Couple of comics to mention today:

• Bloogyo told us about a new ODZT poster to hold you over until the new Rat’s Nest site is up
• TTL Demag0gue stopped in with word of Reclaimer 209 (Discordance) – seems like command might not be paying full attention…

Go read the funnies!(Louis Wu 15:16:12 UTC)

Seraphim let us know that the Metroid Online Map Team is back with a new map – this one’s called Maridia, based on the area from Super Metroid. Check out how they did converting a 2d area to 3d!(Louis Wu 13:47:04 UTC)

Pete Cooper stopped by with a bunch of new pics of the Operation Chastity Warthog – that thing’s coming along beautifully!(Louis Wu 12:05:35 UTC)

kabu pointed out a new Fan Fic Pick of the Week, put together by J.D. – check it out!(Louis Wu 11:39:24 UTC)

Jason Broussard sent word that Mindless Distortion, the creators of the Gray Team machinima series, is back with SOLILOQUY. This new mini-series features the voice talent of Kyle Hebert (following that link will show you quite a selection of anime and videogame voice work in the past couple of decades), among others, along with original music from Perimeter of the Void. You can view both the teaser for the mini-series (released a couple of weeks ago) as well as the pilot episode (released yesterday). Intriguing stuff!(Louis Wu 11:31:53 UTC)

Joystiq posted a tidbit about a discounted package available only in Canada – an Xbox 360 Elite, bundled with a network adaptor (normally about $100 CAD) and Halo 3 ($40 CAD) – all for $330 CAD. Swing by The Source (a Circuit CIty affiliate) to grab this.(Louis Wu 11:20:57 UTC)

Hawty McBloggy has highlighted another Halo cross-stitch creation – this one started life as a bad callout, and ended up as a pretty cool wall-hanging. Go check it out!(Louis Wu 11:07:50 UTC)

advent29 noticed that the Amazon.com listing for the ODST Official Soundtrack now has the cover art posted. You like? (Louis Wu 09:34:10 UTC)

Dr. Nick stopped in to say that he’d taken the trouble to plot out the stops that the ODST truck is going to be making over the next month. It’s one thing to see a list of names on a page – it’s another thing entirely to see the route plotted out on a map. Might make it easier to see how close that truck is really coming to you…(Louis Wu 09:33:44 UTC)

2900d4u pointed out a thread from Bungie.net that includes a photo snapped inside the ODST truck, showing off a yellow-helmeted Dare playing Firefight. (Pic was snapped by Bungie’s Max Dyckhoff, so take it up with them if this is considered a leak.) If you like that pic, Max took a whole bunch more. (Louis Wu 09:33:02 UTC)

Devin Olsen showed up for the first day’s festivities with the ODST truck – and was given some special treatment. Read his writeup – there’s some pretty cool info mixed in there with all the gloating!(Louis Wu 09:32:22 UTC)

The guy who made a ton of cardboard weapons for Halo 3 is back – this time with a diorama for giving his McFarlane figures a place to play. Fun stuff! Thanks, Kibbles.(Louis Wu 09:31:53 UTC)

Gamersyde released a 15-minute ODST presentation that they recorded at Gamerscom last week – it’s filmed off the screen, but the HD downloads are quite watchable. It shows off the first cutscene from the game (if you’ve been watching ODST release info obsessively, you’ve already seen this, but it’s nice that it’s all in one place, and viewed at a nice resolution), and looks at a some of the early campaign gameplay. Again, all of the areas covered by this film have been seen in other show presentations, starting with E3 – but the comments from CJ Cowan and Brian Jarrard contain lots of interesting tidbits you might not know (cutscenes are rendered in real time, as you play, so that lip-synching by the characters matches up regardless of language – nice!). Use BitTorrent, if you can, for the downloads – it’s the nicest option for the Gamersyde guys. Thanks to NeoGAF’s Major Williams for the heads-up on this.(Louis Wu 14:32:45 UTC)

Looks like Gamestop made a fun little Halo 3: ODST commercial, highlighting Johnson’s inclusion. Check it out on YouTube! Thanks again, Kibbles.(Louis Wu 14:30:14 UTC)

2good4u2 visited our forum with word of a bunch of new timelapse pics, created from both multiplayer and campaign. Really fun work – check ’em out!(Louis Wu 14:19:45 UTC)

Lots of people were at Redmond’s Gamestop yesterday to play them some sweet, sweet ODST Firefight. One guy filmed the experience (almost all outside the truck) and grabbed a clip of Joe Staten doing the Grunt voice – thanks to Kibbles for the heads-up on these. Also, kanbo stopped in to our forum with his own writeup of the day – sounds like it was a lot of fun! If you’re thinking about catching the truck on one of its other stops in the next month or so, these impressions should give you an idea about what you’re in for.(Louis Wu 14:15:12 UTC)