Story spoilers in all their panoramic splendor.

Massive story breaking spoilers inside.

I’m a leaf on the wind!

I’m a leaf on the wind!

Remember a few posts ago when I asked you to send in your best fails from our community gaming night? Ta-dah! Here are a few of them in delicious Achievement Hunter form.

We’re looking to do more videos like this, so if you have a spectacular fail, send your Bungie.net fileshare link to info@achievementhunter.com with the subject “Halo Reach FAIL!” and we’ll take a look at it.

Enjoy!

Major Nelson once again brings us information on how to get into the next Xbox Dashboard update early:

I am happy to announce that were doing an Xbox 360 System Update Preview program for our next release, and the opportunity to sign up is now available. The Preview Program will give you the chance to check out ESPN on Xbox LIVE, Zune music, Netflix search, the new Xbox LIVE dashboard, and new updates to Zune video and Family Settings on your Xbox 360*. Much like we did last year, youll need to visit the Microsoft Connect site from this link and sign in with your Windows LIVE ID that is connected to your Xbox LIVE Gamertag. Once you complete the survey that is presented to you, the Connect site will notify you immediately if youve been accepted. A couple of points before you head off to register:

* Were looking for multiple thousands of participants, so your chances of making it in are good.
* This is not for Kinect. You will not be receiving a Kinect sensor if you are chosen to participate.
* This opportunity is open to all Xbox LIVE Members in regions where Xbox LIVE is available.
* To avoid any problems, read the survey carefully and double check all the information your provide.
* While both Xbox LIVE Gold and Silver members can sign up, Priority will be given to Gold members in the selection process.

Sign up for the Xbox LIVE Update Preview Program!

Here’s a preview video of the new update:

We’ll be at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar thursday night at 7:15 for a screening of Red vs. Blue Revelation! The screening is a part of a film festival here in Austin called Fantastic Fest. Entry is open to those who have festival badges and then tickets go on sale for all remaining seating right before the scheduled start of the show. We really have no way of knowing how many seats will be available. If you are in town and are a risk taker, we’d love to see you. Details can be found here.

Allie Wester let us know about the Halo Reach Melee By The Bay Tournament – the first round takes place at participating Gamestops in the US on September 24 at 9pm (that’s tomorrow night!), with subsequent games online at GGL.com. This is a 1v1 tourney, but a 4v4 version starts in October, with signups beginning tomorrow night. Winners will share in a $15,000 prize pool. Check it out!(Louis Wu 07:57:56 UTC)

It’s been a while since we mentioned the LIVE Activity Lists – but the latest one is a bit surprising: for the week of September 13 (running Monday, September 13 through Sunday, September 19), Halo: Reach didn’t take the first position… or even the second. (These were held by Modern Warfare 2 and Halo 3, respectively.) If you have trouble understanding this, remember that this week includes 24 hours (well, maybe 36) of time when most folks didn’t have access to Reach – and that these rankings are based on unique users, so a single login on Halo 3 counts the same as a dozen logins on Reach over the course of the week. Next week should see a change in this order… Update: Looks like Major Nelson did a bad job with the math; Reach had nearly four times as many unique users as Halo 3 last week, and easily took the first slot.(Louis Wu 07:55:06 UTC)

Bungie’s posted an informational primer for The Arena, their home for competitive Halo Reach play. Go peruse the ins and outs of the system that will rate you against your peers in this king among console shooters.(Louis Wu 07:24:46 UTC)

A couple of weeks ago, we mentioned Mat Noguchi’s Gamesauce talk on keeping teams growing – the slides for that talk are now available on Bungie.net. Grab your copy!(Louis Wu 07:24:10 UTC)

Couple of new vids showed up on Bungie’s Comm Chatter yesterday: Anoj’s first Halo Reach Top 10 Countdown (“Amazing Kills”) went live, and Stewie2552’s Storm the Beach Invasion gametype got some video lovin’. Go watch ’em both!(Louis Wu 07:23:44 UTC)

RedGrimRune is showing the love with a Reach-themed comic, and a focus on community Halo tattoos! Go see.(Louis Wu 07:23:18 UTC)

BlueNinja let us know that he’s been working on a bunch of panoramas – and he built a story around them. Go look, go read!(Louis Wu 07:22:46 UTC)

One of the big changes in Reach is the fact that the Covenant speak their own languages – no more English translations. Well… almost.(Louis Wu 07:22:23 UTC)

HaloDestiny.net’s AceParty sent word that he’s reached the rank of Lt. Colonel Grade 3… and that he has no option to change that at this time. That is – advancement past this point seems to have been turned off. Fair? Unfair? Should Bungie artificially limit the rate of advancement? You decide.(Louis Wu 07:21:48 UTC)

Willy was the first to notice a GamePro article on the Science of Reach – GamePro looked at some of the tidbits of the Halo universe, and asked real scientists about their plausibility. Interesting answers!(Louis Wu 07:16:24 UTC)

Second Bungie Humpday challenge since Reach launched and who do they pick? Team HBO. HBO wins 2-1, and KP and Schooly both offer their side of the story. Get it quick before Bungie takes down the incriminating evidence. ;)(Ding 06:44:22 UTC)

Wu’s away but we still notice stuff… check out this cool video of a musician’s interpretation of the Halo theme! He has a different version that’s a little longer, but really you can’t go wrong w/ either one. Kudos!(Ding 05:27:22 UTC)