Ryan ‘Mhaddy’ Matthews writes to say that the latest Spotlight over at the Junkyard is on Ducain, the master behind HighImpactHalo.org. Go read it to see what drives this guy!

15 new stories and poems for you in today’s Fan Fiction update. Go see what you can find!

altodarknight, unhappy with the lack of an Aussie contingent in the recent restructuring of XBL’s Clan HBO, has put up a poll asking if you’d join an Aussie HBO clan if it existed. Stop by and cast your vote! (Clearly, this is only useful if you live in the region…)

GlobeandMail.com has put up another article about the Cananimators, the group of 6 Canadians on the Halo 2 development team, and how they fit into the overall picture of Canada’s contribution to video game development. Thanks, Zaknafein.

A week ago, we mentioned a contest cosponsored by Gearbox Software, EPG Servers, and Halo Maps; create a video promoting Halo CE, win cool stuff. The list of stuff just grew; Forerunners.org tossed in a couple of signed German copies of Halo PC. You can find the announcement of new prizes on the Gearbox forum, and the full contest rules (including prizes) on the Halo Maps website.

Gamespot’s got another article up about the great month Halo 2 and GTA: SA just finished; in fact, it was so great that total console software sales for the month were 11% above their November 2003 values – and without those two titles, the numbers would have been 21% BELOW last year’s values. Wonga.

Acronym puzzles have been a part of Bungie lore for years – going all the way back to the Marathon days. mnemesis got pretty interested in the Halo 2 acronyms a month ago – but he’s stepped it up a notch by bringing in the Strategy Guide, and Bungie.net wallpapers; the current puzzle is pretty spread out. Go read his forum post, and see what you can figure out!

Recently, G4TechTV aired an episode of Icons devoted to Bungie, and their rise through the years. It’s nicely put together, with interviews of various Bungie (and ex-Bungie) employees, coupled with footage from various sources. Dan Chosich did a fantastic job of capturing this; we can’t show it to you yet, because it’s still in rotation on G4TechTV, but once they stop airing it (last scheduled episode is December 19), we’ll post a copy for download. If you have access to the cable channel, watch it on your television. The full schedule is here. (Just search for ‘Bungie’.)

There’s a new Weekly What’s Update up over at Bungie.net right now – info about action against cheaters, info about the basics of Xbox Live gameplay, and a truly awful Mister Chief drawing. Go read!

KP has posted a note on our regular forum, explaining how we’re going to get around the 100 person limit on XBL clans – it points to a post on the Clan HBO forum wiht many more details. If you wanted to be a member of Clan HBO, and were frustrated by how quickly it filled up, go read this!

SEspider is running another contest – come up with some Miniature Halo artwork (static or moving), win a bunch of Halo figures. Full details (including rules and a detailed prize listing) are in the forum post.

The Cyberathlete Extreme Summer Championships 2005 will be taking place in Grapevine, Texas (near Dallas/Fort Worth) from July 6-10, 2005. Over $200,000 in cash and prizes will be on the line (and presumably, some form of Halo gameplay will be involved.) More details are ‘coming soon’. Visiting the website will allow you to register, make hotel reservations, and see photos from last year’s event.

Today’s Halo Around the Net:

• The New Hampshire (UNH Student Newspaper) – Halo 2 addiction
• The Desert Sun (Palm Springs,CA) – Halo 2 on a big screen rocks
• Joystiq – another Flash Stats aggregator. Thanks, ICDedPpl.
• GameIndustry.biz – Halo 2 leads sales for November, but GTA San Andreas leads for the year.
• Washington Post – the rise of popular music in video games (with Halo 2 as a prime example). Thanks, Anton P. Nym (who actually found it at MSNBC).

VerdaFolio pointed out that the HaloMods crowd has already figured out how to hack Halo 2 to increase the field of view. (Keep in mind that hacked Xboxes are banned for life from XBL, so a box with this hack will NOT be showing up in your latest Rumble Pit game.) Still – pretty impressive, nonetheless!

Not only is the new One One Se7en posted (though some of you might have trouble seeing the humor – it might be too soon), but it looks like Stuntmutt has ALSO done today’s Guest Strip over at Halo Babies. (That one, too, has the potential to ruffle a few feathers. Most likely the same ones.) While you’re over there, there’s a new fan strip, as well.

gwdpto, a longtime member of the Halo community (though one pretty disappointed with Halo 2), has put a bunch of his Halo paraphenalia up for auction at eBay. If you’re looking for cardboard cutouts, or action figures, or a signed copy of the Season 1 RvB DVD… check out this forum post.

Ouch. Bungie took on the staff of the Official Xbox Magazine for this week’s Halo Humpday Challenge – all I can say is, it’s a good thing the Bungie.net forum mods kicked their butts, or they’d think they were unstoppable. Frankie says be sure to stop by the front page for the… um, interesting GIF Andrew put together for this story.

foxygrandpa117 and friends put together a tricks video (WMP9 format, 10:56 long, 26 mb) showing some random gameplay in Halo, plus stuff like sword-flying and glitching in Halo 2. It’s being hosted by Toby Dillman, who says bandwidth is unmetered… so go ahead and grab a copy. (I’ve only seen about half of it, so if there’s something truly amazing and innovative in the last 5 minutes, I apologize for not highlighting it.) Warning – turn the music down before the 6 minute mark, or risk ear damage. Comments can go in this forum thread.

So it looks like Frankie interviewed Jamie Tisdale, a founder of a group known as the Geezer Gamers, folks in their 30’s (or higher) who play Halo (and other games) for fun, rather than stats. Good writeup, except for the gratuitous shot at the end. I think Frankie’s jealous that I have more hair than he does. First heads-up goes to Black Six.

Calvin is willing to hand over the planet for WHAT? Go read Calvin and Halo to find out.