Big thanks to The Lionheart for bringing to my attention this absolutely sick render of the awesome MJOLNIR GEN 2 LOCUS helmet worn by great-looking Spartan IV’s in Halo 4. The render comes from the Deviant Art gallery of Rhythem02, and is well worth the look. Check it out, and HAPPY FREAKING NEW YEAR, HALO FANS! (GrimBrother One 00:47:17 UTC)

Over at Halo Waypoint, Bravo posted an update on the Halo 4 Infinity Challenge – the playlist this week is Regicide. (To clarify, it’s the FFA list, not the team one.) Play to earn points, and rise (or fall, I suppose) on the Leaderboard!(Louis Wu 21:08:10 UTC)

In 2007, Bungie released a DVD with the Legendary Edition of Halo 3 that contained all of the Halo and Halo 2 cutscenes on it. Nothing really suprising here (well, they WERE re-rendered to clean up some minor glitches)… but there WAS a special part. There was a Directors Commentary track, with Joe Staten, Marty O’Donnell, and Jason Jones talking about the making of the game in the context of these cutscenes. For fans of the company, it’s gold. We’ve never put it online before, partly because it was exclusive to the Legendary Edition, and partly because it’s more than 2 hours of video, in just a couple of files… we’re not made of money here. A few days ago, though, FyreWulff pointed out that he’d predicted, back in 2009, that these might be available here by the end of 2012. Foolishly, I suggested that I had the power to make that prediction come true. Five years is long enough… so although the video quality is pretty low (after all, the cutscenes are available in much higher quality in many other places, including our own Cutscene Library), the critical part – the audio commentary – is now available for your listening pleasure. Halo commentary is here, while Halo 2 commentary is here. Be sure to thank FyreWulff for making this happen!(Louis Wu 19:47:09 UTC)

Defend the House released the fourth episode of their Halo 4 Mythbusters series… another great collection of factoids! Go watch. Thanks, u4iX.(Louis Wu 19:25:40 UTC)

Sparth put another pair of images up on his Tumblr – amazing concept art from Halo 4. Thanks, TheOddOne.(Louis Wu 19:22:54 UTC)

GameTrailers posted their Game of the Year awards, and Halo 4 took home Best Graphics. (It was nominated for, but didn’t win, a number of other categories: Best Platform Exclusive, Best Shooter, Best Multiplayer, Best Soundtrack, and Best Story.) Thanks, UNKNOWN iXi.(Louis Wu 19:21:21 UTC)

Zylon 0217 let us know that he’s released a video containing ALL Halo 4 Assassination animations… great work! (The slo-mo gets old… but the content rocks.) (Louis Wu 23:34:11 UTC)

Sl’askia found an artist on DeviantART with pics of the Ur-Didact and the Librarian (and more – check the full gallery) – see what you think!(Louis Wu 23:22:07 UTC)

Avateur wrote up his thoughts about Halo 4 (in three separate posts – follow the thread after that first post). His language is pretty inflammatory, but he makes some decent points. Give it a read!(Louis Wu 23:20:29 UTC)

Running late… but it’s still Sunday! Sligfantry stopped in with a pair of videos – the first shows a cool descent from the twin bridges on AotCR (and Two Betrayals, as far as that goes), while the second shows a pretty slick technique for Banshee flying outside of Two Betrayals. Watch both!(Louis Wu 23:18:58 UTC)

Running late… but it’s still Sunday! Sligfantry stopped in with a pair of videos – the first shows a cool descent from the twin bridges on AotCR (and Two Betrayals, as far as that goes), while the second shows a pretty slick technique for Banshee flying outside of Two Betrayals. Watch both!(Louis Wu 23:18:58 UTC)

Btcc22 let us know about Halo Anticheat, a Halo PC mod that supports all versions of both Halo CE and Halo PC. Despite its name, it contains no anticheat… but it DOES contain quite a lot of other features. Go read about what’s there, and what’s coming – and grab a copy to try out!(Louis Wu 21:40:25 UTC)

A couple of days ago, we pointed you to a tutorial showing you how to fly a Pelican on Reclaimer. MelkorTheGreat and friends have messed around with this, and have come up with a much easier way of making it happen (only two players are needed, instead of 3). Take a look! (Louis Wu 20:11:52 UTC)

The Clever Musings crew have put up their recap of Spartan Ops Episode 2 – go check it out! Thanks, Carmelo M.(Louis Wu 20:08:03 UTC)

I stepped out onto the porch today to pick up a box left by UPS – it came from an address I didn’t recognize, in western Washington. Upon opening it, I found a bottle of Halo 4-labeled wine! A card inside showed that it came from Patterson Cellars, in Woodinville, WA – I’ll have to report back at a future date to let you know what it tastes like. And a Happy Holidays to you, too, 343! That’s one beautiful bottle.(Louis Wu 21:12:25 UTC)