Interesting News Items has the scoop on NPC dialogue in ODST – go see what you’re in for! (Clearly, though, some of the information is suspect; for example, they list the name of the next game as “Halo 4: Tijuana R&R“, when everyone knows that it’s really “Halo 4: Dark Planetoid Rising“. So keep on your toes.)(Louis Wu 15:54:38 UTC)

MsValentine is the first person I know about who’s received one of Weta’s Cortana figures – and she created a pretty nice photostream to document it. Swing by and take a look!(Louis Wu 12:58:19 UTC)

Thanks again to Kibbles, who pointed out (also over at NeoGAF) Acme Archives Direct, a company creating gliclee reproductions of Halo artwork – there are some killer images in there!(Louis Wu 12:42:04 UTC)

Looks like Halo Destiny (a French site) interviewed Lars Bakken in Paris last week about ODST – the text is in French, but the video is in English (and Kibbles, who pointed this out on NeoGAF, kindly linked to a Google translation for those who feel like struggling through it). Selected tidbits: it’s possible that the final three multiplayer maps will be released as DLC at some point in the future, but the only way to get them right away is to buy ODST… and Reach has been in development since at least the launch of Halo 3. Go watch!(Louis Wu 12:41:14 UTC)

Dratt, on our forum, and TheGhost, via email, were nearly simultaneous about letting our community know about a new release of the Custom Mapping Team’s SPV2 mod. You can check out the public beta by downloading the first map, The Pillar of Autumn, at Modacity. (You will, of course, need Halo: Custom Edition, a free add-on to HaloPC.) Dratt also pointed out a mirror at Halomaps, and a few screenshots he cherry-picked from XFire. (Louis Wu 12:39:51 UTC)

Jon CJG is back with Hard Justice Season 2: Episode 7 – Bernard and Eddie flee to Canada. They got some funny rules up there… but maybe the Canadian bacon has insulating properties, or something… Thanks to urk for the heads-up on the Bungie Blog.(Louis Wu 12:39:03 UTC)

Four new clay figures from Antithesis showed up over at Hawty McBloggy’s – the first couple look like they could stand to eat a little less… but that Huragok is adorable. Check ’em out!(Louis Wu 21:22:03 UTC)

chris10023 let us know about Halo 3 Fails, Episode 24 – yeah, sure, there are a couple of ho-hum fails in there… but mostly, it’s full of really funny stuff. (I loved the condom-on-a-rock… and the disappearing flag was a perfect wtf moment.) Go watch! (Louis Wu 21:18:17 UTC)

Domino Theory has picked a winner from the nearly 500 entries to our Mythamanjaro giveaway – it took a little longer than expected because several of the early choices he made (with a random picker) turned out to already HAVE the Mythic maps. He found someone without them, though – congrats to Macros117, you now have the Mythic maps! And thanks once again to Domino, for his astounding generosity; this is the sixth contest he’s provided freebies for!(Louis Wu 19:39:44 UTC)

Dennis Powers has posted The Halo CE Chronicles – The Ring of Life: Part 2 of 6 – this one jumps back a few days to the point where Taylor, Hunter, and Johnson head out to explore the Ring’s valleys. You can stream or download this(Louis Wu 18:46:01 UTC)

…nor do Spartan Lasers. (Thanks, Leviathan.) LackOfKnowledge was in his local Target, when he saw a new toy with a familiar shape…(Louis Wu 18:37:02 UTC)