Several days ago, jester_343 pointed out a video at Google; someone had gone to great lengths to reproduce the original Halo 2 announce trailer (the one released back in August 2002) using Lego bricks. It’s an amazing piece – but I was unhappy with the quality, so I contacted the creator – Marshall Brekka of InfalliBull Productions. He was kind enough to give us a higher-res version of the film – one that does his work better justice. You can grab a copy in WMP9 format (28.5 mb) or QuickTime format (29 mb). Compare it to the original – it’s beautiful! (In the discussion thread that was spawned by jester’s post, RVideo pointed out a vid he’d made – as he calls it, the ‘thematic reverse’ of this video; it’s a flythrough of Turf, modded with Lego textures. Definitely interesting stuff – worth a look, as well!)(Louis Wu 01:31:24 UTC)

Interesting… Thunder visited the Halo Wars forums to announce that he’s the Community Manager at Ensemble Studios, and will be the liason between the developers and the fans – and that there will be a new update coming in December. Noticed by RedNovember… keep your eyes open!(Louis Wu 01:19:46 UTC)

NeuroKoNeza stopped by our forum to announce that Immure 2, a sequel to a map created back in September 2005 by himself and Mothergoat, will be released this coming Friday, November 24. He’s removed the Wasp, the flying single-person fighter, that unbalanced gameplay in the first version, and replaced it with another new vehicle – a Flame Hog (a custom warthog with a massive flamethrower on the back). Lots of pictures are available.(Louis Wu 01:17:47 UTC)

PEZ wrote to point out a neat feature at halowiki.net – any user can create their own variant of the main page. He wanted to highlight a new alternative built by LegendaryMark – he liked it so much, he actually MADE it the front page!(Louis Wu 22:55:03 UTC)

1Up’s 3 Weeks of Halo coverage continues today, with Luke Smith’s blow-by-blow recounting of the tiny clip of campaign action the EGM boys saw while they were at Bungie’s offices last month. He does a great job of making you wish you worked for a gaming magazine… thanks to Saint for the heads-up.(Louis Wu 21:32:45 UTC)

Today’s Penny Arcade looks at what happens when you switch games, but don’t switch tactics. Thanks to Stuntmutt for the heads-up.(Louis Wu 20:14:55 UTC)

Today’s Halo Heads looks at the lengths Nintendo Wii fans will go to express their love for their system. I’m hoping Paul Maestri made this one up from whole cloth… because the alternative scares me.(Louis Wu 20:01:57 UTC)

Last week, SketchFactor gave the Halo community a new name. Today, Stuntmutt lets Bungie know what he thinks of this idea, in the current One One Se7en.(Louis Wu 16:56:12 UTC)

MereCatfish wrote to point out LifePod, a new podcast by FireDragon04, Nic, and Mere with a focus on Halo CE. They have an open-forum style chat section with a panel of community members, and this first episode includes an interview with Masters of the Custom Map Team. Episode 1 is 50 minutes, 42 mb. (Louis Wu 16:38:15 UTC)

Jonathan Rivsa wrote last night with word of a bunch of new content at the Bungie Store; you can buy the Carnage Street Sign (replace your street’s stop sign and watch the hilarity ensue!*), the Halo Hockey Jersey, Limited Edition (which you can’t seem to actually order; it has special sizing, but the chart’s not available), the Women’s Lip Tee (long-sleeved and luscious), and the return of the Halo 2 Backpack in Blue/Black. Just in time for Christmas shopping!
*Don’t do this. It’s stupid and dangerous, and will probably get you in a lot of trouble.(Louis Wu 16:33:27 UTC)

Congratulations to Carbon, who won the top spot at this weekend’s MLG Nationals in Las Vegas – they have beaten Final Boss in 3 consecutive tournaments, and are now officially on top of the Halo Pro scene. A summary, including game-by-game scores and a prize breakout, can be found at MLGPro.com. Thanks, 3Suns.(Louis Wu 15:38:55 UTC)

Apathy in the UK takes a look at the relative staminas of Gears of War and Halo 2. (Well, sort of.) Thanks, Dervish.(Louis Wu 23:26:00 UTC)

Sigafoos writes to point out The Riot #25 – they’re no longer WikiRiot, but it’s the same team. A brief explanation of the move, plus community news, the Halo 3 stuff from last week, and ‘a call for any community/group/etc that wants to be covered to let us know.’ (The podcast explains more about that.) 32 minutes, 13 mb. Go listen!(Louis Wu 19:46:12 UTC)

A few days ago, Arbiter_347 pointed out a Flash movie with a Halo cameo in it; the movie was HILARIOUS, but the Halo content was so minor that I passed on a news post about it. (It’s a really, really, REALLY well-done movie, though.) However, since then, the vid has been mentioned by others (Grande Carne, later that day, and sorahn, this morning) – so maybe it SHOULD be pointed out on the front page. Well, now it has been.(Louis Wu 15:37:06 UTC)