Scotty noticed that Xbox.com has a new page up for Halo 3: ODST… and while it’s sparse on info, it DOES contain a release date: September 30, 2009. Drops nicely into the ‘Fall 2009’ range we’ve had up until this point, and it’s coming from the game’s publisher, so it’s got a decent amount of credibility. More if we hear it!(Louis Wu 16:16:28 UTC)

Not long after we started hosting the Aesthetic Artist Interviews, which provide insight into the personality and trade secrets of Halo screenshot masters, we were contacted by RandomSauce, the man behind the ever-fascinating Halo 3 Mythbusters movies, wondering if we’d be interested in hosting a similar series that focused on Halo video specialists. We’re always happy to provide a home for high-quality fan creations – so we said yes, of course. The first interview in the new Director Dialogues series is now online – go read about Phurion, a grand master of Halo montages. We hope to bring you a new interview every Thursday! (Louis Wu 13:21:32 UTC)

Gravemind (who’s been known for writing monster articles (1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5) before) stopped in with a huge (35,000 words) article explaining how he’d make a Halo game if he had the chance. Agree, disagree… you have to admit, it’s pretty in-depth. There seems to be some sort of formatting issue with the original document, making some parts hard to read – so for now, we’ve mirrored the content. You should definitely follow the links back to the original to add your own comments, though. (Louis Wu 13:16:24 UTC)

Vociferous has penned another rich article at Ascendant Justice – weaving together tidbits from games and books to provide a cohesive picture of Thel ‘Vadam, the Elite soldier who eventually became the Arbiter we know in Halo 2 and 3. It does a great job of providing background for the motivations that would lead this character to become what we see in the games – and summarizes relevant info from The Cole Protocol, for those who either skipped the book or need a refresher on the details. As always, a fantastic read. Thanks to Stingra for noticing.(Louis Wu 13:10:13 UTC)

Hawty McBloggy found a very cool picture that was created as a wedding present for a pair of Halo fans – check it out!(Louis Wu 13:07:08 UTC)

Pyrosmile Productions posted the next episode of Master Chief Theater 3000 – this one covers the cutscene from Assault on the Control Room. (There’s a post on their website that explains what happened to Silent Cartographer.)(Louis Wu 13:05:22 UTC)

Couple of late-posted movies at BUngie.net yesterday – another screenshot montage, this time from A Deaf Boy, containing shots grabbed in April… and a pretty crazy-looking puzzle map with lots of death traps (and a video showing you how to get through them). It looks pretty danged hard even WITH the tutorial… (Louis Wu 13:04:15 UTC)