Regular Halo comics seem to be on holiday right now, but there are a bunch of ODST mentions in non-Halo-specific strips:

• Rob Tracy pointed out that Least I Could Do kicked off a new ODST storyline on Wednesday – so Thursday and Friday‘s strips are also related.
• DiscipleN2k found a couple of mentions: The AppleGeeks Lite strip for today looks at the dangers of LANning ODST, and
• Stolen Pixels, over at The Escapist, takes a few shots at the Master Chief (while the blog writeup praises ODST’s casting choices).

Go laugh!(Louis Wu 15:28:08 UTC)

VentureBeat has written up a history of Sadie’s Story, the tale within a tale in Halo 3: ODST – great read! Lots of background on the company that built it, and how it fits into the overall game. Give it a read!(Louis Wu 15:07:08 UTC)

It’s Friday – so it’s time for another round of Friday Caption Fun, over at Hawty McBloggy’s! Last week’s captions take shots at Gamestop and Dare – and this week’s image is sure to generate some Lonely Island quotes. Go play!(Louis Wu 14:34:59 UTC)

Geekscape’s Teabag Prevention has posted their second entry in their Road to Recon Armor series – this week, they’re giving you tips on how to complete the Vidmaster: Déjà Vu Achievement. Go give it a read – and then go earn yourself 25 more points!(Louis Wu 14:34:22 UTC)

The big news yesterday came from a USA Today article published on Tuesday. (LordGideon pointed it out then, I passed because it seemed like news we already knew – oops.) The focus has been on two tidbits: first, that Halo 3: ODST sold 2.5 million copies in its first two weeks (not too shabby), and second, that Frank O’Connor, of 343 Industries, is quoted as saying that Microsoft has a plan for the Halo franchise that “goes out at least six years”. This last, rather than reassuring fans that 343 Industries is taking the long view, and is carefully crafting additions to the Halo universe, has in fact frightened our forum (and others) into thinking that they’re simply killing the franchise through overuse. Time will tell, I suppose – but it’s hard to believe, at this stage, that a group that is so intent on hiring thoughtful fans from the community to safeguard story features would be so careless over the long haul. The HBO advice: let ’em work. See where they’re going before screaming that the cliff is too close.(Louis Wu 14:33:17 UTC)

Tashi0106, over at NeoGAF, pointed out a Forza 3 car that’s been gorgeously decked out with ODST bling. Check it!(Louis Wu 14:32:01 UTC)

nomis78 was browsing Twitter, and ran across a tweet that showed off a pretty cool theme for your iPhone/iPod Touch.(Louis Wu 14:31:09 UTC)

A new Breaking In article is live at Bungie.net; Test Lead Dave Gasca talks about how testing games might not be the cushy job you thought it was – but it can be a lot of fun. If you like being on fire. And don’t smell like anchovies. Go see if you’ve got what it takes!(Louis Wu 14:19:24 UTC)

Seven new pieces are available for your reading pleasure in the Fan Fiction section this week – go read.(Louis Wu 14:15:36 UTC)