Joystiq writes: "If you enjoyed Marvel's yet-to-be-completed Halo: Uprising comic series then you may be interested in a recent announcement from Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada -- during his Cup O' Joe panel at NYCC, Quesada confirmed that Marvel will be publishing two more Halo miniseries by the end of the year. Hopefully, these two won't get bogged down by late-in-the-game story revisions and accompanying year-long delays."
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Danny Cowan from Gamasutra writes:

"Gamasutra's weekly column, "Saling The World", covers the top five sellers for every available platform in the United States, Japan, and Europe, providing an important update of sales patterns worldwide.

This week's charts, with data taken from February 5th, 2009, find Halo 3 and Call of Duty: World at War at the top of North America's Xbox 360 software sales charts, while Star Ocean: Second Evolution and Mario Kart DS drive sales on portables.

Data for "Saling The World" comes courtesy of the public sales information on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, and Amazon.co.jp, with sales split out for each platform and territory, and pre-orders disregarded. This results in a true sense of what games are selling worldwide on the real-time updated service, as follows..."
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Wired: What's the most powerful weapon you can wield when playing Halo 3 online?

I know. You can control the entire map with a battle rifle and a couple sticky grenades. But that teenybopper you just pwned has you beat with the tiny botnet he leased with his allowance money.

That's because Xbox Live gamers are increasingly turning to easy-to-use botnet software with names like "Bio Zombie Booter" to exact lingering revenge on their online foes, reports Christopher Boyd at SpyWareGuide.com
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Halo 3's new expansion the Mythic Map Pack is almost upon us and we've got two screenshots from it to show you, thanks to T3.com ... » Read More

Gamer nerds rejoice! These are pictures of a functioning, full-size replica of the Warthog, popularized by the video game Halo. Built in Peter Jackson's Weta Workshop, near Wellington, New Zealand, the vehicle will be touring around promotional events and conventions in New Zealand, and possibly elsewhere.
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Speaking to VideoGamer.com at a recent London press event, Halo Studio lead producer Jason Pace revealed that the newly formed Microsoft Game Studio is willing to use the Halo brand in new genres, but only if it makes sense.

So where exactly could we see the iconic Master Chief appearing? Pace wasn't saying, but he did confirm that you'll never see the great man in a dancing game.
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Halo Studio lead producer Jason Pace has told VideoGamer.com that Microsoft sees the Halo franchise as its Star Wars, and hopes it will become just as prevalent in pop culture as the George Lucas conceived phenomenon.
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Videogamer: "Microsoft has announced that the Halo 3 Mythic Map Pack is to be released on Xbox LIVE Marketplace on March 3, 2009, one week after the DLC makes its debut inside the Halo Wars Limited Collector's Edition.

The three maps included in the pack are Sandbox, Assembly, and Orbital. A copy of Halo 3 is required to play the new maps."
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In an email sent to none other than hiphopgamer, Aaron Greenberg admits Sony is competition. The email reads
"Hey man..."
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Bungie writes:

"Fresh off last week's comprehensive Halo 3: ODST intelligence dump, we're dialing back the briefings once again to the tiny trickle of information you've become accustomed to. Those who clamored for the one-off update to end all updates might find that their once-full canteen could have been slowly supped during the long and bleak walk through a desert that now stretches to the blinding horizon. Fall is a long way off.

But do not despair. We're going to drop a few waypoints from time to time to guide you along your journey. Points of interest to hold you over as you place one foot after the other along your dogged march into uncharted lands. We'll use the shade of these small oases to provide you, our loyal, wayfaring travelers, with as much respite as we can as you trudge along with us, heading forward unto dawn.

Daybreak looms on the horizon."
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When Ensemble Studios' real-time strategy game Halo Wars is released in the U.S. on March 3, the Limited Collector's Edition will include a code to download the Mythic Map Pack, a collection of three new multiplayer maps for Halo 3. To date, Bungie and Microsoft have been fairly quiet about what those new areas will contain.

But Microsoft and Bungie are now dealing out some solid intel about the Mythic Map Pack. IGN now knows the names of the maps, their layouts and which game types they're best suited for.
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Rumor is that the image to the left (click to enlarge), is of Sandbox. A new map from Bungie's Mythic Map Pack that is set to release with the Halo Wars Special Edition.
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Eurogamer: "Microsoft Game Studios hopes to expand the Halo franchise in "many different directions", including new genres and entertainment not game-related at all.

"We tend to view the franchise side of Halo as an entertainment property, and something that we hope to expand in many different directions: both through additional genres of gaming and additional ways to tell the story that may not be game-related at all," Jason Pace, Halo Wars lead producer and Halo franchise overseer, told Eurogamer.

"So I think it's fair to say we're always looking for new opportunities, new genres to tell the story in. And whenever we find a great fit we'll pursue it."
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OXCGN Writes:

"Saturday January 17th '09 saw one of the biggest Halo 3 events in Australia take place at the Chifley At Lennon's hotel in the centre of Brisbane.

Among the twenty four teams who attended the event were some of the most talented and skilled in the Australian Halo 3 community. They included: Best BR who came fourth at the World Cyber Games finals in Cologne, Germany last year, Nuke and Pave who were there to prove that they could go toe-to-toe with the best and come out on top, Team Evolution, who were previously ranked number two in Australia, with their new team line-up, and old-school Sydney based team, Battle Rifle Precision (BRP)."
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Major Nelson has posted a list of the activity on Xbox Live for the past week.

Xbox 360 Top Live Titles (based on UU's):
1 CoD: World at War
2 Halo 3
3 Call of Duty 4
4 Gears of War 2
5 Left 4 Dead
6 GTA IV
7 Fable II
8 FIFA 09
9 Guitar Hero World Tour
10 Madden NFL 09

Top Arcade Titles (Full Versions purchased):
1 The Maw
2 Castle Crashers
3 Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
4 Worms
5 UNO
6 A Kingdom for Keflings
7 Braid
8 Banjo-Kazooie
9 Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
10 Bomberman Live
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On January 17, gamers Desirai and John exchanged vows at their "Halo"-themed wedding with the ceremony officiated by a man dressed as Master Chief. MTV Multiplayer's editor Stephen Totilo was there to witness the nuptials firsthand in Orlando, Florida. Here's his report filed at MTVNews.com, and take a look at the video to see what the special event was like.
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Bungie writes:

"Another week has come and gone, Shishka's truck is still for sale, and for a few brief days the shining light of the Daystar glinted off the gentle waters of Puget Sound. But it's Friday, the clouds have swept back over Seattle proper prompting discussion of Vitamin D supplements, and we've got a Weekly Update ready to fill you full of our own brand of nutrition, Food Nipple style.

The word is already out that those who purchase Halo Wars LCE will be given an early chance to romp around in the Halo 3 Mythic Map Pack. If you're wondering what that experience will look like after you cut, gnaw, and tear your way through the security tape to get your golden ticket, here's a brief summary from our matchmaking maestro."
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McFarlane Toys just announced that their Halo Points program has officially launched (finally), meaning that anyone who has collected armloads of Halo action figures can redeem their cardboard points for exclusive goodies.
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Halo 3 players may have noticed a new map on rotation while playing Team Slayer. The new map is a variant of Foundry called Smashed. GamerStyle has posted up their thoughts on the map as well as screenshots.
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Hooray! Testing is finally done and over with, and if you haven't already noticed, the January Matchmaking Update has been applied.

If you missed the Weekly Update where Bungie described the changes for you, here they are again.
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