The Bungie Weekly Update can be found over in Bungie’s own Underground forum. The Ghost stuff sounds especially tasty. Go read! (Frankie’s artwork is here, in case it’s not yet fixed by the time you read this.)

The First Strike website has gone live – for real. There’s a bunch of new content (or at least content I’ve never seen before) and a nice layout (that works best in IE, it seems). Go check it out!

Wow. Episode 30 of Red vs Blue is out for sponsors… and it answers a lot of questions I’ve had for a while. (it also has one of Sarge’s most memorable rambles…) Go grab it – or wait until Sunday and then grab it. Your call.

Not One One Se7en, clearly. Of course, I think Stuntmutt’s been talking to Emily Litella again…

Halo: Resolution gets a visit from some bigwigs today.

Wow. Iron Forge, one of the early names in the Halo mod scene, has written a rather thought-provoking rant on the modding scene. It’s amazing how the patterns never change; everything he describes as being wrong with the current Halo modding community – it was wrong with the Marathon modding community some years ago. (I’m sure it’s happened in most communities; I just find the parallels between two communities I’ve participated in to be interesting.) Everything he describes as being ‘right’ about the early modders (it’s mostly an attitude thing) – that was there in Marathon, too. Good games generate interest from talented people wishing to extend the experience – and those talented people tend to lower the bar on the price of entry to the point where casual modders can play. At some point, the expectations of the newcomers (that because tools exist, they (the newcomers) are ENTITLED to them) will cause the old guard to become disillusioned… and the community will fall into a rut. This cycle may even happen more than once for a given game. It’s worth a read; those who don’t understand history will, by necessity, relive it. Thanks to DrLime at Battleground: Halo for pointing out the article.

Ducain posted a new vid showing how to get to the balcony at the end of the Maw. 9.5 mb, WMP9 format. Looks like fun. 🙂

IGN put up a ‘10 Best Xbox Games‘ article… and surprise, surprise, Halo came away with the top spot. Thanks to Maxmidget for the heads-up.

Another couple of single-to-multiplayer conversions over at Halomods; both are based on AotCR. You can find links and pics in this forum thread (it’s an HBO thread).

New content at Halo Babies – there’s a new strip (not surprising, it’s Friday), and Gruntsbane has decided to release some background images he uses for his strips; you can make your own guest strips much more easily now. Check it out!

Somehow, I managed to miss a new Sponsors-only movie at Red vs Blue – Tax Day Tips. The advice might be solid… but implementation might be… risky. (This is NOT this week’s movie, which will be out later today for sponsors, and Sunday for the general public.) Check the Sponsors page for details.

Jake ‘Evergreen98’ Billo has put up his second of 3 articles on Xbox Live over at the Junkyard, and once again has managed to fit enough Halo content in to garner a mention here. This one looks at why Microsoft really, really wants you to subscribe, and how it’s using games like Halo 2 to ensure that you realize that life will be better on Live.

We got mail from PalaNIN stating that Halo Online, a general Halo site, is in danger of going under for financial reasons; the webmaster, PTM, is asking for help. Read the news post for 4.15.2004 for full details.

SplitboXer writes to let us know about a design contest for a new website banner for the XBConnect site. Prize for the best entry will be a a USB 2.0 external NEC DVD burner (DVD-R/+R CD-R). Not too shabby! Details in this forum thread (registration required).

Apologies to Blackstar; anyone who visited the Calvin and Halo page on Thursday would have found that a new comic was posted… but the news post never got put up. So here it is now, better late than never, right? Calvin demonstrates the absolute joy that can be found in playing the bad guy…

Once again, being out all day during the inaugural week of the new Bungie.net’s unveiling means a bunch of news went unreported. Let’s see… there’s a new outtake from David Scully, voice of Sargeant Johnson, and man, it’s just a little bit out there. Okay, a LOT out there. (Absolutely worth the 1.2 mb download.) There’s a brand new batch of Letters to the Webmaster (lengthy, but missing the usual bite; he must be out of Jack Daniels again), and finally, there’s a new Bungie Comic… except the link doesn’t work and you can’t see it. (I’m sure that’ll be changed very soon, so if it works, you don’t need to write to us.) Update: The comic works now. Of course.

DOH! Halo Orbit, A German Halo fansite, published their own analysis of the third multiplayer Halo 2 shot yesterday… and I never got back to it. 🙁 Sorry about that! If you read German, check it out!

A few days ago, WhatTheDilly-O mentioned a sighting of Halo in Mad Magazine. (There’s your credit, bub.) Normally, we don’t post scans from mags that are still on the stands – but Madda Cheeb found an online version put up by Mad themselves; who am I to argue? Check it out. (it’s pretty funny…)

SexyJosh released another Halo-related song, this one based on the concept of ‘Flaming Ninjas’. At this point, it’s a members-only download from his website… PG rating for language.

CENOBITE points out that the new Game Informer (out to subscribers now, should be on store shelves soon) contains a 10-page article on Halo 2, filled with new info and screenshots. Keep your eyes peeled!