Thanks to Harry Al-Shakarchi, who pointed out another cache of Halo reviews. We’ve added 10 more to our Reviews database, and will continue to add more over the next few days.

Not really Halo news, since their Halo portal is rather empty… but Forerunners.org is finally open for business. The Marathon section is the most filled-out… but there’s also a Myth section and a (coming soon) Oni section. They’re a free webhosting service for sites related to Bungie games, and they’re being run by old-time community members. (There are also a surprising number of b.org staffers involved – news to me, for the most part.) It’s wonderful to see sites like spnkrghol up and running again!

A new logo by Nolan – we’ve added it to the Logos section.

Game Studies has posted an intriguing article on Halo, and its place in the gaming world. Not a review so much as a look at what Halo brings to gaming, it studies how Halo tops its competitors, and what makes it special. Definitely worth a read. Thanks to Bowser for the heads-up on this one. (It also mentioned a site called ‘MetaCritic’, which led to 7 new Halo reviews for our Reviews database.)

A bunch more Fan Fiction for you:

• Revolution, part 2 and part 3, by Gruntkiller
• The Mis-adventures of master chief, part 5, by el_halo_diablo
• Fafnir, part 4 and part 5, by KnightmareWolf
• Rise To Honor, part 20, by Shadow

Take a look…

Inside Mac Games posted an interview with Destineer’s Peter Tamte today, in which Tamte discusses Halo for Mac. Here’s a small quote:

Mike Phillips: After Halo’s announcement, the Mac gaming community let out a collective “w00t!” of joy. Can you give us a progress update on Halo and will it be a simultaneous Mac/PC release?

Peter Tamte: Everyone who is involved in the project is committed to a simultaneous Windows/Mac release for Halo. The progress on Halo is meeting all the internal schedules so far.

For the rest of the interview (concerning Halo and Destineer’s other projects) head over to IMG. Pax.

Electric Playground got to see the Halo 2 trailer at a Microsoft event in Toronto last week. They wrote up their impressions – as well as some questions they asked at the time (and the answers, or non-answers, they received). Not a whole lot new… but worth a read. Thanks to the Junkyard for the heads-up.

Warbow Home Video presents… Payback. Starring MC as Porter, Cortana as Val Resnick, and Little Grunt as Pearl. You can download the trailer from Mythica.org – it’s 7.4 mb, 1:17 long, and in QT5 format. We can’t wait to see the released film!

dogsounds does it again… another great comic starring your favorite UNSC death dealer. The model was done by Strykerwolf – you can find more of his work in the Miscellaneous section. This picture, though, is in the Miscellaneous art section.

DOH! A couple of days ago, Deimosâ„¢, of Subnova, mentioned a new desktop image he’d created – but we forgot to post it. It’s now been added to our Wallpaper section.

A pair of new Halo reviews for you: PC Games Portal thought it was nothing special (it’s in German, before you go screaming over there), and GameNerve loved it. (Yes, we told them we’re not the official site. It’s possible they don’t read their mail.) We’ve added both reviews to our Reviews database.

Much of this Fan Fiction came in yesterday… but yesterday was busy.

• Rise To Honor, part 19, by Shadow
• The New Reach Campaigns, part 2, by Gasmask
• The Beginning of the End, part 1, by Wonga
• Cry for a Hero, part 7, by el_halo_diablo
• Shadows of Archon II, part 5, by Wado
• Revolution, part 1, by Gruntkiller

Enjoy!

Got a Tricks jones goin’ on? Frogblast is here to help. Tons of updating on utfoo… one of these days, these’ll even migrate over here!

More box art – and a modified Warthog. Three new pics in our Miscellaneous Art section.

Interested in the Halo50k competition, but not up for a $400 entry fee for your team? Check the website – looks like they might have a corporate sponsor lined up. What does this mean to you? It means (if it works out) a guaranteed $50k pot (instead of one based on the number of participants), and no entrance fee. (It also means the competition has been pushed back – from November, to February.) Read all the details at Halo50k.com. Correction: My mistake – they didn’t mean no entrance fee, they meant a reduced entrance fee (amount doesn’t seem to be determined yet). Apologies for the confusion.

Battleground: Halo, a long-running (but recently languishing) Halo site, has gotten a makeover, and some new content. There are glitches (all the tricks pages yield 404’s at the moment) – but it’s nice to see the site being updated again! Update: The Tricks section now works. They’re fast over there!

Seven Years, Seven Months, Seven Days… (Posted by Matt Soell at Bungie.net, but Marty O’Donnell chose 7:27 pm to post it to our forum. Age brings wisdom…)

Just a couple of Fan Fiction chapters for you tonight:

• Cry for a Hero, part 6, by el_halo_diablo
• Shadows of Archon II, part 4, by Wado

Get to it…

dogsounds has reworked the cartoon submitted recently with a pair of new quotes – thanks to Cheerio and HuntrKillr for the text! (You can probably stop sending us captions now. Thanks!)

Want to be a game designer? Jaime Griesemer, Lead Designer for Halo 2, has written up a snazzy little guide on how to break into the industry. Check it out at Bungie.net.