Obviously.

Archilen was digging around, and noticed a page at Audio Editions touting a book from Karen Traviss, entitled “Halo: Glasslands”, to be published on October 25. Amazon corroborates (thanks, DHalo). Looks like we now know the title and release date of her first Halo novel!(Louis Wu 15:54:17 UTC)

Lee Georgeton stopped in with a link to a video showing off his latest puzzle map. It’s… odd. Very odd. Go see. (Louis Wu 14:54:26 UTC)

CruelLEGACEY wanted to point out a gallery he’s put up of all of his Bungie All-Star Challenge submissions – an interesting look back on the past 20 weeks! (Now that the star is free for anyone who wants it, or will be soon, there’s no need for more of these.) Also, he’s got yet ANOTHER trailer up for his upcoming Playtime series. (Louis Wu 14:53:05 UTC)

I found it intriguing that Halo: Reach is back in the US top 3 sellers of videogames on ALL platforms, due to a price drop, according to Gamasutra – amazing what a few bucks off can do! (Louis Wu 14:52:40 UTC)

Jay Alexander sent word that The National Gaming League will be hosting a live Halo: Reach tournament in Charlotte, NC on July 23 – you can read the full press release here. If you’re planning to play – get there early!(Louis Wu 20:47:25 UTC)

It’s been a week since E3, and though it’s not directly Halo-related, I wanted to put in one more plug for Crimson Alliance. (It was made by Certain Affinity, a studio headed up by ex-Bungie employee Max Hoberman, and responsible for the 7 netmaps included with the recently-announced Halo: Anniversary edition.) It really was one of the highlights of the show for me; a really fun title that should be available later this summer. If you haven’t seen gameplay, swing by and watch (or download) the trailer – then keep an eye out for it on Xbox LIVE Arcade!(Louis Wu 13:55:48 UTC)

Over at the California Literary Review, a video game blog written by Adam Robert Thomas looks at the Guggenheim Effect, and what it’s done to gaming. (If you don’t know what the Guggenheim Effect is, don’t worry, it’s explained in the article.) Halo (the original) is used as an example of gaming health done right – and remember, Bungie’s gone back to that model for Reach. Interesting read!(Louis Wu 13:35:15 UTC)

Heh – a Halo fan put some love into a video showing a Reach Firefight voice we’d ALL love to be able to buy… (well, I would, anyway.) Great work – I only wish it was real. Thanks, MatthewDratt. (Louis Wu 13:32:48 UTC)

We mentioned a few days ago that FyreWulff would be hosting a 12-hour Bungiedayathon (before Bungie Day) to raise money for the Brian Morden Foundation – he stopped by last night to announce that the website is now up. You can see schedules, embedded vids (when he’s actually playing), and donate. Check it out! (Louis Wu 13:31:37 UTC)

Chris101b put together some footage from the most recent Customs Night shenanigans – and added in a mini-machinima tale. You get a look at some of the maps they played, plus some of the funny/cool moments they experienced. Nice work! Go watch.(Louis Wu 13:30:10 UTC)

Tonight I have the privilege of being the featured guest on The Running Riot podcast with long time podcasting friend Kete.  There have been many instances where Kete has made guest appearances on our show, and now he is returning the favor.  Be sure to tune in tonight at 10:00 PM Eastern to see the interview live.  If you can’t watch, make sure to check out the recording later on Ustream.tv.

Because we have a long history of archiving Halo-related updates, we’ve started a collection for the Halo Bulletins being published weekly(ish) by the Halo Waypoint team. As always, images are local, and HTML is (generally) lighter than the original – ideal for slower computers, maybe mobile connections, whatever. Give it a look! Today’s release is there, as is last week’s.(Louis Wu 23:40:30 UTC)

The second weekly Halo Bulletin from 343 Industries has found its way from bs angel’s tender mindquill and into your retinas via Halo Waypoint. Go and partake of it’s fan fodder! Oh and um… there’s a freaking Grunt Plushie.(GrimBrother One 21:43:22 UTC)

Interesting. We received a press release from someone at Random House, publicizing Eric Nylund’s latest book, The Resisters. What’s intriguing about this to a Halo fansite is not so much the book itself (it’s a science fiction title aimed at younger readers), but the impetus for writing the book in the first place.

Ten years ago, Eric Nylund started writing books based on the HALO video games—HALO: THE FALL OF REACH; HALO: FIRST STRIKE; and HALO: GHOSTS OF ONYX.

Soon thereafter Eric received a few letters and e-mails from kids (and their parents) from around the world who said they never liked to read, but they liked HALO. The kids had picked up and fallen in love with Eric’s HALO books. A “few letters and e-mails” soon became dozens, hundreds, and then thousands—and Eric found himself pleasantly surprised to be a gateway for a new audience into the world of reading.

So it seems that to the arguments that video games (and Halo, specifically) can improve reaction times and accuracy, you can add that Halo novels have drawn new people into the wonderful world of reading! Nice.(Louis Wu 18:22:42 UTC)

JIMBOTHY stopped by to announce Who’s That Knocking? This Reach-based machinima with some nice CGI add-ons tells a pretty interesting story – go watch! (Louis Wu 16:16:47 UTC)

xBLACK V3N0Mx sent word about reach4urPhone, a mobile-optimized site for checking your Halo: Reach stats. (There’s a slideshow of screenshots on live.com.) Check it out! (Louis Wu 16:15:25 UTC)