Halo fan Mike McDermott created a 3d paper Master Chief using a program called PePaKuRa. For more images, check his Deviant Art page. Story from Kotaku.

Tyson "Ferrex" Green has written up the first part of a three-part series on working in Forge, Halo 3's in-game editor. You'll apparently be able to call on a startling variety of objects in the editor; although you won't be able to change map geometry, you'll be able to add objects so large that they will, effectively, change the flow of the map.

And, of course, it's not just editing, it's also a play mode:

Adowaki has done a speedrun through Wideload's Stubbs the Zombie, on the Insane difficulty. Check out part one and part two.

While many Halo fans are trying to keep themselves off the Internet to avoid spoilers, I've had trouble getting on it-- the new DSL line is installed, but not yet working, and the old line decided to go on vacation for the past 24 hours. With that in mind, here's a summary of the news in that time:

Cinema Blend Games has a series of pieces by Steve West they're calling their Halo 3 Primer. It covers:

Jason "Gravemind" Goodman (also known as ShadowoftheVoid) has written up part one in a series on the history of medium-range weapons in the Halo series, this one focusing on the recent nerf of the Covenant Carbine between the Halo 3 beta and now.

Hawty McBloggy compiled a list of top ten things to do while Xbox Live is down, (it's back up already) while GameDaily has a list of top ten things to do before Halo 3 comes out.

Tex went to pay off the last installment of her Halo 3 Legendary Edition preorder and got a couple of unexpected surprises: the early arrival of the new Halo 3-themed wireless controllers, and a special Halo 3 bracelet given out to GameStop employees. Check the Queen of the Hill blog for photos.

HBO is announcing the winners of their latest Seven on Seven contest. This last competition was to put the Master Chief into an older Bungie game. The seven winners get free downloads of Freeverse's Marathon:Durandal from Xbox Live Arcade.

XerxdeeJ at Tied the Leader interviews the Master Chief himself, Steve Downes, for the second time. Head right on over and download it!

TheBest32 writes that the transcription of the piece Earth City from Halo 2 that he was arranging for two pianos will be a little later than he expected-- but still out before Halo 3. I'm guessing most things that don't get done before Halo 3 won't end up getting done until a good while after Halo 3. At least 15 hours later, anyway.

MR2NoShoes writes a long post in the HBO forum about how he was a Mac-using Marathon fan who drifted out of the Bungie community after the MS buyout, only to find himself roped back in by winning an Xbox. His return was solidified by attendance at a hush-hush backroom Bungie party at PAX. Check out the post for the sort-of sordid details.

Tex did a calculation over at Queen of the Hill to find out exactly how much her Halo obsession costs. The grand total? $2098 and change. Yowza.

HBO is running another Seven on the Seventh contest; the prize this time is Marathon: Durandal, the XBLA conversion of the Bungie classic by Freeverse. To enter the contest, draw a picture of the Master Chief having "wacky adventures" in older Bungie games. See HBO for the complete rules.