It’s time for another Community Spotlight – and another batch of files in Bungie Favorites. This week: it’s ODST 4th Battalion, a Bungie.net group with almost 1000 members. Swing by to see what sort of Halo gaming they like – and then check out their stuff in Bungie Favorites!(Louis Wu 19:38:06 UTC)

Devin Olsen ran across a bundle on a Swedish website that includes a 60GB 360, a copy of Halo 3, and a copy of Halo Wars, all for 2795 kr (about $350 US). That’s not a bad deal! (The same company sells the 60 GB Xbox 360 by itself for $300, the same price as it is in the US.) And according to SketchFactor, it’s even legit – though it will only be available in Europe.(Louis Wu 19:30:27 UTC)

Heh – this was a funny little quote I ran across; it’s got Halo relevance, so I figured it was worth posting. Nathan Fillion (Firefly, Serenity, and of course Halo 3) was discussing his upcoming role in a new animated series of ‘Wonder Woman’… and had some wise words to say about Halo:

I’m a Halo guy. The Bungie folks were kind enough to have me do a voice for Halo 3. So there’s nothing like sitting down to a nice game of Halo and shooting at myself. I like to get online, and the reason I like it is I’ve got a lot of friends in Canada and New York, all over Los Angeles and at great distances. Sometimes I take off for months at a time to go work, and my social time is on that box. You put on a little headset and unwind with your friends. You hang out, you laugh, it’s good times. And when it’s all done, you don’t have to send anybody home. No one’s drunk all your beer. You just say, ‘Good night, I’m going to bed,’ and it’s off and it’s done.

The man’s got his priorities straight. (Louis Wu 19:00:51 UTC)

According to 1UP.com, Ensemble is already looking at downloadable content for Halo Wars – and the game’s still a month from release. (There are ‘no definite plans yet’, before anyone goes TOO crazy.)(Louis Wu 18:56:19 UTC)

Some guys decided to screw around in a Grifball match… and were amused when the other team joined in. Check out the results in this video – highlighted today on the Bungie Blog.(Louis Wu 18:45:48 UTC)

Over at PopMatters, there’s an interesting critique of Halo 3 – the main premises seem to be that 1) the best way to win is to exploit the (always-present) weakness in your opponent’s weapon of choice, and 2) anyone, of any skill level, can get kills in any game, due to the inherent strengths and weaknesses of the weapons, and the concept of ‘randomized dominance’ (in some situations, some weapons are almost always dominant). I certainly know many players who would disagree with these points – or parts of them – but I have to say, it’s worth a read. (Louis Wu 15:16:01 UTC)

It was hard to beat Hawty’s heads-up about the latest ODS Steve episode – she sent it along two hours before the strip was actually live. That said, there’s a thread on our forum, started by the light show, which might prove fun over time… (Louis Wu 15:13:56 UTC)