Five ways to win!

HBO tipped us off to a great giveaway in support of an even greater cause. If you're into lending a helping hand, or you just want to win some handsome prizes, hit the link below to get all the details. There's an Xbox 360 and $500 up for grabs!

Huge Reach-themed giveaway at Marissa's Bunny

Share, Inspire, Create!

If you're looking for an unofficial outlet for your Bungie All Star submission, this might be a site you want to check out. There are archives of past week's winners and galleries of non-winning submissions to pore over.

Bungie All Stars Fan Submissions

We're all about you.

We're running a lilttle behind this week, but that doesn't mean you're getting an extra day to assemble your artful submission for Bungie All Stars. Nope, this week you're going to have to step it up. That said, you might already have a head start. This week - the seventh in our All Stars run - is all about you.

1. Take a "Glamour Shot" of your current Spartan or Elite player model looking fantastically sublime or ridiculously bad ass.
2. You have from right now until Thursday, February 24th at 11:59pm PT to submit your entry for consideration to [email protected].
3. Use the subject line “Bungie All Star Week 7” (without the quotation marks).
4. The size limit for attachments is 10MB. You should include a preview image (because I'm lazy) and a link to the original in your File Share. We've given you the tools. Use 'em.
5. One submission per person. Please include your Bungie.net profile and gamertag in your email, so we can properly reward you should you win.

Here are a couple of examples I found by looking at the first page of our community files for Reach:

Carnage for Couples!

Grab your best mate and jump into some Firefight Doubles Attack. It's live just in time for Valentine's Day. You bring the chocolates and we'll supply the endless shenanigans. You complete us.

Become a Bungie.net Icon.

Even though the majority wanted this week's contest to be all about who could drink the most water in an hour, we had some significant safety concerns regarding over saturation, so we're falling back to forum avatars. If you win this week, every user on the site will be able to display your handiwork to represent their Bungie.net avatar. Here are the rules:

1. Using Bungie or Halo assets, or your own original art, create a forum avatar measuring 90 x 90 pixels (animated .gif files will be accepted).
2. You have from this very second until Thursday, February 17th at 11:59pm PT to submit your entry for consideration to [email protected].
3. Use the subject line “Bungie All Star Week 6” without the quotation marks to help me keep nice and organized.
4. Use your best judgment and discretion in terms of the nature of the content you choose to submit.
5. One submission per person. Please include your Bungie.net profile and gamertag in your email.
6. Submission to this contest implies a perpetual, cost free license for us to use your work in any way we see fit on our website.

That's it. Let's see what you can do with some significant constraints this week. Make us proud.

No rhyme this time.

Pecovam takes Lego to a whole new level, expertly painting his pieces to more accurately portray the subject matter. Check out Jorge at the jump, and check his gallery for more.

Lego Jorge Spartan-052

Wort, wort, you know the rest.

If you're sitting at home with an oiled roll of newspaper and a pair of tongs in hand, then you desperately need to stop taking me so literally. This week, you won't have to do anything out of the ordinary to earn a shot at taking top honors and earning a star nameplate. Unless you don't ordinarily take screenshots of kick ass subject matter in Halo: Reach.

Here are this week's rules:

1. Using the Halo: Reach Theater, take your best screenshot of an Elite (yes, multiple Elites are cool, too).
2. You have from this very second until Thursday, February 10th at 11:59pm PT to submit your entry for consideration to [email protected].
3. Use the subject line “Bungie All Star Week 5" (without the quotation marks).
4. The size limit is 10MB and you should use your best judgment and discretion in terms of the nature of the content you choose to submit. (No cloaca!).
5. One submission per person. Please include the screenshot itself, along with a link to your Bungie.net profile, the screenshot on Bungie.net, and your Xbox LIVE gamertag in your email.

Once again, just about anything goes. Any mode and any tone. Campaign or Firefight, funny or just plain fudging awesome - it doesn't matter. Make us bust a gut, break down and cry, or blow a hole in the back of our pants for the best shot at victory.

Good luck!

Having trouble baking that cake?

This week's Bungie All Star Challenge has led to a little bit of confusion. What is a megapixel anyway? Existential questions aside, here's a quick breakdown to help you get on track.

The dimensions can be either 1500x3500 or 3500x1500. It depends on whether your card is formatted horizontally, or vertically. See, you're ultimately going to fold it, so technically the front panel is really half the width of the layout (1750 or 750, respectively). If your design spans the entire width and doesn't account for the fold, it's going to make for an odd birthday card.

Example (Not to Scale):

<-------this is the back of the card----------3500---------this is the front of the card------------->


Fold down the center. If you want to design the interior, you'll need to create a separate image using the same parameters for the left and right interior panels. If you're still confused, hit up the local drugstore and emulate the layout of a real birthday card.

It's like Hot or Not with more MJOLNIR.

When Stosh demands an app, Stosh gets an app. Now go get him some coffee.

Rate My Spartan

Yeah, it's explicit.

The Arbiter wastes no time going forward with his idea: developing his own gaming news show; though he struggles to come up with material, a task made no easier being badgered by Master Chief.



YouTube - Arby 'n' the Chief: Duck Love

Do your homework!

Learn the secrets of the universe in this morning's Reclaimer.

Reclaimer - Apostate

Limited lives. Unlimited carnage.

In case you didn't notice, there's a new Firefight Playlist in town.



A more classic Firefight experience. Score as many points as you can but if you run out of lives it's game over.

Team Size: 4
Max Party Size: 4
Max Local Players: 2

Gametypes
FF Limited
Genny Limited
Crashsite LTD
Legendary LTD

Maps
Overlook
Courtyard
Waterfront
Corvette
Beachhead
Outpost
Glacier
Holdout

Wake me when you need me.

Hot on the heels of your magnificent Moa submissions this past Friday, we're ready to get you off and running for some Week 3 madness. And since the Animal Kingdom paid massive dividends last week, we're sticking to some similar subject matter. Your mission: a certified, Grade A Sacred Cow.

1. Using any medium you can digitize and send via email, whip up some fan art of what you think Master Chief would look like without his helmet on.
2. You have from this very second until Thursday, January 27th at 11:59pm PT to submit your entry for consideration (and public ridicule) to [email protected].
3. Use the subject line “Bungie All Star Week 3” without the quotation marks to help me keep nice and organized.
4. The size limit is 10MB and you should use your best judgment and discretion in terms of the nature of the content you choose to submit. After all, our mothers visit this site (yours too!).
5. One submission per person. Please include your Bungie.net profile and gamertag in your email so we can grant you your reward of the star nameplate if and when you win.

You can go with a super serious straight take, or go straight for the funny bone. If you want to build John out of Forge blocks, that works too. Anything goes (except, you know, that). And don't worry about what you think Bungie originally had in mind for John, now's the time for your creativity to shine. Oh, and this week we're rewarding more than just one nameplate, so don't be intimidated by the awe-inspiring artisans of the Bungie Community. We'll be looking to highlight submissions from multiple categories, provided there's enough submissions to accommodate our aspirations.

Good luck!

Oh my God, this is so exciting!

HBO let us know that Season 5 of Arby 'n' the Chief just went live. Master Chief and the Arbiter awaken on Christmas morning, joined by Greg the tarantula, and exchange gifts, following a jarring glimpse of events to come. (Explicit.)



YouTube - Arby 'n' the Chief - House of Cards

Better late than never.

Over at HBO, Hegemony has been pleasing Halo fans with Halo: Special Projects Division. What's a Halo: Special Projects Division? Hit the links below to find out.

Halo: Special Projects Division Pgs 1-11

Halo: Special Projects Division Pgs 12-24

Halo: Special Projects Division Pgs 25-38

Halo: Special Projects Division Pgs 39-59

Experience the music.



LOS ANGELES, CA - The live touring sensation Video Games Live will be debuting new music from the highly acclaimed Xbox 360 exclusive video game, Halo: Reach. The Award Winning music from the latest game in the Halo series was composed by Marty O’Donnell and Michael Salvatori who have been with the franchise since the beginning. Both Marty and Michael will be in attendance at the Seattle performance of Video Games Live and are available to all ticket holders at the post-show meet & greet for autographs and pictures.

This will mark the first time that the music from Halo: Reach has been performed in front of a live audience. “It’s a real thrill and honor to have our music be a part of such a successful event like Video Games Live.” said Bungie Audio Director Marty O’Donnell, “To know that people around the world are able to experience our music live in such a creative and artistic way is very exciting for both myself and Mike.”

Video Games Live currently has over 30 tour dates on sale across the globe with 30 more shows expected to be added for 2011 (http://www.videogameslive.com/index.php?s=dates).

The world premiere of Halo: Reach will take place on Saturday, January 17, 2011 at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle, WA. New tickets for this event have just been added: http://stgpresents.org/artists/?artist=1401

To stay up to speed on Video Games Live, follow them on Twitter and friend them on Facebook!

http://twitter.com/VideoGames_Live

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Video-Games-Live/62865898389

You can never leave.

HBO noticed that Achievement Hunter noticed that you can visit Blood Gulch in Cataclysm. Wow.

Eat it, Grif!

Would you like to continue?

Firefight Arcade is up and running. Go blow up some bad guys.

1 team of 4 takes on the crazy Firefight experience. Teams have unlimited lives as they play for 15 minutes.

Team Size: 2-4
Max Party Size: 4
Max Local Players: 2

• Fistfight: (Based on Rocketfight with weapon pickup enabled, Hammers and Sword starting weapons, added 200% Damage and Melee modifier, 2 each grenade count, Player Movement 120%, enable Grunt B-day, IWHBYD and Cowbell skulls, disabled dropship, 2X Overshields, Skirmisher Bonus Round, Loadout 5 is Hologram, 5 Second Respawn, added Heretics into Waves)
• Nadefight: (Based on Rocketfight with weapon pickup enabled, Grenade Launcher and Concussion Rifle starting weapons, added 150% Damage and Melee modifier, 4 each grenade count, enable Grunt B-Day, IWHBYD and Cowbell skulls, disabled dropship, 2X Overshields, Skirmisher Bonus Round, Added Evade for Armor Lock, and Hologram for Dropshield, 5 second respawn, add Heretics)
• Rocketfight (weapon pickup enabled, add: 150% Damage and Melee Modifier, 2 each grenade count, enable Grunt B-day, IWHBYD and Cowbell skulls, disable dropships, 2X Overshields, Grunt Bonus Round, Swapped out Armor Lock for Evade, Swapped out Drop Shield for Hologram, 5 second respawn, add Heretics)
• Sniperfight (weapon pickup enabled, add: 150% Damage and Melee Modifier, 2 each grenade count, enable Grunt B-day, IWHBYD and Cowbell skulls, disable dropships, 2X Overshields, Grunt Bonus Round, Added Sprint back in and Hologram, 5 second respawn, add Heretics)
• FRGFight (based on updated Rocketfight with Fuel Rod and Needler starts)
• Plasmafight (based on updated Rocketfight with Plasma Launcher and Needle Rifle starts, and 4x Plasma grenades)

Painting pretty pictures.

Leviathan updated his webcomic, "A Fistful or Arrows" with three new pages. They are awesome. Check them out and sound off at the link below.

A Fistful of Arrows (Pages 21 - 23)

Old and new alike.

HBO sends word that Fire Team Zulu has unleashed some brand new challenges and revamped some of their existing ODST offerings. To check out all the newness, hit the link below and prepare to drop.

Fire Team Zulu

Good timing.

Looks like Grifballhub's going to be taking sign ups soon. Hit the link to read more about it. Thanks to HBO for the heads up.

Good Games League Signups Open January 21!

Step inside for all the gory details.

As of right now, our matchmaking support team has deployed two major playlist additions, introducing Arena FFA and Community Slayer, the latter of which is completely comprised of some notable Forgetacular maps. They've also made other, more minor modifications, which we've lovingly listed below. Go nuts!

PLAYLISTS

Arena

• Added FFA Arena playlist, test your might in this 6-8 player Arena
• Added Unanchored map variant to all Arena playlists
• Players can now change their votes in Arena playlists

Community Slayer

• The first of several new community playlists
• Unaltered maps made by you, the Halo community
• Play and vote. Your voting data controls what rises into the ranks of official playlists!

Team Objective

• Cleaned up entries in the Team Objective playlist, we now offer the best of the best

MLG

• Maps updated to v2.1, this includes fixes to weapon spawn times

Team Slayer

• Adjusted weightings in response to voting data, default “Team Slayer” should now be available more often

MAPS

Asylum

• Added soft kill volumes to the rocks leading up to the ledge on the right side of the Red Base (AKA, Infection camping grounds)
• Adjusted the placement of the large rock on the outside ledge of Red Sniper spawn

The Cage

• Added soft kill volumes to some lower areas outside of the intended playable space

Anchor 9

• Modified the size and shape of the center hill object to better fit the area in KOTH games

Breakpoint

• Reduced the radius of the safe haven in the greenhouse

GAMETYPES

Big Team Slayer

• Now 100 to win!

Elite Slayer

• Modified loadouts, Armor Lock is now accompanied by a Plasma Rifle instead of a Needler

Rocket Race

• Motion Tracker is now Enabled
• Hud-widget for KPH is now in the bottom center

Powerups

• In gametypes built from the latest matchmaking variants, powerups should now function as they do in Forge
• You’ll need to save off the latest game variants from your temporary history to take advantage of this!

Make haste!

Win some awesome artwork by donating money to a great cause. More details at the jump.

Awesome Games Done Quick - Coming Soon!

Blazing benevolence.

HBO tipped us that Cody Miller will be participating in 5-day Charity Speedrun Marathon to raise funds and awareness for the Prevent Cancer foundation. Cody's already known for his ability to blaze through our titles in record time (seriously, he holds a Guinness Record), so this should be quite the event to watch. Hit the jump to learn more.

Awesome Games Done Quick

Boosting? Step inside.

Nick from our Test team wanted me to clarify some full party boosting parameters for you. Seems we might have made it sound like you don't have to worry about being caught in our net of online justice as long as you're behavior is contained to a party full of players. It's actually not that simple. Here's the full story:

OKAY: Full Party Boosting

Playing with a full group where nobody is idle and everyone is running around getting kills, headshots, sticks, and sweet rejections. Nobody is AFK.

NOT OKAY - Idle Boosting

Getting into a full or partial party with guests or other Gold accounts who are not manned in order to kill AFKs. Also not acceptable is having EVERYONE AFK to attempt to get Credits for time played.

Got it? Good. As always, more nefarious behavior such as network manipulation is right out. The Banhammer catches that kind of behavior in its sleep - and it is always cranky first thing in the morning. Best to let sleeping dogs lie.

Thank you for your time and attention.