grenade jump to reach. You can get to the bridge by climbing up the wall behind the bridge.

–—

Level: The Covenant

This was a very easy skull to find. It’s located on the first tower after you get your Hornet.

–—

Level: Cortana

This was a tough skull to find because it requires technical jumps in the middle of a Flood battle. About halfway into this level is a big open room. Jump on the little shelves until you get to the top of the level and the skulls waiting for you.

–—

Level: Halo

This is perhaps the easiest skull to find. After spawning at the beginning of this level, stay to the right. You’ll eventually find a narrow and foggy crevasse. The skull is at the end of this crevasse.

You can also find the “white” skulls hidden in the campaign. These skulls do not unlock achivements, however, you they can add neat effects to your campaign experience. For instance, check out the Grunt Birthday Party skull:

Headshot the grunts and their heads will explode with confetti following by audio of little kids cheering.