Last year, Justin Durban turned in a pair of pretty nice pieces of music based on the halo theme (here and here). He’s done it again – today we got a copy of Ruined Desert, a 5.4 mb mp3. Here’s what Justin says about it:

This one gives it a small bit of an ethnic feel. I’m imagining a desert scene inside a HUGE sandlike temple. Almost if it was back in the day of Caesar and the Romans. Or even the ancient Egyptian times. Perhaps a gladiator type arena fight and preparation?

Of course, I have to thank Marty O’Donnell again for creating a kickass soundtrack and inspirational music.

Go grab a copy, and see what you think. I can see the dunes now…

Gamers.com has replaced their Xbox Nation reprint with a preview that is built around the E3 demo. (It’s really just a blow-by-blow of the demo itself, with a bit of commentary tossed in.) It reminds me that I could have put the XBN article up months ago… I’ll have to find it. Meanwhile, go read Gamers.com! Thanks to Marcus Mann for the heads-up.

Gamefront.de reported yesterday that Ed Fries has confirmed a simultaneous worldwide release of Halo 2. Now, that seems like a hard thing to confirm at this stage… but the fact that Fries is saying it publicly suggests that it’s probably a pretty high priority for Microsoft. We’ll see what comes of it. Thanks to Harry Al-Shakarchi for the heads-up (and the translation of the German post).

TechTV has put up a page describing the fourth episode of their E3 coverage (to be aired Tuesday at 11:30 pm, and Wednesday at 2:30 am and 4 pm Eastern). The highlights (at least as far as this site is concerned) – Halo 2 takes top honors in the Xbox category. Thanks to Gasmask for the heads-up.

Six images for you today in the Miscellaneous Art section, including four by Mugetsu (very high quality) and a couple of funny photo manipulations. Check ’em all out! Update: Oops, somehow I missed one. (It was hiding. I swear.) Check out BOLL’s commentary on Bungie’s Halo Babies…

Three Halo2-related desktop images for you today… check ’em out in our Wallpaper section.

Wonder of wonders, Monday’s episode of One One Se7en is actually being released on… MONDAY! For what it’s worth, I wondered how the little twerp was gonna get there, too.

Because it’s so much fun watching the bandwidth meter spike on Mythica, we’re going to release some of the non-winning movies submitted to the Biggest Halo Fan contest. First up: MaverickJ put together a gameplay vid called Halo Creations. Original format is WMP9 (27.3 mb, 5:00 long, 320×240), we’ve also re-encoded it into QuickTime format (21.2 mb). These links point to the Mythica.org copies, but the QT version can also be found at the Psyjnir Complex Hotline server, and the WMP9 version can be found at Maverick’s Project Spartan. Hopefully, we’ll have more to show you in the future.

goatrope and SniPeR got together and made a small film called Master Chief’s Pro Skater. It’s pretty cute… and it’s only 7 mb. (QuickTime format.) The music is what makes it for me… I gotta go find that japanese vid again now.

It’s Memorial Day, and it’s raining here at HBO HQ… a perfect day for reading military fiction:

• Sniper, by Michael Quarterman
• Episode-III A shot from the Darkness, by Jon Michael Marlowe
• ONI Black Ops Part Eight, by Havok
• True Purpose(6), by Frensa Geran
• Halo from the Flood’s Point of View: The Encounter (Part 1), by Simpsons Rule
• Halo from the Flood’s Point of View: The Encounter (Part 2), by Simpsons Rule
• Forsaken Forefathers part III: Unexpected Annhialation, by AlphaBravo343 and Havok

Go see what the Fan Fiction section has to offer.

Gamespot has put up its ‘Best of E3‘ awards. Once again, Halo 2 takes Xbox honors… but was beaten by Half-Life 2 for overall honors. Go read why. (Thanks to Da Loaph for the heads-up.) Update: Da Loaph missed it first time through (and so did we) – but Halo PC made #2 in the Top PC games. I’m happy he went back!

Quick Pillar of Art contest update: we spent a good chunk of today going over most of the entries. Some entries are still in Seattle; they’d been displayed at the fanfest, and haven’t made it back to us yet. For this reason, and because some of the judges need a little extra time to see some of the entries, we’ve postponed the announcement of the winners; it should happen a week or so after the original date (May 26). It’s going to be tough – many of the entries are amazing. As soon as we’ve pinned it all down, a gallery page will be made available, so that the world can see what these folks put together. I think you’ll be as impressed as we were.

Friday’s One One Se7en is finally visible… sometimes you gotta wonder who’s running this joint.

SadisticFreak33 found a new Halo comic on the net – check out this episode of Aikida. Which reminds me… once again, I forgot to post yesterday’s episode of One One Se7en. Unfortunately, it has to wait a few hours… I’m on the way out…

Six pieces of artwork for you in the Miscellaneous Art section – some killer stuff. Check it out!

Three new desktops for you today… at least a couple to drool over. Check ’em out on our Wallpaper page.

Though Halo 2 took Xbox Best of Show in IGN’s E3 awards, it lost out (once again) to Half-Life 2 in the OVERALL Best of Show. Beaten in all categories: Best of Show, Best Graphics, Technological Excellence… ouch. Thanks once again to BGH for the heads-up.

Dinky writes to point out a new clip from an upcoming movie that HaloJuggaloProductions is putting together. It’s small (9 seconds long, 1.2 mb, and soundless), but it shows the style he’s shooting for. Take a look!

Paul Gelardi, aka Elan Sleazbagano on our forum, was one of three finalists in the World’s Biggest Halo Fan competition. His entry, 1:19 long (and only 5.1 big; what’s stopping you?) explains why he is the World’s Biggest Halo Fan. The last 10 seconds seal it for me!

Lion discovered a pretty nice little bit of Halo PC footage over at iFilm. 5:52 long, it comes in your choice of three streaming formats (though with some sneakiness it’s downloadable; the QuickTime clip is 12.6 mb big).It shows footage from some new multiplayer maps, with an emphasis on Banshee fighting, as well as some solo play. Great to watch if you want to see where the PC version is!