Bungie writes:

"The Bungie E3 Strike Team dropped into Los Angeles and cut a brutal swath of destruction that began with the Microsoft Keynote and didn't end until the final throes of the Electronic Entertainment Expo this past Thursday. Any press outlet that mustered up enough courage to request hands-on time with Halo 3: ODST was rewarded for their bravery with no mercy and lashing roundhouse kicks. Oh, and plenty of hand-on time.

For a recap of all the Bungie E3 action, go ahead and get into some of the Post Carnage we've compiled in our blog. There are already dozens of early impressions, including a good number of hands-on videos and some written analysis of what we've been putting on display.

We also tried to deliver the good right here on Bungie.net for you. We know that plenty of you couldn't attend E3 in person and we didn't want you to feel left out in the cold, so we compiled heaps of Halo 3: ODST news and plenty of early intel to help keep you warm. Go ahead and wrap yourself up in the comforting folds of our Halo 3: ODST Project Page."
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Bungie writes:

"Our E3 Strike Team is being deployed and confirmed fully operational. Some of the more astute among you have already had eyes on some of the groundwork that's already been laid to set the stage for their arrival. If you're scratching your helmet-less little head right now, head over to GameTrailers and get yourself briefed. You'll find a brief shot of some of the booth assets that frame what we'll be putting on display and a little nugget of information dropped by Tricia Helfer, the actress who plays Dare in Halo 3: ODST. (Actually, that is the nugget of information.)

For those who can't make it to Los Angeles to check out the coverage in person, don't worry, we'll save you a seat right here at Bungie.net. See you on Monday."
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These lists are based on global unique users connected to Xbox Live or in the case of Arcade and Community Games, full versions purchased during the week.

Xbox 360 Top Live Titles (based on UU's):
1 Halo 3
2 Call of Duty: WaW
3 Call of Duty 4
4 Gears of War 2
5 GTA IV
6 UFC 2009 Undisputed Demo
7 FIFA 09
8 UFC 2009 Undisputed
9 Left 4 Dead
10 Fallout 3

Top Arcade Titles (Full Versions purchased):
1 Castle Crashers
2 Peggle
3 Hasbro Family Game Night**
4 Worms
5 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1989 Classic Arcade
6 UNO
7 Star Trek: D•A•C
8 The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai
9 Gel
10 Banjo-Tooie
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ReconLIVE.net will be hosting a free FFA tournament for anyone in the Halo 3 community on Saturday, May 30th!

Prizes include:
First place: $20.00
Second place $20.00

All prize money is used on the brand new Amazon.com Xbox Live Arcade store!

Settings:
Gametype: FORGE, Slayer.
Settings: First player to 25 kills wins. NO time limit. NO radar.
Starting Weapon: Assault Rifle.

This tournament will be hosted in FORGE mode to utilize Live Streaming.

We hope to see you all on Saturday!
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Bungie writes:

"No meandering wordplay about the meaning of time or the results of our science projects in the opening of the update this week. Today, we're all business. And while we know you really want to read all about Halo 3: ODST, and that another week without any new information or even a meager progress report might feel like a kick right in the eye socket, trust us, we feel your pain.

That said, the proverbial gag order is going to get lifted soon. It might even coincide with a certain electronic expo slated to kick off in the very near future. While we can't get into the details of what, if anything, we'll be putting on public display, we can say that we're sending a small but agile strike force into the field. Keep your eyes to the skies.

For those sticking with the present tense, we have some June Matchmaking news, an update on Render-to-Video's beta progress, and a new screenshot contest poised to give you yet another shot at Recon armor."
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OXM UK reports that Halo 3 is currently outselling Killzone 2, some 20 months after Bungie's landmark FPS was released.

Sales data shows that in the battle of the console FPS exclusives, Killzone 2 sold 58,000 units last month while Halo 3 sold "between 57,000 and 74,000 units."
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Microsoft Australia have today announced that the Xbox 360 "Game of the Year" bundle will be coming to Australian retailers from the 28th of May. The Game of the Year bundle includes Halo 3 and Fable 2, with the Xbox 360 Elite sku (which already includes a 120gb HDD, wireless controller, headset and HDMI cable). The bundle will be offered at the same price as the current standalone console.
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Bungie writes:

"Why hello there. Glad you decided to drop in again. We do enjoy the company and we've got some words ready, just for you."
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Bungie writes: The Render-to-Video service has been on the community's mind since we mentioned its existence some months back. Each and every update we published that didn't include news about the planned rendering service was met with Private Messages wanting to know what was up. The answer was always the same, "We're working on it." We still are. But we're also ready to see how it performs in the wild.
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These lists are based on global unique users connected to Xbox Live or in the case of Arcade and Community Games, full versions purchased during the week.

Xbox 360 Top Live Titles (based on UU's):
1 Halo 3
2 Call of Duty: WaW
3 Call of Duty 4
4 Gears of War 2
5 UFC® 2009 Undisputed Demo
6 GTA IV
7 FIFA 09
8 Left 4 Dead
9 Fallout 3
10 RESIDENT EVIL 5

Top Arcade Titles (Full Versions purchased):
1 Space Invaders Extreme
2 Hasbro Family Game Night**
3 Castle Crashers
4 Banjo-Tooie
5 Peggle
6 Worms
7 ARKANOID Live!
8 Cyber Troopers Virtual On Oratorio Tangram
9 UNO
10 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1989 Classic Arcade
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Producer Jerry Bruckheimer has picked up Jim Veevaert, the lead exec behind the Halo franchise, and Ubisoft Senior VP of publishing Jay Cohen to run Jerry Bruckheimer Games Studio as leads of production and development.
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Bungie teases:

"Well whaddaya know, next time is right around the corner. Set phasers for this weekend. But we're not going to do the same old, same old. Instead of laying out the rules and guidelines right here so you can rush off and get started straight away, we're going to release the details you'll need sometime over the course of the weekend. That means you'll need to keep your eyes peeled on our frontpage, pick up the transmission when it goes live, and pay close attention to the rules and regulations.

Don't worry, it won't be hidden or cryptic. You won't need to decipher any secret codes or fish out any buried information. If you're interested in participating, you'll see a fresh news item pop into our feed with all the details you need. (That rhymed.)

In the interim hold tight, fire up some Halo 3, and get your relax on. We'll do the same. It's been real nice chattin' with you. Stay safe and stay tuned. Oh, and do something nice for your mom this weekend. It's Mother's Day this Sunday. Tell her we said wassup. We out."
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GamePolitics writes: we've covered Chaffetz for his Rock Band duet with Stephen Colbert. The Republican Congressman is also an active Twitter user (jasoninthehouse) and just a tad to the right of Attila the Hun.

Chaffetz is nothing if not a good sport. He quickly followed up with a private tweet and we couldn't help but laugh "I suck at Rock Band. Best if I stick to Halo"

By the way, Chaffetz isn't kidding about his Rock Band suckitude.
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"Here & There" map, created by Schulze & Webb ltd. has created a horizon-less map of Manhattan.
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ReconLIVE.net will be a hosting a free 3v3 Team Slayer Tournament on Saturday, May 16th!

Prizes for the first place winning team will be $15.00 dollars each to spend on the brand new Xbox Live store at Amazon.com!

We're trying to build a great new community for Halo 3 tournaments and would love to have anyone and everyone join.
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Slim30 stopped in with word of Lost Levels Episode 6 - this mashup of Dead Space, Halo 3, and live footage is an interesting piece of work. Nearly 10 minutes long.
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Killzone 2 has sold over 200,000 copies in the UK, with Halo 3 finally reaching 1 million sold for Microsoft's Xbox 360.

In the latest ESPLA sales awards (March 2009, April's results have yet to be announced), the PlayStation 3 exclusive Killzone 2 has been awarded the Gold Award. This means that as of the end of March, the game has sold over 200,000 copies in the country.

All the results, including MGS4 and GTA4 are after the link.
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This is will be our fourth tournament after launching our brand new Halo 3 tournament website, www.ReconLIVE.net! We will be hosting this Double Team tournament on Saturday, May 2nd completely free of cost!

First place prize winners will receive $20.00 each to use on Amazon.com's brand new Xbox Live Store.

We're trying to build a great new community for Halo 3 tournaments and would love to have anyone and everyone join.
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The Mythic Map Pack is having quite an effect on the popularity of Halo 3 over the last few weeks, as it is once again the No. 1 most played game on Xbox LIVE for the week of April 20th.
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