We continue with the release of the remixed I Love Bees audio files Webshift has put together; Episodes 3 and 4 are now available for download. Relive last summer’s magic!

A group called Silhouette-Robin Productions recently came to our attention when the trailer for ArcXnuS, the “first full length halo 2 machinima trilogy” (their description), passed our Movie Peer Review Rating System. They weren’t looking for hosting, just feedback – it’s a short trailer, but the reviewers liked the way it told its story. Go grab a copy from their site!

If you thought One One Se7en was ALREADY too full of puns, stay far, far away from today’s comic. It’s like someone blew up a fusion core that was standing next to a whole TEAM of puns.

I’m announcing this now, because I want to make sure I don’t let it slip entirely – but the full details haven’t been worked out yet (mostly prizes). Last year, we held a pumpkin-carving contest – it went really well, and folks wanted us to do it again. So we’re doing it again. The rules will be pretty similar to last year’s contest: we have to have your results by October 31, it can’t be digitally altered, etc. The one change we’re considering is accepting submissions from outside the US. (While there is no NTSC Xbox to be given away this year, we HAVE been offered gift cards at EB Games – this might make European, Asian, or Australian winners annoyed. We’ll have to see how this works out.) Anyway, there’s time – we won’t begin accepting submissions before October 1, and the deadline is almost 5 weeks away, so you don’t have to worry that you’ve missed the boat. More details – and an honest-to-goodness launch page – coming later this week!

Ten new pieces for you in the Fan Fiction section this morning. Read.

Dustin wrote to tell us about Splode, a new apparel site that caters to gamers; one of their offerings is directly Halo-related. They’re also offering an HBO-only discount; enter ‘hbo1′ (no quotes, and it’s case-sensitive) in the promotion code box, and you’ll receive 15% off that item. Go check ’em out!

Three new movies for download over at Halo2Forum.com – two montage trailers, one full montage. ArKiVe’s Montage 2 Trailer (19.1 mb) is almost all snipes, with an occasional sticky or beatdown. Titan VIII’s Montage 4 Preview (43.7 mb) is heavy on the BR action. And Fyler’s First Montage (91.7 mb) is full of all sorts of stuff. All are in WMP9 format. Go watch. Thanks, Z.

Red vs Blue Episode 62, ‘Lost in Triangulation‘, was a little late in coming this week (congratulations, Geoff!), but it’s here now for sponsors, and should be up in the not-too-distant future for the masses. Almost 6 minutes of RvB goodness, this one follows the three evolving storylines of season 4 – Sarge’s megalomaniacism, the Blues’ interaction with Fluffy (well, I like that better than his REAL name), and Simmons’ attempt to live peacefully with 66 tons of deadly steel. Go grab it!

A new Halo 2 podcast popped up yesterday; the Unofficial MLG PwnCast aims to help folks play Halo 2 better than they did before, and caters specifically to the MLG Customs community. The first episode is three and a half minutes long, weighs in at 4 mb, and introduces the ideas behind the show. Go listen!

Webshift’s re-ordering of the I Love Bees audio continues – Chapter 2 is now available for download. Go listen!

Tom’s Hardware Guide posted a nice article about Red vs Blue yesterday – it talks about how they got started, and where they might be going. Thanks to Spideroptics for the heads-up.

A week ago, I mentioned that the Miscellaneous Art and Wallpaper sections would be updated soon. The Misc Art queue was cleared out a couple of days after that – I’m finally making good on the Wallpaper promise. Go check the Wallpaper section – there are 28 new entries (many with variants – a total of 38 new files).

Coolness. IGN has posted a split-screen coop gameplay vid for Stubbs the Zombie; I see a rocket launcher, I see a jeep. The interface is wonderfully campy – this puppy looks to be FUN! Thanks, Rampancy.net.

DoctorEvol has been working on the LAN Locator system – you can find it linked off the Coconut Lounge, his website. Add in the details of your next lanfest, and folks will be able to search the database for it! (This is only as good as the data it collects – so if you like the idea, use it.)

Webshift loved the I Love Bees game from last summer – but he was unhappy that the story was released in such a way that you occasionally learned things before they made sense, because the releases were character-based, instead of chronologically-based. He took it upon himself to remix the pieces, and we’ll be releasing them over the next few weeks. Chapter 1 is up now – go listen!

Our favorite CBS News gamer, William Vitka, has posted an article about Stubbs the Zombie (good read!) – thanks, 3Suns… and Inside Mac Games gets some info about the Mac port of that game from Glenda Jackson, of Aspyr (thanks, Narcogen).

Video Games Live, the concert tour that was planned for this summer and will now kick off at the end of October, has a ‘Name That Tune‘ game online to show you some of the music they play. (Halo’s main theme, of course, is among the pieces.) Give it a whirl – and check out the tour dates while you’re there!

Today’s Bungie Weekly Update takes a close look at the new office space, with some very nice panoramic shots of the space and a list of nearby eateries (though I’m sure Bentllama is gonna kill Frankie for neglecting the Original Pancake House RIGHT NEXT DOOR). There’s also a pretty awesome Mister Chief Etch-a-Sketch. Go read!

Yesterday, Fireb0rn (creator of the critically-acclaimed Halo vids 117 and Talking Smack over Xbox Live) wrote to say he had a followup to 117 (which was the story of a single Spartan facing nearly insurmountable odds) ready to go, but that it was too big for the MPRRS. I re-encoded it for him, and submitted it this morning… and 7 hours later, it passed with flying colors. (I knew it would; it’s really, really well done.) The man has an eye for camera angles, and tells a mean story. This one’s big; 7 minutes long, 70+ mb (depending on flavor). Grab the one that works best for you. The QuickTime version is 73.2 mb, the WMP9 version is 69.2 mb. Enjoy! Update: there’ve been some reports that the WMP9 version was corrupt in some way; it worked for me here, but enough people had trouble that I re-encoded it. The new version is 76.4 mb, and was added a little after 10 am EST. Hopefully, this solves the original problems!

mejp44 noticed an article at TeamXbox about Wideload’s upcoming Halo-engined game, Stubbs the Zombie – they’ve added split-screen 2-player Coop. Now you can zombify Punchbowl… with a buddy!