This comic brought to you by artist Luke McKay and guest writer Marshall Rimmer (who has been oozing all over the office this week).

Zeouterlimits was first with the news of an overview article at Wired – Chris Kohler took a look at the handling of the Defiant Map Pack, and what this might mean for the future of the Halo franchise. Worth a read (and not just because it has quotes from me)!(Louis Wu 19:39:00 UTC)

GhaleonEB has written up a new piece for Forward Unto Dawn – Full Spectrum Firefight is a critical analysis of the current Firefight offerings in Reach’s Matchmaking system. While it outlines some of the biggest problems the current playlists have, it also suggests some really solid solutions. Go give it a read!(Louis Wu 19:35:36 UTC)

Some goodies for you in today’s Comm Chatter offerings at Bungie.net:

• IGN’s Top 10 Reach Kills for the week of May 4 is live – some very nice moments.
• Raaascal offers you a chance to have your Forge creation spotlighted – read the guidelines to get in the queue!
• Queso Man released his 9th montage… that’s a lot.

Go see!(Louis Wu 19:32:32 UTC)

Now you’re thinking with teleportals!

overdoziz stopped in with a video entitled ‘Portal: Reach‘. It is what it sounds like. (He’s got links to how it was accomplished, as well – congrats to x 7revorBlack x for the very cool end product.)(Louis Wu 18:44:39 UTC)

The Smithsonian Institution has announced the winners for its upcoming exhibition, The Art of Video Games – the website seems a little broken right now, but the full breakdown of the winners is available in PDF format from this page. Congratulations, Bungie! Halo 2 won the Era 5 Xbox section. Thanks to kornman00 for the heads-up.(Louis Wu 18:22:09 UTC)

Rockslider’s been playing on Silent Cartographer. With big, nasty creatures. Go see.(Louis Wu 16:44:47 UTC)

If you want a good sense of how big Halo vehicles are, in relation to craft you might be more familiar with, check out Bry’s latest post. Very, very cool stuff.(Louis Wu 16:44:25 UTC)

kornman00 dropped by to announce that Halomods is reopening – and they’re looking for folks who want to be a part! Check it out. (Louis Wu 16:42:39 UTC)

Finders keepers.

Behold the power of Cheese.

Map quest.

The best of the best multiplayer kills.

Win some Halo nameplates!

For your daily dose of gorgeous, Hedgemony brings you a BOB in a pond. Wow.(Louis Wu 14:57:29 UTC)

Ever wish you could play some of the fun gametypes Bungie’s put into Matchmaking, but that don’t have easily reproducible features? FyreWulff has kicked off the MM Maps/Gametypes Repository Project – you can find links to stuff like Hot Potato, Alpha Zombies, and Speedflag, along with many others! The site is pretty bare-bones at the moment – but the content’s there, which is what’s important. Presentation will improve soon. (Speaking of Hot Potato… check out HOG Potato, a variant created by FyreWulff himself. Get points for riding in the ‘Hog… but be aware that it will explode, randomly (as the bomb does in Hot Potato).) Awesome stuff! Update: FyreWulff points out that Hog Potato is in Action Sack – it’s not his. It’s still awesome, though, and you should grab a copy! (Louis Wu 14:56:42 UTC)

DMFanella picked up where Bones153 left off – and wrote up his experience with his and Bones’ Endure Challenge, set forth last week. Enormous numbers of pictures… it’s an entertaining read. Check it out! (Louis Wu 14:55:24 UTC)

Rampancy.net has posted Episode 22 of their Anger, Sadness, and Envy podcast – this one goes through ONI Sword Base, the second campaign level of Halo: Reach. Blackstar and Narcogen run through the level and discuss gameplay, similarities to older games, and more! Go watch. (Louis Wu 14:54:26 UTC)

Chris101b noticed a video showing off videogame play (including Reach) on a huge (56 foot) screen in a bowling alley. Sounds like fun! (Louis Wu 14:47:47 UTC)