Took way too long (what else is new?), but the Xbox Live Bootcamp article is finally online. I was invited (along with 14 or so other people from around the country) for ‘Xbox Live Bootcamp’, an in-depth look at the Xbox Live gaming service, and what it means for Microsoft. A day in Seattle (plus two days traveling) last week… read my thoughts on the subject! Comments, as always, are welcome on our forum.

Not really Halo-related, but PBO doesn’t have a news-posting mechanism (and even I’m not stupid enough to build something like that for a game that’s already been canned) – Rampancy.net has posted a short Q&A with Matt Soell about Phoenix, and the project that has replaced it. Check it out!

New video at Blackstar Productions this morning. It’s by Ben Dussault, and it’s in the vein of BSP’s Halo movies; inspiring music and Halo gameplay. 480×274, 1:30 long, 19.1 mb big, in QT format. Check it out! (There are a couple of movies we’ll be posting soon, as well.)

Sometimes, people just get too attached to what they’re doing. Pity them.

Heh – another Xbox Live Bootcamp writeup comes online – this time from Billy, at PlanetGameCube. It’s an interesting view of the whole shebang; he picked up on a lot of negative stuff I never even saw, one of the advantages of multiple viewpoints and backgrounds. It’s Halo-related only in the fact that some of the pics have Bungie personnel in them. (The picture labeled ‘Inside Bungie’ shows Chris Butcher giving an impromptu talk on the Halo 2 AI, with Marcus Lehto (seated, all the way in the back) looking on. That’s Ed Fries right in front of the big geeky-looking old guy. There’s also a shot of Marty that should never, ever have seen the light of day. Thanks to Freewill (and Infininight) for pointing this puppy out. (Yes, the HBO writeup will be up soon. Really.)

Ferrago.co.uk has put up a Halo 2 preview – a nice overview of the current info. Take a look!

Bungie.net has put up an interview with Jesse Tribby, a Halo fan and Psyjnir Complex staffer who has been working really hard to make the iGames Halo Winter Season come together. If you’re curious about how some of the decisions were made, read this. It’s not often that a major competition like this is actually organized by hardcore gamers… usually it’s the money boys, looking for the angle.

Recent Fan Fiction:

• An Elites Legend, part 1, by Neco Divad
• Death Dealers, part 2 (chapter 1, though), by Havok
• Shadows of Archon II, part 24, by Wado
• Have Design, Will Build, part 2, by hipboyscott
• Halo 2: Return of Death, part 2, by Lord Dagon
• Liberation, part 7, by Hoju
• Revolution 2 Return of the Forerunner, part 1, by Gruntkiller

If the torrent of stories and artwork ever slows, I might even get a chance to finish the writeup on Xbox Live Bootcamp. 🙁

Three more desktop images for you in our Wallpaper section.

Another team tournament for you, in Michigan… The ACM Microsoft Michican Halo Tournament. This one’s 3 vs 3, takes place on November 7, and the entrance price is a measly $5/person. Check out the details, and sign up if you’re local! (This was announced on our forum.)

Pair of new art submissions; another SA-style sketch from Gasmask, and a pretty slick vignette from David Glen Walker. Check our Miscellaneous Art section.

Whoa, random info. Hot on the heels of a discussion over at Subnova about who’d left Bungie recently, we got mail from Matt Segur, a programmer on the Halo team who left after Halo shipped. He’s got a brand-spankin’ new mixed-media publishing company called Ghostweed Press, and they’re currently selling a book and a CD. The music’s pretty good… go check ’em out, and see what happens to Bungie expatriates – after they receive “the operation”! UPDATED: The discussion in question was held in a private forum; the link that used to be in this post would deny access to pretty much everyone so it was removed. –CZ)

iGames is ready to kick off their Halo Winter Season – a series of 4-man tournaments held across North America. Grand Prize is a trip for four to E3 2003… but there’s lots more to it than that. Go read about it at iGames! (Thanks to Jester for the heads-up.)

MacOSX Jaguar boot icons, and a pair of… situations, today in our Miscellaneous Art section.

Shallow Throat has gotten into the cough syrup again.

Congratulations to The Specialists, of San Diego, CA, who took home the $1,000 top prize in the Halo: Running Riot Invitational that took place on last Saturday. (We originally reported on this when it was named ‘CobaltNova‘.) A massive summary (summary? blow-by-blow, almost) can be found on our forum. Thanks to emildux, of xboxlanaz, for the heads-up.

Pallor points out that a blurb in the current issue of Rolling Stone has Trent Reznor (of Nine Inch Nails) stating that Halo actually delayed work on his newest album:

Halo is a spectacularly done piece of work. I got it right before I was going into the studio. I thought, ‘OK, to get on with my life, I better just finish this thing.’ It put me back a few days. But what’s a few days when there’s something important to do?”

What’s a few days, indeed? This blurb was first mentioned to us by David, a couple of weeks ago… but there wasn’t anything about the work stoppage, so we forgot about it.

Hehe – you knew it had to happen. Kayas pointed out a map for Unreal Tournament 2k3 called ‘SOT Bloodgulch‘. The screenshot shows a bit more… um, scaffolding than I’m used to, but the concept is great.

Gasmask comes up with a novel use for Grunts… check our our Miscellaneous Art section.

Apologies to Fan Fiction writers; on busy weekends, more time-consuming tasks get pushed back, and formatting fiction entries falls into that category. Here, then, are the submissions from over the weekend:

• Wings of Death, part 11, by el_halo_diablo
• Revolution, part 18 (series finale), by Gruntkiller
• Cry for a Hero: Epilogue, by el_halo_diablo
• Halo 2: Return of Death, part 1, by Lord Dagon
• He’s Baaaaaack! Intro, by Killer_Fairy

Note that there are two series-finishers in there…