People still aren't sure whether or not the Xbox 2 will have a hard drive or not, or whether or not it's a good or bad thing if it does... or doesn't.

IDG news service reports are saying today that Microsoft has chosen Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company to make system-on-chip components for the Xbox 2. 90 or 65 nanometer processes are both possibilities, and the story at 1Up Xbox also speculates about a hardware announcement at E3 this May.

Well, since Bungie started the Weekly Updates again for the upcoming release of Halo 2, there's been an increase in traffic to a lot of Halo sites, and Rampancy is no exception. In particular, a lot of people found Rampancy's Movies page, which while not nearly the complete listing they have at HBO, or the huge downspout of bandwidth that they have at Mythica, had a few good movies and was able to push a bit of traffic.

When Halo hits Xbox Live later this year, will somebody else be listening to the sound of your cyborg's metal skin clanking on the faceplate of your fallen opponent besides you and your fellow players?

Could be. Gamer Feed's Mike Viscel has posted a story that the FBI's request to the FCC to require ISPs to rewire their networks to make wiretapping easier applies to services like Xbox Live, which would have 15 months to comply with the request.

In addition to the latest update, Frankie has posted a beginner's guide to home theater over at Bungie.net. It's got pictures of some of the specialized gear they use over at Bungie HQ, as well as the lowdown on surround sound jargon.

Mat "shunji" Noguchi's latest blog entry is all about contradicting John Carmack's statement at GDC that the problem of game audio will be "solved" within a couple of years. A bit technical, but definitely worth it.

Xbox365 is reporting that UbiSoft has fixed the Optimatch crash bug when playing Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow on Xbox Live.

We know this isn't Halo news, per se, but since we mentioned the bug when it occurred, as something of interest to Xbox owners and XBL subscribers in general, we felt it only fair to mention when the problem was resolved.

Move along, nothing to see here...

TeamXbox has an interview with XNA developer Scott Henson at Microsoft about what exactly XNA is going to do for the average gamer. One scenario he imagines is where users on Windows PCs play one kind of role in the same game as console players fulfilling a different role:

CVG is running an article quoting XNA architect J Allard on the issue of what to do about complaints about the positioning of the white and black buttons on the Xbox controller. Readers may remember earlier mentions of this; the buttons are on the upper right on the standard controller, and on the lower right on an S controller. Earlier comments suggesting the buttons might be eliminated altogether. Halo uses them for switching grenade types and toggling the Master Chief's headlamp.

Previously all we've had were PPC releases of development tools and some demo movies that actually ran on PC hardware rather than bona fide next generation Xbox hardware. At the Game Developers Convention, Microsoft was mum on the subject.

XboxSolution is reporting now that sources say MS will reveal the new box this summer, probably at the X04 event rather than at E3.

Fonix, the company that developed the VoiceIn command technology currently available in the Xbox Developers' Kit, has produced a version for the PC and PlayStation 2. Keep in mind, this is not the voice communication used on Xbox Live, this is the voice interface used in games like Rainbow Six 3. Thanks XboxSolution.

The Inquirer is reporting that the SDK for Microsoft's next generation Xbox is being released to developers. And it's running on a Mac.

Several years after being purchased by Microsoft and becoming a studio that developed games for MS' largely PC and Windows-based technology underpinning the Xbox, could Bungie be coming full circle, soon to be working primarily on Macs while they develop games for the PowerPC-based Xbox 2?

Only the Shadow knows.

Computer and Video Games is reporting that the Xbox 2, code-named Xenon but referred to some as Xbox Next, may lose the small black and white buttons from its controller. Apparently some studies they've done show these buttons are hard to find and little used.

News.com's David Becker is reporting that M-Systems, a maker of flash memory, is announcing that they've signed a contract with Microsoft to provide memory systems for future Xbox products.