Bungie has released another retrospective – a look back at the evolution of Sandtrap. Art Director Justin Hayward talks about what this map meant to him, and where he wanted it to go – and where it ended up. Fascinating read! (Louis Wu 00:55:08 UTC)

Thursday is the day that new Double XP Weekend Playlists kick off on Xbox LIVE – this week, it’s Rocket Race. Zoom zoom. Boom.(Louis Wu 00:54:50 UTC)

urk also pointed out a very cool idea – LEGO construct of Halo Reach concept art. Now THAT’S meta. (Louis Wu 00:54:05 UTC)

Beginning of stuff missed because nobody was home at HBO HQ for most of Thursday:

• Master Chief Theater 3000 Episode 406 covers the cutscenes from ODST’s NMPD HQ level. Your mom jokes and funky Brute dialogue.
• Alec944 created his fourth montage by culling good clips from the community files.
• There’s a contest where you can send in a cool screenshot, with a caption that reads “Where ________ Happens” (you fill in the blank), and win a spot in the next one of these vids. Sort of cool, if you’d ever heard of these vids…
• Simple As That is a Halo 3 montage from Inxy – I really liked this one. Great footage, nice composition.

Go watch. (Louis Wu 00:53:15 UTC)

Okay, on the one hand, the Master Chief Ski Mask uncovered by Hawty McBloggy is pretty cool-looking. On the other hand… it’s just plain creepy. Go look, and decide which part wins out for you.(Louis Wu 00:51:26 UTC)

Time Glitch let us know that he’s put together a pretty in-depth look at the Reach multiplayer trailer – lots of stuff you might or might not have noticed. Go give it a read!(Louis Wu 00:50:08 UTC)

We had a bunch of new artwork posted on our forum recently – some created by the poster, some just found. All fun stuff.

• Halochief89 stopped in with new content for his ‘Clairvoyance’ universe – he’s doing new armor permutations, and the first one is on display – Mark VI/F Tesla Armor. Super-shielded! I guess you give up speed for protection.
• Leviathan decided to take a closer look at Spartan-293, the fallen Spartan that Noble-6 replaces. Legs are a little bulky, but the knife up the sleeve is pretty sweet. Available as a Wallpaper, as well.
• Hedgemony ran across some very cool artwork for Halo 3’s box… on a platform I haven’t used for a bit. Awesome retro!

Pretty pictures to look at while you drink your coffee… (Louis Wu 14:31:21 UTC)

A couple of weeks ago, we mentioned a conversation that would take place at the Game Developers Conference this week, between Joe Staten and BioWare’s Ray Muzyka – seems that it went off as planned, and Gamasutra has some of the highlights. Thanks to Hedgemony for finding this! It’s a great read. (Louis Wu 14:30:52 UTC)

Jon Goff let us know about Halo Waypoint’s plans for the Emerald City ComiCon – you can find a full schedule of events on the Waypoint website, as well as details about the show, Waypoints hours and location on the floor, and more. They’re giving stuff away, hosting Halo gameplay, and they’re home to the Rooster Teeth contingent, as well – if you’re going to the ECCC, be sure to stop by!(Louis Wu 14:28:58 UTC)

Jon Goff let us know about Halo Waypoint’s plans for the Emerald City ComiCon – you can find a full schedule of events on the Waypoint website, as well as details about the show, Waypoints hours and location on the floor, and more. They’re giving stuff away, hosting Halo gameplay, and they’re home to the Rooster Teeth contingent, as well – if you’re going to the ECCC, be sure to stop by!(Louis Wu 14:28:58 UTC)