Beowulf has a bunch of extra Halo schwag that he wants to part with – but he needs help deciding how. Stop by this forum thread and give him some contest ideas! You never know – it could be YOU receiving the goodies in the end.

Narcogen, of Rampancy.net, recently traveled from his home in Kazakhstan to London, on business. While there, he met up with Stuntmutt, of One One Se7en fame. Stuntmutt’s recollection of the evening is a bit… fuzzier than Narcogen’s, but they’re both fun reads. Nice to see Halo bringing far-flung compatriots together! (Or maybe it was just the beer…)

I was wrong when I said that Halo 2 press was finished.

• Columbus Dispatch – Game summary/review (B) (thanks, Warbow)
• ABC News – Video Game Report Card (says Halo 2 is worse for your kids than Leisure Suit Larry – thanks, Chester)
• IGN PS2 – Will Dragon Quest VII own Halo 2 in first-day sales?
• Onlypunjab.com – Indian press release for Halo 2
• USA Today – is this the golden age of video gaming?
• San Francisco Chronicle – Halo 2 is at the top of a crowded field

Shadow Panther has whipped up a couple of nice tables – Weapons Statistics and Weapons Rankings, based on rate of fire and damage done. If you’re looking for the best dual-wield combo, you should read these!

In a valiant attempt to try and catch up a LITTLE bit with the backlogged artwork, I’ve posted 30 new desktops in the Wallpaper section, bringing us up to late October. Closer!

You know about trading weapons with marines in single player, right? Today’s One One Se7en looks at a potential pitfall.

The flood of Halo articles is really ebbing – The Daily Texan Online (University of Texas at Austin) put up an article looking at why Halo was such a success, and how it’s being followed by Halo 2. (Thanks, Unofingersalute.)

Online comics – there are a few.

• Ross Mills pointed out Blue Screen of Life, a five-page comic based loosely on the lives of the Uni students he lives with. (He didn’t draw it, but he IS in it.) The first two pages are pretty devoid of Halo content.
• w00tness has put up 3 new strips since we last checked in (first is here) – looks like the Covenant might have met its match.
• VG Cats has a new Halo-related strip up today – it’s a quick guide to Halo 2, and… well, go read it. (Thanks, Trunks.)

Again – as a general rule, we’re not hosting trick vids yet (the new site’s not ready) – but High Speed Halo seems to be offline, and there have been a couple of speedruns of Outskirts done already. Juggertrout posted his run on our forum last night – but it was done on easy, and it’s in WMP9 format, which is a problem for some people. Cody Miller submitted his own run – on Legendary, 4 seconds slower than Juggertrout’s… and I gotta say, it’s got style. 31.7 mb, QuickTime format. I still want to see a speedrun of Cairo Station… on Legendary.

Hehe – retsamolah was playing with After Effects, and managed to make himself go away. Movie is 1 mb, QuickTime format, no sound. Nice work!

Wow, I’ve been really remiss at dealing with this; sorry. We started up a Clan HBO on Xbox Live a bit before Halo 2 was available… but I’ve had no time to think about actually getting the whole membership thing off the ground. Maybe this huge delay will actually work out; many of the people who MIGHT have been interested in being clan members have probably gone out and joined other clans now in disgust. In any case, it’s time; if you’re interested in being a member of the HBO clan, shoot an email to clanrequest@bungie.org and I’ll add you to the list. First come, first served, I guess; there are currently about 80 spots left. (Think of this as a mini-test; if you mail your request to a DIFFERENT email address, I’m going to assume you have trouble with simple reading comprehension, and I’m likely not going to bother adding you.) One thing to keep in mind; HBO has ALWAYS been about the fun of the game. If you’re looking for a hyper-competitive clan… this ain’t for you. I’m sure we’re gonna have some decent players, and win games, and all… but the idea is to have a place to go to find like-minded people you enjoy playing with – that’s always going to trump rank-h00ring for us. Update: Please – if you’re going to send a request, do me two favors: remember to include your gamertag… and spell it right. Thanks. Update 2: Gah, the requests are pouring in WAY faster than they can be accomodated. We’re currently at 100 members (the limit), though Bungie.net says 98, because two of the gamertags are having trouble. I’d love to accept everyone… but it won’t let me. 🙁 I haven’t even figured out how we’re going to organize matches – but maybe if we get something set up, we can build a second HBO team. (There were certainly enough people to fill a second 100-member clan…) Thanks, everyone – now get to playing!

New artwork at Halo Babies – a new fan strip and fan art from Sparkie (FANTASTIC style), plus new a new desktop and avatar. Go take a look!

Red vs Blue Episode 44 is now up over at RvB.com. I must say, I’m happy that Grif doesn’t have a career in Hollywood… thanks, The Beaz.

Hehe – if you’re going to try and manipulate game outcomes in Bungie’s Optimatch system, you should be careful who you’re playing before you start dropping. There are times when taking the loss would be preferable to making the wrong people angry. (Thanks, KP.)

SESpider has submitted episode 25 of Miniature Halo – and put in a request for a female model for the next section. The comic is in its normal place, and the recruitment request is here.

A few articles that have popped up in the last day or so:

• Computer and Video Games – review, 10/10, plus 83 smallish screenshots (thanks, 3Suns)
• Springfield (MO) News-Leader – Halo’s pretty good (I’m gonna stop posting links to these stories)
• South Bend (IN) Tribune – general interest Halo 2 story
• Carzorthade (net comic – Friday’s strip was Halo 2-related – thanks, Cameron Hassler)

The press seems to be slowing down a bit.

in what has to be a REALLY early April Fools joke, Xbox365 has put up an article about two youngsters (15 and 20) in the UK who allegedly turned the family’s car “into an alien tank similar to the one found in the chilling game [Halo]”, and then crashing it into the wall and dying. The mother of one of the boys is quoted as saying ‘why don’t the government step in and stop me from buying them for my children?’ For the record – none of the facts in the story are verifiable by any other internet source. There’s nothing in the Daily Mirror (the newspaper purported to be the source of this story), there’s nothing in any other news source about Stalybridge… the barrister mentioned in the article (Edmund Woolf) has no phone listing whatsoever in the UK (seems rather suspicious for a barrister), there’s no record of the ‘similar story’ youth (whose story of a Mario suit killing fellow students seems ridiculous beyond belief)… I suppose I’m posting this because I’d really hate to see this rumor gain any credence.

Yesterday was spent in the house of Miguel Chavez (along with more than a dozen other Halo fanatics), playing Halo 2. For this reason, I’m a little behind on Halo news. (Luckily, it was a slow news day anyway.) I’d have caught up by this point… but family obligations will keep me from here for another few hours; check back later today for more Halo goodness. (I’d also love to write up some of yesterday’s activities; there were some interesting things I learned. No promises, though, because I’m ALREADY way behind on stuff I’ve said I’d do.)

Gah – I totally forgot to grab this this morning, or post it. 🙁 clarksbrother interviewed Frankie yesterday on his local TV show (phone-in interview), and has made the audio available to the masses (almost 24 minutes, 8mb). Go grab it – then let him know what you think! I’m out for the rest of the day…

Writers were pretty busy this week – 33 new pieces for you in the Fan Fiction section, posted in the last 4 days. Go read!