Macs are big in Japan; Apple's svelte and stylish laptops have been doing well there since the PowerBook 140. To say that video and computer games are big in Japan is probably something of an understatement.

Cortana has been nominated, along with other curvaceous videogame characters, to be Cyber Vixen of the Year. Editor's Note: Why now, and not in 2001 when Halo launched, is really beyond us. Maybe on PC titles qualify, not console ones, or maybe she's been nominated for her as-yet-unseen performance in Halo 2.

Rockslider has posted in the HBO forum about a new scenario for generating megabattles in Halo in the Fun and challenges section of his site; it details using an early stolen Banshee in Assault on the Control Room to generate a situation he calls the spiral path megabattle. The end result is a conflict between 50 or so Covenant ground troops and you, supported by Marines. Cool!

The New York Times has put up an article on how true innovation is lacking in today's videogames-- but holds up Halo as an exception to the rule. Editor's Note: Free registration required, or use the login/pass rampancy/rampant.

Part Five of the series on realism in Halo is up over at The Junkyard. In this one, Captain Roy Luthan (still not his real name) covers one of my favorite levels, Assault on the Control Room. Thanks Ryan "Mhaddy" Matthews for the heads-up.

FrogBlast makes an appearance (sort of) and Baby Master Chief gets a Halo 2-style makeover in the latest Halo Babies comic. Thanks mrsmiley.

Dolbex has published a wrap-up of MLG San Fransisco, won by Team "Yesss!" over on the MLG Site. It's entitled I Left My Controller In San Fransisco.

HSE, or Halo Server Extensions, has been announced for "almost public release". It is a framework that supports modules to extend the functionality of Halo servers. Modules currently include an Init file builder, a game type editor, a map voting feature, statistics and more. Thanks Halo Mods for the heads-up.

MacSoft has put out a patch to Halo on the Mac to keep pace with the recent update to the PC version. This one supposedly addresses issues with GeForce 6800 cards and patches to "exploitable code". Thanks Nick at Halo Mac Development for the story and HBO for hosting a list of mirrors of the patch.

mrsmiley from Halo Babies writes that the latest strip marks the end of Mister Chief. Oh no!

Louis Wu at HBO notes that the Cover Design Contest run by Blade ends today, September 9th.

The New Mombasa Classic map has been ported for use with Mac Halo. Thanks to bobindashadows for the story.

Thought PC Halo would never get patched again? Well you might think. But you weren't counting on the wonder that is Windows XP Service Pack 2 to create a remote crash possibility, did you? No. Well, after tomorrow it won't matter-- Bungie will release a hotfix for PC Halo to close this as-yet-unexploited hole.

Part IV of the series "As Real As a 'Survivor' Elimination" focusing on realism in Halo is now up over at the Junkyard. This one covers Silent Cartographer. In this part, Captain Luthan (not his real name) gives advice on handling Hunters: