Bungie has rolled out the latest autoupdate-- you now have to download it in order to play in matchmaking on Xbox Live. The update includes code to detect modified content; it also (purportedly) fixes the teleporter bug on Relic.
The latest featured article at Bungie.net is all about the upcoming expansion map, Terminal. The map is based on the New Mombassa area from the campaign and features a runaway maglev train designed to complicate matters on a regular basis. But hey, at least the trains run on time.
The Halo CE section of Gearbox Game Zone is hosting the 1.07 update for Halo Custom Edition, bringing the same vulnerability patches as included in the same patch for PC Halo. Only Mac Halo remains unpatched at this point. Thanks Louis Wu at HBO.
MacSoft support has confirmed by email that Mac Halo will get a patch to bring it back into sync with the recently-released 1.07 patch for the PC client and server.
As the date for the Xbox 360's MTV coming-out party nears, information is seemingly seeping out of cracks everywhere. Gaming blog Kotaku has apparently signed an NDA with Microsoft in order to get access to exclusive content to be released after the show, but that didn't stop them from pointing out all the other information that's been leaked so far. They'll just be not mentioning any more rumors between now and then.
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.
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.
Bungie.net has seen a flurry of updates in the past few days. Here's a quick rundown:
The update itself doesn't seem to be quite large at all, and as of this writing, it has become available even at my undisclosed location. After successfully downloading the update, you'll see the number "1.1" in the lower right-hand corner of Halo 2's main menu screen. This disappears once you login to Live and reappears when you logout.
Joystiq links to a story at gamenews.botros.net saying that the latest OXM demo disc contained an update with five new game types for Halo 2. They are:
Project Magma has released version 1.5.1 of Myth II: Soulblighter. There are downloads for a complete demo, as well as the updater for the full game that fixes many "long-standing bugs".
This week's What's What Update is a one-note songbird: where's the downloadable content? Frankie says the date will be known soon. In addition, he disavows any knowledge of the recently-discovered Maji skull.
In other news:
Frankie has clarified his post from yesterday: there'll be "plenty of warning" before Halo 2 downloadable content is available. It's not going to be today and you shouldn't hold your breath and there'll be no more comments by Frankie on HBO, you insensitive clods!