magnum76 on the Project Torlan-Nexus forum has posted an update on what is and is not acceptable to do in creating a Halo-themed mod, like theirs for Unreal Tournament; basically, it seems that extracting Halo content from PC Halo is okay, but extracting Halo 2 content from the Xbox is not. Keep in mind that the information comes from a supposed "Microsoft insider" and is not an official company statement.

Xbox365 has an image that purports to be from Relic, one of the five remaining upcoming new Halo 2 maps, described as an island map similar to Halo 1's Silent Cartographer or PC Halo's Death Island multiplayer map.

Prometheus posted a summary of the HBO Lekgolos Humpday Challenge against Bungie in the HBO forum. The clan took the first game impressively, winning 5-0 in "monosnipe" neutral flag on Coagulation. But Bungie regrouped to take the next two games and the victory. Thanks to Blackstar for the tip.

Bungie sound and music guru Marty The Elder posted today on the Marty Army site that soon we'll get more info on the second part of Halo 2's soundtrack:

I finished the Halo 2 Soundtrack Volume 2 today and listened to it (all 70 minutes worth) in one sitting. I liked it, and I hope you will too. I'll tell you more about it soon.

Can't wait.

Felonious Monks over at Geezer Gamers posted the script for a new custom game type called 7-Eleven in their forum; three-team cops-and-robbers affairs that pits thieves, police, and convenience store staff against each other. Thanks to Louis Wu at HBO for the heads-up.

According to Major Nelson, the new Halo 2 maps are now available for download, as his schedule lists 7 AM EST and it is now shortly after that. I've had no chance to download them yet myself, but I'll post as soon as I do. As mentioned many times before, Warlock and Containment are free, while Sanctuary and Turf together are $5.99 and are not available separately from each other.

Both Major Nelson in his blog and Frankie in the HBO forum have confirmed that despite what you may have heard, the reset of game statistics for Halo 2 will not affect your friends list. Many of you may have been receiving-- or even sending-- voice and text messages to your friends with instructions not to delete them, in order to preserve your lists post-reset. It isn't necessary.

Most of the reviews and feedback about the 1.1 Update to Halo 2 has been overwhelmingly positive, aside from a few gripes about the Magnum. Joe "Dyslexia" Renaud over at Major League Gaming has done an in-depth analysis of the changes in this update, evaluated from the perspective of pro gamers.

Brian "SketchFactor" Jarrard talked to 1UP.com about the changes in the 1.1 Halo 2 Update, touching on one particular weapon tweak (or rather the lack thereof) that was close to the hearts of the author: