[image:9067 align=left hspace=5 vspace=5 border=0] Frankie posted today in the HBO forum that the webcam image we spotted last month was, indeed, the Pippin version of Super Marathon.

Just as other sites (DailyGame, TeamXbox, SPOnG) are picking up the same rumor promulgated by a quote of Microsoft's J.

Microsoft's J. Allard commented rather off-handedly, in an article about the size of Microsoft Game Studios, that Bungie will double in size (currently 65 people) in order to work on the "next installment" of Halo. Thanks Louis Wu at HBO. (Remember, though, Allard isn't technically Bungie, even if Bungie is technically Microsoft --Ed.)

Bungie's Mat "shunji" Noguchi wonders in his blog how much of the success of endeavors like video games is a result of training, education and methodology, and how much is from unquantifiable elements like talent.

[image:9096 left hspace=5 vspace=5 border=0]Only slightly more than three years have passed since the Xbox brought Microsoft into the console wars, and the next generation, if rumors are to be believed, will be upon us by the 2005 holiday season. Ahh.. Xbox. A console of infinite games... assuming they're all made by Bungie.

Here's a look at recent items about upcoming consoles, as well as goings-on in the Bungieverse:

In the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Interactive Entertainment awards, the sequel to the PC game Half-Life beat out the sequel to the Xbox game Halo in every category in which the two games competed head-to-head, leaving Halo 2 with the only award that Half-Life 2 couldn't possibly win: best Xbox game. Thanks BDGamer.

IGN is spreading a rumor that Bungie is already hard at work on Halo 3, and that it will be timed for simultaneous release with Sony's next-generation console, the PlayStation3, just to try and steal the wind out of Sony's sails. A nice idea, but not much other than unnamed sources to back it up. Thanks HBO. (Pass the sodium chloride. Also, do we now have to officially start calling the Xbox a 'this-generation console'? --Ed)

Today's news summary:

The bane of my existence, the news roundup, is back again. Lodged between the rough incisors of the news roundup beast are the following remnants of its recent meals:

The nominees for the Game Developers Choice Awards of 2005 are out, and the audio team for Halo 2, including Marty "The Elder" O'Donnell, C Paul Johnson, and Jay "Man Behind the Man" Weinland are up for kudos.

A bunch of gaming-related Valentines out there: The Most Romantic Moments in Gaming from GameSpot; romance across battlefields, species, and even the periodic table in One One Se7en, and Lorraine "Mehve" McLees' old Bungie valentines retrieved for nostalgic purposes by

This week's What's What Update by Frankie focuses on bad language on XBL, downloadable content and new playlists (sounds like both are coming at the same time) and questions about what you can do with images from Halo if you run a website or blog.

Bungie manages another Humpday win, this time against HaloMods. (Corollaries to the rules predicting Humpday Challenge results: having Ferrex equals a win, but losing Frankie can also create a win, with or without Ferrex. Thanks to Louis Wu for the idea. Why does the Coagulation game summary show a screenshot from Headlong? Because those are shots of HaloMods mods --Ed.)

February 9 has now arrived, and unless you count the resumption of Bungie.net stats tracking, or the Top Story at Bungie.net about RSS and Halo.Defas.Org, then I think it's safe to say that nothing terribly exciting has happened yet, nor is it likely to.

There are those who said something would happen today. What are they to say now?