FyreWulff is offering a copy of Halo 3: ODST (clearly not to be given away for a while) in a raffle that you enter by playing a game on a custom map/gametype of his. a href=http://carnage.bungie.org/haloforum/halo.forum.pl?read=910208Swing by his post/a for full details - you won’t find an easier way to get hold of this game!
(Louis Wu 17:10:10 +0000)

Just before Christmas, B.net’s Yoozel a href=http://www.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?type=newsamp;cid=16606posted a note/a about Forgecast #5, the latest podcast from the ForgeHub team. Looks like Scotty (interviewed on the ‘cast) a href=http://carnage.bungie.org/haloforum/halo.forum.pl?read=910215let our forum know/a this morning. Swing by and grab a copy!(Louis Wu 17:06:08 +0000)

a href=http://carnage.bungie.org/haloforum/halo.forum.pl?read=910166LoneRanger 2.5/a and a href=http://carnage.bungie.org/haloforum/halo.forum.pl?read=910163Hellhawk/a were discussing a deal you can find on Xbox LIVE Marketplace - if you buy a 12-month LIVE subscription between December 23 and January 5, and pay for it online (that is, without a prepaid card), you get a free copy of the Legendary Map Pack. Not bad!(Louis Wu 17:05:30 +0000)

/pdiv align=centerspan class=xgM/span span class=xrE/span span class=xgR/span span class=xrR/span span class=xgY/spannbsp;nbsp;nbsp;span class=xrC/span span class=xgH/span span class=xrR/span span class=xgI/span span class=xrS/span span class=xgT/span span class=xrM/span span class=xgA/span span class=xrS/span span class=xg!/span/divp From the HBO crew and our families, to you and yours, we wish you the merriest of holiday seasons. Pax. We have a href=http://halo.bungie.org/misc/stuntmutt.html?type=holidayamp;image=christmas08a new Christmas Comic/a for you, from Stuntmutt… but other than that, we’re taking the day off.brbr (We’ll be back updating on Friday, the 26th.)

HSAR a href=http://carnage.bungie.org/haloforum/halo.forum.pl?read=910014rewrote a famous Simon and Garfunkel song/a with some new Halo-related lyrics. Some of the word choices are a little awkward, but the meter’s great, and overall he did a great job. Go read!(Louis Wu 14:51:09 +0000)

TruthPastor GBG let us know that the in-game Bible study he was doing (we mentioned it here back in August) has moved - if you’re interested in joining, here’s a page with all the info.(Louis Wu 14:22:22 +0000)

AvatarAang mentioned a couple of machinima links you might be interested in - if you’re a Rooster Teeth subscriber, you’ve got access to a pair of clips that were cut from the Reconstruction DVD, and the Running Gun crew has whipped up a project called ‘Paint the Line‘, as part of a 48 Hour Machinima challenge. (More info on their website.)
(Louis Wu 14:21:57 +0000)

RandomSauce let us know about a video from CO0L Beans - the man risks life and limb to promote the cause of Halo 3 MythBusters on Xbox Live. Funny stuff - but I’m telling you now, if I met him in Matchmaking, I’d still shoot him.

(Louis Wu 13:26:59 +0000)

According to the intertubes, Microsoft is forging ahead with Halo using a new internal studio. Forming the team are Ryan Payton, formerly of Kojima Productions and the producer of Metal Gear Solid 4; Corinne Yu, former technician at Gearbox; and at least two former Bungie employees: writer Frank “Frankie” O’Connor and animator Nathan “bentllama” Walpole.

Linkdump: Shacknews, Joystiq, GameSpot, GameReviews, HBO, bentllama’s HBO forum post, EDGE Online.

This formation puts Bungie’s independence in a bit sharper contrast. While Keep It Clean shows that Bungie isn’t done with Halo, it is no longer the only thing they are working on. While there were always supposedly other projects in the works while Halo games were in production, none ever reached fruition, and the Halo projects typically consumed the studio’s entire attention come crunch time.

That Bungie’s Halo project is billed as “Halo 3″, indicating an expansion rather than an entire new game, indicates that their commitment to the title will be somewhat less in the past, giving room for new developments.

Presumably the new studio will be 100% devoted to Halo. So the question will become: will fans be just as interested in Halo games not made by Bungie? Will these games be FPS, like the Halo series to date, or something else? Time will tell.

Hawty McBloggy uncovered a really cool Elite costume… but even better, she found the perfect soundtrack for it. Check it out!
(Louis Wu 17:01:52 +0000)