The fastest in the pack gets the prize.

Reclaimer is back after a brief hiatus. If you need to get caught up, hit the archives. Otherwise, it's full speed ahead with episode 241.

Reclaimer 241 - Race

Oonsk inspired.

Looks like there's always been faces hiding in you Halo. You just never noticed. Halo 3 Screenshots did. Thanks to HBO for the heads up. Get it? Heads up?

Top Ten Halo 3 Screenshots: Faces

Bug Problems.

Looks like Steve and the squad are about to have big bug problems. This one's all set up. I assume the punchline is coming soon.

Chronicles of ODS Steve: Bug Problems (#61)

Jump back in.

Looks like we've got a bit of a blip on the Xbox LIVE side of things. We're being assured that things are being sorted. Sit tight.

UPDATE: Things got sorted. Go play.

Return of the King.

Looks like MLG is ready to drop the first details of their 2010 Pro Circuit. Halo 3 is back along with some other games you've probably never heard of. Details below. Full line up after the jump.

"The 2010 Major League Gaming Pro Circuit is here. We know that you’re as excited as we are to kick off the next chapter of MLG’s storied history. A lot has changed this year, but what won’t ever change is that MLG remains gaming’s ultimate proving ground, where the world’s top pros and talented amateurs battle for the most coveted prize in gaming: The title of MLG Champion.

2010 features some exciting new announcements: The return of fighting games to the Pro Circuit; the addition of MW2 as an official online Pro Circuit Title; the return of Halo with increased stipends for the top players, as well as the return of both the PC Circuit and the EA Sports Challenge Series.

So buckle up, check out the info below, and be sure to stop back in the coming weeks for additional announcements!

Five Cities, Thousands of Competitors, One Dream
The 2010 Pro Circuit will be landing in five cities across the country. There will be four regular season competitions, followed by the National Championships. We’re happy to bring you the first two cities and dates below:

Pro Circuit Stop 1
ESPN Wide World of Sports at Disney World
Orlando, FL
April 16-18

Pro Circuit Stop 2
Columbus Convention Center
Columbus, OH
June 4-6

Stay tuned for the announcement of the remaining three cities and dates!

Return of the King
Halo 3 is entering its third season on the Pro Circuit, and 2010 promises to bring tougher competition than ever. With the addition of the Doritos Pro-Gaming Combine, there will be a total of nine Halo 3 competitions this year – and they all build up to one final showdown at the National Championships.

* Registration for MLG Orlando opens March 16 at 7pm ET
* The top 16 ranked teams overall will hold pro status
* Increased stipends for all pro players
* Over $500,000 in season prizes. Full prize list
* Full integration with the Doritos Pro-Gaming Combine, making a total of nine Halo 3 live competitions in 2010
* The first Halo 3 Online Qualifier will be for MLG Columbus, and will help players boost their seed at all live competitions. Online Qualifier competition starts on March 29. Registration opens March 15.
* More info coming soon!"

MLG Announces First 2010 Pro Circuit Details

Press your luck, Halocharts challenge style!

The Firefight Challenge Team at Halocharts.com has put together yet another challenge to test your meddle, tax your skills and press your luck.

"This challenge pushes you to take the fight to the invading Covenant forces in a hard-hitting, highly explosive manner. This challenge takes place on Alpha Site and is played on Heroic or Legendary difficulty only...

Rack up those multi-kills along the with all the other required objectives laid out on the challenge page to earn some nice and shiny awards for your Halocharts player page... If you think you got what it takes to do better than what we've dished out, play the challenge as prescribed and take a shot at completing the three bonus objectives that we've put out there to earn even more player page love. Of course if you've got some kind of monster ability in Firefight, there is always the highly coveted, and rarely awarded "Helljumper Awards". Jump over to Halocharts.com to check out all the challenge specifics and let's see if you're really as good as the ego you like to sport around with suggests.

Make sure you watch your back and do your best not to get caught in the crossfire."

Jump: http://halocharts.com/grouppages.php?group_id=3703&page=HCFFC4AlphaStrife

Party of one.

Okay, so it might be a little more than five minutes, but we're rolling out the MLG FFA playlist real soon. Like today soon. While you wait, read up on this short list of playlist details or head over to Major League Gaming for all the details.

MLG rules and variants for Free For All games.

6-8 Players
Max Party Size:  1
All DLC Required.

Gametypes

• MLG FFA - Slayer, unlimited scoring. Battle Rifle starts. Player traits: 90% Shield Recharge Rate, 110% Damage, 110% Player Movement Speed. 10 minute match time limit.

Maps

• MLG Citadel FFA
• MLG Guard FFA
• MLG Heretic FFA
• MLG Ldown FFA
• MLG Reactor FFA

Best. Soundtrack. Ever.

Yup, IGN's still cranking away at their Top 10 Halo 3 Kills. And yup, the series still has the best damn soundtrack of any Top 10 I've ever come across. Check it out.

Halo 3, Top 5 Plays - Episode 8.

WatchThis!Gaming wants you to watch their Top 5 Halo 3 plays. You should. It's pretty good.

Oni Alpha.

HBO tipped us off last night that MCT3K dropped their latest episode. Drop back into New Mombasa and prepare to laugh.

"Chief and Arbiter have fun watching cutscenes from the ONI Alpha Site level."

Probing images.

There's something out there. In our community files collection. The evidence is undeniable.

Tag: UFO

Monday morning montage!

How could we start the week off without a montage? This one's pretty spiffy, though the soundtrack's a bit, uh...high energy. Still, the plays are great and they span multiple gametypes from custom to pro play.  Check it out.

Brokeback Time.

Halo 3 Screenshots can't quit you. Last Friday they prepped a whole mess of new media assets. Check it out.

Top Ten Halo 3 Screenshots: Brokeback Time

Catch the disease!

Red vs Blue's contagious Assault-like sport.

Category: Double EXP Weekend
4 Players Per Team
Max Party Size: 8
Heroic and Mythic 1 Map Packs Required
Updated 8/06/09

Gametypes

• Grifball (55%) - Teams vie over a bomb, attempting to plant and detonate the bomb on the other team's arm point. Players spawn with Gravity Hammers and Energy Swords. Player traits: No grenades,  infinite ammo, 200% damage and no shields. Ball carrier traits: Orange forced color, 2x shields and 150% movement speed. Assault bomb arms instantly, and one successful detonation ends the round. Team with the highest score after five rounds wins. Three minutes per round.
• Mayan Grifball (20%) - Players have 110% move speed. Ball carrier has 150% move speed.
• Grifball Up There (15%) - Bomb reset time is 10 seconds.
• Aerial Grifball (10%) - Players have 75% gravity and 100% move speed. Ball carrier has 50% gravity and 100% move speed. Bomb reset time is 10 seconds.

Maps

• Grifball Court (Foundry) - Variant of Foundry made specifically for Grifball tournament play.
• The Grif Cave (Sandbox) - Grifball in Sandbox's crypt.
• Chichen Itza (Sandbox) - Grifball court styled in the fashion of an ancient arena.
• Ultim8 Grifball (Sandbox) - Get it? With the 8 there, it's like saying  "ultimate." Whoever came up with that should do stand up because they're, like, hilarious and stuff!
• Grifball High (Sandbox) - Grifball in Sandbox's skybubble.
• Grifball Naught (Sandbox) - "How did I get into the game before the map?"

Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.

HBO found this nice little video with some upward mobility. Looks like Anakade systematically scouted out all of the tallest buildings in New Mombasa and the proceeded to make each and every one his -blam!-. Up, up, and away!

Miley Cyrus meets Halo 3.

Well, I bet they already met and Halo 3 was all, "Sorry gurl, I'm M-rated. Gonna need to talk to your parents." And then Billy Ray Cyrus was there and he did this funny little dance and Halo 3 was all like, "lol."

(Check out some spoilerific fan-crafted lyrics set to a popular Miley Cyrus song over at hawty McBloggy.)

Escapin’ From the A-R-K

Act 1, Scene 4.

Oops! We forgot to mention this great machinima HBO dug up over the weekend. Forgive me? Lemme know in ten minutes.

Dig your toes in.

For this week's Tag and Release, we dug into the sandy slopes of Sandbox. Our dig turned up more than a few gems and we've polished six of 'em up and put 'em on display for your viewing pleasure below. Check out the collection by scrolling southward.

Tag: Sandbox

Reeeeeeeeeeeeeeemix!

Whoa. HBO came across this kick ass YouTube remix of the Halo theme. Turn your headphones up and get ready for a whole heaping pile of Monday morning audio glory. I gotta get Marty to let us remix some stuff officially!

The key to our existence.

DigitalPh33r drops the latest "One Life Remaining." Looks like Anthony's got a date. She wants to come up. Adult themes and humor. You know the deal.

"Anthony panics at the apartment about his imminent date with Kathryn."

You killed Flipyap!

Got a picture of his last moments too, courtesy of Halo 3 Screenshots. Stop by the site to check out last week's offerings.

Top Ten Halo 3 Screenshots: Grunts

In the Zone.

HBO's FyreWulff continues to make progress on his Firefight Friday web app. If you want to get your ODST on, he's made it easy. Just hit the link below and schedule your drop.

Firefight Friday: Bunker Hill

Wait for the cream.

The basterds who call themselves Team Scoog got all inglorious on that ass and made a merciless mashup montage using footage from a recent Tarantino offering and their recent Halo 3 exploits. Check this out. It's awesome. (Adult Content.)



YouTube - Bearin Yooden

Hawty McBloggy says you suck at machinima.

She says you're old, busted, and washed up. Says everything that was ever good about the community set sail for the Undying Lands in an gilded age that moved on long ago. As evidence, she says this series is the best you have to collectively offer.

Clyde & Roy, the Halo Bobbleheads

Competitive-minded custom map madness.

Whoa. MLG popped in to let us know that their kick ass community lovingly crafted twelve brand spankin' new community maps. Ready to get your competitive game on? Get 'em while they're hot.

"Over the past five months, the guys from MLG's Halo 3 Forge Forum have put together a map pack you're sure to enjoy. Over 20 forgers came together to provide their talent and input, and the result is some truly amazing maps. The pack features 18 quality maps created on Foundry and Sandbox with competitive play in mind. There has been an immense amount of work put into this map pack by the MLG community, and it shows. In the thread linked below, you'll find descriptions of each map, a listing of the supported gametypes, as well as screenshots galore. For your convenience, there's also a direct link to download the maps below."

For more information on the Maps and Screenshots, click here: http://www.mlgpro.com/forum/showthread.php?t=298031
 
The Halo 3 Forge Forum Map Pack File Share