Halo3.com notes that the first way of getting into the Halo 3 public beta-- the web registration form that offered any and all comers in the U.S. a chance to be chosen-- has closed. Winners will be notified sometime this week.

Those who don't make it can still get in by buying a specially marked box of Crackdown, or entering the Rule of Three promotion the first three days of February by playing 3 hours of Halo 2 multiplayer between Feb 1 and 3 and being one of the first 13,333 to register at Halo3.com afterwards.

You know, because of the layers. Layers of detail, like the layers in Frankie's latest Bungie Update. Between those layers are morsels of information: like the fact that every campaign level is now in the game, which is playable "from end to end"; like the fact that the usual levels of difficulty: easy, normal, heroic and legendary, are in the game and being tuned; like the fact that Robert McLees just found Ling Ling.

Okay, it could be cake. Everybody likes cake.

Don't call it a gun. In fact, don't even call it a rifle. It isn't even a weapon. It's a system. The MA5C Individual Combat Weapon System. If I didn't know better, I'd say that KP made that up himself when he penned the description of Halo 3's default spawn weapon, that hybrid of Halo 1's loveable bullet hose the Assault Rifle and Halo 2's pistol replacement the Battle Rifle.

One useful tidbit:

Due to one thing and another, including chetz, h4x, modified weapon spawns, beastly brute spiker dual-wielding, and the fact that Ferrex rulz and Staten droolz, the Halo 3 Multiplayer Team defeated the Bungie Community Team 2 games to 1 in the latest internal humpday. See KP's writeup on Bungie.net for details.

Not even two weeks into the new year, and real life plus other circumstances have already conspired to let far too much Halo and Bungie material slide by without a mention. So here's a quick list of what's been going on: