Gabe and Tycho of Penny Arcade were at the Xbox Live Bootcamp (the MS event that took me out west this week), as well… and the comic that came out of it is Halo-related. (The actual writeup Tycho posted is far more interesting to read – even though I now feel I have to rewrite parts of my own impressions (written on the plane home yesterday) in order not to look like I’m just ripping off his text.) Take a look!

The Xbox was finally released in New Zealand at the beginning of October… and the Kiwi gaming site Gameplanet has posted their review of Halo. They loved it. We’ve added the review to the Reviews database.

It’s late, and I have to be up pretty early for the plane flight home… but I figured I’d drop off this preliminary report. I spent today in a conference room at Microsoft with a dozen other folks, testing a wide variety of soon-to-be-released games that will work with the Xbox Live online service. It was a blast, and though what I learned isn’t directly related to Halo (and Halo 2 won’t be out for over a year), I think some of the information might be of interest to some readers of this site; I’ll be writing up my impressions in the next few days. More to the point, though, I’ll be back in town (and able to update the site) by tomorrow night… to fan fiction submitters, thanks for your patience!

David Karl, of Moden Studios, has mirrored a whole bunch of movies on his hotline server:

The Evolution of Halo, Groove 117, High Speed Highway Halo, The Halo 2 Trailer, an extra small version of the H2 trailer for poor modem suckers, The Matrix (Halo Remix), Warthog Jump, and Warthog Revisited.

Links have been added to all appropriate lists. Thanks, David!

A new banner for you, from Jack Smith – check our Banners section.

One last desktop before I get on a plane… grab it in our Wallpaper collection.

Fan Fiction for an early Monday morning:

• Marine Ambush, part 1, by Diomedes Rangue
• Liberation, part 4, by Hoju

This may be the last fanfic update for several days. I’m headed out of town, and although there are others who might update (and although I might find time while gone to do so), it’s quite possible that any submitted stories will be queued until I return on Wednesday night. Please – don’t be impatient, and don’t send your story more than once. Thanks!

A nice brick wall, enhanced with a Halo logo, courtesy of Random Hero… check our Logos section.

Gah! Almost missed a postcard – from WHERE? Check it out in the Miscellaneous Art section.

A couple of new desktops (one in two flavors) in our Wallpaper section. Update: Eep – missed one. (I’m not doing very well this evening.) Find it here.

Got an iPAQ, Jornada or a T-Mobile Pocket PC Phone? Want a Master Chief theme for your Today Screen? Thanks to Jack Ash, you can grab one from our Miscellaneous Art section. Cool!

A nice MC sketch from Doggone, now in our Miscellaneous Art section. (News for the near future will be pretty light – I’m out all day today.)

Woohoo! Gary points out that the Halo50K store is now open! Grab a shirt, sticker, lunchbox (!!), mousepad, backpack, travelmug now!

Travis Cossel, who recently submitted the Groove 117 movie, has given us another fun clip. This one’s called ‘Tough Guy‘, and every MC-induced death in this 96 second vid is dealt via a melee attack. Timing is quite good. Check it out! 8.1 mb of QT goodness at mythica.org. (Not sure if this is still relevant to anyone… but there are spoilers in this film.)

Start your weekend off with some Fan Fiction:

• Halo: The Final Fight, part 1, by Daniel Luiken
• The Shadows, part 9, by Glenny
• John 117: The Second Coming, part 2, by WildebeestNZ
• Wings of Death, part 10, by el_halo_diablo
• Fafnir, part 6, by KnightmareWolf
• Revolution, part 15, by Gruntkiller

The Final Fight was split into two pieces to fit into the database, but the above link provides it in its original form.

6 new desktop images for you in our Wallpaper section.

Deimosâ„¢, of Subnova fame, has been spotlighted over at the Junkyard. Check it out!

Wondering how to build a successful Seventh Column Chapter? Matt Soell has written up a nice overview of the components that make a good chapter hum. Go read it at b.net.

Pair of new desktops for you – a Halo 2 composite, and a wicked-cool ‘Evolution of the MC’ bit. Check ’em out in our Wallpaper section!

Jenova puts together a Halo pic using Bryce – you’ll find it in our Miscellaneous Art section.