Xbox Solution has reviewed Halo 2 – they gave it a 9.7/10. Took ’em this long because they couldn’t put the controller down long enough to write.

There’s an interview with StK, the top team on the Halo professional circuit right now, over at MLGPro.com. It’s a pretty interesting read; they discuss how Halo 2 is different than Halo was, in terms of team competition, and what you need to do to be on top. It’s all about teamwork and positioning – being awesome with a single weapon will no longer pull you through. Thanks, 3Suns.

New Halo Babies strip today – it’s Friday. I gotta say – Baby Arbiter rocks. Go check out the new elite concept art, as well (link is in the same post).

The Halo Humpday Challenge this week was between Bungie and the Pooflingers. Looks like it was ugly all ’round. Poor Frankie. Go read the details… thanks, Skedar.

Littlebigman found pics of the next couple of series of Halo 2 action figures at figures.com – they’re shots taken of displays for Toy Fair 2005, opening this Sunday in New York City. The Arbiter looks pretty cool!

Alan James has undertaken another fan-created Master Chief suit creation project – we’ve put the first 10 photos he’s sent us up, and will add to the page as he progresses. Nice beginning!

Logical2u pointed out that Derelict Studios has updated their Halogen website again – this time with pics of a Longsword, the Hammerhead (a heavy transport vehicle), and some player characters (spartans and other UNSC soldiers). Getting there!

Interesting – JSatt has created an Access database to organize your Halo 2 Custom Gametypes. You can grab a copy off his website. I don’t have a copy of Microsoft Access, so I have no way to test this… but it looks useful for those who maintain a large collection of custom gametypes and want to organize them. Update: Halo2Customs.com has just mirrored the file, so if the original Freewebs site goes down, you can grab it there. Thanks, Timdogg.

The Codex, a machinima series started a few weeks ago, released episode 2 last night. Currently available as QuickTime only (but with DivX and WMP9 coming soon), this episode continues the storyline of a Covenant invasion of Earth, aimed at recovering an ancient Forerunner artifact. As with previous releases from this team, this vid shows off great camera work, solid voice acting, and a plot that’s not just there to validate the filmmaking. Grab a copy! (Nerrolken started a thread on our forum, and HALOChat has already chimed in with mirrors; both at HALOChat and at Filefront.

Wow – Microsoft is recalling 14 million Xbox power cords because of potential burns and carpet scorching. If you’re in the US, and your Xbox was manufactured before October 23, 2003, or you’re in Continental Europe and your Xbox was manufactured before January 13, 2004, you’re eligible for a free, new cord. Read this CNN Money article for details, and then visit Xbox.com to sign up for the warranty program. Thanks, Mr Yun.

Yaksha dropped by our forum to point out that Sponsors vs Freeloaders Episode 5 has been released. SvF is a parody of Red vs Blue; it chronicles the battle between those who pay for the hi-res versions of RvB’s videos and those who try and steal them. The first four episodes were standalone, mostly joke-based – but this episode begins a 5-part series with a real storyline. It’s available in 3 flavors; Hi-res WMP9 (70 mb), lo-res WMP9 (15 mb), and lo-res QuickTime (25 mb). It’s almost 15 minutes long. More links and info can be found in Yaksha’s forum post, or on their site. (If you like what you see, explore; they’ve been around for a while, and there’s quite a bit of video content on their site.)

DoctorEvol sends word that his group, Coconut Productions, will be hosting a Tournament of the Coconuts on Xbox Live in March. No word on prizes, past bragging rights. Follow the Tournaments link for details. (It’s a framed site, so I can’t give you a direct link.)

A couple of recent, large movies have been mirrored – if you’ve had trouble getting either of these, try again. Nirvana points out that the high-res version of the Ogres Halo 2 montage (previously only available via BitTorrent – though a lower-res version could be grabbed via http) is now mirrored at Halo-vids.tk (along with a second BT seed). And Halo Planet has mirrored the Jump Tactics’ Techniques Tutorial Pt. 2 – you can find it on FilePlanet. Always nice to see extra bandwidth! Update: Eep – I almost forgot (silly me, I encoded it myself) – Jump Tactics has put up a QuickTime version of the video, as well; 23.5 mb.

Evil Avatar has posted the top 10 PC games for the week of January 30 to February 5… and Halo: Combat Evolved is STILL on the list! (At position 7, no less.) For those who say the PC community is dead, and that nobody plays any more… take heed. Thanks, 3Suns.

Kevin Ryan writes to point out a new episode of Afterwar – Episode 13 brings the Arbiter in touch with heretics. They’re coming faster…

There’s a new article up at Bungie.net – this one focuses on a new hire, Lee Wilson. (Wilson has freelanced for Bungie in the past – he did some of the original Halo storyboards – but now he’s a fulltime employee.) Read the interview to get a sense for what drives him; it sounds to me like he’ll be a pretty cool addition to the team! Thanks to many for the heads-up – looks like hank was first.

That Weasel writes to let the Halo world know about a couple of new Halo machinima projects that now live as subsites on the That Weasel Television website. Team Destruction can be found there (their trailer vid was mentioned a couple of weeks ago, but now it has a proper home, and multiple formats), as can Masters of Devastation. (The latter group doesn’t seem to be doing machinima so much as Halo PC tricking.) See what you can find!

Bungie’s looking for feedback on a number of issues, ranging from playlists to starting weapons. Check out the news post, then go vote!

Looks like there’s another big art update at Halo Babies – some really good stuff in there. (I love Deus’ new weapons…) Thanks, PlasmaFire.

Mike from Gameheads writes to point out that they’ve got a bunch of tourneys coming up soon – a 2v2 this Saturday, a 4v4 next weekend. Gameheads is also participating in the National Halo 2 League, and needs teams to sign up. If you’re anywhere near Marlboro, NY (north of New York City), swing by and sign up!