Psyrixx writes to let us know that The Psyjnir Complex has a new hotline server – you can find it at 216.229.182.74. No login/password needed… check it out! Update: Geez, guess I should read ALL my mail. The Halo Music Video released yesterday can now be found on this Hotline server – if the other mirrors are not giving you joy, try this one!

After a few months of waiting for new artwork, Chris Cox has decided to submit the next two chapters of his ‘The Wanderers’ series – you can read them separately, here and here, or you can read the whole series in one shot. Don’t forget to leave him feedback! The Fan Fiction page continues to grow…

Eep – new poll at Bungie.net, and we missed the start! ‘What is your favorite section of the Halo Tru7h and Recon site?’ Go vote! (Only 100 folks have, so far…)

Thanks to Mark Levin, who’s overhauled our FAQ – there are still a few questions to add, but the info, by and large, is very up-to-date. You’ll also find that there’s quite a difference between the spoiler and non-spoiler versions of the FAQ – for those who haven’t played Halo, and want to experience it without the taint of knowing what’s coming, the FAQ contains general information, but nothing that will ruin the game for you. For those who’ve already played through Halo, there’s quite a bit more info; gameplay tips, extra info, and so on. Check it out!

More mirrors for the music video (this one’s definitely worth watching):

• Aaron Suhr’s mac.com space
• Omnicon (thanks, B_Sharp!)
• *Ar-Isildur’s home hotline server (last resort; slow)

I love you guys…

A few days ago, Cal sent in a number of pretty nifty shots taken on Sidewinder. Some of ’em just make you go ‘hmm…’ Well, they got lost in the shuffle… but we unburied them. Check ’em out! They’ve been added to the rapidly growing Tricks page… which is going to need a better navigation system, and soon. (The backlog of tricks submissions is currently running in double digits… apologies. For those in the queue – be happy you’re not in the Gameplay Tips queue, which is even longer! I gotta find some serious updating time…)

The first mirrors for Aaron Suhr’s music video are up – they’ll get swamped fast, due to their alone-ness, but there should be more coming. (If you can help, write us.) Thanks to Beorn, who provided two different mac.com download sites (Site 1 and Site 2). Enjoy!

Aaron Suhr has made a pretty amazing Halo music video – Bush’s ‘The People That We Love’ has been accompanied by a fantastic collection of clips of… well, you gotta see it. Unfortunately, it’s 15 megs, and we simply don’t have the bandwidth for it. Aaron doesn’t, either – so we’re begging for volunteers; anyone with a big pipe and a big heart, drop us a line, we’ll get you the movie and let folks know of the mirror sites. Thanks!

[HELL]-genohunter writes to point out a pair of Halo previews on two French sites; Nihon-fr and MaxoeGames.com. Both are quite positive. There’s also word of Halo stories in both the January 2002 Joypad (console gaming) and Joystick (PC Gaming) – scans of the Joypad article will be coming soon. Halo is taking over the world!

Tom Murphy sends in the first installment of his new series, ‘Casualties of War‘. So far, it has nothing to do with Halo… but we’ll cut him a little slack. Check it out in our Fan Fiction section!

Fun stuff updates: We’ve added a small note about yesterday’s Gameplay Trick – a number of readers sent in a far simpler solution… yesterday’s Easter Egg has been updated with a nearly complete list of translations… and a new Gameplay Trick entry has been added: Mark Levin shows, in a video, how to visit that infamous ‘Lone Marine’ on 343 Guilty Spark. Enjoy!

The January 2002 issue of PC Gamer UK (off the shelves as of yesterday) contained a Devil’s Advocate column (238K) in which Kieron Gillen, Deputy Editor of PCGUK, raves about how Halo will NOT come to the PC (because if it did, the Xbox would fail, apparently – and if the Xbox fails, FUTURE good games will not be ported to the PC). Bizarre logic? Yes. But hey – it’s in a mainstream UK gaming mag, which means a lot of gamers will read it… so it’s worth knowing about. And in case anyone wasn’t sure – he’s completely, utterly, absolutely wrong about Halo not coming to the Mac/PC. It is. And that’s that. Thanks to Berk for the scan! (One of these days, we’ll even get our Press Scans page populated – there are a few dozen articles here which just need to be listed…) Followup: This should teach me to comment on unknown entities… Apparently, on page 42 of the same issue of PC Gamer UK was this passage:

Good news: ex-cover star halo is finished! Bad news: it’s on the Xbox. Ignore grumpy Kieron’s Devil’s Advocate column (p.22), and take bungie at their own word: their excellent first person shooter will be arriving on the PC. The only question now is when and in what form. On the Xbox, it’s a highly playable shooter with vehicles, with some sterling game design and gorgeous visuals. Give it us.”

(They also gave it 5/5 for an Anticipation Rating.) The column, it seems, is often used for stupid arguments. Ah, well. Thanks to Griffon for the heads-up.

poena.dare #CP#g has uploaded 7 new desktop images, extracted from the Halo Game Manual (available online at Xbox.com) – they really do make nice desktops. Check ’em out in our Wallpaper section! (And Matthew – who’s Howard Zimmerman, anyway?)

New stuff at Halo: Truth & Reconciliation, including a One on One with Halo’s artistic lead Marcus Lehto, new outtakes and a new gallery section. Pax

Mark Levin has created a 7 MB, 90 second video showing multiple locations for shooting down that first Banshee on Assault on the Control Room – getting hold of this will allow you to explore the level without having to deal with any enemies. Check it out in our Tips and Tricks section. Nice work!

To atone for the sin of bad imagery, we’ve added another easter egg to the page – this one can be found at the start of multiplay. Check it out on the Halo Easter Egg page! Thanks to Allenthar for this submission.

Apologies for the low image quality of the easter egg picture added yesterday – some of you let me know, in no uncertain terms, that it wasn’t particularly useful. It’s been changed – should be better now. (Still spoiler material, of course. 🙂 )

Though this rumor was (mostly) squashed by Matt Soell on November 25, on our forum, Xbox Gamers has asked for, and gotten a definitive answer about, the supposed ‘Halo 1.5’ add-on for Xbox Halo. It’s not gonna happen, folks.

Psyrixx, of the Psyjnir Complex, has posted pictures of the first LAN party of The Bay Area Halo Playing Group… nice equipment! Check it out.

Sometimes, it’s nice to just climb a tree and enjoy the scenery from 20 feet off the ground. Of course, it helps when there are leaves… and when you’re not dead. Check out Tom Wittman’s ‘up in a tree’ pics in our Gameplay Tricks section.